On October 3rd, 1997, at 11:07 pm in Gleneagles Hospital, Singapore, another Princess passed away. Her maiden name was Rn.Siti Mutia Tisnawiria and she was the grand daughter of the King of West Java, Indonesia, a kingdom that now no longer exists. But she was my princess and at the age of 43 her death has left me in extreme grief.
On September 9th, 1997, at approximately 10:00 p.m., she suffered a major convulsion which rendered her unconscious for some five minutes. Prior to this event she had complained to me of headaches, tiredness and some mild fever. She was being treated for TB since early July and the onslaught of the convulsion immediately gave me concern of some further complications. She was admitted to Rumah Sakit Medistra in Jakarta on September 10th, where a number of tests commenced including a CT scan. A lumber puncture indicated bacteria in the spinal fluid and doctors concluded TB meningitis.
Treatment immediately began for this rare condition, however some 11 days later she developed a left temporal hematoma and underwent an operation to evacuate the hematoma. Follow-up CT scans showed recurrence of the hematoma and hydrocephalus. This was a most frustrating time as she spent the majority of her time in a coma and would only open her eyes to stimuli and would whisper the words 'I love you'.
To add to the frustration, Jakarta hospitals did not have the medical equipment to undertake an angiogram and a medivac to Singapore was urgently needed. At 6:00 a.m. on October 3rd, International SOS were finally able to arrange a private air ambulance to Singapore. She had an uneventful transfer and was admitted to the ICU at Gleneagles Hospital in Singapore at 11:00 a.m. A cerebral angiography was arranged for 2:30 p.m. the same day, however at 2:00 pm her condition suddenly deteriorated. An emergency left internal carotid single vessel angiogram was done and this showed a large aneurysm at the posterior communicating artery. It was determined that this artery ruptured well before the 3rd October and most likely the rupture occurred on the 21st of September. My attempts to evacuate her for better medical treatment came too late.
Reading the narratives of cerebral aneurysms, I am convinced in my mind that had such a diagnosis been immediately made following the night of September 9 th, then there would have been no hesitation to medivac her to Singapore where at least she would have had the chance of the best medical treatment.