my first proposal

i was attending to a 3 year boy who had degloving injury over the right arm when the uncle over the next bed had a severe bad, productive cough. he was breathing harshly with polyphonic wheeze. he was still able to speak in full sentence. there was sputum on the anterior aspect of his chest. i attended to him stat, put my stetoscope deligently over his chest, straining my ears to listen to his breath sounds. he had prolonged respiratory phase with ronchi. he must be having an acute asthma attack. i put him in propped up position, ordered the nurse to nebulised him stat with ventolin.

Then, he was pretty much comfortable. i probed for more history and found out that he has LOW of 1.5kg, LOA and had TB contact. we did a mantoux test for him.

out of a sudden, he called me..........

patient : Dr, u sudah kahwin ke?

me : tak tau...................i don't want my patient to know anything about my personal life

patient : mari lah... Dr... kalau you belum kahwin, jom kahwin dengan saya

me : tak mau

patient : kenapa??????????????????????????

I ran out from the cubicle, stunned. when i read his social history. he is a 61 years old / malay / male who is unemployed, married, stays in an old folks home and has 4 children

how is he going to take care of me?

i am not that stupid to become a stepmother of 4 ok?

learning how to protect myself

I had never met anybody so mean before in my 3 months of working life. AL is just another lazy young doctor in the ward. To make matters worst, he is a 6th poster. All he knows is to order me to do something.

INCIDENT A

there was a patient who suddenly deconsented for operation due to depression. So AL went to pacify the patient for op. He must have been a sweet talker because patient agreed for op after that. i should have given him a pat on the back. so AL came to me..............

AL : Ann, can you call the anaesthetist now to inform them that the patient has agreed for op?

i was speechless. Hello!!!! do you know that anaesthetists are the scariest people in the whole hospital? they had no common sense. they devoid of feelings. all they do is to scream at HOs and make HOs look like fools. I don't blame them for their extreme craziness for they had no HOs under them to torture.

AND AL wanted me to call them?? I am not that naive to dial that number. First, i will be scolded and he will escaped. No way am i going to become his scapegoat. Only MOs and nurses are allowed to call those ferocious anaesthetists. Then, i came to my senses. why can't AL call the anaesthetists himself? Why must he specifically choose me? just because i am a first poster?

I have learnt to protect myself. I don't want to make AL angry because he is going to become my MO soon. i gave him that fake beaming smile and i told him this......

ANN : oh AL, i have things to do now. why not you try to call our MO instead? don't call the anaesthetists. let our MO inform the anaesthetists ok?

INCIDENT B

48 years old chinese uncle complaints of acute onset of right knee swelling for the past 4 days. there was suprapatella bulge, patella tap was positive, warm, ROM limited due to effusion. After the rounds, i pushed patient to the procedure room. did a knee joint aspiration for the first time to rule out septic arthritis. i knew that i have to send the synovial fluid FEME urgently because septic arthritis is an emergency. i ran the the lab myself and i saved one bottle of synovial fluid for the MO on call to inspect the fluid. I have learnt well. Dr L was once very unhappy with me when i told him septic arthritis is not an emergency. I kept calling the lab to trace the urgent FEME when AL sat at the counter gossiping with the nurses. It was his patient afterall.

then he saw me busy tracing the results. He came to me and asked me to inform the MO on call that i had saved a bottle of fluid for inspection. and... how he doesn't mind running to the OT just to show the bottle of turbid synovial fluid!!!!

Hello!!!!! why do i have to do the calling again? Dr K was the MO on call that day and he will be extremely mad if we call him for no reason. i don't understand why can't we wait for the synovial fluid FEME to confirm that there is pus cells / numerous leukocytes / increasing trend of ESR before informing the MO. i bet the MO on call was busy in the OT. i guessed that he wants to show the MO that he is hardworking.... he has been doing all the job, when he actually did NOTHING.... he just wants to get the credit

so, i gave AL that fake smile again

ANN : oh AL, why not we wait for another 30 minutes for the lab to release the FEME result? then you can run to the OT if you want to inform the MO?

i was complaining to cafu about how mean this 6th poster is.... he had always wanted me to become the scape goat..... Cafu said these are the kind of people who will survive.... I maybe gullible and tiny, but i am not going to let any 6th posters bully me....

home sickness

it was an acute onset of extreme homesickness. suddenly i had the urge of curling up like a ball and allowing a few drops of tears to be squeezed out from my myopic eyes. i longed to feel the soft, bushy fur of my forever faithful nicky boy. I can't wait to have a decent dinner with my parents and my silly lil baby bro. to make matters worst, cafu is always on call. i had no calls... that forced me into a state of poverty. I am craving for mommy's soup so much now that i swear that i can feel it trickling down my throat.

I will going home next week but i hate it when everybody is so concerned with my marriage. The problem is i am not at all ready to be somebody's wife. I still feel so young. There are so many things that i want to do. I can't imagine me wearing that white gown in the next 5 years.

please stop asking me when i am getting married!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

can i just have some peaceful time at home? without STRESS?

thank you

tomato red banana

the night is as quiet as it used to be and i just can't force my eyes to shut. A sense of embarrassment kept hovering me like dark clouds which were about to pour torrentiously. i am invariably ashamed of myself for not being able to speak proper mandarin + hokkien.

i was sitting with Dr K in the clinic this morning. A malay girl came to seek consultation for osteochondroma and she told me ..... 'Dr, i can speak mandarin'..... i ended up speechless, practically hunting for the right words to defend myself that i am not a banana afterall. Then, my lovely cornea caught the sight of Dr K laughing at me sarcastically. he was nice enough to explain to the patient about her condition in mandarin. i thought that he was nice. how innocent!!! he was then desribing how verbal constipated i was to the other MOs. of course, there was a burst of laughter which seemed to be contagious, enough to stir a commotion in the OPD. i stood there, warm blood gushing proximally to paint my cheeks tomato red. if i were an ostrich, i would have dug a hole and buried my blushed face!!!

So, i am a chinese who looked like a chinese but can't speak chinese!!

my first month in sp

wee!!! looking forward for my very first salary!!

i have been posted to the orthopedic ward in K5 for exactly one month now

i have learnt a lot including on how to order drugs through the computerized system

of course, there were a lot of ups and downs

3 of my MOs are kind enough to me

my brannula skills have improved a lil bit.

i can now withdraw blood from old uncles. i could still remember how terrible i was back in med school. the vein was protruding and i couldn't get that blood into the syringe

Dr A said that my skills and knowledge were inadequate when i assisted him in OT. he said i was holding the scissors badly.

Dr K hit my hand with the bone cutter when i held the scissors wrongly. we did Incision and drainage for a right shin abscess in the OT 2 days back. i had fun sucking the thick yummy pus. i was then warned by him to stop playing with the pus

i presented my first CME today. surprisingly my specialists love my presentation

hoho...so delighted and proud of myself.

i can now treat high BP cases, hypokalemic cases and uncontrolled DM

i have done 2 ray's amputation too

guess that i have achieved quite a lot in this one month

can't wait to go to medicine. the HOD is worst than the combination of manomani and mv. since all my colleagues are appealing for medical after ortho postings, i guess i will go to hell together with them

starting my active call tomorrow. i hope i will be able to set at least 3 brannulas...

kissing under the mistletoe

it was calvin lau who enlightened me on kissing under the mistletoe. we were both in india at that time. OK, i have never seen one mistletoe with him. so no kissing. wondering what is mistletoe?

mistletoe is a parasite associated with christmas holidays. you can see them on tall xmas trees. it has colorful berries that are poisonous. The mistletoe is still hung up in farm-houses and kitchens at Christmas, and the young men have the privilege of kissing the girls under it, plucking each time a berry from the bush. When the berries are all plucked the privilege ceases.

so couples kiss under the mistletoe one day and forgotten about it the next day (mind you... not the kiss but the mistletoe).

i was saying bon voyage to my close friend vny in msn this xmas afternoon when she asked me what is a mistletoe kiss (which i had left it as my personal status in the messenger)

vny : dear, what is mistletoe ?

princess : mistletoe is a plant which they put on top of the christmas tree

vny : then y kiss?

princes : when u see a mistletoe, you are supposed to kiss. it is a tradition

vny : is it? ok!! i learn new things

princess : u can try google image to see the mistletoe

vny : ok...later i will go find a xmas tree and look for mistletoe to kiss

princess : haha... u can buy mistletoe and put everywhere in your house. in your room, in your kitchen

vny : but not hygienic lorr....everybody kissing the same thing!! lolz

princess : no!! no!! you are supposed to kiss your partner.. not the plant

vny : lolz!! oh shit!! how stupid!

princess : haha.. damn funny. i am laughing non stop now. until my tears squeeze out jor...

vny : u say ma....see a mistletoe and u kiss. u din say kiss what or who also. so i tot kiss the leaf

princess : then i didn't say it clearly.. lol

vny : u humiliate me! how could you! i can't stop laughing di!

princess : ok rephrase... you are supposed to kiss your partner when you see a mistletoe

vny : don you dare go tell cafu. i know u will

princess : no point telling him.. later he goes and woo girls with mistletoe. plus he doesnt know what is mistletoe.. so not planning to tell him

vny : later you explain to him on mistletoe. you will tell him about this cos its super funny

princess : i can imagine u kissing the mistletoe now. and u climb the tall xmas tree to do so

vny : btw i'm not stopping u from telling ppl oso coz it's good to share something funny like this! luckily we talk about it here and make things clear. if not, imagine how ppl stare and got stunt when i kiss it in jusco!lolz

princess : lolz..funny leh.. at least i had a good laugh on christmas

vny : thanks to vny lor...

haha...thanks babe! i will remember your mistletoe story forever!!

MERRY XMAS TO YOU... MUACKS

it is really happening

It is really happening!! Induction in Klang on the day right after Christmas! Plus it will be held in a hotel notorious for its midnight activity in 8th floor. I thought that Christmas would be special this year with heaps of laughter and a grilled turkey. how disappointed!! It is going to be yet another lonely night. I am literally forcing myself to accept the fact that i am no longer jobless.

i am seriously anxious because ..............

I donno where am i heading to. Do i need to travel up to the north part of malaysia or back to the south? will the gov dump me in sabah just to serve the rural people there? it seemed so ridiculous to inform my friends that i will be working in january and not knowing which hospital to go.

i have never done my ward work seriously during senior clerkship. OH NO!! who is going to help me if i can't set the brannulas, can't withdraw blood and i don't know what am i feeling during VE?

Will the hostel be comfortable? i know i can't ask for a room like our girl's hostel back in campus. Sob.. If the hostel is really bad, where am i going to stay?

Should i bring my car along to work? i am so used to having cafu as my driver. What if we get a different hospital? i don't know how to take care of the car. I don't know how to pump petrol. don't even mention on how to add the battery water.

will i end up in a long distance relationship after 8 years ?

I hope that i will have a thick face and i won't feel bad when the senior HOs, MOs and specialists scold me..

it is supposed to be a new year of NEW ME, NEW JOB, NEW PLACE, NEW DEDICATION, NEW RESPONSIBILITY AND NEW FRIENDS............But i am seriously not ready for it.... help!!!!

all in all, MERRY xMAS and A HAPPY NEW YEAR to all my friends. i hope we will all be competent doctors :p