Songwriter's fate may have been different but for doc wife

Medical Mysteries: Medical Mysteries is a series that spotlights rare diseases or unusual conditions.

- Judith Tan

Five years ago, Mr Hazwady Nazran, now 38, was hospitalized with mysterious and terrifying symptoms such as violent episodes, paranoid delusions, confusion, memory loss and seizures.

If his wife, Dr Miria Hastuti Soedarsono, 34, had not insisted that he be given a spinal tap, the music teacher and songwriter could have ended up in a mental hospital.

"Hazwady had three months of weird behaviour. He would say he could not see properly, and he would go without sleeping for three days at a stretch. He loves our son and would never scold the boy, yet he was shouting at Almizan," recalled Dr Soedarsono.

Mr Hazwady said: "This disease was a silent thief. It sneaked in quietly, causing anxiety, confusion and memory loss, compounded by wild emotional outbursts, hallucinations and the inability to comprehend the thoughts in my mind."

The disease struck him in late 2018 when the family was leading "a happy, calm and pleasant life".

"I had just launched a successful start-up while juggling a career in the shipping industry. At that time, I felt I had reached the pinnacle of life. It was a heart-wrenching decision when I had to step away from my professional endeavours because I was growing weaker and slower," Mr Hazwady added.

His outbursts, seizures and periods of catatonia - during which he was immobile and mute, and often appeared to be staring into space - resulted in him being strapped down in a bed in the psychiatric ward of a public hospital.

Not long after, he had a seizure that resulted in hallucinations and loss of control of his bladder.

Dr Soedarsono said: "It was frustrating. The doctors kept saying it was a mental issue because of his psychosis. Being a doctor myself, I was not convinced... and I insisted that he was to be given a lumbar puncture and an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging).">