Your smile

There are many things inside the human body which I could explain,

and yet my heart has its reason of which my reason knows nothing of.

The red rose that refuse to die

This evening as I was sitting there looking at the balcony. I thought to myself that as this Ramadhan is coming to the end, few things have managed to linger in my mind.

1. The beautiful colourful neon lights that shimmer the corridor of my late night on call duty.

2. A patient who died on one fateful Friday evening while the whole unit was on our way to break our fast at Midvalley. We stayed and worked on him for 1 hour. He didn't make it though.

3. The busy clinic workload with over 100 patients to see from 9am to 4pm. That includes a patient whom I caught red-handed with a cigarette pack in his breast pocket (while I was auscultating his heart) while swore to me before then that he had quit for good. The two of us had a really good laugh on that one. Not forgetting to mention a 70 year old makcik whom after knowing that I'm not married wanted to match-make me with her daughter. And a nenek who really want me to come over to her house for raya.

4. The early morning long-distance wake-up call that woke me up for sahur. Boy I'm gonna miss that one.




5. The after office-hour chess games that we indulged in while waiting for traffic to ease down before we hit the road. Last score, that guy beat me 8 to 6.

6. But even with all those in mind, the one thing that really matters to me is the thought that one day I hope the owner of this red rose would come back for it. Even though it no longer has life within it. But to me it is very much alive ever since the night I brought it home with me on June 19.

Selamat Hari Raya ;)

Save Yvonne's Sight

I've been tagged by Andrea Whatever, to aid in campaigning for this unfortunate young lady.

Yvonne Foong, 22, has neurofibromatosis type II, which has severely affected her sight and hearing due to tumours in the brain and spine. She is scheduled for an operation between 1 and 4 December 2009.

She is hoping to raise the money by republishing her book I'm Not Sick; I'm Just a Bit Unwell in English and Chinese. The books are now available in Malaysian bookshops and from her web store. She is also selling T-shirts at bazaars and via her web store. You can read about her surgery and donate to her fund.

Good luck Yvonne!

Cranky but...

The Tuesday clinic was busy, we got around 60 patients to see and that all had to be done before 2pm before the cardiology fellows kick in and wanting to start their own clinic duty.

One patient that I saw, a 70 year old lady in a wheelchair whom had all sort of medical illness under the sun. From gout to heart disease; stroke, hypertension to diabetes. You name it, she could practically be a walking pathology textbook.

What strike me was her personality. Although she's living in an old folks home without any surviving relative, she was pretty much more alive than I was on that day. Chirpy in characters and love making jokes with our staffs. Gee! She could be wearing a purple wedding dress and a red hat, and she could still beat Britney Spears' arse any given sunday.

Then I thought, it could probably be that she was just happy for some particular reason on that day. Perhaps she got a new set of dentures or she got lucky the night before. Who knows? Romance could still blossom in the old folks home right. The notebook, anyone?

However, when I flipped through the notes looking back at her previous clinic visits, even one of my friend agreed with my impression of her that day.

Then it finally sank to me, she probably has lived a wonderful fulfilled life. It is as simple as that. And all of those years have make her a generally cheerful person.

That alone is enough to bring a smile to my face for the whole day.

Controlled Insanity

Some of the guys in my department are marching toward the final weeks of Part 2 exam in Masters of Internal Medicine. Juggling time between your waking hours in the wards, books, and interrupted sleep at home could get a bit tricky. It's nothing compared to your spoon-fed under grad days in medschool.

Now there are kids to take care of, disgruntled spouse who hasn't got laid for few days. Bills to pay, pets to be fed and anything in between. They could easily be spotted like a walking zombie with a facial expression of a patient with toxoplasmosis. On a personal note, I remember walking to the exam theatre for my Part 1 wearing my t-shirt inside out, but that is another story.

Whatever it is guys, don't forget to bring your 2B pencils, an eraser... and yeah zip-up your pants too will ya.

***

the song is a parody of Billy Joel's 'We didn't start the fire'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjKLNSOiIZU&feature=fvst