10 days after surgery to remove a 6.2cm Acoustic Neuroma at House Ear Institute in Los Angeles, Hidayah Cynthia is standing tall, has abandoned her wheelchair and ready for some sight-seeing with her husband and son before returning to Malaysia.
This photo was taken in the dining room of Seton Guest Center earlier today.
The usual recovery time for Acoustic Neuroma surgery at HEI is only two weeks. It was that way in 2004 and it still is today. My mom and I laughed good naturedly when Syahidah Ishak anticipated that she will need a whole month of rest in L.A. before flying home. But she recovered so fast that she was soon bored of being coup up in the hospital vicinity. 
My right Acoustic Neuroma removed at HEI in 2004 was probably about 3cm. I was up and about the day after surgery. In 2006, my left Acoustic Neuroma removed at HEI was about 2.5cm and I recovered just as soon. In October 2011, Syahidah Ishak had her Acoustic Neuroma removed at HEI by the same surgeon, and her tumor was more than 3cm. She recovered in a week too. In December 2011, Hidayah Cynthia also had her Acoustic Neuroma removed by the same surgeon at HEI, and her tumor was at 6.2cm. She was discharged from hospital as good as new on the sixth day after surgery.
Besides the surgeons’ skills and expertise, other members of the surgical team also contribute to the success of our surgery – the anesthesiologist, the doctor who monitors our central nervous system during surgery, the surgical nurses, the internist, the ICU nurses, and the ward nurses. Even those who care for the patient after surgery contribute to the surgery’s success – the physiotherapists, the occupational therapists, the dietician, the chemists, and the people who check for possible blood clots – if necessary – I don’t know what they are called.
Those who have been treated at HEI and SVMC will understand why Acoustic Neuroma surgery is highly successful there and why it is not at home. We may not immediately understand what exactly makes them successful, yet we can feel it.
There would always be detractors who say that those raising funds to have critical surgeries abroad at institutions like HEI are greedy and pompous. There would always be those who claim that we can do it in Malaysia and try to sabotage our efforts.
But when I see how the lives of people like Syahidah Ishak and Hidayah Cynthia are saved and transformed, it reminds me that all I have to do is remember the success stories and I will know what the best thing to do is.
The consequences of surgery, whether good or bad, are for the patient to face and live with. The patient ought to decide what is best for himself. Detractors may say that we should have the surgery done at home in Malaysia and that our Acoustic Neuroma surgery outcome is highly successful too. You may choose to believe that but you don’t have to dissuade those who choose otherwise. After all, will you be responsible for the patient you convinced to remain in Malaysia should the patient become crippled?
Loving our country means caring for the welfare of our fellow Malaysians.
