Sunday, September 28, 2008

Suddent craving

They look like they're floating

Something soothing about that shade


simplicity

i like a lil havoc


starting to like umbrellas too!


WAnnie! Angie! do you see scenes like these in the UK?

walk walk walk ladeedeedaa~ (thinking of making this my wallpaper)
the blue is almost electrifying


Reminds me of Tanjung Jara

I know it's piracy and all, but after the hectic weeks, i just had this sudden craving for colour.

Bright. intense. solid.silencing. colours.
I admire people who can take beautiful pictures like those above.
Thinking of getting Lesley's phone now...hmmm...

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Who-nice? ME-nice, EU-nice.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to a certain lady running around Cardiff terrorising their malls

If you happen to be hunting around the UK, our cool chick looks a little bit like this:

aiseh...i miss that waterfall ler, good times =)


Haha happy birthday Eunice, you never fail to send me birthday messages even when you are overseas but my phone cacated today.... So here is wishing you:

100 more years of friendship (when you are old and wrinkly i wanna laugh at u =p)
90 warm hugs (cos its cold in uk rite)
80 pretty angels (to protect you)
70 pooh bears (cos he was your 1st husband)
60 gila-SS-laughing silly-picture perfect moments (your specialty)
50 kgs extra baggage claim (so you can tapao into your bag ''someone'' we are all eager to meet, though im wondering if 50 is enough,"he" looks like a pretty big boy, ok upgrade give you 70kg)
40 official "go shopping till you drop" passes (a girl can never have enough)
30 pirated dvds (cos we are kiamsiap people)
20 different shades of hair dye (cos you were the 1st to drag me out of my monochromic hair world)
10 BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN Auntie Denise can spoil in the future (kekekeke)

and

1 very grateful friend (me)

Thank you for those years growing up as preteens to youths and then to the young adults we are (or hope we are) today. We may not have much time with each other, and the last road trip might not have worked out in time, but i appreciate and value our friendship so very much. We back home are proud of you, praying for you, and thinking our you fondly, especially on this special day =) So go out, and have fun alright!

***age of the birthdee shall not be enclosed with this msg, simply because after 18, a woman's age is her best kept secret, next to her weight of course =P ***

Thursday, September 25, 2008

The lost student in the wards

So here begins the art of medicine. After 2.5 years of studying the science of it, this is the true art.

Like most things in life, it is both fascinating and frightening. It is fascinating because it is frightening, it is frightening because it is fascinating.

We are ending our 3rd week of ward work now. Every morning we leave the house at 7.20am, reach the ward at 7.45am, clerk patients before the MOs do their rounds. Basically if you are lucky patient number #, you will see 4 different white coated people every morning. 1st round say "hi" to the HOs who are there from as early as 6am, then we medical students poke our noses in at about 8am, followed by the MOs, and lastly the big bosses. The doctors in the wards are really helpful, taking into account their ridiculously hectic schedule, they still take the time to give us a few pointers now and then, but i still am a little jittery when approaching the nurses mainly because i still cant differentiate a student nurse, from a staff nurse, from a sister, from a warden, and from the other rainbow coloured bands i let out, it just wont stick it my head, what colour means what, so im still bantai-ing my way crossing my fingers hoping they wont realise it, 7 colours in the rainbow what so 1/7 chance of getting it right.

After clerking ,we have "Case Presentations" with doctors who are amazingly impressive in their field of specialty. Seriously i never expected Seremban to be this good, im really impressed we learn loads from just discussing one case per day =)

At 1pm we officially finish ward work and CP, its lunch time! Lunch means scraping whatever is left at the bottom of the "chap fan" tray, rejoicing when we occasionally find vegetable still there, eat about 20mins, then reading up for TBL till 2pm. 2pm we go for TBL, a more power pack form of PBL because you cannot crap your way through this one. Some days we have CSU, other times we have lectures, basically the day officially ends at 5pm. Once a week we go on call, the "happening time" because we get to do more procedures than the mornings.

Yup yup macam itulah my life for now, and for the next 4weeks or so.
Schedule and lifestyle aside, i am getting used to the life here =)

Of course in the 1st few weeks i was a total blur case, feeling dumber than i've even felt before, but that's just part of the learning here, I've learnt that now =)

There were 2 broad groups of patients i generally tried to avoid at the beginning. The complicated cases and the Chinese. Both for OBVIOUS reasons, the first : i may not be able to put together a diagnosis fo a complicated case, the second: i cant speak Mandarin.

BUT there is progress!!!! I'm proud to announce that i took a FULL history today from an uncle who only spoke Mandarin!!! YES YES YES YES!! ME!! DENISE TAN SUYIN! TOOK A FULL HISTORY IN BAHASA CINA!
waaaah...it felt gooooood, dont need take DNA test to prove my ethnic origin ady. But i owed it all to the uncle, he was so patient with me (ironic cos he is the PATIENT, get the pun?), i told him at the beginning that my Mandarin was worst than elementary, but he said its ok, i had to start somewhere anyway... so nice right!
So i learnt quite a few new words from him, basically relying on common sense and non verbal ques, and as expected the history taking session took well over an hour. But the history taking was so much more than just that, despite the glaring communication gap, he taught so much shared so much and gave so much of himself, i am really touched to have met him, i will never forget this individual and the feelings he stirred within me. My prayers are with him and his family.

We pass their beds everyday, and even though we have been repeatedly reminded so many times it has become cliched, it is true that its so much more than a bored woman lying on her back, than a non compliant man, than an excessively complaining grandmother. This is the art.

When fatigue and sleep deprivation sets in and we see our tiny pay cheque, it would be easy to wonder" does this goverment deserve us?" , but perhaps a better question would be "do our patients deserve us?". I like to believe most of the time, they do.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Hullo isse me again!

In fear of people threatening to erase me from their links, imma gonna tell you a little bit about my life here so far.

I've been in seremban genap 3minggu now, if you had a fever since i first moved here till now, it is enough for us to suspect that you are having fever as presentation of AIDS (dont panic la, i think only, should check before i start a scare).

In 3 weeks, we have been able to convert our house into relatively livable conditions =)
Proof:
- we got a nice tiled table with a stove
- we have a fridge which we use to store FRUITS, and BISCUIT, and BREAD (all very domesticated things i didnt have in vista)
- Phing-Phing cooked TWICE, of which i was privileged enough to drink home cooked chicken sup!
- My housemates are neat freaks, we have compromised to sweep and mop the floor once a week taking
turns, but of we are creatures with free will so they are allowed to sweep and mop their rooms till their hearts
content. And their hearts contentment doesnt come in singular numbers.
- I'm finally listening to Lesley's advice to handwash some of my clothes. Too broke to keep buying white shirts i conveniently ruin in the washing machine.

Contradictions:
- we dont have gas for our beautiful table and stove.
- I usually forget to eat the bread and biscuits, brought home to subang 3 over ripped pears last week.
- I havent had inspiration to live up to my 'domestic goddess' title YET. i predict more Martha moments come November when im posted to family med.
-my room is like a nuclear war shelter, once i enter, NO RECEPTION on my phone. So i make calls from my front porch in the middle of the night while towelling my hair dry with cetak rompak hello kittie towel, all the while taking in the refreshing scent of the neighbour's dog. =((
-we havent got our Internet =(( =(( =(( =(( =((

Conclusion: I am well fed, but remain unconnected to the outside world. I miss it, i sure hope it misses me.

Next post will be about the academics here alright, promise.

ps: oh NO in the half an hour typing and spacing this post out, i forgot i have a mini exam on monday!!! I have no clue how to start preparing for it. Yesh, they are giving us mini exams already, how efficient kan? On monday my mentor Dato' Kew is going to watch me take history from a patient, oh let my brain be present with me on that day! Amen.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Time

An inscription on a cathedral clock reads:

When, as a child, I laughed and wept,
Time crept.

When, as a youth, I dreamed and talked,
Time walked.

When, I became a full-grown man,
Time ran.

And later, as I older grew,
Time flew.

Soon I shall find, while on traveling on,
Time gone.


It hit me during class today, how much the 3 of us have grown this past year.

Please be safe, the both of you, wherever you are and in whatever you do.