:: my little box ::

Sunday, July 31

On Friday we had to rush back to school for the simulation lab... and we were running late so we took a cab... Wah, i saw the m1s practising... i feel so old! Sigh... year 3 already... Then i had the opposite feeling yesterday! I went for the medicine musical gala night... and there were all the "who's who" of medicine there! Plus Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan... and i felt so young! Especially cos most of the medical students were clustered together... it felt like "kids corner"... haha... It was like a celebrity night like that... Saw all the big names in medicine... Like Prof Tan Ser Kiat and Prof London Ooi and Prof Lenny Tan and a few Deans of medicine! So cool! haha... a funny thing was i saw this man and i thought he looked really familiar... then i realised its cos i see his face everytime i go to the CRC auditorium where his photo is... haha... our previous dean... :) And the food looked really good (*duh* its Raffles Hotel) but unfortunately i didn't eat much cos the crowd around was too intimidating... haha... I felt so "geena" as Carine would say it... i wanted to go talk to Prof Ooi but kinda chickened out... he won't remember me la... and it'll be pretty silly to go up and say "hi prof! remember me?? U gave me a head and neck tutorial..."

Anyway, the musical was cool! I was really impressed with all the actors and backstage crew and the music was great! I mean its really hard to compose you know... and they had so many songs! :) Some parts really touched my heart... especially the "Oh nO! medical students! ARGH!!! HIDE!!!!" part... *tear* its a little exaggerated but it really happens and i felt so like "wow! that's so true"... that was the part i enjoyed the most... it really touches close to home...

Oh, i had a mini consultation with Dr Seow (the dermatologist) after lecture on saturday... cos he talked about hair loss... and i'm really losing hair so i went to ask him what's the normal hair density... and we started discussing hair loss... He's really nice! He invited me to go to his clinic (no need appointment, just walk in) anytime... and gave me his name card! haha... so cool... Chi Hsien got a namecard too! I'll make sure i go visit him when i get posted to NUH... (cos that's where he has a clinic)

i better get back to doing my write-up! sigh sigh sigh...

*Me to You*
Tatter teddy posted at 11:40 am

Sunday, July 24

Hong Kong by day...

Hong Kong by night...

A typical Hong Kong street...

Kittens!!! So cute! :) (i took this photo in China)

Fencers!

3 happy girls at sakae sushi...

*Me to You*
Tatter teddy posted at 8:39 am

i finished reading the latest Harry Potter book at 1am on thursday morning! Goodness... i was intending to keep the exciting part till the end and read it all at once another day, but i already read it halfway so i figured i'd just read on... So sad... It was really a very sad ending... and it leaves kinda a big question mark... cos in other books you know that Harry's gonna go back home and stay with the dursleys, then go to school... but the next book may go anywhere!

Spoilers ahead:
Aiya, my surprise was already spoilt cos Jack told me that Dumbledore was the one who passed on... sigh... so i didn't get surprised or shocked... But its really sad to read about it... and i keep wondering why Rowling had to write him off...his death was most uncessary... He's such a well loved character!!! i guess she wanted Harry to face the fight alone... (or without Dumbledore's help cos if he was still around he'd steal most of Harry's glory) the book also has some teenage romance elements inside... haha, quite funny at some points... but i felt quite sad when Ginny n Harry broke up... they just got together!

Anyway, i can't wait for the next book to come out... at the rate that she's writing, i'll probably get to read it in 2 years... (the 5th book was out just before i started year 1) which is NOT good cos i'll be in m5 then and i really shouldn't be reading "non-medical textbooks" haha... but then again, we all need to relax right? and anyway i'll only take 2 days to read it! :)

*Me to You*
Tatter teddy posted at 8:25 am

Thursday, July 14

I haven't managed to post up my photos yet! Sigh... cos i haven't been logging on at home... and all my photos are at home! haha... I'll try to post some later... (dunno how late) Anyway, i managed to do a successful venepuncture on Tuesday! (on a lady) unfortunately i only managed to fill up one tube but we needed four tubes! (cos i removed the tourniquet after one tube cos the demo lady said we should remove once there's flow) Subsequent attempts at drawing blood then failed and i needed the help of the H.O...

My whole sunday was spent on my write-up... Serves me right for slacking the whole week away and waiting till the weekend to do it... I really took the whole sunday! And its 7pgs long with the 8th page as the references... I started on Friday... But there was this huge moth in the living room and it sorta distracted me... then on saturday i went out with carine etc... so i didn't manage to do much... I went down to see my portfolio photos too! Then got Derrick, Carine, PL, Ah Ma, Yaosheng, Lile and Bobby help me select the more "desirable" ones... haha...

Anyway, there's been alot of hoo-haa lately over the NKF donations thingy... and today the newspaper 3800 people cancelled their donations... well, its hard to take sides... cos on one hand you wanna help the patients, but on the other hand you have to "help" fill the pockets of the management along the way... Then again, is a CEO of a big organisation entitled to that sort of perks and paycheque?? Its really subjective... cos if you see NKF as a charity organisation and they're surviving on public funding then... well it just doesn't seem too right...

We had a whole afternoon of tutorials yesterday! Goodness... haha... but it was good lah, cos we learnt quite alot... but i felt very tired and drained after that.. think its probably cos i used my brain too much or something...

Oh, Sharon's got dengue! Oh dear... hope she gets well soon... Seems like alot of people are getting dengue lately! PL just recovered from it! Sigh... Stupid dengue mosquitoes biting people all around...

Oh, i lost my hairclip yesterday... i thought i dropped it in the car while getting out... but it turned out that i dropped it outside of the car... So this morning after i got out of the car i looked around the car drop-off area... and i found it! I was about to give up liao... its all squashed(by passing cars i presume)... can't use liao... but i'm happy i found it! Cos i really liked it alot...

Hmnnn... that's about it lah... byebye! I got night call (till 10pm) with ah ma tomorrow... hope everything's well!

*Me to You*
Tatter teddy posted at 7:42 am

Friday, July 8

I experienced my first death today... I was following ward rounds with ah ma and the team when they got a "code blue" call... It indicates that a patient has collasped. Everyone rushed to the ward and when we reached the room they were all already there. It was an old lady whom i saw last week... She was admitted for a Right Scapular abscess... At the time, the monitor screen already had a flat signal and my 1st impression was "Why aren't the doctors doing anything???" I was expecting everyone trying their best to save the patient... they already had the defibrillator box on standby... but the family said "Do not resuscitate"... Its a really sad feeling... i guess the family probably had the lady's best interests at heart... I overheard one of them saying that they really care for her at home... so maybe they feel that its better to end her suffering painlessly... instead of having her hanging on to life by a thread...

When can we decide whether someone else lives or dies? Life is so precious... people are struggling to survive... and yet others choose to move on... with euthanasia... Its a really difficult question to answer, and up till now i don't think i can do it yet... I think the reality of clinic life is really starting to set in... I don't know why, but maybe the life in SGH was too fast paced or everything was too new for me so i wasn't really in touch with death and patients facing death... (or maybe cos i didn't go to the oncology ward or the ICU) but now i see people who may not be around in the near future... and i feel saddened thinking about it...

I will try my best to make every patient i see slightly happier... by chatting with them, waving to them whenever i pass their bed... dropping by before i go home... yup... and i hope that all of them can get well soon...

*Me to You*
Tatter teddy posted at 7:14 pm

Thursday, July 7

Hihi, got alot of happenings in the past week... 1stly, i managed to do a successful venepuncture on tuesday, 5th of July! So happy... I tried only once! (but previously i failed in other attempts...) Anyway, we had a hectic day yesterday... We went to OT, then we saw a case of acute lower limb ischemia for an elderly male patient... Wah, i felt so drained after that... *tired*

I've got alot of things to blog about... but no time! Sigh Sigh... Alot of philosophical stuff on life and death... and thoughts about how to face them... I think i'm really growing older... I met up with Carine on Saturday and she said that she can imagine me "as a doctor"... Like i've grown more mature already... I don't know if its a good or bad thing... I guess my thoughts have grown more mature... Last time i used to be afraid thinking about death... I was always worried about what would happen to my mind post-life... I wouldn't say that i'm not afraid of it now, but rather i can think about it with a clearer mind and not feel so frightened... and i've come to accept it as part of life (instead of running away by not thinking about it)... There's this curiosity and fear of death... i just dunno how to say it but i'm sure alot of you get what i mean...

I've always been very impressed with the calm way some people can face death. Sometimes when i speak to my grandma she'll say things like "my time is coming" and that she's "prepared" already... And in fact once i was listening to her heart... and i didn't manage to hear both heart sounds... so i thought i heard a murmur... and i didn't say it but my face kinda showed it though i assured her that all was ok... then when i got home i was so worried that i would get her scared and worried by my body language, so i called her up to reassure her... and she said "Aiya, i live until 80+ already, what's there to be afraid of?" haha... i was more worried than her... i'm glad she's so optimistic! I hope i can be like that when i grow older too... :) I guess i need time!

Ok, i shall go for ward rounds now... byebye! :)

*Me to You*
Tatter teddy posted at 8:19 am

Friday, July 1

I tried a venepuncture yesterday, but i failed... Later Ah ma tried on another patient... But she also failed... I think we both need practise! I also did an abdominal exam and PR on this gentleman with BPH(Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy)... And i measured it to be 3 fingerbreadths... (the MO said later that its 3.5) Yup, so those were the exciting points of my day yesterday...

And the reason why i'm so free to blog so early in the morning is because i forgot that there's Grand Ward Round today! And also because my dad made me late... Cos it starts punctually at 7.30 and we can't go in after that... and when i reached the lobby it was exactly 7.30!!! I guess i would've made it if i went straight to the training room... But i forgot all about it(i thought it was just ward rounds today) till i reached the CSO and found it pretty empty... And by then it was too late already... So i guess its both my dad's and my fault... cos i was sitting waiting for him to leave the house and start the car, but he was taking his own sweet time! Sigh... and its my fault cos if i remembered there was Grand Ward Round i wouldnt've nagged at him to be faster and i would've walked faster and gone straight to the training room so i probably would've made it... Too bad lah, what to do... I just feel pissed cos i was so close to making it! (And its not even my fault that i'm late!)haha, alot of pent up energy now...

Oh, i didn't manage to meet Carine at the airport cos me and ah ma were clerking this elderly male patient who liked to tell stories... So we kinda got held up... and by the time we were ready to leave CGH she already reached the arrival hall... and i guess it'd be silly to ask her to wait for us cos her family's around and they should spend more time together...

yup, that's about it! Oh, we got Pharmaco lecture in school tomorrow.. Sian...

*Me to You*
Tatter teddy posted at 7:48 am

__Archives__

Archives