discharged

here i am , finally getting my hands on some internet connection i have sorely missed for the past 3 days or so. I was just discharged from the hospital for acute appendicitis but somehow by god's grace didn't require surgical intervention as intravenous antibiotics did the trick.

It all began on friday afternoon when i suddenly had attacks of colicky abdominal pain which lasted till midnight when i had to drag myself out of the bed and rush myself to my own emergency department to get some oral treatment. it only lasted a while and returned to haunt me a few hours later.

Seeked a specialist consult and was given oral antibiotics with the impression of early appendicitis. Strangely enough i was on call the same night and i braved through the pain threshold to finish the call. I guess that's what all those years of ragging in the VI can do for you.

Sunday morning i could not bear the pain and the discomfort and headed over to one of the private hospitals around kuching, met the surgeon and opted for admission. I was started on treatment and was KIV for appendicectomy if the pain worsened but it didn't. I responded so well to treatment that we (surgeon and I) decided it was a good decision. The stay was a good time to recharge my batteries and to catch up on some reading, sitcoms and even got a hair cut.

One of the things ive learned during my stay is that an intravenous cannula hurts like hell! and its no fun at all. secondly, the thought of surgery scared me, not because of the pain but possible complications many years down the line. Im grateful that it worked out this way.

My friends and colleagues have been extremely supportive and considering the fact that i hardly have anyone around in Kuching, they have been my pillar of strength. Lesson no 2, never take the pain endured by your patients lightly. you will NEVER know exactly how they are feeling so do whatever you can to help alleviate the pain.

Such a joy to be finally back in the comfort of my own rented apartment, now ive got some cleaning up to do.

Borneo

my borneo

As many would already know, I was sent here (kuching) by the government (gomen) to continue rendering my services to the fine people of sarawak . I must admit that I had my own reservations about heading east but 3 weeks down the road and all I can say is , Kuching is full of pleasant surprises.

 This is going to be my 2nd and final attempt at getting a blog up and running and regularly updated.
As yet, I can't decide on what main topics to embark on but it will evolve mainly around my new hometown which is Kuching.

So follow if you want to know more.

In perspective

Just last Sunday we received news of a tragedy that occurred in Kota Kinabalu involving 3 young doctors. I simply cannot imagine if I was one of them or even if I was one of their parents. how would I react? Having your son/daughter - young, ambitious and just starting to create a name for themselves in the medical profession and boom! disaster strikes. Malaysia is a small enough country where almost everyone knows everyone else somehow and all 3 who died somehow had friends who were friends of mine. My condolences goes out to all of their family members and this event has made me take one step back and realize once again that we simply cannot take the people around us for granted.

Secondly, I came across a blog of daphne iking. yes the model cum mother cum hostess cum fashion designer cum whatever it is. I had a strong interest in her blog from the very beginning because her thoughts drew similarities and i could relate to her. After a while she closed her blog to only invites only and that's when i relied on the newspaper for updates. Then one day news of her private life surfaced and I was wondering what happened to her almost becoming fairytale life. Recently she once again made her blog for public viewing again and I feel what she had gone through. You are indeed strong Daphne, God Bless.

I think today's entry is very non specific as many of my previous entries but I assure you that it is intended. I have never been a lay it bare for public kind-of-person as many of you already know and I will never be one. Then again this blog was to update friends and at the same time a sort of diary to record certain moments in my life.

Chinese New Year is coming again and I will be heading over the good ol' Penang Island for a 4 days 3 nights reunion with the entire Wong family. Yes, geting myself ready for endless eating, laughing and loud noise not forgetting the mahjong and karaoke'ing. For the rest of you folks, Gong Xi Fa Chai. May this year of the tiger bring joy and prosperity.

Special greetings to my two most (only ) readers of this blog as I've only received comments from the both of you over the years. Mei, I've been reading your blog regularly and I'm very happy that you are doing so well career wise and relationship wise. I'm just waiting for the day you announce the happy news (wedding bells?) So keep up the good work of updating your blog (unlike me). All the best for you girl and for god's sake let's meet up the next time you come down to Kuala Lumpur. It IS about time. innit?

Also to Mr. Thum Wai Khong, hey ... why did you put your blog to an invite-only? Now I can't read your blog. Congrates on your engagement or did you get registered already? everyone around me is somewhere around there including my dear old friend MUSLE. But i'm glad for everyone. We should take part in some marathon / walk this year... aim to join you guys one day k.

As for myself, I'm currently in the bones department and is having a fantastic time being back in the operation theater and having the opportunity to cut, Cut, CUT! been away from it for far too long and now it feels good. Ward work day in day out is monotonous and was almost driving me up the wall. being surrounded by fantastic seniors makes things lovelier. Been having more time to get back to soccer and more time to relax at home.

So yea, let's hope this long winded entry does not result in another super long gap before the next entry comes around.

Happy new year

So happy new year friends and family... for those who did not receive my sms ; wishing you all the best that 2010 can offer in terms of family, work etc. For those of us who blog, wishing us persistence in updating our blogs (look who is talking) and hopefully fulfill some of those over-zealous new year resolutions we have written down somewhere.
As for me, I've got a whole list of things that i personally want to achieve by the end of this year... It is a BIG year for me, I will finally be completing my Housemanship by the end of August and will then take my first big step towards specializing. Can't wait for that to happen. Let's take things one step at a time and hopefully by the end of the year we can look back proudly and say "mission accomplished".

August 2009

YES! im done with another posting. I'm not relieved but more like happy that i'm inching ever closer to completing my 2 years as a house officer here in malaysia. It's been great fun during the 4 months attachment in Pediatrics Institute of Kuala Lumpur General Hospital. Had the opportunity to work with some of the nicest souls on earth and learn t a great deal of how to deal with kids and diseases that are normally associated with them. On a more personal level i now know how to deal with kids a little better and actually learn to like them more. Still at times there are a lot of difficult kids and not forgetting parents to deal with. The staff nurses were great and competent and that made life easier.

When i was posted in the neonates division, i had the opportunity to work closely with the staff nurses over in the labour room once again. oh , the fond memories of my first posting still lingers in my head. The experience certainly didn't disappoint and i'm missing the place more than ever. These past 4 months were great times with wonderful competent colleagues. There were certainly some rotten apples about but I'm just glad that I dont have to deal with them anymore. Not till i get posted to the next department where rotten apples are definitely lingering somehow.

I'm on a week's leave at the moment. Getting some time to spend with family and friends and myself. Been able to catch up on things i love like soccer and Manchester United. more on that on another post. There was something i wanted to share which is my consultant was speaking to me about returning to pediatrics sometime in the future if I was interested in it. coming from her was certainly an honor. Made me ecstatic for almost the entire day. But I did tell her that I still uncertain about my future plans.

Plan to go somewhere tomorrow, beach side or perhaps genting highlands... we shall see

awaiting for a new saga to come...

and when i mean saga i mean literally the proton saga that we malaysians are so familiar with =) ive chosen a white saga blm as my first ride. I must admit that i wasnt too keen on purchasing this car but settled on this model and brand after much pondering... and I must also admit that i did not bother test driving it because whatever the performance was going to be during the test drive i was still going to get one. Been patiently awaiting the arrival but due to the systems currently down in JPJ - i'm still left waiting... apart from that I'm currently posted back in the labor room... this time to take care of the newborns and to make sure they leave that place nice and pink =) challenging at times but very fulfilling still.

fooh

another night duty has passed me by. it wasnt too bad, managed to catch a couple hours of sleep but these ankles and calves are killing me. feels like it belongs to a 80 year old man... fooh. makes me feel so tired come evening everyday. early signs of varicose vein setting in?? NO!!!

the truth hurts

i knew that this day might come one of these days and it did. i sort of saw it coming when i received the phone call the other day... don't worry it's nothing devastating . its just that my supervisor took me out, single handedly skinned me alive and layed my weaknesses out there for me. Not good enough! this will be the last time it will happen to me!

a day with the kids

hey folks ... as the title suggests I am currently doing my posting at the pediatrics department. I deal with sick kids everyday from really sick ones to those coming in just because their parents are too anxious. The highlight of the work is seeing those cute boys and girls smile again when they get discharged. I thought i wouldnt enjoy this posting as i never enjoyed this subject back when i was a medical student but its the total opposite now. Work is still work, how is everyone else doing?

another in the bag

so im done with my surgical department posting at long last. not that it was dreadful. as a matter of fact I think i benefitted a lot from the posting. The superiors were strict and at times pushing us for a better performance but it only made us stronger from the whole experience. Met a lot of people along the way. Managed 3 appendectomies and many more procedures that will be priceless for my future postings to come. Now for pediatrics! here i come...

My first time

I finally came out of the OT (operation theatre) as the surgeon instead of the assistant. Big thanks to my generous MO who granted me the opportunity and assisted me in every step of the way. It was definitely scarier than i thought it would be, i did not sweat profusely like how i always do when i get nervous but the whole experience has upped my surgical appetite. From the second i cleaned and draped the patient till i closed up the skin... wow. There is much improvement to be made but that day was one of the days i ended my working hours feeling full of pride. In the end of the day it might just be an appendicectomy but for a house officer it certainly was some kind of feat. thanks MO. you were an excellent mentor.

another opportunity out of the window...

I've been searching for so long, every night and every day... i thought yesterday was going to be it. Kept my hopes soaring high but in the end it was still not to be... it will come soon i just know it and i can just feel it :)

Hey folks,
do excuse me for the long hiatus. Been really busy at work and really lazy at updating my blog. Went through the list of bookmarked blogs of some friends and realized everyone's been having the same syndrome except one, yes Mei - you defy all odds and still pretty much update your blog on a much regular interval compared to the rest of us, kudos!

Just want to say a quick hie to all my friends.
Boys back in Ukraine, Privet... finally the blog is out. Looks pretty good and the updates are regular. Will be looking to post up a thing or two to say hie.
Thum, what happened to your blog? last input was last year october? looking forward to more from you dude. Dont know who else reads this blog anyways, so leave me a note or something.
will "attempt" to revive this blog from this day on.

woman who conducted her own caeserean section

Alone in her one-room cabin high in the mountains of southern Mexico, Ines Ramirez Perez felt the pounding pains of a child insistent on entering the world.

Three years earlier, she had given birth to a dead baby girl. As her labour intensified, so did her concern for this unborn child.

The sun had set hours ago. The nearest clinic was 80km away over rough roads, and her husband, her only assistant during a half-dozen previous births, was drinking at a cantina. She had no phone and neither did the cantina.

So at midnight, after 12 hours of constant pain, the petite, 40-year-old mother of six sat down on a low wooden bench. She took several gulps from a bottle of rubbing alcohol, grabbed a 15-cm knife and began to cut.

By the light of a single dim bulb, Ramirez sawed through skin, fat and muscle before reaching inside her uterus and pulling out her baby boy. She says she cut his umbilical cord with a pair of scissors, then passed out.

That was March 5, 2000. Today the baby she delivered, Orlando Ruiz Ramirez, is a rambunctious 4-year-old. And Ines Ramirez is recognised internationally as a modern miracle: She is believed to be the only woman known to have performed a successful Caesarean-section on herself.
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In an interview at her isolated home, she described her experience in halting Spanish, accented by her native Zapotec language.

"I couldn't stand the pain anymore," she said. "And if my baby was going to die, then I decided I would have to die, too. But if he was going to grow up, I was going to see him grow up, and I was going to be with my child. I thought that God would save both our lives."

Although there were no witnesses available to confirm her account, the two obstetricians who examined her 12 hours after the birth are wholly convinced.

Dr Honorio Galvan and Dr Jesus Guzman were so stunned by what they saw that they told Ramirez's story at a medical meeting the following year. But the birth got little attention until it was reported in March in the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics.

The doctors relied on the testimony of the village health assistant, Leon Cruz, who initially was summoned to help Ramirez and who described in detail what he saw when he arrived.

Ramirez said she thinks she operated on herself for about an hour before extricating her child and then fainting. When she regained consciousness, she wrapped a sweater around her bleeding abdomen and asked her 6-year-old son, Benito, to run for help. Several hours later, Cruz and a second health worker found Ramirez alert and lying beside her live baby.

Cruz sewed her 17-cm incision up with a regular needle and thread. The two men lifted mother and child onto a thin straw mat, lugged them up horse paths to the town's only road, then drove them to the clinic over two hours away.

IM ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!

Hey folks, its been too darn long but im leaving a note here just to say im alive and kicking. Tomorrow's my last day of my first rotation as a houseman. O & G that is... strangely enough im gonna miss that place, so how is everyone else doing?

First cup in the Bag

So Man. Utd. added yet another trophy into the cabinet tonight beating Portsmouth 4-1 in the penalty shootout. I watched the game at d nearest mamak stall cause i didnt subscribe to Astro and this could be one of those rare moments where i will be able to take time out to catch their matches starting this season. The reason is pretty clear-W.O.R.K. but i'll be trying to do my best by keeping myself up to date with internet news, blogs etc.

Also,I went back to my old school the other day (Victoria Institution) and took a walk around the compound. It brought a flood of memories back just going through the corridors once again. Read through the notice boards to update myself on the latest happenings. Saw the burnt down scout den for the first time and i was shocked. I think the school authorities should at least clean up d place. It looks so shabby. Overall i thought the school looks rather unkept. But hey, budget's tight.

As i was driving back that evening, two idiots knocked into my car... darn it. Thankfully nothing happened to me. But just some slight damage to my posterior bumper otherwise all's good. Culprits banked in $$$ today so i can get it fixed tomorrow. No fuss which i like very much.4 more days to induction. woohoo?

Still fresh in my mind...

The hostels for d msian students












Crimean tartarian traditional food, sharslik (their version of satay) and Plov (their version of nasi goreng)









With the Plov man :)













A sneak peek at the lake located in the centre of the park near our hostel grounds.









Me just fooling around...








Some pictures of Ukraine during the last week of my stay there...

08-08-08 8:08:08 pm

The fire-lighting ceremony to cap off a wonderful opening ceremony

For those of you who missed the opening ceremony last night, SHAME ON YOU! It was a masterpiece not because
I'm Chinese but it really was. At one moment I had this sense of pride overwhelming me from the inside. The show was brilliant, from the opening drummers to the fairy lighted green costumes to the giant scroll and lastly the torch lighting ceremony. AMAZING!It was certainly worth the wait. Speaking on another note, i was at the toto and 4D centres yesterday, you know la... but d number i wanted like everyone else...0808 was sold out! nothing suprising in a place like Malaysia.

Thum, I don't know where I will be working as of now. Come Merdeka Day which is the final day of my induction course... i will be given a letter of appointment. In it I will open and find out my fate for the next two years minimum.Finger's crossed I will get one of my choices which I submitted to the ministry of Health.

7 days later...

Dark Knight was highly entertaining, they should really make movies as long as this...haha, at least the ringgit was well spent ;) The late heath ledger was brilliant in his role. Sadly he will not be gracing the silver screens no more.

Secondly, sorry thum n musle because i wont be able to join u guys in d KL marathon on the 24th. Am already summoned for my induction course beginning next thursday in JB. It will last till the 31st , yes Merdeka Day and a couple of days after that I am expected to report in for duty at the appointed hospital. SO yes, i'm going off to work pretty soon.

I actually wanted more time to hang around, spend more time with my family, friends n to just sit back n relax. The government seems to have other ideas, what to do?? they are my employers... i employee-NO SAY

At the same time i'm leaving home, my sis is also leaving home for her stint with Starcruises... how cool is that? wished i could swap places but i doubt she wanna swap places with me to see blood and all the patients in the wards... not that im complaining, i am very eager to begin my work as a doctor. My ambition achieved and being put to good use at last!

I have still a long list of things to do and people to meet before i begin work. No time to lose.

7 days later...

Dark Knight was highly entertaining, they should really make movies as long as this...haha, at least the ringgit was well spent ;) The late heath ledger was brilliant in his role. Sadly he will not be gracing the silver screens no more.

Secondly, sorry thum n musle because i wont be able to join u guys in d KL marathon on the 24th. Am already summoned for my induction course beginning next thursday in JB. It will last till the 31st , yes Merdeka Day and a couple of days after that I am expected to report in for duty at the appointed hospital. SO yes, i'm going off to work pretty soon.

I actually wanted more time to hang around, spend more time with my family, friends n to just sit back n relax. The government seems to have other ideas, what to do?? they are my employers... i employee-NO SAY

At the same time i'm leaving home, my sis is also leaving home for her stint with Starcruises... how cool is that? wished i could swap places but i doubt she wanna swap places with me to see blood and all the patients in the wards... not that im complaining, i am very eager to begin my work as a doctor. My ambition achieved and being put to good use at last!

I have still a long list of things to do and people to meet before i begin work. No time to lose.