Additional information
by Idayu Maarof (Author)
After suffering strokes, general practitioner, Dr Idayu Maarof, underwent major surgery to remove a heart-valve tumour that was believed to have caused the strokes. She recounted her experience in the book, The Doctor is Sick. Unfortunately, what seemed to be the end of a journey was only the beginning of an even more arduous one. Her symptoms evolved to multiple episodes of daily seizures. To control the seizures, she was put in a medically induced coma. A mysterious brain lesion became the prime suspect, but no one was certain. She later underwent two surgeries to remove what appeared to be a brain tumour. The daily struggle with seizures and of being ill with changing symptoms and diagnoses became a physically and mentally exhausting process of not dying, but hardly living what could be called a life. Dr Idayu Maarof contextually concludes how a sequence of events and decisions led to a particular consequence. This is not an account about being ill. This is a story of acceptance, gratitude and the struggle for a life worth living.
Author Biography
IDAYU MAAROF graduated with an M.D. from the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia medical school. She then served in several hospitals before starting her own general practice. Her interest in health care through patient education has resulted in her writing for magazines and her personal blog on healthcare issues such as how patients can make the best use of the medical infrastructure to their maximum benefit. Her first book, The Doctor is Sick, won an Anugerah Buku Negara (National Book Award, Malaysia) in 2017.
