Sharini

A Blessing, NOT A Curse.

2011-03-26T22:09:00.003+08:00

If any of you (althought I doubt it) have been following my blog previously, you would know that I have a slight problem with my nose, and as a consequence have gone through half of my life relatively smell-less.

I don't complain though - especially when I walk past huge drains and rivers and when I am in crowded places. I don't mind that I can't smell my food; I can still taste it so that's OK for me.

I especially appreciate my so-called lackingness (or you could call it my luck) when a patient with infected wound comes to the operation theater for a wound debridement. Everyone around me would complaint about the smell. The foul smell can sometimes be smelt up to the other end of the OT, and some say that the smell sticks to your clothes that unless you change you clothes, you can't get rid of the smell. Someone would run out of the OT to get some perfumed spray. All the other doors will be closed. People will be walking out of the OT trying to put as much distance from the smell as they can. Me, I can just stand there and not react - because to me, there is nothing to react to.

But then, recently, my ENT doctor decided to start me on some (let's call it) miracle pills.I've just been taking it for the past few days and now I can smell. And you know what is one of the first things I smell? A patient's bad breath.

I just don't get it. Can't you brush your teeth if you are sick? I mean I totally understand if you are dying or things like that; but if you are just admitted for an infected eye, for appendicitis or any other minor stuff, can't you just walk to the toilet to brust your teeth? If you can walk to take a leak, I'm sure carrying a toothbrush with you won't be a problem. And can you just have a shower while you are at it? So many people complain about the so-called hospital smell - but can't you see, it's not the hospital that smells, it's the patients who refuse to just practice a little hygiene!!

Please!! Brush you teeth. Especially if you are coming to the OT. It's a closed area with nowhere to escape to. Please be considerate!!

Yes, I can also now smell my shampoo and lotion and food and everything else there is to smell, but then again my thought keeps going back to that moment when the lady opened her mouth the other day. ARGH!!!!

I wish I can write longer, but my brain has just stopped working 'cos I just remembered that I am oncall tomorrow.

Draw up your own conclusions please, can't seem to put my thought to words right now. :)

Good night!!

Happy!

2011-03-23T21:15:00.003+08:00

I think I am high.
I don't know why.
It's not that I have a specific reason to be happy today.
It has so far been just another day.
Yes, some good news here and there, but it doesn't really affect me, so why am I high?
Is it cheese overdose (had cheese baked rice earlier)?

But the problem is not in feeling high now; it's what is going to make this euphoria go away?
So far, I have had a few things that happened in my life that has made me feel this way.
Let me give you a few examples.

The first time I did an appendicectomy.
OK, FINE! I didn't do it myself, but I stood where the surgeon was supposed to be standing and I cut the skin and in between I did some stuff (and my MO did a lot of important stuff like finding the appendix and suturing it properly) and at the end I sutured the skin.
By the way, let me assure you, that would be the last appendicectomy I would be doing because there is NO WAY I am going to do surgical.
Anyway, after that appendicectomy, I really felt happy - not because I thought I had what it takes to be a surgeon...it's because my MO trusted me enough to had me the scalpel - and honestly, it felt good.
But the feeling didn't really last that long.
The next morning, something someone said, just a few sentence, took away all the happy feelings. And then, I just felt miserable..and trust me, it's a long way down when you go from euphoria to depression.

Not too long after that, I entered anaest...and I had my first 'high' when I got my first spinal - which lasted until I failed my next spinal.
Thereafter there was a 'high' when I did my first epidural which then went away when (I'm sure you can guess it) I failed my next epidural.

So you see, everytime there is euphoria, one can expect something to bring that feeling to an end.
And now I wonder how my current 'high' is going to end.
I hope it has nothing got to do with my oncall tomorrow.
I hope it has nothing got to do with my life in general.
Let's just hope this feeling goes away by the time I wake up tomorrow just so that I can be relieved (does that make sense at all?).

But then again, shit happens all the time.
We just have to live with it.
*Sigh*

I have to stop crapping now...have to do my taxes or KR is going to 'scold' me. Life can be so hard sometimes...:P

Don't Need These Feelings

2011-03-22T19:54:00.003+08:00

It's been a long time.

I actually thought of just closing the whole blog down..I used to like writing because I can blurt whatever I want and complaint without bothering what other people might think. Then I stopped because there are people who might read the blog who might not like what I write - by people I mean my friends and colleagues and relatives and whomever I know.

Now, I just don't care.
WHATEVER.
Read if you want to read.
If you don't like what I say, I DON'T ~~GIVE A DAMN~~ CARE!!!!

Cos, you know what, looks like there are many people out there who just don't care if what they do hurts other people or not. People who don't realize that words and actions have consequences. One wrong move and you can be downgraded from an 'OK friend' to 'someone whom I will never be able to forgive because of what they did'. And in the past few months, I have done quite a number of downgrading. It's OK if you never liked the person from the start, but then it kind of gets to you when you thought you can trust the person and then they let you down like that.

There is this one person who did something to me that made me feel really, really bad - and trust me on this one, I have NEVER EVER done anything bad to this person, mainly because I am not even close to this person. I tried to come up with reasons why he/she did the thing to me but couldn't come up with any acceptable excuse. And since then, whenever I hear this person's name, all I can think is what he/she has done to me and I feel such resentment. But after that, this same person did something really, really nice for someone I am close to and I really feel very grateful to that person. But you know what, the initial resentment I felt, I still couldn't surpress it, no matter how hard I tried. I honestly want to forget the whole thing, but I just can't!!

Another thing that I wanted to get out of my chest.
Recently, I saw in Facebook that it is one of my 'friends' birthday. I am not close to her, we have more of a hi-bye relationship - but I thought, "it's her birthday, why not just wish her".
I went to her page, but found that I couldn't view her wall.
I honestly don't know what her problem is. If you think letting me view your wall is invading your privacy, then just delete me from your facebook friend's list. I really, really, REALLY DON'T CARE!!!!!!!!!
And that goes for everyone else in Facebook - rather that blocking me from your NOT AT ALL PRIVATE wall, just delete me from your list.

ARGH!!! I HATE FEELING ANGRY!!!!

Is It Just Me?

2010-10-25T20:41:00.004+08:00

I think it is really hard for someone who works in the hospital to not be paranoid.

It seems like everything and anything can go wrong.
If you think the newspaper is scary, you should try sitting in the A+E for a day and see the cases that come in.

Once a guy was admitted because the grass-cutter's blade disloged from the grass cutter and hit him right at the neck cutting some major vessels.

An accident at the pisang goreng stall and two people were badly burnt after the hot oil spilt on them.

You think keeping pets are safe? A kid came once after being bitten by her cat (can't blame the cat though - she pulled it's tail).

Many come with spine fractures after falling off trees.
Almost everyday you see people coming in with fractures after a motorbike accident.
Some come with hip fractures after a fall at home.
I saw a couple of young boys who had radius/ulna fractures after falling down while playing football.

Pregnancy - even worse!! Most people would say it is a normal, physiological thing, nothing is supposed to go wrong. But think of how many things can go wrong during the pregancy, during delivery and also post-delivery! Pregnancy can be complicated by diabetes and hypertension (even in those who previously have no co-morbids). Many have anemia. Some have low lying placenta. Normal delivery and Caesarean section are both equally scary when you think of all the problems that can arise. Very, very rarely, there are even cases of maternal deaths!!

At work, you see so many lives changing in a matter of seconds.
One accident - and some lose a limb or get paralysed for life.
A headache which turned out to be a bleed in the brain - sometimes affecting even young people.
A fall which caused a spinal injury.

Hence, I think it is justified for us to be paranoid, to worry about everything.
When I see someone cutting grass, I go out of my way just to avoid them.
If I get headaches frequently, I wonder if I should go for a CT brain.
Someone complaints of constipation - maybe it is colon cancer?
I see motorbike riders and try to stay far away from them - they are so vulnerable!!
I think about the times when we used to climb up the rambutan tree at our house and thank my luck for not falling and breaking my neck.
Pregnancy, I don't want to even think about!

Life is scary, huh!

Life Is Good

2010-10-20T20:58:00.002+08:00

Relief - that is what I feel. At least for now. My presentation is over and now I can relax...until it is time to study for my assessment which is next month. The only problem is, next month is not really that far away, and I have a couple of 'events' coming up so I guess time is not really on my side.

But then again, I don't think more time will make much of a difference. The more time one has (or at least I have) the more one procrastinates, right?

Life has been good recently. I have been enjoying myself in Anaesth. It is not just that the working hours are shorter, but I actually enjoy myself at work. I don't dread going to work like when I was in....let's just say another department. I don't have to review patients or take blood from a patient millions of times or set branulas that keep on 'bunking' and I don't have to put up with crap from other people around me. Almost all the MOs are very friendly, and even the specialist too.

Here is what I go through everyday - go to work, prepare drugs and then the patient comes in for op. Put the patient under and just monitor the patient till the op is over and then reverse the patient and send him or her out. I don't have to see the patient's family and answer questions (the worst part is when a patient has 10 relatives who all insist on approaching you one a time to as the same question). I don't have to review the patient (I know I've told that already - goes on to show how much I really hate reviewing patients). I don't have to do discharges. I don't have to do many other mundane ward work.

Life is good.

Although I do get irritated with some patients - chronic pain patients. They come under anaesthesiology as well and I was posted in the Acute Pain Service for 2 weeks and had to see these patients in the clinic. They come to the clinic and complain of pain everywhere. Some are genuine, but most of them...I don't know. Maybe their pain is real, or maybe it is just psychological. But then when a patient says that her headache gets better when she takes her gastritis pill, don't you think something is wrong? And if someone tells you they play the piano for 14 hours each day and does 3600 repetition of some exercise in the gym - would you believe them? How about a husband who complaints of pain but is allergic to all the painkillers in the world whose wife is also a pain clinic patient and is ALSO allergic to all the painkillers in the world? The best part - their child is SO allergic to prawn that she develops some allergic reaction if their neighbour cooks prawn and they can smeel it. *Sigh* To believe or not to believe...

Anyway, there is no real purpose for this post. It's just that I think I have been ignoring my blog for so long..probably because I am having long dinners and by the time I come back I am too lazy to write and the people to blame are my dinner buddies...typical human - always put the blame on someone else.

I will try my best though, to write more often....if I can think of things to write. :)

Mercedes Benz- Malaysian made?

2010-10-16T19:38:00.002+08:00

Spotted in Ipoh recently..

10 minute presentation

2010-09-13T20:58:00.003+08:00

I am supposed to do a presentation on Fink's hypoxia - something I have never even heard of before.

Usually, when I don't know something, I rely on Wikipedia to help me understand it first before reading other websites for more info.

But, all Wiki had to say about this topic was this :
The Fink effect, also known as "diffusion anoxia", "diffusion hypoxia",or the "third gas effect", is a factor that influences the Po2 (oxygen saturation) of alveolar gas. When soluble gases are breathed in (e.g. nitrous oxide, N2O) large quantities can be dissolved in body fluids rapidly. This can lead to a temporary increase in the concentration of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the alveolus, causing an increase in their respective partial pressures.

The effect is named for Bernard Raymond Fink (1914–2000), whose 1955 paper first explained it. When a patient is recovering from N2O anaesthesia, large quantities of this gas cross from the blood into the alveolus (down its concentration gradient) and so for a short period of time, the O2 and CO2 in the alveolus are diluted by this gas. This could potentially cause the partial pressure of oxygen to decrease and could temporarily lead to hypoxia. The decrease in CO2 could also potentiate this effect as ventilation would be suppressed, leading to potential hypoxaemia. Nonetheless, this effect would only last a couple of minutes and hypoxia can be avoided by increasing the fractional inspired oxygen concentration when recovering from N2O anaesthesia.

I don't understand what Wiki is trying to say and other websites don't have much info as well.

How am I going to do my presentation?

How slow would I have to read what Wiki said in order to stretch the presentation to 10 minutes?

Clean - for now

2010-09-02T19:36:00.003+08:00

KTM started a new train service recently - the ECT.
I don't know what ECT stands for - tried googling for it but couldn't find it - maybe it stands for extra-cepat-train or electric-current-train.
(I did a mistake!! It is ETS - electric train service. No wonder I couldn't find the information I was looking for...got it confused with ECT -electroconsulvise therapy)..:P

Anyway, I took the train last weekend, Ipoh to KL and back from Seremban.

It was quite a comfortable ride.
Compared to the KTM commuter, there was more leg space and was cleaner (since it IS newer).
I didn't see any cockroaches running around (yes, I have seen them in the KTM commuter) so the ECT gets one point for that.
I am not sure about the toilet though - I have a policy against toilets in public transports - never go unless desperate.

They had people walking around (steward-like) offering assistance to those who needed them. One guy even put our bags up in the overhead compartment and brought it down when we reached KL. They were all polite and pointed out that they have a power socket near every row of seat that one can use while on the train. Now I can watch movies on my laptop on the way back home! The train that I took from Seremban to Ipoh even announced the stations before and when we arrived at the stations!

The airconditioning was super-cold. I really don't get it - we are Malaysians, not Alaskan. Do we need the air-conditioning to be so cold? I understand if it is the operating theaters, but why must offices and shopping complexes and shops and trains and buses be so ~~freaking~~ cold? Can't they just regulate the temperature to that the users don't have to shiver or bring jackets around?

There was a TV where a video (which was replayed and replayed throughout the journey) showed how the whole ECT idea was realized (I think). The video showed a train in Korea which could go up to 300kmph!! Imagine that, going from Ipoh to KL in less than an hour! I do hope the TV will show a different video or a movie next time though, there is only so many times one can watch a bunch of Malaysians looking at trains.

Oh...using the ECT, it takes about 2 hours to go from Ipoh to KL and 3 hours from Ipoh to Seremban - that is an hour of difference from the KTM commuter. They have a few express trains that stop in 4 or 5 stations only and a few others that stop in about 10 stations, which means that they don't stop in all the stations like the KTM commuter. The maximum speed as I know so far is 150kmph (the driver had to catch up on time since we were slightly delayed in KL).

The price, for now - RM30 to KL (KTM commuter is RM12 and RM22 for economy and 2nd class respectively) and RM38 to Seremban.

If you ask me, to and from KL, I don't mind the 1 hour difference if the price is more than doubled. But then if you prefer comfort, then the ECT is definitely the better choice. For my parents, I would take the ECT as they need the leg space; me, I put my leg up most of the journey so it doens't really matter.

For the ride to Seremban and back, definitely the ECT is better. Otherwise, you would have to take train from and towards Singapore which is ALWAYS delayed. And the price difference is not that much as well.

The current price is the promotional price - I have no idea what the price is going to be like after this. Hopefully it won't be too expensive or I have to stop going back home so often (and risk my parents forgetting that they have another daughter beside Phoebe).

Here are a few photos of the train - see how clean it is and look at how much more spacious it is compared to the commuter (if you have been in the KTM commuter)

Where Are The Flags?

2010-08-23T20:07:00.005+08:00

It's the 23rd of August.
Just 8 more days for Merdeka.
It doesn't seem like it though.

Here is what I remember of Merdeka Day a few years back.
The Jalur Gemilang everywhere - in front of all shops and in (or on) almost all vehicles. Some flew the flag in front of their houses, some decorated their whole car/van/lorry with flags.

Now, I just see a few pathetic flags aound the padang, and it takes me a while to remember that they are there because it is the Merdeka month.
What happened to all the elaborate Merdeka day celebration?

I am not going to point my finger at anyone though.
I have not done anything and nor am I going to do anything to mark the day.
To me, it's just another holiday, another excuse to wake up late (if I am not working), as it is for most of Malaysians.
I don't even stay awake for countdown anymore - I used to because they had good programmes on TV.

When I was younger, I used to wake up early on the day itself to watch the parade. Now, I don't have a TV in my room, and even if I do, I doubt that I would do as I did previously.

It's not that I love the country any lesser than I did before, but somehow the spirit is no more there.
Why - I am not sure. But from the looks of things, it doens't seem like anyone is in the Merdeka spirit anymore.
What went wrong?

Bob's Big Mistake

2010-08-14T21:25:00.003+08:00

Bob works hard at the office but spends two nights each week bowling, and plays golf every Saturday.

His wife thinks he's pushing himself too hard, so for his birthday she takes him to a local strip club.

The doorman at the club greets them and says, 'Hey, Bob! How ya doin?'

His wife is puzzled and asks if he's been to this club before.

'Oh no,' says Bob. 'He's in my bowling league.

When they are seated, a waitress asks Bob if he'd like his usual and brings over a Budweiser.His wife is becoming increasingly uncomfortable and says, 'How did she know that you drink Budweiser?''

I recognize her, she's the waitress from the golf club.I always have a Bud at the end of the 1st nine, honey.'

A stripper then comes over to their table, throws her arms around Bob, starts to rub herself all over him and says, 'Hi Bobby. Want your usual table dance, big boy?'

Bob's wife, now furious, grabs her purse and storms out of the club.

Bob follows and spots her getting into a cab.Before she can slam the door, he jumps in beside her.Bob tries desperately to explain how the stripper must have mistaken him for someone else, but his wife is having none of it .

She is screaming at him at the top of her lungs, calling him every 4 letter word in the book.The cabby turns around and says,'Geez Bob, you picked up a real bitch this time.'

Bob's funeral will be on Saturday and all are invited .

Ice Cold

2010-08-09T21:47:00.004+08:00

Day one in anaesthesiology.
It was quite an interesting day.

First I was in GOT where MO D tried to input lots and lots of information into my brain (of which I hope at least some entered), and then I followed another MO for premed (pre-operative evaluation) and then I tagged with another MO in OOT during which he tried to give me more useful information.

Too much information + too slow a brain = blur.
Guess I need a bit more time.

But you know what, I am enjoying it.
For the first time after a long, long time, I am actually looking forward to going to work tomorrow!!

Maybe it's the MOs and specialists who are super nice.
Maybe it's the absence of daily ward work and reviews.
Whatever the reason, I hope this feeling stays.

The only thing I don't like is the cold!! The OT is freezing. Maybe I ought to get my winter clothes or my thermals and some socks! Must definitely remember to bring some long sleeves to wear in OT after this.

Dog Or Goat?

2010-08-08T20:04:00.005+08:00

Having a pet is like having a very mischevious cute kid.
I was home for holidays last weekend and I got to see first hand how naughty Phoebe can be.

Phoebe has a few toys of her own - a plastic bone, a collection of strings and a ball.
But for some reason, when she is let out of the house, she looks for new 'toys' - leaves and sticks and flower pots. Once she gets it, she would chew and chew on it, like she has not been fed for days!

Here's what happened yesterday :

I found Phoebe chewing on a piece of stick. I somehow managed to get the stick from her and threw it somewhere else.

She was then given her toys to choose from.

But Phoebe 'ditched' all her toys and went exploring.

And found a piece of pipe and refused to let it go until dinnertime (I have no idea why the pipe was there in the first place).

And today, the object of fascination was coconuts.

We had a few coconuts at home, given by cousin S.

Phoebe decided that they were new toys and picked them up from inside the house and carried them all the way to the garden to play with them.

Initially one was enough, but once it was all chewed up, she decided that she wanted more and got another one.

And I thought goats ate everything..

Surgery

2010-08-07T00:35:00.003+08:00

Another department over with.

5 down, 1 more to go.

The last 4 months passed by very quickly that I didn't even realize the time flying by.
Surgery was an interesting experience.

It was a very 'teaching' department.

Weekly Surgical department activities.

Monday : Houseman teaching.

Tuesday : Lunch and drug talk

Wednesday : Mortality and Morbidity

Thurs : Pre op assessment and sometimes MO teaching

Friday : Breakfast + journal club/MO teaching/grandward rounds/department meeting

Everyone who goes through Surgery will also go through the suturing workshop where the MOs specialists and even consultants teach housemen how to suture properly. There aren't many places that the HOD teaches Housemen how to suture, right?

I guess what I'm trying to say is, it's a very activity oriented department.

Previously they have had family days and other outdoor activities but then I didn't have the chance for those (came in at the wrong time).

I did have fun in the department, although there were some things that I didn't like about it..as I said before, colleagues are the most important thing in making your working life fun.

I will be joining Anaesth next Monday. I don't really know what to look forward too, all I know is that it is going to be cold (because I think we will be in the OT most of the time). Time to dig out all my long sleeves..

For Kicks?

2010-08-04T18:06:00.003+08:00

I went for a movie last night. I don't usually watch movies on weekdays, but I was on leave yesterday and woke up late so I didn't really mind sleeping late.

It was a Tamil movie, Thilalangkadi (I still don't know what it means because Bala doesn't know the meaning as well). 10 of us went for the movie but I think only 2 of us stayed awake for the whole movie. I am rather proud to say that I am one of the 2.

I went for the movie for 2 reasons:
1. The hero is Jeyam Ravi - his movies so far have been quite OK, so I don't mind watching his movies (there are some actors whose movie I REFUSE to watch even if I am given a free ticket).
2. Those who have gone for the movie said that it was a good watch.

I can't stand the movie!!
It wasn't a bad movie, but it wasn't good either.
Mr. S said that he didn't even realize the time passing, but I felt that the movie was going on and on and all I wanted was for the movie to end.

There are some similarities between this movie and Santosh Subramaniam - in this movie he is acting crazy, and in Santosh Subramaniam, the heroine is the crazy one. And I don't like both the movies (although if you ask my parents, they would say that Santosh Subramaniam is a very nice movie).

Some parts of the movie was not bad, there was even a part or 2 where I laughed out loud (and you have to trust me on this one- I am not the kind who laughs out loud). My favourite part was when Prabu goes to the police station. But for the most part, I just found the acting irritating and the jokes lame. Like most Tamil movies, the plot is predictable and there are many unanswerable questions (like how did he manage to run away from 4 policemen whose guns are all directed right at him). Plus, if he is really such a nice person, how come he felt no regret when cars blew up (and I assume people got injured or died) because of him?

I didn't enjoy the songs as well - maybe I've grown too old and cannot enjoy the current generation songs anymore..*gasp*..have I become my parents?

I guess you could put it this way - go for the movie without expectations and you will like it. Just enjoy the jokes and (for those who can stand him [I can't]) Vadiveloo. There is no complex story line, just humor from the beginning till the end. But go there hoping to catch a great movie - you will be disappointed.

Phoebe The Labrador

2010-08-02T21:29:00.004+08:00

We have a new addition in our house, Phoebe.

Now, let me clarify something. I am not a big fan of pets and I didn't actually agree to having a labrador in the house. But then, I am not living at home, and I am not the one who is going to be doing the taking care, so I guess I can't complain.

I am actually quite afraid of dogs...not Togo and Tagar and Gamby of course (although I still cannot bear for them to jump on me), so I was rather nervous about meeting Phoebe for the first time last weekend.

I bought her a new bowl, a toy and a treat as a bribe, hoping she won't bark at me or bite me. What happened was, she took the toy and the treat and then ran away from me.

I don't understand, is she afraid of me? This is the first time a dog is running away from me instead of vice versa. I tried the whole weekend to get into her good books, but for some reason she kept running away or barking at me. Although she runs to me when I give her treats. I guess she needs more time to get used to strangers (just like me!).

I must say, she is rather well trained. She does her bussiness only outside the house, and never in the house or her cage (which is inside the house) even overnight. She knows that she can only have her food and drinks inside the cage. She knows that when we go out she has to get into the cage and never causes a fuss.

I am rather surprised though - I never thought that my Mom would allow a dog into the house, free to run in and out. She is SO attached to the puppy, it's like a proud Mother with a newborn baby. In fact, everytime I talk to my mother nowadays, she will be telling this and that story about Phoebe. When we go out anywhere, all my Mom want's to do is get back home so that Phoebe won't be lonely. 26 years, and I never knew Mom loved animals so much..

Well, I didn't have time to take pictures with Phoebe the last time I was back, mainly because she was too busy running away from me. Here are some shots of her when she first joined the family.

a rare moment - Phoebe standing still enough to be photographed

"Hmm..what am I supposed to do with this?"

"Doesn't taste that good, though"

p/s I have no idea what happened to the tennis ball; it wasn't anywhere in sight when I went back.

Myths About India

2010-07-25T16:48:00.002+08:00

I went for a short trip to India, or more accurately Chennai, recently. No, it wasn't a sight seeing trip, nor was it a temple trip. I went there for my friend's wedding.

I have heard many stories about India - too many in fact.
The stories have made me not want to go to India.
I was actually afraid of going to India because of all the things people have planted in my head.
Now that I have gone and experienced India myself, let me clarify a few things that have been said about India.

1. India is very dirty.
It is as dirty as Malaysia is. I don't think we have a right to comment on others regarding this issue.

2. You get diarrhoea if you eat their food, drink their water.
Let me tell you something, as far as I know, out of the 6 of us Malaysians who went to India together, none of us had any gastroenteritis. We had food at hotels and restaurants, we had bottled water, we had their tea and we had bajji (which they fried at the seaside) and we survived. So guess that is not true as well.

3. There are beggars everywhere and they will all rush and come ask money from you.
Throughout my stay, I saw only 1 beggar I think. Try walking aroung KL for a day and tell me how many you saw.

4. It is hot and dusty.
It is dusty, yes, but then that is because of the lack of rain. But to say it is hot, we don't exactly live in the Artic, you know..

5. Many times, I have heard stories of how the people in India 'relieve' themselves everywhere and everywhere.
NOT TRUE! (At least, I didn't see any)

6. Pickpockets are everywhere.
Once again, please look at your own backs*** before you talk about others.

7. It's noisy.
This I agree. Horns blaring everywhere! But I guess that is their style of driving.

8. You have to wear sarees/punjabi suits wherever you go or people will be staring at you.
I wore jeans EVERYWHERE. The girls there wear jeans as well. No big deal.

9. Shopping in India is good.
It's not just good, it is INCREDIBLE!! Never in my life have I shopped like that. I practically had to tear myself away from the shops. The punjabi suits and sarees are so cheap and beautiful..and the variety they have is AMAZING!!

10. When you shop there, the people will try to cheat you.
I am not much of a bargaining person, so I went to all fixed price shops, and I think I got a good deal. If you are so afraid of getting cheated, just go to such shops.

I can't think of anymore things..but here's what I am trying to say, India is not at all that bad. I never thought I would say this, but I WILL go to India again. For sight seeing and for shopping. Or maybe I should say for SHOPPING and for sight seeing. And to see my friends there (who are such gems and took care of us like children when we were there)

I will put up another post with pictures and more details of my trip - don't have any pictures with me right now.

Dinnertime

2010-07-24T19:13:00.003+08:00

You would think that after a month of not writing anything, I would have loads of interesting things to tell. You are wrong.

My day to day life has now SO monotonous that the days have just blended to one another and I can't tell a Monday from a Friday.

Here's how a typical day goes - wake up-go to work-review patients-rounds with MO-rounds with specialist-do ward work-lunch-pm review-ward work-go back home-go for dinner-back home-bathe/go online/read story book-sleep.

This is a daily routine. The only spark of excitement in my life is dinner.

I now have permanent dinner mates, all of us housemen, which means that our topic of conversation is about the specialists, MOs, housemen and cases that we saw that day at work. And to imagine, that is the most exciting part of my day..

Here's the thing. In the morning, you go to work feeling neutral (not happy, not sad, not angry). But throughout the course of the day, things change.

Most of the days, things go wrong. In fact, I come back almost everyday, angry about something. Maybe it's just me (or maybe it's not). But I have to say, I am quite glad that I am getting out of this department soon (hopefully I don't get extended). It's not the work, it's just the people that I have to work with that I can't stand. What is the use of having 20 people to drive a car if no one is willing to offer to drive it or if they can't be bothered to properly learn how to drive it?

There were also days that I came back smiling. Days when it felt like nothing in the world can make me feel bad. However, such days were rare.

I am getting out of the topic though. All I'm trying to say is, good days or bad days, one needs to pour their heart out to someone, and who else better to talk to that those who know all the characters in the stories? Right?

So that's why our dinner topics are such a bore. In fact, it's not just our dinner topics. It's our all the time topic, whether we meet in the hospital or out of the hospital. It got so bad, till KR complained that that is the only thing we talk about and he is bored of it.

I guess I am lucky. I have people around me who actually care for me. Who buy for me dinner whenever I am oncall because the oncall food sucks. I have people who listen to me when I complain, who look at me and in one glance know that I am unhappy about something. I am lucky because I have managed to find myself a few true friends, who really care about me.

A year ago, I used to eat dinner alone everyday, with a storybook to keep me company. Nowadays, I hardly have time to read my storybook because I spend that time having dinner and talking stories. Maybe that is one of the reason of my inactivity here..Can't blame a girl if she's too busy talking to write, right?

Why does the lab need a telephone?

2010-06-04T19:40:00.004+08:00

Lab results play an important role in diagnosing and managing a patient.

Sometimes, results are needed as fast as possible to decide on the treatment of a patient.

Most of the time, we trace the results through the computer (in wards where they are available or downstairs at the lab itself). Sometimes, however, we have to call the lab, eg when we are in a hurry (as not all the wards has this tracing facility) or when the system is down.

Most of the time, when you call the lab, either the call goes unasnwered or it is engaged.

This is what I saw when I went down to the lab today.

In case you can't see it clearly, I've zoomed in the photo for you.

And this isn't the first time that I've seen the phone like this..

Can I Be Half Of What She Is?

2010-05-08T17:29:00.003+08:00

She is one of a kind.

She carried me wherever she went without complaining for 9 months.

Then, she attended to me day and night, losing sleep to fullfil all my needs and whims.

She would scold the door if I walked into the door, she would hit the floor if I tripped and fell. She held me when I cried after I fell and never once has she said - I'm busy, go find someone else to cry to.

She cooked for me, then fed me and at the same time, she would be telling me stories or singing to me to keep me entertained.

She taught me everything that one should know - how to hold a cup, how to walk, how to dress myself, how to feed myself. Not only that, she taught me how to read and write and count, my very first teacher.

She went back to work once I was older, but never once did she say that she can't do her duty because she was working.

She would wake up by 5am, mix drinks for breakfast (I was never a breakfast person) cook for lunch and sweep the house before going to work. She woke me up each morning, and when I was younger, tied my hair for me before I went to school. After coming home from work (which would be about 6pm) she would wash the clothes and fold/iron the clothes and sometimes even cook for dinner!

Sunday was her only day off, and even on that day, she would be doing housework from morning till the evening. My brother and I had school on Sunday (Friday was our weekend), and Sunday was the only day I would not eat at the school canteen - I knew she would be cooking something special!

Every year, when I left for Russia, she would vow that she wouldn't cry at the airport, and every year she doesn't keep the word. She even cried when I made a surprise visit back home during one of my winter holidays. Until now, she would be sad whenever I have to come back to Ipoh after a visit back home, even though it is just 3 hours away.

Even now, when I am 26, I am still her baby - whenever I go home she cooks my favourite food, she washes my clothes and even irons them even though I tell her not to. She even calls me EVERY MORNING to make sure that I wake up in time for work - yes, even during the weekends when she can sleep in late.

I know that I can't become half the mother she is.

I know that nothing I can do can make me repay whatever she did for me.

I just hope that I do nothing to disappoint her.

Happy Mother's Day, Amma!

(this post is a day early because I am oncall tomorrow)

Worth A Visit

2010-05-04T21:26:00.007+08:00

The thing about Ipoh is, there is nothing much to do when you are not working.

The only places that you can go to is:
- Jusco - too crowded, no parking
- Parade - too many school children
- D.R Park
And that's it.

If you don't mind travelling a little bit further, then maybe you could go for a visit to Kellie's Castle (which was what I did), but honestly, don't waste your time and petrol going there.

Willing to travel further still? Then maybe you can go to Penang or Taiping. But then if it's just for a day's trip, is it worth it?

But then, not too long ago, I discovered another place in Ipoh worth visiting - Gunung Lang.

It is located at the Kuala Kangsar Road and you can reach the place easily just by following the signboards.

I am not going to say much about the place, you can see the photos for yourself.

you can take a boat ride to the other side for a small fee - more things to see on the other side of the lake

wish I am young enough to play

the main attraction, a man-made waterfall

you can feed the fishes (and monkeys) or just enjoy the scenery..

Unfortunately, we (KR and I) went there quite late, about 6 pm and couldn't take the 'boat' ride to the other side of the lake, so we couldn't see what was there. But from what I surfed on the

net, there are more things to see on the other side, so I will definitely go back there again.

Sex Education

2010-04-22T20:52:00.003+08:00

I don't know how many times the issue of sex education has been brought up and been discussed in Malaysia. But then that is typical of how things are done here, isn't it? Discuss and discuss and discuss and end up with no conclusion?

I don't understand what's the big deal anyway.
Are you afraid that if have this subject, kids will be exposed to sex too early on?
If you are, then you must be living under a coconut shell.
All one needs to do is watch the TV, read the newspaper - the word sex is everywhere..if a parent doesn't explain it to their children, then their friends will.

Primary school children know what is sex.
What they don't know is STDs and unwanted pregnancies.

So many teenagers life has been spoiled by them getting 'knocked up'.
Yes, you can point a finger at them - it is their fault.
But who doens't make mistakes?
Why is it that they have to pay so dearly?
Even worse - sometimes, the baby is just abandoned, left to die..
All this could have been prevented, if only they knew how.

Yes, premarital sex is bad, is evil bla, bla, bla.
But so is lying. Are you telling me that you have never told a lie?

What I'm trying to say is this - people make choices.
They decide how to lead their life.
If they choose to take drugs, to drink alcohol, to have sex..there is nothing much you can do to stop them. But one should know the consequence of the choices that they make.

Telling someone "No, you shouldn't do that because I said no" is not a good way to do things.
I read a story once where the girl (Katy) wanted to play on the swing, but her Aunt told her not to. Katy was not told why she couldn't do it because the Aunt thinks that a child should listen to whatever an older person says. Katy decided to ignore what her Aunt said and played on the swing. Unfortunately, the swing had not been fixed properly yet and it snapped, and Katy feel and became paralyzed. If only her Aunt had told her why she shouldn't play with the swing, do you think Katy would have done it? Unlikely.

It is the same in reality. Why is it so hard for us to tell people why they should or shouldn't do something? If someone told you to not do something, wouldn't you want to know why?

I read this article earlier today, quite an interesting read, but I found this paragraph quite funny/illogical:
In Islam, there are guidelines why boys and girls need to be separated as they grow older – from separate blankets, beds, bedrooms and schools. I think it is in the best interest of the students that we should look into separate girls and boys secondary schools.
Obviously, the western concept of co-education and the freedom of modern lifestyles have contributed to the moral decay in some of our children.

Will this really solve the problem? So, how long should you separate boys and girls? Until they get married? And after that? Are they allowed to meet anyone else of a different gender?

How about outside of school? Do we segregate them as well? Tuitions, shopping complexes, parties?

Separating boys and girls is not going to give you any results, trust me.
I honestly don't think it would make any difference at all.
All one can do is give them the choices and let them decide.

Surgery

2010-04-21T19:23:00.002+08:00

It's my 2nd week in Surgery.
So far, I would say that it is going on OK - not great, not wonderful, but not bad either.

What makes Surgery more bearable than Medical?
My ward mates.
Now, I don't dread going to work anymore.
I don't feel depressed anymore.
See, colleagues are really important in determining how hateful or enjoyable your job is.

It is weird how each department functions differently.
The way they manage patients is different.
Are we supposed to ask the MOs why it is different? Or are we just supposed to continue with their plan?
Sometimes, we are even afraid to ask the questions that we want to ask, what if we sound too stupid?

Well, anyway, so far surgery has been OK..lesser people dying compared to Medical...
Hopefully the next 4 months will pass by without any problems..

Here is something I got over the mail..

The following 3 examples of TURTLES, FROGS and THE PRETTY LADY will teach us some lessons. Enjoy reading the same and do ponder over them. We learn a lot through our experiences in life

The Turtles
A turtle family decided to go on a picnic. The turtles, being naturally slow about things, took seven years to prepare for their outing.

Finally the turtle family left home looking for a suitable place. During the second year of their journey they found a place ideal for them at last! For about six months they cleaned the area, unpacked the picnic basket, and completed the arrangements. Then they discovered they had forgotten the salt. A picnic without salt would be a disaster, they all agreed.

After a lengthy discussion, the youngest turtle was chosen to retrieve the salt from home. Although he was the fastest of the slow moving turtles, thelittle turtle whined, cried, and wobbled in his shell. He agreed to go on one condition: that no one would eat until he returned. The family consented and the little turtle left.

Three years passed and the little turtle had not returned. Five years...six years... then on the seventh year of his absence, the oldest turtle could nolonger contain his hunger. He announced that he was going to eat and begun to unwrap a sandwich. At that point the little turtle suddenly popped out from behind a tree shouting, 'See! I knew you wouldn't wait. Now I am not going to go get the salt.'

[Some of us waste our time waiting for people to live up to our expectations. We are so concerned about what others are doing that we do not do anythingourselves.]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Frogs

A farmer came into town and asked the owner of a restaurant if he could use a million frog legs.

The restaurant owner was shocked and asked the man where he could get so many frog legs!

The farmer replied, 'There is a pond near my house that is full of frogs - millions of them. They all croak all night long and they are about to make me crazy!' So the restaurant owner and the farmer made an agreement that the farmer would deliver frogs to the restaurant, five hundred at a time for the nextseveral weeks.

The first week, the farmer returned to the restaurant looking rather sheepish, with two scrawny little frogs. The restaurant owner said, 'Well.... where areall the frogs?' The farmer said, 'I was mistaken. There were only these two frogs in the pond. But they sure were making a lot of noise!'

[ Next time you hear somebody criticizing or making fun of you, remember, it's probably just a couple of noisy frogs. Also remember that problems always seem bigger in the dark. Have you ever laid in your bed at night worrying about things which seem almost overwhelming like a million frogs croaking? Chances are pretty good that when the morning comes, and you take a closer look, you'll wonder what all the fuss was about.]

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Pretty Lady

Once upon a time a big monk and a little monk were traveling together. They came to the bank of a river and found the bridge was damaged. They had to wade across the river. There was a pretty lady who was stuck at the damaged bridge and couldn't cross the river.

The big monk offered to carry her across the river on his back. The lady accepted. The little monk was shocked by the move of the big monk. ' How can big brother carry a lady when we are supposed to avoid all intimacy with females?' thought the little monk.

But he kept quiet... The big monkcarried the lady across the river and the small monk followed unhappily. When they crossed the river, the big monk let the lady down and they parted ways with her.

All along the way for several miles, the little monk was very unhappy with the act of the big monk. He was making up all kinds of accusations about big monk in his head. This got him madder and madder. But he still kept quiet.. And the big monk had no inclination to explain his situation.

Finally, at a rest point many hours later, the little monk could not stand it any further, he burst out angrily at the big monk. 'How can you claim yourself adevout monk, when you seize the first opportunity to touch a female, especially when she is very pretty? All your teachings to me make you a big hypocrite.

The big monk looked surprised and said, 'I put down the pretty lady at the river bank many hours ago, how come you are still carrying her along?'

[This very old Chinese Zen story reflects the thinking of many people today. We encounter many unpleasant things in our life, they irritate us and they make us angry. Sometimes, they cause us a lot of hurt, sometimes they cause us to be bitter or jealous ..
But like the little monk, we are not willing to let them go away. We keep on carrying the baggage of the 'pretty lady' with us. We let them keep on coming back to hurt us, make us angry, make us bitter and cause us a lot of agony.
Why? Simply because we are not willing to put down or let go of the baggage of the 'pretty lady'. We should let go of the pretty lady immediately after crossing the river. This will immediately remove all our agonies. There is no need to be further hurt by the unpleasant event after it is over.]

6 days

2010-04-04T21:19:00.002+08:00

6 days of holidays...6 days of doing nothing but eating and sleeping. 6 days of thinking what the next department is going to be like.

Here are some e mails I received that I hope you will enjoy as much as I did..

___________________________________________________________

LIFESUPPORT

Last night my mom and I were sitting in the living room talking about the many things of life. In-between, we talked about the idea of living or dying.

I said to her, ' Mom, never let me live in a vegetative state, totally dependent on machines and liquids from a bottle. If you see me in that state I want you to disconnect all the contraptions that are keeping me alive, I'd much rather die'.

Then my mom got up from the sofa with this real look of admiration towards me and proceeded to disconnect the TV, the Cable, the Dish, the DVD, the Computer, the Cell Phone, the IPod, and the Xbox, and then went to the fridge and threw away all my beer!

I almost died!

________________________________________________________________

I AM THANKFUL:

-FOR THE WIFE WHO SAYS IT'S HOT DOGS TONIGHT, BECAUSE SHE IS HOME WITH ME, AND NOT OUT WITH SOMEONE ELSE.

-FOR THE HUSBAND WHO IS ON THE SOFA BEING A COUCH POTATO, BECAUSE HE IS HOME WITH ME AND NOT OUT AT THE BARS.

-FOR THE TEENAGER WHO IS COMPLAINING ABOUT DOING DISHES BECAUSE IT MEANS SHE IS AT HOME, NOT ON THE STREETS.

-FOR THE TAXES I PAY BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM EMPLOYED .

-FOR THE MESS TO CLEAN AFTER A PARTY BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE BEEN SURROUNDED BY FRIENDS.

-FOR THE CLOTHES THAT FIT A LITTLE TOO SNUG BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE ENOUGH TO EAT.

-FOR MY SHADOW THAT WATCHES ME WORK BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM OUT IN THE SUNSHINE

-FOR A LAWN THAT NEEDS MOWING, WINDOWS THAT NEED CLEANING, AND GUTTERS THAT NEED FIXING BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE A HOME .

-FOR ALL THE COMPLAINING I HEAR ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT BECAUSE IT MEANS WE HAVE FREEDOM OF SPEECH. .

-FOR THE PARKING SPOT I FIND AT THE FAR END OF THE PARKING LOT BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM CAPABLE OF WALKING AND I HAVE BEEN BLESSED WITH TRANSPORTATION .

-FOR MY HUGE HEATING BILL BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM WARM.

-FOR THE LADY BEHIND ME IN CHURCH WHO SINGS OFF KEY BECAUSE IT MEANS I CAN HEAR.

-FOR THE PILE OF LAUNDRY AND IRONING BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE CLOTHES TO WEAR.

-FOR WEARINESS AND ACHING MUSCLES AT THE END OF THE DAY BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE BEEN CAPABLE OF WORKING HARD.

-FOR THE ALARM THAT GOES OFF IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM ALIVE.

AND FINALLY, FOR TOO MUCH E-MAIL BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE FRIENDS WHO ARE THINKING OF ME.

More Things To Shop For

2010-04-03T23:18:00.006+08:00

It's the first day of my end-posting holiday.
And this is what I did today.

I have thought of doing it for quite some time, but then have always been afraid to do it because of my allergic rhinitis - what if it gets worse? But my ENT doctor gave me the thumbs up, and I thought that it's about time I get my nose pierced.

It was more painful than what I expected it to be.

The lady just sprayed on some anaesthetic, used some sharp thingy to pierce through the skin and then pushed the nose-stud in. OUCH!

But I finally did it.
Now I get to buy more jewellery.

Regret

2010-04-01T20:33:00.002+08:00

Last week, there were a bunch of JPA scholars going around the hospital. All these kids (yes, kids) want to become doctors.

I wish I could have told them what they were getting into.
I wanted to shout at them and tell then to go find something else to do..anything but become a doctor. (For some reason, I was feeling really, really low that week)

The problem is, they come in the morning when we are busy doing our rounds - time when we rush from one patient to another and have no time to waste. Why can't they come later if they really want to know what it is like? I actually told one of them to come back later around lunch time, but sadly no one turned up.

In between patients, I managed to ask one of the kids - "why do you want to become a doctor?"
His reply (like it was taken straight out of a text book) - "I want to serve the nation".
Then go become a soldier or policeman or fireman la!

Why did I want to become a doctor?
I don't really know.
I thought it would be exciting - something new everyday.
How wrong I was.
The same patients day in and day out. Review and take blood and review and take blood.
Where is the excitement?
Maybe that is why I enjoyed the labor room - it was really a happening place..

Sometimes I really regret the choices that I have made.
But then I can't help but wonder if I would be feeling the same way had I done something else with my life.
If only I could rewind and re-live my life..would I have chosen this profession?

Come to think of it, how many people can actually say that they really enjoy doing what they are doing?
Maybe what I am feeling is a normal thing..maybe it is just a passing feeling...hopefully I can find something that I would like doing, something that will make me feel excited instead of dread..

One thing I am sure about though..don't do medicine. Go do something else.
As it is, there are too many of us around.
If you are going to do medicine and graduate in a few years time, there just might not be any work available for you...then you are stuck because there is nothing else you can do, no where else you can work (private hospitals are not going to take you when you are a fresh grad with no experience..)

Think hard..don't make the same mistake I think I did..

How To Make A Woman Happy

2010-03-29T21:19:00.002+08:00

Remember yesterday's post? Turns out, I didn't have to make a decision.

I went and checked the list today, and I am going to surgery next. Someone made the decision, and I don't have to crack my head thinking whether or not I am doing the right thing.

Here is something I received in my mail the other day.............

_________________________________________________________________
It's not difficult to make a woman happy.

A man only needs to be:

1. a friend

2. a companion

3. a lover

4. a brother

5. a father

6. a master

7. a chef

8. an electrician

9. a carpenter

10. a plumber

11. a mechanic

12. a decorator

13. a stylist

14. a sexologist

15. a gynecologist

16. a psychologist

17. a pest exterminator

18. a psychiatrist

19. a healer

20. a good listener

21. an organizer

22. a good father

23. very clean

24. sympathetic

25. athletic

26. warm

27. attentive

28. gallant

29. intelligent

30. funny

31. creative

32. tender

33. strong

34. understanding

35. tolerant

36. prudent

37. ambitious

38. capable

39. courageous

40. determined

41. true

42. dependable

43. passionate

44. compassionate

WITHOUT FORGETTING TO:

45. give her compliments regularly

46. love shopping

47. be honest

48. be very rich

49 not stress her out

50. not look at other girls

AND AT THE SAME TIME, YOU MUST ALSO:

51. give her lots of attention, but expect little yourself

52.. give her lots of time, especially time for herself

53. give her lots of space, never worrying about where she goes

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT:

54. Never to forget:* birthdays* anniversaries* arrangements she makes

HOW TO MAKE A MAN HAPPY

1. Show up naked

2. Bring alcohol

HELP!

2010-03-28T21:00:00.002+08:00

I am SO confused.

Here I am - in my 4th posting going on to my 5th.
I am left with Surgical and A+E.
All my close friends are going to surgical, so obviously that is where I would want to go to.

Last Friday, I was told that I will be going to Anaesth with 14 others, none of whom I am really close with.
I was supposed to go to A+E, but since they are too full, half of us are going to be put in Anaesth.

Here's the thing.
If I go to Anaesth now and then surgical later, I would be alone, with no close friends. Since working with non-friends are no fun as what I am experiencing right now, I am tempted to try to change my next posting to surgical.

But then, I also would like to try on Anaesth. As I have mentioned before, I have actually considered going into Anaesth after I finish my housemanship, so this would be a good exposure. And I am afraid that if I let this chance pass me by, I won't get to know whether or not I really enjoy being in Anaesth. (Plus, as a good friend told me, I can make new friends)

However, missing A+E is also a loss. A+E is a whole different world. You see patient who are in need of urgent help, you learn how to treat acute patients, where every minute really makes a difference. (Patients are usually stabilized in the A+E before being sent to the wards)
If I go to Anaesth, then I would miss the A+E training.

So, now you see why I confused?
What should I do?
What would you do?

A Short Story From Long Ago

2010-03-23T21:02:00.003+08:00

A long time ago, my Aunt bought 2 sarees - one for herself, and one for my Mom.

She was wondering which one to give to my Mom, and told us (me and my cousins) that she liked saree A more than B.

She ended up giving my Mom saree A.

I asked her why she did that; why didn't she keep the saree that she liked for herself?

Her answer was " You should always give people something that you would really want/like for yourself".

I don't know why I remembered this story today - just thought it is worth sharing.

A Good Joke

2010-03-12T20:04:00.000+08:00

A drunk man who smelled like beer sat down on a subway next to a priest.
The man's tie was stained, his face was plastered with red lipstick, and
a half-empty bottle of gin was sticking out of his torn coat pocket.

He opened his newspaper and began reading.

After a few minutes the man turned to the priest and asked, 'Say Father, what causes arthritis?'

The priest replies, 'My Son, it's caused by loose living, being with cheap, wicked women, too much alcohol, contempt for your fellow man, sleeping around with prostitutes and lack of a bath.'

The drunk muttered in response, 'Well, I'll be damned, ' then returned to his paper.

The priest, thinking about what he had said, nudged the man and apologized. 'I'm very sorry. I didn't mean to come on so strong. How long have you had arthritis?'

The drunk answered, 'I don't have it, Father. I was just reading here that the Pope does.'

My Name Is Khan

2010-03-11T19:17:00.002+08:00

I do not have a favourite actor or actress.

However, there are some actors or actresses whose movies I would refuse to watch because I just can't stand their acting and there are times where I watch a particular movie because of who is acting.

The only reason I went to the cinema to watch My Name Is Khan is because of Shah Rukh Khan.

I have always liked his movies for two reasons - because he is a really good actor and because his movies are mostly feel good movies, with lots of jokes.

I was cheated.

The movie was not at all funny.
It is not a feel good movie.

In fact, it is a sad movie - S.U said she cried twice while watching the movie and would have cried a third time if only she had not been distracted with something else while Dhar said she cried continuously during the movie.

I LOVED the movie.

It is not at all what I expected it to be.

There were no stupid fighting scenes.

Everyone acted brilliantly.

Kajol looked LOVELY.

The story was beautiful.

The whole thing was very well done.

I wonder why it's not playing in TGV and GSC Ipoh - I watched it in the Lotus cinema.

I am not going to spoil the movie for you by telling you the story - you have to watch it for yourself.

What is the point of this whole post?

GO WATCH 'MY NAME IS KHAN'!

I will be watching it again, soon.

The Working World

2010-01-28T21:25:00.004+08:00

Dear future Housemen,

There are some things I think you should know before you start your new life in the hospital. All of it is actually just basic common sense, but my friends and I have seen one too many HOs who seem to lack in these areas.

First of all, you have to be aware of the fact that the profession you chose is not an easy one. You will be getting scoldings from you specialists, your MOs, sometimes you colleagues and even your patients. You will have to work 7 days a week, 7am to 5pm (at least) and you will have to do oncalls. If you think that you cannot handle these, then please just quit before you start.

You are just a housemen. You are nothing. Nothing you do is actually going to save a patients life - if a patient is really ill, it is usually the MO and specialist who will do the saving. You are just a pawn. You do what they tell you to do. You just HELP. All you are expected to do is to not kill a patient, to not make a patient's condition worse.

So, please, don't be arrogant. Don't think that just because you graduated you are to be looked up upon. The title 'Doctor' is nothing, unless you have your work to prove yourself.

Just think about it this way - if your parents are unwell, will you treat them yourself or take them to the specialist? The day you think you can treat your parents yourself without feeling inadequate, then be arrogant, be snobbish, be whatever you want. But as long as you think you would like the opinion of someone else for your parents, try to be a bit more humble.

The MOs and specialists may scold you sometimes - usually it is your fault, something you did wrong. When they do so, try to look remorseful, try to be sorry, DO NOT ANSWER BACK!! Most of the time, they are right. They have years and years of experience. If you think you are right, say so properly, politely, and they will listen. If you are wrong, just say sorry - is that so hard to do?

Your colleagues will be the ones teaching/guiding you during your early days. Be nice to them. If they are telling you something, LISTEN! DO NOT answer back to them, talk to them sarcastically, because trust me, they will just stop teaching you stuff, and you are the one who will regret it later. Even once you are senior housemen, you will need your colleagues, because you will not know everything, you cannot do everything. Work is about teamwork, and your team is your colleagues.

Please be proactive. If you want to learn to set a branula, then whenever there is a branula to set, volunteer to set it, to try. Don't keep quiet and wait for people to offer to teach you. The same goes for any other procedures - ask your friends to teach you. If you don't ask, then you will never know. Why would anyone want to answer a question before it is asked?

Please try not to take unplanned leaves. Yes, I know you used to bunk classes whenever you felt like it, I did it too - but absences in classes never affected anyone else. When you are working in a ward with other people, each person matters, the workload differs. You may think that one person is not going to make much of a difference, but imagine if 2 or 3 people in the ward think the same way? Who is then supposed to do the work? Nobody is denying you leave - just plan your leave earlier. Yes, you can fall sick, you can have an emergency - no one is stopping you then, but then if you take emergency leave 2-3 times a month, obviously no one will like it.

The thing is, once you give someone a bad impression, it stays that way for a LONG time. Because people talk. Housemen, MOs, specialists, it makes no difference - they will all talk behind your back. And once you spoil your name this way, people will be extra mean to you, extra unhelpful and they would rather you not be in you ward, because then that ward won't have a good team.

One more thing, I'm sure that you have heard of the phrase 'the customer is always right'. Patients are your customers. Be nice. Yes, they can be irritating, they can be rude, but try to be nicer to them - they are just worried. If you don't think you can be polite to them, then get your friend to talk to them. Don't say things that you will regret later, because patients have be known to complain about doctors too - and this will go into your record, which is unerasable, no matter how good you turn out to be later.

I am not saying that everyone is bad. Most of the housemen are OK, but there are a few that even we Housemen cannot 'tahan', I wonder how the MOs and specialists feel.

Please dear future doctors, don't make people hate you.

A Reason To Be Happy

2010-01-27T22:05:00.003+08:00

In a way, today felt like Deepavali.

Finally, our ward received a new stock of syringes and gloves etc.

In the beginning, we lacked sterile gloves.

Then non-sterile gloves.

For the past few days, you would be lucky if you can find any gloves at all!!

It has been more than a month since we had 10cc syringe.

Let me tell you why you need 10cc syringe.

When a patient is admitted to the ward, here are a few basic investigations:

1. FBC - 2cc

2. RP/LFT - 1cc

3. RBS - 1 to 2 cc

4. PT/INR - 2cc

Which comes to 7 cc.

So, how do you use a 5cc syringe to take the blood?

2 choices - prick the patient twice, or you use a 5cc syringe and take the blood and then remove the syringe from the needle and in place put in another syringe (don't take the needle off from the patient). The first way, the patient will hate you, the 2nd way, you are at a risk of needle prick injury - so, which would you choose?

Branulas are hard to get too - someone made the wrong orders and certain wards have this horrible branula which is SO hard to use!

Tegaderm - another almost extinct thing - nowadays we just use plaster.

Thankfully, today we received our stock.

I really felt happy to see the PPK pushing the trolly full of stuff today.

Anyway, quote of the day, by Dr. LYF - "Only 2 things in life is certain - death and income tax".

The Wedding Test

2010-01-26T22:10:00.003+08:00

A story from a forwarded mail :

I was a very happy person. My wonderful girlfriend and I had been dating for over a year, and so we decided to get married. There was only one little thing bothering me…...It was her beautiful younger sister.

My prospective sister-in-law was twenty-two, wore very tight miniskirts, and generally was bra-less. She would regularly bend down when she was near me, and I always got more than a nice view. It had to be deliberate, because she never did it when she was near anyone else.

One day her 'little' sister called and asked me to come over to check the wedding invitations. She was alone when I arrived, and she whispered to me that she had feelings and desires for me that she couldn't overcome. She told me that she wanted me just once before I got married and committed my life to her sister.

Well, I was in total shock, and couldn't say a word. She said, 'I'm going upstairs to my bedroom, and if you want one last wild fling,
just come up and get me.'

I was stunned and frozen in shock as I watched her go up the stairs. I stood there for a moment, then turned and made a beeline straight to the front door. I opened the door, and headed straight towards my car. Lo and behold, my entire future family was standing outside, all clapping!

With tears in his eyes, my future father-in-law hugged me and said, 'We are very happy that you have passed our little test. We couldn't ask for a better man for our daughter. Welcome to the family.'

And the moral of this story is:

Always keep your condoms in your car.

Age Is Just A Number

2010-01-22T19:30:00.002+08:00

Perks of reaching 50 or being over 60 and heading towards 70!

01. Kidnappers are not very interested in you.

02. In a hostage situation you are likely to be released first.

03. No one expects you to run-- anywhere.

04. People call at 9 pm and ask, did I wake you?

05. People no longer view you as a hypochondriac.

06. There is nothing left to learn the hard way.

07. Things you buy now won't wear out.

08. You can eat supper at 4 pm.

09. You can live without sex but not your glasses.

10. You get into heated arguments about pension plans.

11. You no longer think of speed limits as a challenge.

12. You quit trying to hold your stomach in no matter who walks into the room.

13. You sing along with elevator music.

14. Your eyes won't get much worse.

15. Your investment in health insurance is finally beginning to pay off.

16. Your joints are more accurate meteorologists than the national weather service..

17. Your secrets are safe with your friends because they can't remember them either.

18. Your supply of brain cells is finally down to manageable size.

19. You can't remember who sent you this list.

AND TRY TO ALWAYS REMEMBER ...

Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

(I really like the advice given..:))

How 2009 Ended

2010-01-19T20:21:00.003+08:00

2009 ended with me watching 2 good movies.

I was really, really impressed with Avatar.

I went there with high expectations (because KV couldn't stop talking about it after watching it) and the movie was actually better that I expected!

The animation was really good. It's like being transported to another world!

I just wish I had the chance to watch it in 3D.

The Princess and The Frog was also a good watch.

I watch cartoon movies for 1 reason only - to enjoy the jokes.

The movies that top my favourite cartoon-movie are Shrek (1 and 2, didn't watch 3 I think) and The Emperor's New Groove.

The Princess and The Frog couldn't match these movies, but it was definitely better than some of the other cartoon-movies that came out last year.

___________________________________________________________

I also read a few good books.

You really should try reading Jodi Picoult - somehow, I get SO hooked up with her books once I start reading them. The stories are really issues that will make you think, will make you wonder what you would do in that kind of situation, and will make you wish that you never have to make decisions as hard as that.

Am currently reading Between The Assassinations by Aravind Adiga - something different, something interesting. It centers around the lifes of really poor Indians in India.

Reread Life of Pi by Yann Martel - this time, I paid more attention to the story as I already know what the ending is (am not going to tell you about it); appreciate the book more this time around.

Also read the first two books of the twilight series - didn't find it very addictive as I already know the story (almost the same as the movie), but it's a nice story to read and I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series (am going to make sure that I don't watch the movie first).

_________________________________________________________

Do you guys remember a few years back, there was a period of time where buses kept meeting in accidents and all night buses were cancelled? I wonder when the rules were changed and buses were allowed to operate at night.

And recently, after the bus accident nearby Ipoh, once again the issue was brought up - to not let buses travel at night.

But then, that issue didn't last long and bus rides are still going on as usual.

How about the seatbelt rule - is it still on?

I wonder what's the problem with Malaysia and rules.. we make them, we break them, then we remake them when there is trouble again.

What the &%@# are we trying to do?

Why do we have to wait for something to go wrong before we take action?

_________________________________________________________

Also, it seems like someone brought up the issue about housemen (again) in the newspaper.

I don't know who started it or why - but then there is one group telling we are overworked, getting scolded bla, bla, bla..while another group who thinks that we are too pampered.

The way I see it - the non-doctors, non-nurses think that it is impossible for a person to work for more that 24 hours and function. They think that everyone needs rest, the labour law should be followed, etc. Parents of housemen would also feel pity for their children - it's natural - all parents want their child to come back home and ~~chill~~ talk to them rather than immediately fall asleep, right?

On the other hand, MOs and specialists have gone through worse times - times where they had less than half the number the housemen that we have now, times where they have to handle more things and get less pay. Do you expect them to sympatise on you? They used to do 15 calls a month, and now you are complaining because you have 6 calls a month? Doesn't make sense if we complain, right?

_______________________________________________________

Anyway, 2010 is here and I am *gasp* 26!

Actually, it makes no difference to me.

20, 26 - age is just a number, right?

But I still can't take it when my nephews or nieces call me Aunty - just makes me feel ancient..I'm not that old, am I?

Somehow, the years have passed by so fast.

Sometimes, I feel like time just flew after I completed my SPM.

I don't make new year resolutions because I know that I would never be able to stick to them.

Somehow, when something becomes a necessity, it is harder to do it.

For instance - when I was younger, I used to beg my Mum to let me iron the clothes- it just looked like so much fun.

But then, once I was older and was expected to do the ironing - it just became a chore, something I didn't like to do.

Weird, huh..

Well, am oncall tomorrow - actually looking forward to it 'cos am oncall with a really, really nice MO. :)

My New 'Toy'

2010-01-14T19:34:00.004+08:00

Recently, I have had a problem with my laptop.
I couldn't use it 'normally'. The screen has to be tilted to a certain position to be used.
If I am lucky, then it can be used at a 60 degree angle, but usually it can only be used in an angle of about 45 degree.
Trust me, that is a really uncomfortable and painful way of using a laptop.

So, finally, I decided to get a new laptop.
After all, I have been using the laptop for about 8 years now, the CD player has been non-functioning for like forever and I only have limited memory in the laptop.

So, after a couple of calls to my 'computer consultant' I settled on DELL Inspiron.
I ordered it online and it arrived yesterday!!
Unfortunately, I am just too lazy to upload a picture - it's just a black laptop after all..:P

However, I just feel like my laptop is too empty.
I think I have to save all my photos from all the CDs I have and my old laptop plus put in a few movies and songs - only then it will feel really mine.
For now I am too lazy to do any of the above - some other time lah!

Anyway, here is a video that was sent to me recently. Check it out - it's really quite worth a watch.

Reading Is Better Than Watching

2010-01-03T20:36:00.003+08:00

Many people wonder why I like to read story books.
Some think that reading a story book is a waste of time - time that can be used going out somewhere or watching a movie.

But I don't see it that way.
A good book is anytime better that a good movie.

Both movies and books bring you to another place, another world, into another person's life.
But a story book keeps you there longer.
You feel what the characters are feeling.
You see things from the characters point of view, instead of the cameraman's point of view.
You get more insight on each character.

Sometimes, when I think of a scene, I just can't remember whether the scene was in a movie I watched on in a book I read. So, who is to say that watching a movie is better than reading a book?

When watching a movie, you have to imagine what the character is thinking.
When reading a book, you have to imagine what the scene is like.
For me, I would prefer to be in the characters head - it is more personal that way.

Granted, reading takes up time.
Finishing a decent book would take at least a few hours of non-stop reading.
But to me, it is worth it.
I finish each (good) book feeling contented.
You will too, if you find a book that you really like.

Patients and Patience

2009-12-30T20:07:00.003+08:00

Visiting hours is the worst time to review or take blood from patients.
When you ask the patient a question, the relative will help with the answer.
All of a sudden, you get a heap of complaints, sometimes not from the patients, but from the relatives.

Today, a friend of mine wanted to take blood for a dengue patient,
When he pricked the patient, her daughter was the one 'tsk'-ing in pain (don't know how else to put it).
Won't you find that disturbing?

Another short story - I was reviewing a patient.
I was just going through her previous notes before I started asking her questions when another lady by her side suddenly asked me something (I forgot the question). I answered and continued with my work.

All of a sudden, this lady asks me, u are doctor...and I told my name.
Then, she told me, "I am Dato' XYZ".
I thought, "So?"
Does she think I am going to treat her differently just because she is a Dato'?
Do I have to go around and introduce myself with a Doctor in front?
Come on!
It's not like you were born with it...so why introduce yourself with it?

However, this I MUST say...people do treat you differently based on your profession.
Teachers get respect.
Policemen/policewomen are feared.
Doctors are ...I don't know.
All I know, when I am wearing my labcoat, more people tend to look at me and smile at me compared to when I am not wearing my labcoat.

I just have one message to everyone out there - when/if you are a patient, please remember this few things :
1 - tell us your complaints, no problem, but please, don't go on and on and on! Keep it short and informative.
2- please do not change your answers. There have been many times when when I ask a patient a question, and when the MO or specialist ask the same question, the answer changes. The diagnosis depends on your answer. You give a different answer, the specialist says we didn't get a proper history!
3- please remember that you being in the ward means more work for us - extra 1 person to review, extra 1 person to take blood from, extra one bed occupied. If it were up to us, we would dischage everyone and keep the hospital empty. I am getting SICK of people who tell us that we like keeping them in the ward and not discharging them.
4- if you are given medication, please that them at home. Don't not take your medication, don't default your follow up. In the end, you are the one who is going to suffer - and when you are readmitted for your non-compliance, we will not be as nice to you as we previously are because you simply REFUSE to listen to us!

That's all for now, can't think of anything else.
Stay healthy!

Disappointed!

2009-12-24T20:25:00.002+08:00

Today, for the first time, I got very very frustrated and disappointed with a patient because she was SO DUMB!

I have had patients who can't speak Malay or English.
I have had patients whom seem to be too blur to understand what you say and make you repeat your question many times.
I have never scolded them, never criticized them (at least notto their faces), although I don't understand how anyone can call themselves a Malaysian, and live in Malaysia and not know Malay.

But this patient was just too much.

She is a known case of TB, supposedly completed treatment about 6 years ago.
Came due to cough and SOB (shortness of breath).
X-ray looked really bad - is it the TB again, is it a cancer?
We were not sure - so we decided to get it reported.

I went for reporting - the radiologist wanted her old x-rays to compare with before commenting on the latest x-ray.

I went back to the ward and told the staff nurse to trace her old notes.
The thing is, old notes of 6 years ago is not easy to find.
They told me to call the chet clinic - I did.
The person in the chest clinic said that notes more than 3 years old will be at the record office.

I called the record office, and they said they have her records.
But, they asked me, why don't you want the latest notes?
I was dumbfounded.
Latest notes? She was admitted recently?
Then I told them to just send whatever they can up to the ward.

Guess what - she was admitted twice this year.
The first time was in April - she was admitted for a month, and the 2nd time was an elective admission for bronchoscopy.
The X-ray finding was about the same as what we found this time.

I just went through her old notes randomly - she has had CT abdomen and lungs, she has had a BMA (bone marrow aspiration) done, she has had a bronchoscopy done, she had had a skeletal survey done (basically x-ray of her whole body).
How can she neglect to tell us about all these?
What the &*%$@

Then I went to her and asked her - were you admitted earlier this year?
Then she says yes.
Then her grandchild says yes.
Come on!
How can you forget to mention this when you first came in?

When she was discharged previously, she was given an appointment to follow up in our clinic - claims she didn't come because she lost her appointment later.
ARGH!!!!!!!
What can you do with such people?!!!!

Housemanship and Complaints

2009-12-21T20:42:00.004+08:00

The truth is, we (housemen) have it easy.
Are you surprised that I said that?
Do you think I am crazy?

Think about it - right now, we have about 30-40 HOs per department.
It used to be about 10 last time (by last time, I am talking about 5 years ago).

Nowadays we have about 4-5 HOs per ward - it used to be 1-2 HO per ward.

We have an average of 6-8 calls per month.
Used to be 15 calls per month.

Our pay is higher than before.
Our allowances are more.
And yet, we complain.

Why?
Because it is human nature.

Do you think that we compare ourselves with what the HOs went through last time?
Of course not!

We compare our working hours with those who do a 9am-5pm, 5 day job.
We compare our pay with our friends who are working in different countries or who are doing different jobs.
We compare our call claims with those who get paid per hour - like staff in factories.

And when we compare like that, yes, we are at a loss.
We don't get to sleep late on weekends.
We don't get to take MCs.
We get paid (for oncalls) at a rate of about RM6 per hour on weekends.

I have done my fair share of complainings.

My theory - if life is tough, you learn to cope with it.
E.g - in O&G, when you do the maternity call, you cover the 1st Mat, 2nd&3rd Mat, the high risk ward and also ward 14. When at one point there was a so-called shortage of HOs, only 1 person was oncall to cover all these wards; when there were more HOs, then 2 people did the oncall.
I did 5 maternity calls by myself, and I coped - I did whatever was necessary. Yes, I had to run up and down doing stuff, but I did it. And then I did many other calls with a partner - and again, we managed to do whatever was necessary. We didn't have to hurry that much, that was the only difference.

I guess, as HO, nowadays we tend to take things easy, because we have it easier.
Yes, we are in a way pampered.
Yes, I know we do less work that what the HOs did previously.
Yes, we have more free time.
Yes, we get to go out, get to have a life.

But please, don't blame us for it.
We didn't ask for thousands of us to graduate at the same time.
We were just lucky, I guess - or unlucky, since there are many things that we don't get to learn because of the huge number of us.

What's my point?
I don't know.
As usual, I am just writing whatever is running through my head - and now I seem to be hanging in the middle of nowhere.
*sigh*
(makes you wish you never een started reading it, right?)

I think it's about time I stopped writing.

Am I going to stop complaining?
No.
I am a houseman.
I HAVE to complaint.
That is what we are supposed to do.
:P

Rantings

2009-12-19T21:40:00.003+08:00

Dear Diary,

Today, I feel....alone.
And it's because I am alone.
It's not too bad a thing..I used to love being alone.
I used to enjoy having the whole house to myself.
What changed?
I have no idea.

Yes, I read a story book, a really nice one, one I really enjoyed.
I browsed through facebook.
I played farmville.
I even went to work and went for a wedding after work.
But I still feel empty.
Something is missing.

I really feel like talking, having a good chat, but then whom to talk to?
Somehow, today everyone has something going on.
It's not like I am blaming anyone, but it's how life is, huh?
At one point, it seems like you have no time to 'layan' everyone, and at another time it seems like no one has time to 'layan' you.

Sometimes, I really don't know what I want.
At times, I just want to be left alone. I want to be free to do whatever I want.
And sometimes, I just want to have something to do, something to keep me occupied.

Argh..what am I crapping?
Maybe all I need is sleep.
Maybe.

It's All About Sex

2009-12-08T21:00:00.004+08:00

In the past 3 days, 3 different articles caught my attention in The Star.

This is the first one : It's in the genes.
Basically what it was trying to say was that if a couple has almost similar genes - a so-called biological match, then this means they will have better sex, less cheating, longer-lasting love and perhaps even healthier children.

A day after this article was published, a letter was written to The Star, titled 'we reap what we sow in a marriage'.
It was written by a guy, and this is part of what he said:

Having thus married, the maintenance of harmony in the home is entirely in the hands of the newlyweds, though it must be emphasised here that the wife plays a pivotal role in the joint effort for wedded bliss.

If a busy working wife is so preoccupied with her daily working schedule to such an extent that she inadvertently or otherwise neglects to attend to her husband’s natural carnal needs, the seeds of discord are sown in the matrimonial home, opening the doors to the free inflow of serious consequences.

Most husbands in the above situation, understandably, have little or no ability to withstand any wife-imposed sexual starvation and they are thus forced to seek their pleasures in the outside world where a variety of sexual services are readily available around-the-clock.

I have to admit, when I read this, I was pissed off. Does he actually mean what he said? Did he actually think before writing this ~~crap~~? Is he blaming infidelity on women, because the women are not 'attending to their husband's natural carnal needs'?

Today, a reply to his letter was published, Your wife is not like your mother.

Obviously, it was written by a lady. She was, naturally, against what he said. If you are interested in what she had to say, please just click on the link, it's just a short letter.

Anyway, here is what I have to say.

Sometimes, guys just don't understand. It is easy for you guys. Study, graduate then work. Once you think you are ready, get married, have children. Then, you just continue working and plan on making more babies. No one is going to ask you to do anything else.

For the fairer sex, they have to do everything that the guys do. But at the same time, they are expected to do housework and cook and take care of their children. If a child's upbringing is not good, it is the mother's who get the blame first.

I am talking from my own personal experience. A party in my house - the children eat first, naturally. Then, either the women or men eat. Once the women eat, they clean up after themselves. But the guys, they just leave everything, sometimes they don't even wash their plates! Then, the guys continue chit-chatting or watching TV and the women have to clean up.

Come on guys - how many times have you taken a plate from a lady and washed it for her? How many times has a lady washed your plate from you?

If a lady doesn't cook at home, that is an issue. Has anyone questioned a guy why he doens't cook at home even though he has a kitchen? In fact, if a guy says he cooks, everyone says that the wife is a lucky lady. Why is it never vice versa?

All I am trying to say is, more things are expected from women compared to men. Most men don't lift a finger around the house. The lady of the house has to come back from work and do everything herself. At the end of the day, is she expected to be not tired? Is she expected to 'fulfill her husband's carnal needs'?

Guys, if you want it, work for it. Help her with her housework. Let her get some rest. Then maybe you can get some action - if you are still up for it, of course.

P/s I am just talking about guys in general - there are a handful who are nice, who do help around.

Medical, Here I Comes

2009-12-07T20:43:00.002+08:00

It is very rare to get a 'chill' day in the labor room.
Something is always happening.
There is always something to do.

But that day was different.
There really wasn't anything to do.
Even the MO found it weird, but hey, enjoy the moment while it lasts, right?

So, there I was, trying to complete my log book.

Then, I saw my specialist walking in, with a nurse pushing a patient in a wheelchair into suite 1.
Now, suite 1 is our 'special' suite - we only put 'critical' patients in there - patients with severe PE (pre-eclampsia) or IE(impending eclampsia) or patient's with heart disease.

My friend immediately went into suite 1 to see what she can do and do the necessary.
Everyone who comes in will need blood investigations, so I started taking all the tubes necessary (I assumed that it was a PE case) for the blood tests.

I was about to enter the suite when I saw drops of blood on the flood. I stopped, went back to where we kept all the tubes and took another bottle, which was necessary for any patients who are bleeding.

2 others started setting branulas and taking blood.
1 pushed in the scan machine for the specialist.
I started filling up the blood forms.

Specialist scanned - confirmed an abruptio placenta (placenta separated from the uterus wall) and (as we would do in any emergency situation) we prepared for LSCS.

One HO ran for blood, one HO scrubbed in OT.
Baby was out in less than 10 minutes.
__________________________________________________________________

Right now, I can't think of any more stories.
Tomorrow will be my last day in O&G.
I am going to start my medical posting.
As much as I hate tagging, hate starting a new department (it is like learning a new subject alltogether) I am glad I have not been extended.

EMERGENCY!

2009-12-06T19:58:00.002+08:00

It was a busy day in the labor room.
All 8 suites were full.
There are 4 beds in the ABC - we even had to put patients in active labor there.

One MO was in the OT.
Another one was running around in the labor room.

Then, suite 7 had prolonged 2nd stage (basically, the baby was not coming out as fast as it was supposed to).

MO consulted specialist, decided for vacuum.
While the vacuum was being done for suite 7, one patient in ABC had fetal bradycardia.
MO was busy, told one of us to call the specialist.

Called specialist, specialist came over.
Suite 7 delivered by then.
Specialist decided that the patient in ABC should go for vacuum.
She started to prepare for vacuum, but we couldn't really get a CTG reading for the baby.

The ultrasound machine was pushed in.
The fetal heart rate was really slow.
Specialist decided then and there - LSCS NOW!

Preparations were made for LCSC (thank God the other LSCS in the OT was over).
Patient was pushed in as fast as possible.
Paeds team told to standby.
Baby was out in less than 5-10minutes I think.
Baby born crying.
Hurray!!

Came out to labor suite - suite 1 also had prolonged 2nd stage - another vacuum delivery.

That day, we had SO many deliveries that there were about 12 babies in the baby room at one time (usually we have about 4).
____________________________________________________________

It was 4am. I was oncall.

The CTG for patient in suite 7 showed some fetal deceleration (I think it was Type II).
My friend did everything that was necessary, but nothing worked.
And patient had some bleeding.

My MO was in the VE room.
I decided that we shouldn't wait for him to come in.
I tore off the CTG and went straight to him.

MO wasn't very worried, but he attended to patient.
Hmm..why was patient bleeding, he wondered out loud.

He did a VE.
His face changed.
2 words - cord prolapse (basically the umbilical cord has fallen out).
Everyone rushed to do whatever necessary - inflate bladder, raise buttock, prepare for LSCS.
I ran and called the other MO who was oncall.
Ran into OT.
Baby delivered within 5 minutes - not crying at first, but was eventually OK.

The Labor Room

2009-12-05T22:25:00.002+08:00

O&G was not like the other postings.
There were more emergencies. More excitement.

It's because in the other 2 postings that I went through, Paeds and Ortho, all cases are screened in the A&E before they come to the ward. If the patient is unstable, they are stabilized before being sent to the ward.

In O&G, the labor room is our A&E. All pregnant ladies are sent there (very few are sent to the A&E). So, you see and play a part in managing emergencies in the labor room.

It's not to say that you see an emergency very often, but you see it enough.

There are some stories that I would like to share..these are the things I saw, my experiences. They are better stories, but then I wasn't part of it, so can't really tell those stories properly, so most probably won't be telling them.
(I will try my best to tell it as simple as possible, but am not going to explain everything (cos then it would take very long), so if you are curious enough, please google for it)
____________________________________________________

My MO was doing a Caesarean Section (LSCS) in the OT. Our specialist(S) was doing rounds in the labor room. S received a call and was on the phone, so I decided to go to the VE room (where we clerk patients before deciding whether to admit them to the labor room or to the ward or to discharge them) to see if there were any patients to clerk.

One lady was there, doing CTG (cardiotocography - to see the fetal heart activity). It was her 5th pregnancy, and she had already delivered 4 children via SVD (vaginal delivery). She came due to contraction pain.

I asked her all the questions I needed to ask, and then left her to finish the CTG (which takes about 20 minutes) and started writing down the clerking. She came after completing her CTG and looked quite uncomfortable, so I decided to do a VE first before proceeding with the clerking.

I did all the necessary examination and then did the VE (vaginal examination). I was shocked!! I felt a feet, and I could feel the whole feet. I panicked, and told my friend to call the MO.

I waited for my friend for what I felt like eternity. Then, I decided that I can't wait any longer. I told the lady to just lie down and not push and ran into the labor suite myself. Then I was told that there were no MOs around, only the S.

I went straight to the S, and told, Dr. L, there is a patient in the VE room, feet presentation. The S immediately came with me and attended to the patient. Confirming the presentation, she said prepare for LSCS (which mean you have to take her blood, set line, get the op consent and blood consent and send the booking slip).

But we only have one MOT. Dr. L decided that she would go into the OT to finish up the op that was going on so that this lady can be pushed in faster, before this baby decides to come out. At the same time, there was another emergency inside the labor room, a fetal distress. That makes it 2 LSCS waiting with one OT occupied.

The solution - fetal distress was sent to GOT (an ambulance will bring the patient to the main building for that) and feet presentation will go in after either of the LSCS (whether in MOT or GOT) is done.
________________________________________________________________

I didn't expect 1 story to be that long!
Although now, I feel it's not as exciting as when it was happening.
Will try a different story tomorrow.
Hopefully that will sound better once written down.
Good night!

Boob-Staring Is Good For You?

2009-12-05T12:02:00.003+08:00

Spotted in The Star today..

HERE’s a simple “secret” to ensure longevity for men – stare at women’s breasts for 10 minutes a day to live an additional five years.

Both Sin Chew Daily and China Press reported that a German research published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that men ogling at breasts for 10 minutes a day was equivalent to a 30-minute gym workout.

Sin Chew Daily reported yesterday that the team had spent five years researching 200 men.

Results showed that men who liked to stare at women’s breasts have lower blood pressure, suffer less cardiovascular disease and have slower heart beat.

The daily also quoted gerontologist Dr Karen Weatherby as saying that sexual desire ensured better blood circulation and led to better health.

However, it was reported that reporters had attempted to search the article in the journal’s website but failed. Thus, there were doubts whether there was indeed such an article in the journal.

______________________________________________________________

I guess all men can now cancel their gym membership and buy porn videos instead.

The Child In Me

2009-12-01T15:37:00.004+08:00

I am not allowed to take more than 4 days off (including the weekend) at the end of my posting. Since I had an extra day to spare, I took today off.

As anyone who has a day off would do, I woke up only at 10am.

Wondering what to do (besides filling up my log book and cpd book and skt form - all of which I am yet to do), I decided to go to Jusco, just for window shopping.

Then I thought that today would be a good time to get myself a handbag and a pair of jeans - something I have meant to do for quite some time now. I expected Jusco to be empty, but was rather surprised to see that quite a number of people were there. It's the weekday - how come so many people have nothing else to do during weekdays?

Thankfully though, the crowd was not too bad and I went ahead with my mission. I walked in and out of many, many shops to no avail - couldn't find anything that I liked enough to buy. Just about then, I gave up.

Then I remembered that I have not yet bought my niece a birthday present (her birthday was ages ago) and decided to get her something.

I thought of getting her a pencil box with stationery, but another shop caught my attention. The shop had some interesting stuff, and I ended up buying some coloring like thingy from the shop for my niece.

But that was not all.
Suddenly, I felt like doing some 'art work' myself.

And so, here is what I bought for myself.

The end result :
Not too bad for a first timer, right? :P

p/s I am planning to give it to someone, the someone should be able to guess by now that it is for him/her.

Cinema, Cinema, Cinema

2009-11-30T22:32:00.002+08:00

I had no idea that 2012 is SO popular until I tried getting tickets for it.

I tried on the 21st...no luck.

I tried on the 22nd...no tickets available.

Frustrated, we decided to go for Christmas Carol instead.
I was really looking forward to the movie because of Jim Carrey..but in the end, came out from the movie rather disappointed.
You would already know how the story ends right from the beginning of the movie!

Back to 2012 - I thought, that after about 3 weeks, the tickets would be a little bit easier to get.

I thought wrong.

Last Saturday, I went to get tickets at 12pm, and the only tickets available was at 12.30am, that too, the front 2 rows.
Since Rajiv and KR were already in Ipoh, we decided to just get the 2nd row seats and go for the movie.
(Best part, I was oncall on Sunday.)

I have to admit - the special effects was cool. They must have really worked hard to get it to be the way it is.
But then, the story is kind of predictable. Someone realized that the end of the world was near. Plans were made to ensure the continuity of the species. Disaster struck. Plan worked.

Someone at the cinema commented that they could have just bought a CD and watched it at home. I don't agree. Movies with special effects like this should be watched in a cinema. Only then it will be properly appreciated.

My next movie on my list-of-movies-I-want-to-watch is The Princess and The Frog. Waiting for it to be released. Hope the tickets won't be as hard to get as 2012 (I still don't get what the big fuss is about).

Before You Get Married

2009-11-28T11:37:00.002+08:00

I received this via e mail the other day...I think it is a good one, which every guy should read..:)

Tomorrow you may get a working woman, but you should marry her with these facts as well.

Here is a girl, who is as much educated as you are;
Who is earning almost as much as you do;

One, who has dreams and aspirations just as
you have because she is as human as you are;

One, who has never entered the kitchen in her life just like you or your Sister haven't, as she was busy in studies and competing in a system that gives no special concession to girls for their culinary achievements

One, who has lived and loved her parents & brothers & sisters, almost as much as you do for 20-25 years of her life;

One, who has bravely agreed to leave behind all that, her home, people who love her, to adopt your home, your family, your ways and even your family name.

One, who is somehow expected to be a master-chef from day #1, while you sleep oblivious to her predicament in her new circumstances, environment and that kitchen

One, who is expected to make the tea, first thing in the morning and cook food at the end of the day, even if she is as tired as you are, maybe more and yet never ever expected to complain; to be a servant, a cook, a mother,
a wife, even if she doesn't want to; and is learning just like you are as to what you want from her; and is clumsy and sloppy at times and knows that you won't like it if she is too demanding, or if she learns faster than you.

One, who has her own set of friends, and that includes boys and even men at her workplace too, those, who she knows from school days and yet is willing to put all that on the back-burners to avoid your irrational jealousy, unnecessary competition and your inherent insecurities.

Yes, she can drink and dance just as well as you can, but won't, simply because you won't like it, even though you say otherwise.

One, who can be late from work once in a while when deadlines, just like yours, are to be met.

One, who is doing her level best and wants to make this most important relationship in her entire life a grand success, if you just help her some and trust her;

One, who just wants one thing from you, as you are the only one she knows in your entire house - your unstinted support, your sensitivities and most importantly - your understanding, or love, if you may call it.

But not many guys understand this......

Please appreciate "HER"

Handle With Care

2009-11-26T20:52:00.004+08:00

For the past 2 days, something has been bugging me.
It made me lose few hours of my sleep last night.
I was wishing that time would move slower just so that I could have more time.

I was reading a book - Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult.
This is the 2nd book of hers that I'm reading, the first being My Sister's Keeper.

The story is about a girl who was born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta - brittle bone disease. Basically, her bone can break anytime, anywhere. A small hit, a slight bump, a slip, even reaching out to something can cause a fracture.

She was diagnosed in-utero, and so her parents and the doctors were prepared for it when she was born. In fact, she already had fractures even when she was in her mother's womb.

She lived with her parents and elder sister.

A visit to Disneyland and a fracture somehow led them to a lawyer's office where the idea of sueing their obstetrician (and best friend) for wrongful birth was put into their head - basically they were going to sue the obstetrician because she did not give them the choice of terminating the pregnancy when they could.

Her parents and sister loved her very much. But they had financial problems and the Mom thought that if they were to sue and were to win, they would have enough money to let the child live a comfortable live, something they were not able to give right now. But it would mean that they will have to say that they wished their child would never have been born.

Mom wanted to sue, Dad didn't.
So Mom sued, and Dad supported the opposing side.
They even wanted to get a divorce.

In the midst of all this, her elder sister had her own problems. She wasn't jealous of the 'heroine', but she did feel left out, after all, she herself is a child. She had her own problems - she lost her best friend, she became bulimic, she started cutting herself.

How would all this end?
Read the book for yourself.
It is really, truly a good read.
Although I didn't particularly like the ending.
Like I said for My Sister's Keeper - too abrupt and end.
And after My Sister's Keeper, this one was a little predictable.

I would definitely try another one of her books just because the way it was written was so good! But I really hope the ending would be something different.

She's Married!

2009-11-25T21:02:00.003+08:00

A good friend of mine got married last weekend.
She was my group-mate from Russia, and I had been planning to go for her wedding ever since I heard about it.

There are a few reasons I wanted to go for the wedding.
1. She is my friend, and she is getting married (duh!)
2. I had leave that I could spare.
3. I knew that if I went for the wedding, I would be meeting my other friends as well.

And I did all 3!

Not all of my friends were there, some were tagging and some couldn't take leave. But I had friends who came all the way from JB and Kedah for the wedding!

I think all of us had a good time just chatting and catching up. We were one of the few who sat at the table even after finishing eating.

I didn't realize up to then how comfortable I felt with these people, friends I 'acquired' in Russia.

They are people I had lived with for 6 years.
They have seen me in my pajamas (which is basically what I wear in my room whether sleeping or not).
They probably have seen me asleep.
They have seen me sick.
(Of course they have seen me awake and healthy as well)

We have gone for classes together.
Gone for picnics together.
Made fun of lecturers together.
Celebrated birthdays together.
Cooked and eaten together.
We have even ponteng classes together!

These were the people I saw everyday, day in, day out for 10 months in a year.
We may not have been the closest of friends, but we were more than just friends. Something more or less like family.

And now, we work in different hospitals in Malaysia.
It's been more than a year since I've seen them.
And yet, I still feel close to them.
Still feel that I can talk to them freely.
I don't know how to explain how I felt that day, how I feel today.
I miss them, that much I know.

My Arm Still Hurts....A Little

2009-11-24T19:11:00.003+08:00

Not too long back, H1N1 was one of the many hot topics we had.
Nowadays, you rarely hear about H1N1.

However, I have heard of people talking about the 2nd wave of H1N1, more 'deadly' than the previous virus.
True or not, I have no idea.

But then, our hospitals now already have the H1N1 vaccine in stock.
And it is free for us, health personnels.

I will be finishing O&G soon.
I will be going to either medical, A&E or surgical.
I am hoping that I will go into medical.
If so, I would be meeting many patients who might be having the so called 2nd wave of H1N1.

Although I think H1N1 is over-rated, but there is no harm in getting a vaccine, right?
So, that is what I did.
I got myself the vaccine last Friday.

However, there is one vaccine that I have not decided whether or not to take.
The HPV vaccine.

HPV is basically a sexually transmitted infection, which in the female population can cause cervical cancer.
The vaccine is actually quite a recent discovery, but is said to be protective against the cancer.

Yes, I really think it is a good vaccine, as in, it is quite beneficial.
But it costs RM200 per dose, and one has to put 3 doses which comes to a total of RM600!!

RM600!
Which is why I am still thinking whether or not to get the vaccine for myself.
Do I really need it? :P

Sleeping Like A Pig!

2009-11-20T22:07:00.002+08:00

I was done with my assessment last week.
I did my OT list last week.
I prepared for my presentation last week and presented it last Tuesday.
I had only 2 calls in the last week.
But it's been a week since my last post.

Why?

Because I was busy with my story book..
The Girl Next Door by Elizabeth Noble.

It is about the lives of the tenants of an apartment building in New York.

I like the book mainly for 2 reasons.

1. The story is about the lives of many different people, so there are many different stories, not just one character, one issue. It's like many small stories in one book.

2. The book is written in such a way, where you get to be in each of the characters head. In each chapter, there are many sub-chapters, where the story is told from different point of views. Since I always like snooping into other people's head, of course I would enjoy the book!

Nowadays, I am taking quite long to finish reading my books because I tend to sleep very early every day. I am no more willing to compromise on my sleep to read, unlike the times when I was still studying. I remember sitting up till 4am just to finish reading a story book, when I had to go to school the next day.
(This is where I am supposed to say "those were the days", but I won't, because I think that makes me sound old!)

Well, things change. Priorities change. Life goes on. Right?
Right.

I Do, I Do, I Do

2009-11-13T20:48:00.003+08:00

I love reading.

Sometimes, I am in the mood for something funny and light. A book that I know will have a happy ending and will leave me in a good mood.
Sometimes, I prefer to read something more serious, more heartfelt.

When I want a feel-good book, I usually go for the 'little black dress' collection.
I don't even bother reading the summary at the back of the book most of the time.
If the cover looks nice, then I buy it, because I know that the story will be nice.

So, that is why I bought 'I Do, I Do, I Do'.
I started reading it a few days ago.

Starting to read a new book is always interesting.
You never know what to expect.
There are many ways a story can go.
You have to read at least a few chapters before you get the flow of the story and get engrossed in it.
Which is why you usually get addicted to books only after reading it for quite some time.

Halfway through this book, I decided that I didn't like it.
It had way too much description.
There was not much drama.
There was not much story.

I'll give you an example.
At one point, the heroine wanted to buy a bike.
She went to the person selling the bike.
The guy told her to go for a test ride.
She took the bike.
They described the whole route she took, the things she saw.
She reached another small town.
She felt thirsty.
She took the bike and rode to a shop.
She bought a drink.
She had the drink.
She rode all the way back to the owner.
She thanked the owner.
She walked back home.
(All these things were told in detail, constituting to almost a whole chapter!)

I could have summarized the whole thing in 2 sentence.
"She wanted to buy the bike and so she approached the owner. She took the bike for a test ride and after that, went back home."
Does this change anything in how you would understand the story? NO!!

Well, anyway, I've finished the book now and moved on to my next book.
Hope this one will be better (am reading something more serious this time around).

All In A Day's Work

2009-11-10T18:40:00.004+08:00

2 things happened at work today which I would like to share here.

Story 1

There are some cases which are done in elective OTs. For these cases, dates are given in advance, so the patient can prepare and just get admitted 1 or 2 days before their op. They would usually see the anaesthetist prior to the op.

About 2 weeks ago, Dr. Z gave me the list for 16th of this month, and told me to call all the patients scheduled for op that day and pre-pone the cases to another date because Dr. A who is supposed to be doing the op won't be around.

There were 3 names on the list.
1 could not be contacted.
My friend,L, managed to contact one of the people on the list.
And I managed to contact one of the people on the list.
L documented in all the tickets regarding the change of dates.

The patient I contacted said that she was in another state and had some family matters and so would prefer to postpone the op.
I got her a new date and called her back and gave her the new date.

Today, I received a call from Dr. Z regarding the patient that I called.
The patient came for a routine check up at our clinic today and claimed that no one called her, and she did not know that the date has been changed.

So, I went down to the clinic myself.
She was talking in a loud voice, angrily, demanding to know who was it that said that she has been informed.
I told her that it was me.

She turned to me and said, "Excuse me, but not one called me..."
I didn't let her finish (sensing that she would probably never finish talking) and said "I called you, and you said you were in ...... because ........)

She stopped talking.
Dr. Z got a call asking him to go to the OT and he took the chance and escaped.
The lady started mumbling something about mixing up this and that and finally said that she thought it was the dental doctor calling her about her dental appointment.
(I remember clearly, telling her that I was calling her regarding her O&G surgery, but I just let it pass).

She was finally given a new date, but up to the end, she did not admit that she did a mistake and she did not apologize for raising her voice - she said that she had a miscommunication with me and that was it. At one point, she was basically trying to blame me, saying I did not clearly say that I called regarding her O&G surgery.

ARGH!!

Story 2

A lady was referred from the A&E.

Single, 19 year old.
Fainted somewhere.
BP in A&E was low.

Came to the ward, BP was normal.
But she seemed to be lethargic.
Able to answer questions though.

When her mother was not around, we asked about her sexual history, and she admitted to having sexual intercouse last month - never had sex prior to that.
Said her last period was last month.
That history, combined with the fact that her urine test was positive for pregnancy and that she has left sided abdominal pain, we thought of ectopic pregnancy, naturally.

Then, we saw the A&E notes, and they suspected an abruptio placenta, with a pregnancy of about 32 weeks.
We were shocked.
What?
We palpated the stomach - 2 of us did- nope, can't feel the uterus.

Specialist came for rounds at the same time - bring the scan machine, he said.
He scanned.
It was a pregnancy of about 34 weeks.

The MO laughed at us.
"How do you guys take history?"
"How do you guys examine the abdomen"

Embarassing.
Yet, funny.
Patient was eventually sent to the labour room.
(she still insisted that she had her menses last month)
Haih....

Thoughts To Ponder

2009-11-06T20:08:00.003+08:00

1. If time doesn't wait for you, don't worry! Just remove the damn battery from the clock and Enjoy life!

2. Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person is like expecting the lion not to attack you because you are a vegetarian. Think about it.

3. Beauty isn't measured by outer appearance and what clothes we wear, but what we are inside. So, try going out naked tomorrow and see the admiration!

4. Don't walk as if you rule the world, walk as if you don't care who rules the world! That's called Attitude! Keep on rocking!

5. Every lady hopes that her daughter will marry a better man than she did and is convinced that her son will never find a wife as good as his father did!

6. He was a good man. He never smoked, drank had no affair. When he died, the insurance company refused the claim. They said, he who never lived, cannot die!

8. So many options for suicide: Poison, sleeping pills, hanging, jumping from a building, lying on train tracks, but we choose Marriage, slow but sure!

9. Only 20 percent boys have brains, rests have girlfriends!

10. All desirable things in life are either illegal, banned, expensive or married to someone else!

11. Drinking is our biggest enemy- Jawaharlal Nehru
We should learn to love our enemies- Mahatma Gandhi
Now, whom to follow and which one to choose?

12. 10% of road accidents are due to drunken driving. Which means - it a logical statement that 90% of accidents are due to driving without drinking!!

What Would Your Choice Be?

2009-11-03T20:14:00.003+08:00

Ever since I started O&G, one thing has been running through my mind - for Caesarean or for SVD (vaginal delivery).

No, it's not like I am planning to get pregnant anytime soon.
But then, seeing pregnant women everyday, I can't help but wonder what I would choose were I the one pregnant.

SVD is of course the better choice - it is the natural way, and it is how it is meant to be.
But then, it is also associated with a lot of pain - some say equivalent to 'shitting out a watermelon'.
Sometimes, I see ladies in so much pain, and I wonder if that is what I want.
Although, some of the staff nurses (who have given birth) said that the pain is all in the mind.

Of course, there is the choice of epidural.
Painless birth.
Labor can take the whole day long, and you won't feel a thing.

But then, if it is your first child, and you don't feel pain, you just don't know how to push and when to push.
Which is why quite a number of primigravidas (first time pregnant women) tend to go into poor progress. When a labor is in poor progress, there are 2 choices - for forceps/vacuum or to go for caesar.

Then let's talk about vacuum/forceps delivery - big episiotomy wound, possible 'marks' on the baby's face. If you fail vacuum/forceps, then you go for Caesar.

Oh, that reminds me - if you choose SVD, then you have to have an episiotomy done, especially if it is your 1st delivery. Extra pain.

Now, let's talk about Caesarean section.

You will be under spinal/general anaesthesia.
No pain during the op.
But then there will be pain after the op.

Recovery time is longer.
Possibility of operative complication - injury to bladder, ureters, colon.
Possibility of post-op complication - infection.
What if something goes wrong intra op?
There is also an increase of risk for placenta previa or placenta accreta/increta/percreta during your subsequent pregnancies.

But then, think about it - if you choose SVD, and then let's say you go into poor progress,or if there is fetal distress and eventually you have to go for C-section, then it is double the pain and suffering. Right?

My friend said that you should at least give SVD a try first.
If it really doesn't work out, then too bad.

Most of the MOs and specialist would say go for SVD.
But there are still some who say they would elect for Caesar.
You see how confusing life is?

So, which would you choose?

I Did It!

2009-11-01T14:51:00.005+08:00

Yesterday I went for a party - the Perak MMA (Malaysian Medical Association) Night (I don't know what is the proper name for the event).

I didn't really know what to wear, but since it was a formal function, I decided to tie a saree.

Now, I call myself an Indian, but I have never ever tied a saree for myself before.
I know how to do it, as in I know you go this way and you do this, but have never tied it for myself, and have no confidence whatsoever in tying it for myself.

So, I asked my room-mate to help me with the trying.
She said OK, but she had a wedding to attend on the same day, in KL, in the afternoon.
Fine with me, the function doesn't start till 7pm anyway.

Yesterday, after work, I had an ultrasound scan teaching, and so I only came back at around 4pm. Since I had the time, I thought - why not just try to tie it myself. Then my room mate can concentrate on getting ready herself.

And so, I tried, and tried and tried.

At 5pm, I gave up and tried calling another friend of mine - she was asleep and did not pick up the phone. Then, I tried another friend, who was at the saloon and so couldnt' help me.

Choiceless (my room mate was delayed in KL) and frustrated, I removed the saree and decided to give it another go.

This time, I somewhat managed to get something that remotely resembles a saree.

I guess it was OK, since it did not fall off even when we were on the dance floor.

Not bad for a first timer..:P

The 'product' of my hard work

Quote of the day - maybe a man will only learn how to swim when he is drowning..

Problem Solver

2009-10-30T22:44:00.002+08:00

I am pretty sure that sometime in your life, you would have heard/read this story, or a story similar to this.

A farmer and his son wanted to sell their donkey in the market.
So, they walked to the market, pulling the donkey along with them.

They passed by a field and met another farmer who called out to them, "What's wrong with the both of you? Why are you walking when you have a donkey that you can ride on?"

The farmer looked at his son and told him to ride on the donkey.
The son obliged.

A while later, they met a lady who was on the way back from the market herself.
"Shame on you, young man," she said. "How can you let your father walk all the way to the market while you are riding on the donkey? Get down this instance and let your father ride the donkey".

The son, red-faced, got down from the donkey and told his father to ride it instead.

Not too long later, they met a couple of farmers who were working on their fields.
"Look at that," one of the farmers said to the other. "The father is having a good time riding the donkey, while his son has to suffer the heat and walk."

The farmer and his son were dumbfounded.
Finally, they decided that they would both ride on the donkey.

The donkey, struggled to walk as the combined weight of the farmer and his son was just too much for him to bear. As it was trying it's best to put one step after another, another farmer walked pass.

"What are the both of you doing? Are you crazy? Can't you see that you are too heavy for the donkey? It is the both of you who should be carrying the donkey to the market, not the other way round."

The farmer and his son then got down of the donkey. After a while, they decided that the donkey is too tired to walk to the market and decided to carry the donkey themselves. They tied the donkey to a stick, upside down, and carried the stick over their shoulders.

The donkey, who had had about enough that day, did not like being upside down. It kicked, and brayed and struggled and managed to get itself free. It then ran away, as fast as it could.

The moral of the story : There is no way you can please everyone.

But then, the story does not really teach us to solve the problem, does it?
It gives so many variants of solutions, but none seems right.
In the end, the donkey escapes.

Problems, however, don't just disappear.
If you don't solve them, they just multiply.

So, what can you do?
Is it actually possible to solve a problem in a way that would make everyone satisfied/happy?

3 Not-So-Simple Tests

2009-10-28T21:58:00.002+08:00

A Short Neurological Test

1- Find the C below.. Please do not use any cursor help.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

2- If you already found the C, now find the 6 below.

99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
69999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999

3 - Now find the N below. It's a little more difficult.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMNMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Supposedly, if you were able to do all 3 tasks, you are not on the verge of getting Alzheimer's. I don't know if it is true or not, but hey...wasn't it fun looking for the hidden word?

Of Statistics And Life

2009-10-26T18:40:00.004+08:00

Let's start with 10000 pregnant woman.

10-25% of them will end up with a miscarriage (we'll take an average of 15%).
Which leaves 8500 viable pregnancies.
There is an average of 8 deaths per 1000 life births.
We now have 8432 babies who survived their 1st week of life.

1:800-1:1000 of these pregnant women will deliver to a baby with Down's syndome.
That leaves about 8424 babies.

About 1:2500 babies will be born with Turner's syndrome.
We are left with 8420.

1:700 will be born with cleft palate.
8408 left.

1:120 will be born with a heart disease.
There's 8338 healthy babies so far.

Spina bifida 1-2:1000.
8324.

1-2 out of 1000 are born autistic.
8312.

There is a long list of other congenital disorders - more than a hundred.
We'll give an average of 1:1000 of each of these disorders.
8212 healthy babies.

8212 healthy babies from 10000 pregnancies.
82 out of 100.
8 out of 10.
4 out of 5.

A father, a mother and their 3 children.
That is 5 people.
1 out of 5 babies are not born, or are born with some anomaly.

Aren't we lucky to not be that 1?

p/s - All the information here are those that I got off the net. I have no idea how trust-able it is.

What The Future Holdsr

2009-10-23T19:46:00.002+08:00

I have to say - I am rather shocked.
Only 5 posts so far this month.
I didn't even realize how fast time flew by this month.

Maybe there was just too many things going on.
Or maybe it's because of the labor room - a place where time just doesn't seem to matter.

One thing I like about the labor room - they (the ladies) come, they deliver, they leave.
We don't have to see the same patients over and over again for a few days and wait for them to get better slowly.
In fact, most of them who come to us are not even sick, they are just delivering, which is a normal process of life!

I have decided that this is what I like - seeing patients for a short while, as in handling a particular patient for a particular moment and then moving on to the next patient.

I don't want to have to wait for a patient to get better over a long period of time.
I want to see, treat and tell the patient that they are well and they can now leave.

So, what field should I get into?

Medical is basically a chronic field- some even say people come there to die.

Kids are just too complicated.

Surgery - not interested.

Ortho is basically surgery - not interested.

O&G - kind of nice, but don't like the surgical part of it, so, once again - not interested.

A&E - never been there, have no idea what it is like. But then, yes, acute management. Either patients come there and die or they get stable enough to be transferred to other wards. But, is there a future in A&E? Why do people say that those who are in A&E are those who can't get into other departments?

Ophthal - can't even do a fundoscopy properly.

ENT - once again - surgery.

Derma - boring?

Anaest - seems interesting. But seems like it needs lots of knowledge - will I be able to know all? What if I can't get a line for a patient? Whom do I turn to?

Did I miss out any departments? I don't think so.

Hmm...I just don't know what I want.

Am I supposed to decide now? Some say that the faster you decide, then the faster you can start to study to become a specialist and so you won't have to be an MO for long (being an MO is NOT EASY!).

Maybe being a chronic MO (being an MO forever) is not too bad (as long as not in a GH).
Maybe be an MO in a KK or district hospital.

Do I even get a choice or will I just be posted out?
I wonder.

Why is life so hard?
So many decisions, so many uncertainties..

Sleep, Sleep

2009-10-18T11:07:00.005+08:00

It's been 1 week since my last blog post.
I've been rather busy, actually - this time, for real.

I have had 2 calls this week.

I have had to go Deepavali shopping.

I went and bought a bus ticket for myself and ended up getting Rajiv to come pick me up in Ipoh.

I went and bought the famous Ipoh kacangs - ended up buying so much - which is why I decided not to take the bus.

I had to study for my assessment which was on Friday morning.
Thank God I passed!!
Thanks to YG, actually, who told me to study about ovarian cyst - if not I would have been dead!

Deepavali eve - Friday, I was postcall and had pm off.
We left Ipoh after lunch and reached Seremban at about 5.30pm.
Then, we went for a Deepavali eve party in Cheras.

After makan, I felt really sleepy and ended up sleeping upstairs, where all the kids were running around and screaming and playing.
My Aunty found it weird that I could actually sleep, but truth be told, I did not hear a single sound.
Even when KR called me up at 12am to wish me Happy Deepavali, I picked up the phone and spoke and don't remember a single thing about it.

Anyway, we left Cheras at about 1-2am and reached home about an hour later.

The next day, Mum cooked at home and I helped.
My Aunties and Uncles and cousins (2 families) came over for lunch.
After lunch, it was sleep time for almost everyone, except for some of us ladies who ended up chatting (read : gossiping).

Here are some shots of the sleeping arrangements - my Dad and his 2 brothers were sleeping upstairs in 3 different rooms.

Cute- right..Notice the feet sticking out from the back of the sofa and the other 'body' sleeping like a guard in front of the door

I think everyone just fell asleep at the spot where they were sitting

That night, there was a Deepavali party in another cousin brother's house in PJ, which we went to. We were back by about 1am today and then I slept, and slept till 10 this morning..a really good sleep!

See, I had perfectly good reason why I didn't blog for such a long time.

By the way, Happy Deepavali everyone!

Me And Cholesterol

2009-10-10T20:40:00.003+08:00

Many of us don't really go around doing routine check ups.
We only go to the doctor when we are unwell and that too, usually after not getting better even after taking Panadol or whatever medicine that we have at home.

However, recently, I took some blood tests for myself.

From the blood tests, I found that:
1. I am not anemic.
2. I don't have diabetes.
3. I have high cholesterol level.

Actually, I kind of expected the high cholesterol level.
You should just see the kind of food I eat everyday.
Chicken and chicken and more chicken.

I love fried stuff, so there is no way I can have a normal cholesterol level, unless I actually starve myself or eat food that I don't like.

For me, eating should be enjoyed.
Which is why, if I don't like a certain food, I don't eat it at all!
Call me choosy, call me picky - whatever. I eat food that I like and that's that! You can't force me to eat something I don't want to.
Opps - I am rather deviating from the topic.

So, I have high cholesterol level.
My roommate, before realizing that the results was mine wanted to start me on Lovastatin.
I guess I have to do something to lower my cholesterol level.

Stop eating my favourite food?
:(

Exercise?
That is spending what little time that I have on something other than the internet and my story book.

I don't know.
Maybe I should just not care.
Hmm...

Or maybe I should eat more of the stuff suggested here.

I think I prefer the last idea.
:)

A Friend In Need..

2009-10-06T21:16:00.002+08:00

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package.

'What food might this contain?'
The mouse wondered -he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning.

'There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!'

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, 'Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it.'

The mouse turned to the pig and told him, 'There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!'

The pig sympathized, but said, 'I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers.'

The mouse turned to the cow and said, 'There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!'

The cow said, 'Wow, Mr. Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose.'

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap-- alone.

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house --like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey.

The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught.
In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught.

The snake bit the farmer's wife.

The farmer rushed her to the hospital and she returned home with a fever. Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient.

But his wife's sickness continued,so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock.

To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.

The farmer's wife did not get well; she died.
So many people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.

The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.

So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn't concern you, remember -- when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk.

We are all involved in this journey called life.
We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another.

THIS IS TO LET YOU ALL KNOW HOW IMPORTANT YOU ALL ARE.
REMEMBER: EACH OF US IS A VITAL THREAD IN ANOTHER PERSON'S TAPESTRY; OUR LIVES ARE WOVEN TOGETHER FOR A REASON.

One of the best things to hold onto in this world is a friend.

A Collapsed Building

2009-10-04T17:47:00.002+08:00

One earthquake.
More than a thousand people dead.
About 3000 people missing.
Thousands of people lost their loved ones.
Thousands don't have a place to stay.

And it all happened in Indonesia - our neighbour.
So near, yet, thankfully, far enough for us not to feel the effect of the disaster.

If you are one of the ones who follow the news closely (or if you live in Ipoh), I am sure you would have heard of the building collapsing a few days ago in Ipoh.
It is literally next to the hospital, just walking distance away, but I only heard about it the next day.
And today, I passed by the place (on the way to buy food) and saw the building for myself.

For some reason, I felt sad, especially thinking about the 2 people who died in the collapse.
It was like a shot out of a movie, the building crumpled down like that.
Really a sad scene to see.

I can only imagine what it looks like in Indonesia right now.
If one collapsed building looks so sad, imagine a whole town of collapsed building, no electricity, no clean water, no food, no shelter and dead/injured people everywhere.
All we do is read about the news, feel sorry for the people who are there.

But imagine if you are there.
Imagine being one of those who lost everything in the quake.
I tried, but I can't. Or maybe I just don't want to.
Why would I want to make myself feel sad, right?

It is really quite devastating, the fact that so many people died.
I often wonder..what do people think the few minutes or seconds before they die.
In this case, who knows how many people were trapped for how long before they died.
What was running through their mind?
Did they know they were going to die?

Those people who died - who knows what plans they had.
It is actually worse for the people who survived - to have to live through the loss of a loved one, loss of all their belongings, having to start life all over again.

And to think, this all happened just about a thousand kilometres (maybe more, maybe less) away from us.

Shut Out From The World

2009-10-02T20:03:00.003+08:00

Finally.
After almost 2 months, now I am at the O&G headquaters - the labor room.

But life in the labor room is isolated.
You are practically there the whole day long.
You don't go out for lunch.
You don't go out to get a drink.
You just sit/walk in there as the day passes by.

It is quite a happening place.
You never know when an emergency will surface.
Sometimes, when you have to be fast, you have to be fast.
Patients get pushed in for caesarean in 5 minutes.
By then, you have to prepare everything - consent, booking slip, make sure bloods taken, make sure blood is available at the blood bank, set line, inform anaest, inform paeds.
You just have to, somehow.

Since life is just labor room and nothing else, I can't think of anything to say.

But I've been getting some rather interesting e mails recently, 2 of which I would like to share..

_________________________________________________________________

The Bathtub Test

During a visit to the mental hospital, I asked the Director 'How do you determine whether or not a patient should be admitted to the hospital.'

'Well,' said the Director, 'We fill up a bathtub, and then we give a teaspoon, a teacup and a bucket to the patient and ask him to empty the bathtub.'

'Oh, I understand,' I said. 'A normal person would use the bucket because it's bigger than the spoon or the teacup.'
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

'No.' Said the Director, 'A normal person would pull the drain plug.

Well... Would you prefer a bed near the window?'

______________________________________________________________

Dan was a single guy living at home with his father and working in the family business.
When he found out he was going to inherit a fortune when his sickly father died, he decided he needed a wife with whom to share his fortune.

One evening at an investment meeting he spotted the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

Her natural beauty took his breath away. "I may look like just an ordinary man," he said to her, but in just a few years, my father will die, and I'll inherit $200 million."

Impressed, the woman obtained his business card and three days later, she became his stepmother.

Women are so much better at financial planning than men!

Do We Need An F1 Team?

2009-09-29T19:41:00.004+08:00

It wasn't until a couple of days ago that I heard that Malaysia is going to have it's own F1 team.

My first response...WHAT??!!
How I feel now...WHAT THE HELL ARE WE THINKING?!

1. What do we get by sponsoring an F1 team?
There is almost zero chance that we are going to win - unless of course if all the other cars crash or have some technical problems.

2. Look at the name we chose - 1Malaysia...
I know that it is supposed to show our togetherness and bla, bla, bla...but isn't it just a bit too much?
Imagine the commentator saying this -
'The 1Malaysia has crashed'.
'1Malaysia failed to finish yet again'.
Of course, it would be wonderful to hear 'As expected, 1Malaysia has won the race yet again!', but how often do you think we would get to hear that?

Another thing that caught me by shock - our driver.
Alex Yoong.
It's not that he is horrible, but I am not saying he is great.
In fact, I am not going to say anything at all.
I am sure everyone knows him..

Here is what Wikipedia has to say...
"Backed by the Malaysian lottery company Magnum he was given the chance to drive three Formula One races in 2001 for the Minardi team, debuting at the Italian GP. He thus became the first Malaysian F1 driver. The deal was extended for the whole 2002 season, however after a good result of seventh in the Australian Grand Prix he struggled to be competitive. After failing to be remotely close to the 107% rule for many races, he was replaced by Anthony Davidson for two mid-season races. Although his form did improve afterwards, his Formula One career ended at the close of season. He competed in 18 Grands Prix with a best result of 7th in the 2002 Australian Grand Prix."

I really don't understand why we are getting into this F1 business.
Do we really have THAT much money?
Do we have nothing else to spend that money on?
Is there a purpose behind this plan?
I'm sure there is - we wouldn't do something just for the fun of it, right?
I just wish I knew why.

And I want to know why I am not getting my bonus this year - is it really because we have already spent a lot of money battling the H1N1?

What Being A Houseman Is About

2009-09-27T23:20:00.002+08:00

There are many different jobs in the hospital. Each job comes with certain duties.

Here is a list of what a houseman is supposed to do:
1. Clerk new cases
2. Inform the MOs about the new cases.
3. Do morning rounds. Sometimes have to do afternoon rounds as well.
4. Do rounds with the MO.
5. Do rounds with the specialist.
6. Do rounds with the consultant (if he/she comes for rounds).
7. Trace results.
8. Take blood.
9. Review all the investigation results and if abnormal, inform the MO or try to correct it.
10. Fill up xray/ultrasound/CT scan/MRI forms and other investigation forms.
11. Get ultrasound/CT scan/MRI appointments.
12. Go for xray/ CT scan/ MRI reporting.
13. Set line.
14. In O&G - interpret CTG.
15. In Ortho - put on backslab or POP.
16. Attend to patients who suddenly feel unwell/collapse.
17. Assist in OT.
18. Write OT notes.
19. Fill up COTDS form and also key in COTDS in the computer.
20. Get consent.
21. Check blood before transfusion.
22. Try your best so that patients don't collapse.
23. Collect blood from the blood bank (if need it urgently, or if need special orders like DIVC regime).
24. Send the blood to the lab if you want to get the results fast since most PPKs can be quite useless.
25. Do discharges.
26. Do OT list.
27. In medical and surgical - have to do other procedures like setting CVL, do PD, etc.
28. Refer cases to other departments if necessary.

This are the things I can think of for now.
Imagine doing this day in, day out, and getting scolding for not managing to do everything.
What's not to love, huh!

A Raya With A Difference

2009-09-24T20:58:00.004+08:00

This year Raya is my first one as a working person.

For obvious reasons, the non-Malays did not take leave for Raya. It's not that we were told that we cannot take leave, it's just an understanding, and so we didn't.

I was oncall on Raya day.

It was quite a good call since I was doing maternity call.
You see, people generally want to celebrate raya with their family, so psychologically, they want to be healthy, and so this helps in keeping them healthy.
Psychology really does play a part in keeping people well.

I didn't have any admissions (cos all admissions went to the labor room) and all the patients were stable.
The best part, I went to 3 different open-houses.
1 in First Mat, 1 in High Risk Ward and 1 in 2/3 Mat.
Each had their own kuihs and lemang and rendang.
I really had a nice time since I am a HUGE fan of rendang.

We had lemang and kuih for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
It was my first call that I did not feel hungry at all, since there was a constant supply of foodstuff.
I even had lemang and rendang for breakfast the next day!

Now that Raya is over, you can see the sudden influx of people.
Everyone seems to want to deliver, everyone seems to have some problem or the other.
A full labor room is not a good thing, especially since I am oncall there tomorrow.

Well, there is nothing left to say for now. I just hope I have a good call tomorrow.

Here's a mail that I received yesterday - I have received it before, but this is the first time that I am reading it and can actually connect it to my life.

When I Take a long time to finish,

I am slow,

When my boss takes a long time,

he is thorough

When I don't do it,

I am lazy,

When my boss does not do it,

he is busy,

When I do something without being told,

I am trying to be smart,

When my boss does the same,

he takes the initiative,

When I please my boss,

I am apple polishing,

When my boss pleases his boss,

he is cooperating,

When I make a mistake,

you're an idiot.

When my boss makes a mistake,

he's only human.

When I am out of the office,

I am wandering around.

When my boss is out of the office,

he's on business.

When I am on a day off sick,

I am always sick.

When my boss is a day off sick,

He must be very ill.

When I apply for leave,

I must be going for an interview

When my boss applies for leave,

it's because he's over worked

When I do good,

my boss never remembers,

When I do wrong,

he never forgets.

A Movie With A Difference

2009-09-22T21:53:00.005+08:00

I went for a Tamil movie yesterday - Unnai Pol Oruvan (A Common Man)

I am not really a big fan of Kamal Hassan, so I never had any plans to go for the movie.
However everyone who went for the movie came back with good reviews, so I HAD to check it out.

It was quite a good movie, really.

Something different.
Something you wouldn't expect from a Tamil movie.

There were no songs where people will be running around trees.
There were no fight scenes where 1 person can beat up 10 others.
There wasn't even a heroine!

The movie was basically about a guy who plants 5 bombs in 5 different places and demands the release of 4 terrorists. The bulk of the movie is about the negotiation between the guy and the police and how the police try to find out who this guy is.

A nice movie, one worth watching.

Unfortunately, there still are Indians out there who want to see a TAMIL movie when they go for a Tamil movie - which means they want to see songs, and sexy heroines, and unbelievable fight scenes and superheros who can fly.

So, I predict that this movie won't make as much money as it should.

Unfortunately.

p/s I would recommend anyone who can understand Tamil to go for the movie. For those who don't, make sure they have subtitle, because I don't think the one I watched had subtitles for the whole movie.

As Days Pass By

2009-09-17T19:30:00.003+08:00

At the beginning of the puasa month, my roommate and I made plans to go to the Pasar Ramadhan near the Ipoh Stadium.

The puasa month is almost ending.
We have still not been there, and I doubt that we will have a chance to go there.

It's just that something always comes up and we keep postponing the visit.
The fact that it rains quite often in the evenings does not help either.
Well, maybe we can go for it next year; we'll still be here then.

Today, on an impulse, a few of us decided to go for a movie - The Ugly Truth.
It is a girly kind of movie, and only us girls are going.
Hopefully, it will be a nice movie.

Well, nothing much has been going on.
It's going to be raya soon, so we will have a shortage of housemen for quite a few days.
Hopefully there won't be many admissions.
*fingers crossed*

Here are some jokes...hope you like them..

Marriage (Part I )
Typical macho man married typical good-looking lady, and after the wedding, he laid down the following rules:

'I'll be home when I want, if I want and at what time I want -- and I don't expect any hassle from you.
I expect a great dinner to be on the table unless I tell you that I won't be home for dinner.
I'll go hunting, fishing, boozing, and card-playing when I want with my old buddies, and don't you
give me a hard time about it!
Those are my rules. Any comments?'

His new bride said:
'No, that's fine with me. Just understand that there will be sex here at seven o'clock every night....whether you're here or not.'

(DARN SHE'S GOOD!)

************ ********* ********* ********* *********
Marriage (Part II)

Husband and wife had a bitter quarrel on the day of their 40th wedding anniversary!

The husband yells, 'When you die, I'm getting you a headstone that reads, 'Here Lies My Wife -- Cold As Ever'!'

'Yeah?' she replies. 'When you die, I'm getting you a headstone that reads, 'Here Lies My Husband -- Stiff At Last'!'

(HE ASKED FOR IT!)
************ ********* ********* ********* **
Marriage (Part III)

Husband (a doctor) and his wife are having a fight at the breakfast table.

Husband gets up in a rage and says, 'And you are no good in bed either,' and storms out of the house.

After some time he realizes he was nasty and decides to make amends and rings her up.

She comes to the phone after many rings, and the irritated husband says, 'What took you so long to answer to the phone?'

She says, 'I was in bed.'

'In bed this early, doing what?'

'Getting a second opinion!'

(YEP, HE HAD THAT COMING, TOO!)

************ ********* ********* ********* **
Marriage (Part IV)

A man has six children and is very proud of his achievement.

He is so proud of himself, that he starts calling his wife,' Mother of Six' in spite of her objections.

One night, they go to a party.
The man decides that it IS time to go home and wants to find out if his wife is ready to leave as well.
He shouts at the top of his voice, 'Shall we go home Mother of Six?'

His wife, irritated by her husband's lack of discretion, shout s right back, 'Any time you're ready, Father of Four.'

(RIGHT ON, LADY!)

************ ********* ********* ********* **
THE SILENT TREATMENT

A man and his wife were having some problems at home and were giving each other the silent treatment.

Suddenly the man realized that the next day he would need his wife to wake him at 5:00 AM for an early morning business flight.

Not wanting to be the first to break the silence (and LOSE), he wrote on a piece of paper,'Please wake me at 5:00 A M.' He left it where he knew she would find it.

The next morning the man woke up, only to discover it was 9:00 AM and he had missed his flight.

Furious, he was about to go to see why his wife hadn't wakened him when he noticed a piece of paper by the bed. The paper said, 'It is 5:00 AM . Wake up.'

Men are not equipped for these kinds of contests.

************ ********* ********* ********* **
God may have created man before woman, but there
is always a rough draft before the masterpiece.

Good Movie, Bad Movie

2009-09-16T20:53:00.003+08:00

There have been quite a number of new movies playing in the Malaysian cinemas recently.

I have not seen so many new movies, mainly because I have been quite busy adjusting to the new department plus I have had quite a number of calls. I don't usually go for movies when I am pre-call (except if it is a weekend), post-call and of course when I am oncall. That leaves very few days for me to have a chance to go for movies.

I had my weekend off last week, and took the chance to go for two movies, both of which I have wanted to watch for quite some time now.

The first is Final Destination.
I am a fan of Final Destination. I know it is a movie where everyone eventually dies and some of the 'scenes' might be quite disturbing to some.
But, I enjoyed the first 2 Final Destination, and when I learnt that a 3rd one is going to come out, I was just waiting for it to hit the cinemas.

I was really, really disappointed in the movie.
The way everyone died was just too bizzare.
Yes, people did die in weird ways in the previous movies too, but this was just too much.
And some of the 'mechanism of death' was just ridiculous up to the point of being funny!

I guess you can't blame the directors/writers or whoever it is that is responsible - I guess there is just so many ways one can die, but the if you can't come up with a good idea, better not produce the movie, right? Now, no matter how good the previous 2 movies were, people will always talk about how much of a failure the 3rd one is (if everyone else thinks the same way that I do).

The 2nd movie I watched is a Tamil movie, Kanthaswamy.
I am a fan of the hero - Vikram - not because he is handsome or macho or whatever, but because he has been known to act in some really good movies. His acting is good, his movies are worth watching.

But then, so many people who had been to the movie said that it is a bad movie, not worth watching, etc. Rajiv told me that it is a good movie - although he is not really a good person to get an opinion from since he has never said that a movie is not nice before. All the guys who have been to the movie like the movie because the heroine was wearing next to nothing half of the time.

I kept on contemplating to go or not to go, since the reviews have been quite bad, but in the end decided to just give it a shot - how bad can it be, right?

The movie, I think was really quite good.
The story line was something different for a Tamil movie.
The acting was good (not great, but not bad).
The effort taken in making the movie deserves a thumbs up too.
The only unsettling thing is the songs - it was like watching a porn flick - dressing was horrible, dancing was suggestive - quite unsuitable for kids I would say.

Conclusion : Go watch movies for yourself before you decide whether the movie is good or bad.

Well, it's back to work now.
Sigh..
Waiting for my next leave..

Jokes - 18SX

2009-09-14T22:41:00.002+08:00

Q: Why are condoms transparent?
A: So that sperms can at least enjoy the scene even if their entry is Restricted!

Signboard outside a prostitute's house:
Married MEN not allowed. We serve the needy, not the greedy...

New AIDS awareness slogan:
Try different positions with the same woman instead of same position with different women.

Why is sex like shaving?
Well, because no matter how well you do it today... tomorrow you'll have to do it again...

Q: What will happen if earth rotates 30 times faster?
A: Men will get their salary everyday and women will bleed to death.

Q: Why do 90% gals have left boob bigger than right?
A: Bcoz 90% boys are right handed.

Q: What is the difference between an UNDERWEAR & a STAGE CURTAIN?
A: When you pull down the STAGE CURTAIN, the show is over, but when you pull down the UNDERWEAR..... it is SHOWTIME!

Q: What is the similarity between a wife and a chewing gum?
A: Both are sweet in the beginning but become tasteless and shapeless later

Advantages of having an affair with a married women.
They give like hell.
They do not yell.
They do not tell.
They do not swell and there is no wedding bell!

My dad told me that if Adam and Eve were Chinese, we would be still in Paradise . Why? Because they would have eaten the snake instead of the bloody apple!

Dim Sum

2009-09-12T14:01:00.004+08:00

Some years ago, YG promised me this - 'come to Ipoh, and I will take you to the best Dim Sum place'.

I have now been Ipoh for more than 9 months.

Finally, today, the promise has been kept.
(I don't blame her, though..all of us have been busy in our separate departments).

In fact, today, is the first time that us 4 girls from MMA in Ipoh Hospital went out for makan together!

It's my first time eating Dim Sum.
I really did enjoy it.
There were a variety of things to eat.
The food was tasty.
The pau was exceptionally delicious!
Service was good.
And it wasn't as expensive as I expected it to be.

Besides eating, we had a good time chatting and gossiping.
We stayed on even after everyone else had left.
We were the only ones sitting upstairs, with only 1 fan on.
At one point, they came and told us that the cashier was about to close and asked us to pay first (we could still sit and chat though)

I wish we have more days like this.

round 2..(forgot to take picture of round 1)
See the pau - really worth a try (if you are a pork-eater)

YG and I
People were already starting to leave, as you can see from the empty tables behind us.
Apparently, Dim Sum is eaten for breakfast (we only went there about 11.30am)

LY and CL
The decorations in the shop were really nice...if I ever go back there again (and I hope I will), I'll make sure that I take more picture of the shop to post up.

Love Is Blind, Or Is It Not?

2009-09-08T22:11:00.002+08:00

Today, my room-mate and I had a short discussion - is love blind?

She says yes, I say no.

Why do I say so?

'Cos I think that people fall in love only when they want to.
If you don't want to fall in love with someone, then you won't.

Which is why I don't believe crap like - I can't help but fall in love with that person.

Why is it that the person that you can't seem to be able to resist is always someone who is good looking or is rich or is successful or is someone of influence?
Why is it so rare that someone falls for someone who is of so-called-lower social ranking?

I honestly think that you have a big part to play in deciding who you fall in love with.
If you want to love someone, then you will.
If you befriend someone without the intention of falling in love, then you won't.

If you equate love with being close to someone, then I guess you won't have that many close friends, just many ex-boyfriends/girlfriends.

I don't know if I am making sense.
Sounds like crap to me.
I know what I am thinking, but am having difficulty putting it in words for now.
Feel tired for some reason - precall syndrome?

For now, I will leave this topic by itself.
Maybe some other day when my brain decides that it can function a little bit better, I will tackle this topic again.

What do you think, by the way?
Is love blind?
Please participate in my poll - thank you!

I'll Be Just 5 Minutes

2009-09-06T22:35:00.003+08:00

Don't you just hate waiting for someone?

They make a 'date' with you at 8pm.
And yet, they only come at 9pm.
From 8-9pm, you just and wait and wait.

Or, they tell you, wait for me, I'll just be 5 minutes, and you end up waiting 15 minutes while the other person takes their own sweet time doing their stuff.

Or, they tell you...I'll be coming to your house for lunch. And you wait for them for lunch, and they end up coming at 5pm.

I don't get it.
How can people be so irresponsible?
My brother calls it people without discipline.
If you are running late, how hard is it to just pick up the phone and tell the other person that you will be late?

Imagine if you have already planned your time - you get ready, you wait..afraid to do anything else because the person might come at any time, and you end up waiting for an hour!
Won't you feel irritated?

I have been in the High Risk Ward for about a month now.
During weekends, the MO oncall in the labour room is supposed to do rounds in the HRW.

But just imagine this - the MO oncall has to cover the labour room - any emergency obstetric cases, all caesarean sections and the HRW rounds in the morning. Just how is one supposed to do all this by 11am?

They come for rounds, and then will receive a call about an emergency caesar and then will have to dash off for that.
In the end, we, HOs end up waiting and waiting for MO to come back and finish rounds.

Today, we waiting from about 1030am up to 2pm.
We had already done the discharges for whomever we thought would be fit for discharge.
We had already done all the blood taking and stuff.

In the end, we ended up sleeping on some sofa that they had in the ward.
When the MO came, rounds lasted about half an hour.
Since discharges were already done, we managed to leave immediately after the rounds.
But the wait was really irritating.
I can't wait to get out of HRW - at least my weekends won't be wasted on the sofa, sleeping.

2 Stories, 1 Lesson

2009-09-04T20:56:00.007+08:00

A Successful Marriage

Once upon a time a married couple celebrated their 25th marriage anniversary.
They had become famous in the city for not having a single conflict in their period of 25 years.

Local newspaper editors had gathered at the occasion to find out the secret of their well known "happy going marriage".

Editor: "Sir. It's amazingly unbelievable. How did you make this possible? "

Husband recalling his old honeymoon days said:
"We had been to Shimla for honeymoon after marriage.

Having selected the horse riding finally, we both started the ride on different horses. My horse was pretty okay but the horse on which my wife was riding seemed to be a crazy one.

On the way ahead, that horse jumped suddenly, making my wife topple over. Recovering her position from the ground, she patted the horse's back and said "This is your first time". She again climbed the horse and continued with the ride.

After a while, it happened again.. This time she again kept calm and said "This is your second time" and continued.

When the horse dropped her third time, she silently took out the revolver from the purse and shot the horse dead!!

I shouted at my wife: "What did you do you psycho. You killed the poor animal. Are you crazy?".

She gave a silent look and said: "This is your first time!!!"."

Husband:"That's it. We are happy ever after ";-)
____________________________________________________________

Young King Arthur was ambushed and imprisoned by the monarch of a neighboring kingdom. The monarch could have killed him but was moved by Arthur's youth and ideals. So, the monarch offered him his freedom, as long as he could answer a very difficult question. Arthur would have a year to figure out the answer and, if after a year, he still had no answer, he would be put to death. The question was: What do women really want ?

Such a question would perplex even the most knowledgeable man, and to young Arthur, it seemed an impossible query. But, since it was better than death, he accepted the monarch's proposition to have an answer by year's end. He returned to his kingdom and began to poll everyone:

The princess, the priests, the wise men, and even the court jester.

He spoke with everyone, but no one could give him a satisfactory answer. Many people advised him to consult the old witch, for only she would have the answer. But the price would be high as the witch was famous through out the kingdom for the exorbitant prices she charged.

The last day of the year arrived and Arthur had no choice but to talk to the witch. She agreed to answer the question, but he would have to agree to her price first. The old witch wanted to marry Sir Lancelot, the most noble of the Knights of the Round Table, and Arthur's closest friend!

Young Arthur was horrified. She was hunch-backed and hideous, had only one tooth, amelled like sewage, made obscene noises, etc. He had never encountered such a repugnant creature in all his life. He refused to force his friend to marry her and endure such a terrible burden. But Lancelot, having learnt of the proposal, spoke with Arthur. He said nothing was too big of a sacrifice compared to Arthur's life, and the preservation of the Round Table.

Hence, a wedding was proclaimed and the witch answered Arthur's question thus:
"What a woman really wants ?
She said, " Is to be in charge of her own life ."

Everyone in the kingdom instantly knew that the witch had uttered a great truth, and that Arthur's life would be spared. And so it was. The neighboring monarch granted Arthur his freedom. And Lancelot and the witch had a wonderful wedding.

The honeymoon hour approached and, Lancelot, steeling himself for a horrific experience, entered the bedroom. But, what a sight awaited him.The most beautiful woman he had ever seen lay before him on the bed. The astounded Lancelot asked what had happened. The beauty replied that since he had been so kind to her when she appeared as a witch, she would henceforth be her horrible and deformed self only half the time, and the beautiful maiden the other half.

"Which would you prefer? She asked him. "Beautiful during the day ... or at night?"

Lancelot pondered the predicament. During the day he could have a beautiful woman to show off to his friends, But at night, in the privacy of his castle, an old witch!
Or,
Would he prefer having a hideous witch during the day? But by night a beautiful woman for him to enjoy wondrous, intimate moments with?

(If you are a man reading this...) What would YOUR choice be?
(If you are a woman reading this....) What would YOUR MAN'S choice be?

What Lancelot chose, is given below:
BUT... make YOUR choice before you scroll down below... OKAY? ;-)

Noble Lancelot, knowing the answer the witch gave Arthur to his question, he said that he would allow HER to make the choice herself. Upon hearing this, she announced that she would be beautiful all the time. Because, he had respected her enough to let her be in charge of her own life.
Now... what is the moral to this story? :-*

The moral is...
1) There is a witch in every woman no matter how beautiful she is!
2) If you don't let a woman have her own way, things are going to get ugly.

So, always remember:
IT'S EITHER "HER WAY" OR IT'S "NO WAY" !!!

I NEED A Ventilator

2009-09-01T21:30:00.002+08:00

Yesterday, a lady had severe pre-eclampsia, a condition, during pregnancy, which could lead to eclampsia (manifested mainly by seizures) and so had to be delivered as soon as possible.

Her baby was a premature, only 1kg, and so will require a ventilator after birth.
There are no available ventilators in Ipoh Hospital.
So we called outside, from the near hospitals to the further ones.
Finally, we managed to get one in Selayang, and so the baby went all the way to Selayang during the first few hours of life.

Today, another lady. She had bleeding placenta previa, a life threathening condition, and so, had to be delivered as soon as possible.
Estimated fetal weight - 1.8kg.
We tried as many hospitals as we could.
All the way from Perlis, right down to Johor.
Ventilators were either in use, or have already been booked.
There were none that we could book.

In the end, the caesar had to be done.
The paed's team were told to standby.
NICU Ipoh was informed.

The baby was born.
2.6kg!
The baby had to be admitted (for observation I guess), but did not require a ventilator.
Thank God for that!

But just imagine if that is not what happened.
What if the baby needed a ventilator?
Do we wean off another baby from his/her ventilator?
Or do we try all the hospitals again in hope that a ventilator has just become available?
Isn't it sad that we don't have enough ventilators?

Such a scenario is not an isolated one.
It happens many times in a week.
What would you do if that were your child?
Pray and hope that there is a ventilator available?
I guess that is the only way..

Great Minds Think Alike

2009-08-31T22:34:00.004+08:00

A couple of days ago, a friend of mine, a Malay girl, and I went to KFC for lunch. She was not puasa-ing that day, so we thought of just eating in.

After we ordered, the cashier asked her if she was a Muslim.
She said yes.

He then proceeded to tell her that she cannot eat there and pointed to a letter that was pasted on the counter.

The letter is from the Perak government, presumably sent out to all food outlets, saying that the owner of the shop will be sued if they allow any Muslim to eat at their place.

I was quite shocked.
My friend, the poor girl, really felt bad.
We then proceeded to just tapau the food back.

I really don't get it.
Religion is something you embrace, you love, you willingly do.
How can you force someone to do something they don't want to?
I mean, you can, of course, but that is not what religion is all about, right?

What is the use of making someone pray if they don't have faith?

I really dont' have a problem with any religion.
Do whatever your religion says you should do, as long as you don't hurt another person.
But I still don't think that a person should be forced to do something they don't want to.

Religion is not to be followed, it is to be embraced (can't think of any other words to use).

____________________________________________________________

About a week ago....
Me : Hey, I bought new bedsheets yesterday. (yes, I have a thing for bedsheets)
Room-mate : Really? I bought new ones a couple of days ago as well.

Thursday, Roomie was oncall.
I changed the bedsheets.

Friday I was oncall.

When I got back home on Saturday, she had the same bedsheet I had on her bed.

Although I know that fools seldom differ, it is also said that great minds think alike.

Performance vs. Position

2009-08-25T20:47:00.005+08:00

A Priest dies & is awaiting his turn in line at the Heaven's Gates. Ahead of him is a guy, fashionably
dressed, in dark sun glasses, a loud shirt, leather jacket & jeans.

God asks him: Please tell me who are you, so that I may know whether to admit you into the kingdom of Heaven or not ?

The guy replies: I am Pandi, Auto driver from Chennai!

God consults his ledger, smiles & says to Pandi:  Please take this silken robe & gold scarf & enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Now it is the priest's turn. He stands steady and speaks out in a booming voice: I am Pope's Assistant so so,
Head Priest of the so so Church for the last 40 years.

God consults his ledger & says to the Priest:   Please take this cotton robe & enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

'Just a minute,' says the agonized Priest. 'How is it that a foul mouthed, rash driving Auto Driver is
given a Silken robe & a Golden scarf and me, a Priest, who's spent his whole life preaching your Name & goodness has to make do with a Cotton robe?!'

'Results my friend, results,' shrugs God.
'While you preached, people SLEPT; but when he drove his Auto, people really PRAYED'
It's PERFORMANCE & not POSITION that ultimately counts.

Sick Of H1N1

2009-08-21T21:23:00.003+08:00

Recently, H1N1 has been quite a hot topic.
Everyone, everywhere is talking about the latest morbidity and mortality statistics.

All of a sudden, everyone is wearing masks.
The emergency rooms (and I'm sure that the outpatient department) is crowded with people who think they have H1N1.
People are demanding for tests and medications.

I just don't get it.
I don't know how many times the government has told that not everyone needs treatment.
Only if you are in the high risk group, you will be given treatment.
If not, all you have to do is quarantine your self.
Why do all this people have to crowd the A&E like that?

The other day, at 12am, the A&E waiting area and the locum room waiting area was full of people.
Come on la...it's not like you develop flu at night..if you MUST seek treatment, why can't you come earlier? Why so late at night? Because your work is more important?

Dear people, the mask you wear - it is NOT impermeable to viruses.
If you really want to avoid the flu, stay at home, rest.
If you don't have to go the hospital, then don't.
I still see people bringing their barely-1-year-old children to the hospital to visit sick relatives.
Is that necessary?
Don't they realize that hospitals are the homes for all the viruses and bacterias of the world?
Why do you think so many people fall sick IN the hospital?

Yes, I know people died of H1N1.
Yes, I know you are worried that you might get the infection.
But going to the hospital whenever you get the flu is not the solution.
If you are really unwell, by all means, go to the hospital.
If all you have is flu and a slight fever, stay at home, drink lots of water, do whatever it is you do when you had the flu before H1N1.

One thing you can do, and should do is avoid spreading the infection to others, which means minimal contact with other people. Just because you have an infection doesn't mean another person has to have it too, right?

I'm sure 1Malaysia doesn't mean every catching the same infection at the same time, right?

Life? What's That?

2009-08-19T19:55:00.002+08:00

Week two in O&G.

I've been sticking up my fingers in places a girl should never have to stick her finger up to.

I have had late nights and early mornings.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner have no meanings - if there's time - eat. No time, don't eat.

I've not had much time to blog, and the fact is, I don't really have anything to blog about.

Life has been hospital, and hospital and hospital.

Well, it's still early in the posting and I don't think I should comment much on it.

So far, things have been OK.
I've made a few mistakes.
I've learnt from my mistakes.
I hope I don't make more.
Fingers crossed.

My Collection

2009-08-13T22:39:00.005+08:00

As I have mentioned in a previous post, I love ear-rings.

I bought this stand recently - I have no idea what it is called.

Before this, all my ear-rings were ~~dumped~~ put in a jewelery box, making it hard to find for matching pairs when I want to look for it.

I really love the stand (or whatever you call it).
(it looks much better in 3D)

Not only that, recently I pierced my ears again - a 2nd hole, just above the one I already have.
Now I get to wear 2 ear-rings in a day!
Right now, I am in the no-mood-to-change/wear ear-rings phase 'cos I am tagging.
Hope that will change soon.

Got to try to study now.
*Sigh*

*unfortunately, the photos turned out to be a bit on the blur side. Too lazy to retake the pics though.

www.i(L)banana.com

2009-08-11T19:51:00.003+08:00

Saw this signboard along the road a few days ago.

(click on picture for larger view)

I don't think I need to elaborate more.
:)

Time Gets Better With Age

2009-08-10T19:14:00.002+08:00

A mail I received today :

I've learned that I like my teacher because she cries when we sing "Silent Night"- Age 5

I've learned that our dog doesn't want to eat my broccoli either-Age 7

I've learned that when I wave to people in the country, they stop what they are doing and wave back.-Age 9

I've learned that just when I get my room the way I like it, Mom makes me clean it up again. - Age 12

I've learned that if you want to cheer yourself up, you should try cheering someone else up.-Age 14

I've learned that although it's hard to admit it, I'm secretly glad my parents are strict with me.-
Age 15

I've learned that silent company is often more healing than words of advice.- Age 24

I've learned that brushing my child's hair is one of life's great pleasures.-Age 26

I've learned that wherever I go, the world's worst drivers have followed me there.- Age 29

I've learned that if someone says something unkind about me, I must live so that no one will believe it.-Age 30

I've learned that there are people who love you dearly but just don't know how to show it.- Age 42

I've learned that you can make some one's day by simply sending them a little note.-Age 44

I've learned that the greater a person's sense of guilt, the greater his or her need to cast blame on others.-Age 46

I've learned that children and grandparents are natural allies.-Age 47

I've learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.-Age 48

I've learned that singing "Amazing Grace" can lift my spirits for hours.-Age 49

I've learned that motel mattresses are better on the side away from the phone.-Age 50

I've learned that you can tell a lot about a man by the way he handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.-Age 51

I've learned that keeping a vegetable garden is worth a medicine cabinet full of pills.-Age 52

I've learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you miss them terribly after they die.-Age 53

I've learned that making a living is not the same thing as making a life.- Age 58

I've learned that if you want to do something positive for your children, work to improve your marriage.-Age 61

I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.-Age 62

I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catchers mitt on both hands. You need to be able to throw something back.-Age 64

I've learned that if you pursue happiness, it will elude you. But if you focus on your family, the needs of others, your work, meeting new people, and doing the very best you can, happiness will find you.-Age 65

I've learned that whenever I decide something with kindness, I usually make the right decision.-Age 66

I've learned that everyone can use a prayer.-Age 72

I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one.-Age 82

I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love that human touch-holding hands, a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.-Age 90

I've learned that I still have a lot to learn.-Age 92

Is It News?

2009-08-09T22:20:00.003+08:00

Recently, a few people have asked me - how long is your housemanship?

Why the question?
Because of this article here.

Now, I wonder...why was this news a news?
We have known for a long, long time that housemanship is a 2 year thing.
In fact, it has been 2 years for at least a year now.
So why the sudden 'announcement'?
Or is he just making a statement about what is being practiced in Malaysia?

Just to clarify things - housemanship lasts for a minimum of 2 years - minimum of 4 months in each department (Medical, Surgical, Ortho, Paeds, O&G, A&E).
Nothing has changed.
Yes, previously it was about a year and half, but that was quite some time ago.

Anyway, will be starting O&G tomorrow.
Am SO NERVOUS!
Hope I can sleep tonight.

Here's a joke I received today :

The Wedding Ring

A man went to the hospital in Gympie, Queensland to have his wedding ring cut off from his penis.
According to the nurse attending the operation, the patient's girlfriend found the ring in his pants pocket.
She didn't know he was married and she was so mad she used petroleum jelly to slip the ring on his penis while he was asleep.

I don't know what's worse:

1) Having your girl friend find out you're married.

2) Explaining to your wife how your wedding ring got on your penis.

OR....

3) Finding out your penis fits through your wedding ring.

The Proposal

2009-08-07T22:58:00.003+08:00

I watched The Proposal today.

My brother wanted to go for Ice Age 3 - but I already watched it.
His 2nd choice - Taking Pelham 123 - I already watched it.
GI Joe - I refused to watch it.

So, no choice, The Proposal it was.

It was quite an enjoyable movie -a feel good movie with a predictable ending.
But we had quite a few good laughs.

I do admit that it isn't a movie that needs to be watched on the big screens to be enjoyed, but at least I had fun watching it (which is more than what I can say about Transformers).

The movie that I am looking forward to watch - Final Destination. It is supposed to be released sometime this month, I think.

Interestingly - Ryan Reynolds is more than 10 years younger than Sandra Bullock. (the fact that she is older is quite evident in the movie)

Have a good weekend everyone!
I wish this weekend doesn't end..:(

Another Day Passed By

2009-08-06T20:22:00.003+08:00

Remember the list of things-to-do-this-week I wrote earlier this week?
It failed miserably.
Many things that I was supposed to do, I did not - especially the studying part (not surprising, right?)

Anyway, today, I visited my new nephew!
He was born yesterday to Togo and Tagar and Gamby's parents.
He's SO CUTE!!
I do have photos of him, but can't upload it 'cos I left my cable back in Ipoh.

I know that I have told a million times that the past 8 months passed by very fast.
The past 1 week passed by even faster!
I am kind of dreading going back to work.

The whole going to a new department is really nothing to look forward to.
Not knowing the way things are done, not knowing the MOs and specialists, feeling dumb - it all comes in the package.
And I have to tag for at least a week which means extra long working hours.

Well, what to do, such is life.
One has to do what one has to do.

Anyway, I have the weekend to look forward to for now.
Am hoping to catch a movie this weekend - hope something good is showing.
Till later!

Is It Worth It?

2009-08-04T22:12:00.003+08:00

Imagine this:
You are driving you rather new car, a car with capabilities to go up to 200 kmph.
You are on the highway. It is rather empty - isn't it a good time test the car?
You step on the accelerator and watch as the needle moves past 160kmph.
Wow, the car really handles quite well.
All of a sudden, a car swerves in front of you.
You hit the brakes as hard as you can, but unfortunately you hit the car in front of you.

Situation 1:
You survive with a few cuts here and there.
But the passengers in the car in front of you is a family - the Mother and 2 children dies. The Father and another child lives.
How would you feel?

Situation 2:
You suffered multiple fractures. One of you legs was crushed and couldn't be saved - it had to be amputated.
The passengers of the car in front of you - they too had multiple fractures and had to stay in the hospital for a long, long time. One of the passenger was supposed to get married next week; another was supposed to go overseas for studies; another was an athlete who had big dreams.
A better situation since nobody died?

Situation 3:
You died.
You lay at the side of the road as other motorist did what Malaysians are famous for doing - they slowed down and watched you.
Eventually somebody used some newspaper to cover you up.
The police arrived and tried to contact your loved ones.
Imagine your family receiving a phone call about your death.
I doesn't matter what happened to the other passengers as you are already dead.

And to think that all this could have been avoided.

'Holes' Like You've Never Seen Before

2009-08-03T21:34:00.005+08:00

What is your perverted mind thinking about?
This is a mail I received today...pretty interesting (it is both pretty, and interesting)

Mirny Diamond Mine, Serbia

It's an absolute beast and holds the title of largest open diamond mines in the world.
At 525 meters deep, with a top diameter of 1200 meters, there's even a no-fly zone above to hole due to a few helicopters having been sucked in.

Great Blue Hole, Belize

This incredible geographical phenomenon known as a blue hole is situated 60 miles off the mainland of Belize. There are numerous blue holes around the world, but none as stunning as this one.

Bingham Canyon Mine, Utah

This is supposedly the largest man-made excavation on earth. Extraction began in 1863 and still continues today, the pit increasing in size constantly. In its current state, the hols is 3/4 miles deep and 2.5 miles wide.

Glory Hole - Monticello Dam, California

This is the 'glory hole' at Moticello dam, and it's the largest in the world of this type of spillway, its size enabling it to consume 14, 400 cubic feet of water every second.

(A glory hole is used when a dam is at full capacity and water needs to be drained from the reservoir)

Big Hole - South Africa

Apparently the largest ever hand-dug excavation in the world, this 1097 meter deep mine yielded over 3 tonnes of diamonds before being closed in 1914.

Sinkhole in Guatemala

These photos are of a sinkhole that occurred early this year in Guatemala. The hole swallowed a dozen homes and killed at least 3 people.

Diavik Mine, Canada

The mine is so huge and the area so remote that it has its own airport with a runway large enough to accommodate a Boein 737. It looks equally cool when the surrounding water is frozen.

Holiday, holiday..

2009-08-02T23:16:00.003+08:00

This was the list of things I wanted to do last week.

1. Fill up my log book - DONE
2. Get my log book signed. - DONE
3. Get my leave form signed. - DONE
4. Fill up my call claims. - DONE
5. Submit the log book, leave form and call claims. - PARTIALLY DONE (KV is helping me submit my log book)
6. Get my ticket to go back home. - NOT DONE (there were no more tickets available - tumpang-ed KV back)
7. Pack my bag -DONE
8. Find someone to send me to the train station. - N/A
9. Meet the O&G HOD/specialist/MO. - DONE

________________________________________________________

I'm back at home for a week for my end-posting holidays.
Here are some things I plan to do this week.

1. Straighten my hair - received too many comments that it is messy, that I look unkempt..etc.
2. Message as many friends as possible - have not been in touch for a long time; have many messages to reply as well.
3. Study - although don't think that I will actually do it, but there is no reason not to include it in the list.
4. Buy some working clothes.
5. Lose some weight - although I don't think it will be possible with Mom cooking everyday..
6. Buy a birthday present for my niece.
7. Watch lots of TV
8. Print and arrange photos taken last year
9. Sleep, sleep and sleep.

Hopefully I will get these things done as well.
Am going to do 'thing' number 7 on my list.
:P

When You Procrastinate

2009-07-29T22:47:00.000+08:00

Things I need to do by Friday, 5pm.

1. Fill up my log book.
2. Get my log book signed.
3. Get my leave form signed.
4. Fill up my call claims.
5. Submit the log book, leave form and call claims.
6. Get my ticket to go back home.
7. Pack my bag.
8. Find someone to send me to the train station.
9. Meet the O&G HOD/specialist/MO.

I hope I will be able to get all of this done.
This is what you get if you postpone everything to the last minute.
Everytime I do something like this, I regret, and I vow that next time, I will do things in advance - but that never happens.
Anything that is considered not urgent, can be put off.
And this is the result.

I just found out today that I won't be going to medical after all; I'll be going to O&G. I think medical is a bit saturated for now, hence the rearrangement.

To tell you the truth, I don't really mind.
I don't mind going to any department, except A&E - don't think I am ready for that yet.

Too many things on my mind now, can't really think of things to say.
Hope I can settle everything that I need to get done.

Nonsense

2009-07-24T22:06:00.003+08:00

Another week has passed.
How fast time flies.
I've been working for almost 8 months now.
Doesn't seem like it's been that long though.

If everything goes according to plan (i.e I am not extended) I will be finishing Ortho soon.
I can't believe I am saying this, but I think I will miss this department.
There are some really nice people in this department (although there are some I will not miss AT ALL).

A friend of mind pointed out - it's easy for us to say now that we kind of like the department, 'cos we are already leaving it.
I remember hating this department when I started out.
Eventually things turned out quite well.

Maybe it's because when I first entered the department it was an entirely new thing (trust me, Ortho and Paeds - 2 different world), and so it took me quite some time to adjust.
Maybe it's the different way the department is run.
Maybe it's the different people (Specialists, MOs, HOs) that I had to get to know.

Well, right now, it all doesn't matter.
All that matters - I'm leaving soon and I am looking forward to it.
(I have one week of holidays before my next posting :P)

One thing I am sure of though - I do NOT want to become an Orthopedic surgeon.
It's not that I hate it or anything, but I don't think that the job is meant for me.
My luck with ILNs is one proof.
By the way, today I assisted in another ILN - this time, the guide wire refused to go in for some reason.
Haih....

It was a rather slow day - went for passover, then breakfast, then OT, then waited for 5pm to go back to the hostel.
For the past few days, I have been going out here and there after work, and all of a sudden I felt like I had a lot of time on my hands since I came back right after work.

I finally cleaned up my cupboard, folded all my clothes and arranged it properly (after a long, long time).
I even had an urge to iron all my clothes and hang them up.
Thanfully, I managed to talk myself out of it.

This post is full of crap.
I wanted to write about a more serious topic, but my brain refused to co-operate.
Some other time, maybe.

Today, I would like to share a story/joke with you. It happened quite some time ago, about 5 years back (maybe more).
My cousin sister, who was about (?)5 at that time, was trying to get me to play with her. She wanted me to hold the end of a skipping rope.
Cousin : Chechi, hold here.
Me : Say the magic word first.
Cousin : (thought about it a while) Abacadabra!

Well, I then had no choice but to hold the skipping rope and play with her.

Friends

2009-07-23T19:54:00.002+08:00

It's been a week full of drama and gossip here in our Ortho department.
But I am not going to talk about that here.
It's an interesting story, but it is not sharable (does such a word exist?) on the net.

The past two days, I have been hanging out with my friends quite a lot. Just having lunch and chatting. It's nice to just lepak like that.

I do know, however, that I will never be close to them as I was with my friends in Russia.

In Moscow, we go to classes together, we come back together, we go shopping together, we go out makan together, we stay together.
We don't really have any other choice.
We don't have a home to go back to during weekends.
We don't have anyone else to turn to when we are in need of help.
It is hard NOT to get close.
Basically, we know almost everything about each other.

My friends (the ones I was really close to), know exactly what I like to eat and what I don't eat.
They even know what kind of dresses/tops I would like.
They know about my family and extended family.
They know all my bad habits (and frequently scold me when I do them).

We have talked for many hours, sometimes late into the night (or early into the morning).
We have watched countless movies together.
We have fallen asleep together - 5 people on 2 single beds.
We have shared cups and plates and swapped clothes.
We have shared secrets and many, many stories.

I miss them.
And I know they miss me too ('cos I know them damn well).
:P

Recently, I learnt that when a SSG (split skin graft) is done, slits are made on the 'donor-skin' for 2 reasons :
1 - so that whatever fluid (blood or serous fluid) doesn't get collected beneath the skin and will be able to seep out.
2 - so that the skin can be stretched

Playing The Blame Game

2009-07-20T21:40:00.003+08:00

I just don't get it.
Why is it SO hard for some people to just admit their mistakes?

I've done it myself.
Kept quiet, lied, to protect myself, to make sure that I wasn't the one to be punished or blamed.
But every time I do that, I feel bad.
I can still remember the times I did such things, although it was a small thing and it happened a long, long time ago.
Even though years have passed, each time I think about the times I have put the blame on another person, I feel ashamed of myself.
Guilt, is not at all a nice feeling.

So, I wonder, how people can do this everyday.
Put the blame on someone else.
Just pretend to not know anything, just keep quiet, just let another person be blamed for a mistake that was his/her fault.
Don't they have any conscience?

I guess this is what life is about; playing the blame game.
Sad, isn't it.

Would you like to be the one taking all the blame?
How would you feel if people blame you for something that is not your fault?

Have a heart.
Do the right thing.
Even if it means that you will be scolded, punished - at least you won't be burdened with guilt.
Unless of course you are so heartless and are unable to feel guilt - then I have nothing to say;do as you wish.

But this is what I believe - what you do to someone today, it will hit right back at you another day.

Today, I learnt that people will say and do anything to stay out of trouble.
At work, the most important thing is documentation.
Inform everything, write everything, make sure you do whatever it is you are supposed to (and WRITE IT DOWN!!).
At least, in the end, you will be able to say that you did your job right.
And when you are the one to be blamed - you have proof that it was not your fault.

Do I Bring Bad Luck?

2009-07-16T20:17:00.004+08:00

The Ortho department has two different types of surgeries - the emergency ones, and the elective ones.

Emergency OT is open 24 hours a day and as the name implies, caters for all emergency surgeries (surgeries that have to be done fast to prevent complications) like open fractures, laceration wounds, diabetic foot ulcers, compartment syndrome, etc.

The elective OT does all internal fixations - e.g. plating, screw fixation.

We have 2 elective OTs - short OT (8am-3pm) and long OT (8am-9pm). Both the OTs will consist of a specialist, an MO and a HO (and of course a scrub nurse).

I have had my fair share of elective OTs.
One of the surgeries done in elective OTs is the interlocking nail (ILN), usually for fractures of the femur or tibia.

This is an X-ray post-ILN of the femur

It is a relatively simple surgery (I have heard rumors that a specialist has the record of completing the surgery in just 20 minutes!).

I have assisted in a few ILNs.
Each time, there will be some problem which will delay the surgery - sometimes causing the surgery to take up to 2 hours to complete!!

One of the surgeries - we found out intra-op that the patient also had a patella fracture.
So, we had to do tension band wiring for the patella.

Another time, the 'jig' got stuck and it took us forever to come up with a way to get it out. The patient's bone was SO strong, my MO was suffering throughout the surgery.

Once, the patient's bone was SO osteoporotic, the guide wire kept puncturing out from the bone instead of going in the bone.

There was one time when the fracture couldn't be reduced properly with the traction. We tried adding on traction, releasing traction, and abducting the leg.
I forgot what worked, but it was after a long, long time that we managed to get the fracture reduced.

And just the other day, while trying to fix the nail with a screw, the screw somehow got lost inside the patient. My MO spent quite a lot of time trying to locate the screw and take it out.

What's with me and ILNs?
Why can't I have one simple ILN that finishes in less than an hour?
:(

Today I learnt that for multiple myeloma, the following investigations need to be done (if I remember correctly).
-skeletal survey
-plasmaphoresis
-24 hour urine for Bence Jones protein
-ESR

My 200th Post

2009-07-15T20:55:00.002+08:00

Well, what do you know..this is my 200th post!
It's been about 18 months now, I think, since I started blogging.
Comes to an average about 11posts a month, 1 post every 3 days.
Not too bad, right?

I never knew that I had so many things to say.
(Although I do have quite a number of posts which are actually forwarded mails)

The past few days, my mind has been rather blank.
Last week, there were SO many things that I wanted to blog about, but then since last weekend I just seemed to be out of ideas. I haven't finished my 'vacation' stories, but then wasn't really in the mood to go through the photos, choose the ones I want to upload and resize them and upload them and write about them.

I had last weekend off actually.
I have to tell you about Sunday.

I went to Jusco.

At first I thought of watching a movie - but then there wasn't any movies worth watching.

Then, I went to Popular to get story books.
But then nothing really caught my attention (plus I had 2.5 unread books), so I didn't buy any.

Then, I went to Jusco - there was sales, thought that maybe I can get some work clothes.
The clothes that had discounts - couldn't find any that I liked.

Then saw a top (non-work). Wanted it in black.
There wasn't a single black one in my size, and so I had to buy it in pink.

Then there were jeans - looked nice.
Tried it on.
Too big.
There were no smaller size.
They had so many different designs of the jeans (same brand), but none in the size that I wanted.

I gave up.
Decided to go to the ground floor and get myself Twisties instead.
Guess what - there were no Twisties BBQ flavor.
ARGH!!!!!!

That night, for dinner, I went to Wooley's for dinner.
Wanted to get the fried stuff (dunno the proper name for it) they have there. (Really yummy).
Shop closed.
Haih..
Maybe it just wasn't my day.

Anyway...I finished reading Slumdog Millionaire yesterday.
The story is quite different from the movie - the concept the same, but the 'inti' itself is slightly different.
The book finished rather fast - I would have liked the book to be longer, with more questions (and answers), to get to know more about the life of the hero.

I am reading a different book now.
Am rather addicted to reading for now.
Maybe that's another reason I am not really in the mood to blog.
If I finish this book, then I only have 1 more unread book.
Have to make a visit to Jusco or Parade sometime soon.

Today, I learnt that the Ilizarov method can be used not only for bone transport, but also to stabilize fractures, just like an external fixator.

Don't Mess With Children

2009-07-12T23:05:00.002+08:00

A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales.
The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though it was a very large mammal its throat was very small.
The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale.
Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was physically impossible.
The little girl said, 'When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah'.
The teacher asked, 'What if Jonah went to hell?'
The little girl replied, 'Then you ask him'.

A Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they were drawing.
She would occasionally walk around to see each child's work.
As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was.
The girl replied, 'I'm drawing God.'
The teacher paused and said, 'But no one knows what God looks like.'
Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied,'They will in a minute.'

A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds.
After explaining the commandment to 'honor' thy Father and thy Mother, she asked, 'Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?'
Without missing a beat one little boy (the oldest of a family) answered, 'Thou shall not kill.'

One day a little girl was sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink.
She suddenly noticed that her mother had several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast on her brunette head.
She looked at her mother and inquisitively asked, 'Why are some of your hairs white, Mum?'
Her mother replied, 'Well, every time that you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white.'
The little girl thought about this revelation for a while and then said, 'Mummy, how come ALL of grandma's hairs are white?'

The children had all been photographed, and the teacher was trying to persuade them each to buy a copy of the group picture.
'Just think how nice it will be to look at it when you are all grown up and say, 'There's Jennifer, she's a lawyer,' or 'That's Michael, He's a doctor.'
A small voice at the back of the room rang out, 'And there's the teacher, she's dead.'

A teacher was giving a lesson on the circulation of the blood.
Trying to make the matter clearer, she said, 'Now, class, if I stood on my head, the blood, as you know, would run into it, and I would turn red in the face.'
'Yes,' the class said.
'Then why is it that while I am standing upright in the ordinary position the blood doesn't run into my feet?'
A little fellow shouted,
'Cause your feet ain't empty.'

The children were lined up in the cafeteria of a Catholic elementary school for lunch.
At the head of the table was a large pile of apples.
The nun made a note, and posted on the apple tray:
'Take only ONE . God is watching.'
Moving further along the lunch line, at the other end of the table was a large pile of chocolate chip cookies.
A child had written a note, 'Take all you want. God is watching the apples.'

Ambulance Ride

2009-07-09T22:08:00.003+08:00

The other day, I accompanied a patient to Penang.

Before I left, another doctor told me this :
Riding in an ambulance (with its siren on) is a very different experience.
She said "it's like Moses parting the Red Sea".

My experience - yup, many people moved out of the way.
On the highway, there was a place where they closed one lane because of some road repairs or something like that, so there was a bit of congestion.
However, the ambulance was allowed to go on the lane that was closed.

Red light - no problem.
Long queue at toll - just ignore everyone else and go right to the front - and don't bother stopping to take the ticket or pay.

The journey took us about an hour plus.
Thank God the patient's oxygen supply was sufficient, or we would have had to change the oxygen tank, which is not an easy task in a moving ambulance.

Going to another hospital gave me a different kind of feeling.
It's like going to another school for some function/event/competition - you just don't fit it.

I managed to meet up with Beng that day, although it was just for a short while.
Not going to comment much about Beng - he sure 'perasan'. :P

The ambulance driver didn't switch on the siren on the way back.
I had no problem with that.
I was postcall.
I slept all the way back.
The staff nurse just laid on the bench at the back of the ambulance and slept.
I slept in front (more comfortable).

That was my first ambulance ride as a doctor.
I guess there will be more in the future.
The ride was OK since the patient was stable.
Hope all my future rides will be as fun.
:)

Today, I learnt that a type III odontoid fracture doesn't need a skull thong and it doesn't require surgery - a Halovest or a Minnerva jacket for immobilization is enough to treat the fracture.