Gulf Today, Staff Reporter
On what seemed like a regular workday, 41- year old Indian driver went to his work at Atlantis Hotel in the Palm as usual, yet he had no idea he would later be rushed to the hospital to save his life as he spent 30 days in a coma.
“It was just a regular day at work when suddenly, I felt a dreadful headache that I never experienced before. I was later told that it developed into a seizure and my colleagues called the ambulance who got me to Al Zahra Hospital Dubai,” said Mujeeb.
“The patient is fit and healthy with no previous symptoms whatsoever. Luckily, he was promptly transferred to us where our ER doctors managed to conduct CT scan for his brain and brain arteries revealing severe hemorrhagic stroke caused by a brain aneurysm,” explained Dr. Mohamed Khamis, Critical Care Specialist and primary physician of the patient.
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Mujeeb was put on a ventilator and was admitted at the ICU to stabilize his condition. “He was operated on for an emergency insertion of a drain in is his brain to remove excess fluid and blood and for the pressure in his brain to be closely monitored. On the same day, he underwent another procedure to repair his brain aneurysm that caused the bleeding,” explained Dr. Hussein Al Rahma, Head of Critical Car and Emergency Medicine at Al Zahra Hospital Dubai. “Unfortunately, despite the two procedures, the patient’s brain pressure was still high. Accordingly, four days after his admission, he had another surgery to put a second drain on the other side of the brain to remove the excess fluid still accumulating in the brain,” Al Rahma said.
Waiting for a miracle to happen, Mujeeb did not regain his consciousness and was in a coma for 30 days in the ICU and developed complications of severe brain infection.
“Even though he was given aggressive IV antibiotic therapy, his case needed local injection of antibiotics inside the brain to fight the brain infection he developed. “Because of the long-term ventilation, he needed a tracheostomy, an incision in the neck in order to place a breathing tube into a person's windpipe, to avoid the complications of prolonged ventilation,” said Dr Khamis.
As Mujeeb started to slowly regain his conscious level and the ventilator was finally removed, he was shifted to a regular room to continue his care and rehabilitation, under the supervision of a neurologist, after he spent 55 days in the ICU.
“I am very grateful to the all the doctors who supervised my care during this period. I know I was given a second chance to live my life and for that I feel very lucky,” said Mujeeb.
Mujeeb is now fully conscious, speaking, miraculously regaining his full brain functions, and gradually getting back his strength as he finishes his rehabilitation programme at the hospital. He is getting prepared to be repatriated to his home country to reunite with his family as he was all alone in Dubai.