CNY 2012

This chinese new year was no exception from previous years. Great family and friends moments, lots of catching up and consumption :P don't want it to end!

 eileen, eve, pauline and amanda :P

 nicole, pei, drey tan, jacq, leen, crystal, pauline and eve

with the adorable and super energized aunty mei yin :)

Happy Chinese New Year everyone! go on. soak in the atmosphere filled with clanging cymbals, chinese drums, mandarin oranges and fireworks. :P

It's Bugging Me

Lo and BEHOLD the FLU BUG.
guarantees you a week of fever, muscle pain, runny nose and sorethroat.
infects those around you faster than you can say jolly-golly-wolly-lollipop.
makes you endure a wait at the clinic desperate to get medicine.
gives you the ultimate excuse to sleep and not study and procrastinate on ur case write up.
stops you from eating wonderful spicy food.

You're not gonna spoil my chinese new year.
Nevaaaa....!!

Unhooked

Small announcement. a recent turn of events has resulted in my laptop being infected with a certain virus that replicates itself every time i use the internet. Facebook warned me not to sign in until i disinfect my laptop. therefore, i've solemnly cut myself off from Facebook from the past few days up to the chinese new year holidays - when i get to go home and reformat my laptop.

on a random but important note, AMSA Msia is bidding for AMSC 2013.

Support us by liking the facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/AMSC-2013-Malaysia-Bidding/272168376164412 :)

This is my roll, how about yours?

2011 came and went. i wouldnt say it passed in a snap of fingers. it did feel like a long way. :) but looking down memory lane was fun. ending 3rd year in mid 2011 and reaching mid of 4th year at the end of 2011 makes it a wee bit harder to start 2012 with much new resolutions. but thr're much I am thankful for. :D

working with my best buddies, people in amsa and great family medicine dr.s and presenting our papers in eamsc, fmsc and the public health conf.

experiencing new culture and practices in a 3 week elective posting in Taiwan.

exploring new places with great buddies. from tanjung karang for public health posting, teluk intan, bangkok, the universal studios, spore to jb and segamat, taiwan, kuantan, seremban, borneo highlands and penang. each one an adventure of its own with great memories.

growing spiritually as i try out and take up more responsibilities in the church and life group. experiencing more of God in my ups and downs, trusting in His plans and in Him to deliver me. 

meeting new friends, relatives and acquaintances through amsa, elective posting, conferences and in church.

being exposed to new medical postings and gaining more perspective on medical issues. 

it was fun, maturing and enriching. :) every journey is a learning path.

2012's gonna involve getting through final year - which kinda scares me, but feels pretty enticing as well,

i havent decided what to do in my next 2 month break if i pass peads n ortho, maybe a small trip and volunteering in an NGO. :P 

Year 2012 is the Year of the Holy spirit. 

God is moving churches towards the prophesying movement. and we need to be still and to be sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. the new year goes into reading more christian books to increase my understanding of the work of God. when one is able to discern the work of the Holy Spirit and put their trust in God to do as He has prompted us, things work out more effectively and bear fruits. :) I want to grow in this area.

Happy 2012!

Ending 2011!

Wonderful week with holiday frostings on the sides. :P had a greaaaaat! Christmas wkend after ending the peadiatrics exam and simply looking fwd to this long wkend again after the 1st week of orthopedics. *beams*

to date i've thought of some new year resolutions. 1 of which was inspired by Carmen when we were just talking about doctors and specialists in hospitals. i've always had a problem of inferiority complex when i'm in the hospital. 

- it starts in 3rd year when u enter the hospital and ppl tell u that as a 3rd year medical student, ur position in the hierachy is equivalent to 1 being in a bottomless pit and you have no worth that microorganisms surpass u. lol. they tell u that no1 cares about u, u block the way in ward rounds, u ask stupid questions etc. u get the idea. 

- n there's always a fear of offending some1 important (by important the definition varies) and having urself being blackmailed / fail in exams or being kicked out of medical school bcz its simply so easy to do that. as in, bcz medical knowledge is so vast, u can be asked simply anything under the sun in exams and if the examiner wants to fail you, its so easy to find reasons to do so. 

- and bcz it's impossible to study everything and unfortunately i don't really have good retention of knowledge, i feel really inferior to senior dr.s who shoot questions at me and i can't answer and generally i feel really dumb. 

so... yeah. omg this has turned into a rant. i'll keep in short.

in short, a way to keep ur self esteem leveled and to not be talked down to is, to talk to ppl at the same level in the first place. if u talk up to ppl, they sense u feel inferior, and they tend to talk down to you. making u feel even more inferior. 

conclusion: Talk at the same level to ur superiors. 

i tried it out. and boy, does it work. not to the extent that i suddenly magically command respect from superiors xD but it helps me stay confident. and i have less fear. having confidence is sth really important to stay sane and happy in medical school. and perhaps later in life and in any other fields of course. *beams* thanks Carmen. 

so that was new year resolution no.1. :D to stay confident. 

new year resolution no.2 goes into spending more time to develop myself spiritually. 

no.3 goes into no i gave up on the 'i will lose weight' resolution cz it never works. xD

so no.3 goes into hmm ok i'm stumped. this shall come later. :P

awesome Christmas weekend with my church youth. recently we just launched our new NGO, called My3K (no not at all linked to 1Malaysia or any gov propaganda hehe). the NGO works on giving free public health screening - esp to rural areas, mobile clinic style in collaboration with the National Kidney Foundation & National Glaucoma Society and to be a medium for the depressed/single mothers/pregnant teenagers to obtain help. so here we are in our centre in Setapak. :) a group photo of the volunteers after the health screening.

organised a Christmas party with Alain, Mei Mei, Alisa and Siaw Khing.

and got to meet up with Cher! :D

orthopedics has been pretty interesting. i dreaded the thought of bones and metal stuffs at 1st but its more interesting than i thought. hehe! tho there's the constant dread of having to wake up in the wee hours of the morning (groans....) to cover beds for ward rounds..

ward rounds can be an interesting time for observation. among our topics of discussion (betwn just the medical students la xD): who's better looking? Dr. X or Y; did that dr. wear the same shirt as yesterday?; crap all these dr.s are so DAMN HUGE (tall or horizontally) - in between the proper discussion which goes on among the dr.s. heeh.

another long wkend! yay! orthopedic surgeons are generally very nice and easy going. the only part is their high probability of postponing or cancelling classes with u last minute when they get whisked off to emergency operations.. strike 3 in just today itself: 1 lcd projector refused to work in a 7.15am class, and 2 other surgeons cancelled class after a 1 hour wait. sobs. 

ok. enough ranting. :D all the best in coming up with awesome new year resolutions!

Merry Christmas!

short case over, the Christmas mood is up! nola actually my christmas mood was on the moment the sales and shopping started :P no short case is gonna ruin my christmas wkend. it was pretty traumatising that when i lay in bed last night it started coming back to me. everyone's got their 1st (traumatising short case) i suppose and it's my turn now. sigh.

aaaanyhooo, got a number of errands to run b4 starting class next wk. hav2 get the hp serviced (yeah the bluetooth and wireless went dead -i dunno why, i dont rmb dropping my phone (that badly)?) but at last thr's still a waranty. got2 get a memory card for my camera. lost it since last hols and couldnt take any pictures since. :S and gotta get a number of academics stuff settled.

minus the activities keeping ppl up and about this whole wkend, it's nice to wake up at your own pace to a nice sunny morning and just totally go online bcz that's what life is about. kidding :P but yeah what else do u do in ur room once u wake up other than going online for entertainment. for me at least. surfing and listening to random christmas songs for now :)

this is simply heart warming :)


i explored The Piano Guys a bit, and being a biiiiiiiitttt of a star wars geek, i found this vid, kinda wacky :P


have not thought about my 2012 resolutions. hmmm..... have a week to think.

so when u wish others Merry Christmas, what does it really mean? i was pondering upon that for a brief moment. then i concluded that it simply means, have a week filled with love, joy and peace brought by Christ into the world. *sigh of contentment* b4 u step back into the reality of exams, work, stress, let's just sit back relax and enjoy a wkend of escapade with our loved ones. :)

Merry Christmas!

Sanctuary

7 weeks in Peadiatrics posting, and i think i caught the gist of childcare and overcame the awkwardness of facing children. gist though i said, not the whole package. but a whiff that's substantial enough to bring back home from the wards. 

           

seeing children with chronic diseases makes you appreciate what you had in your childhood. and u kind of get the idea of what your parents had to go through raising u up (to ur twenties). man. *wipes sweat.

there were children w thalassaemia who had to go the hospital every month to get blood transfusion.

children who stayed in the wards for weeks for serious lung disease.

mothers taking care of their children with cerebral palsy- they grow to normal adult sizes but can't talk/walk/self care so they're wheelchair/bed bound.

parents with syndromic children.

parents with special children. seeing all these cases opens your eyes.

in the management of ill children, a huge bulk of it is in managing the parents emotionally, psychologically, socially. u got to really talk to the parents. understand their background, education level, occupation, financial limitations, how many other children they have, can they cope with bringing their child to the hospital every month, are they able to give enough attention to the sick child, do they have good family support.

i encountered a mother with 4 children with bronchial asthma: has 8 inhalers in the house. and she's got 2 make sure all her children take the inhaler puffs everyday twice a day. (i'd have gone bonkers if i had more than 5 inhalers ard my house)

a mother resigned from her job and committed herself to go to school and change diapers for her child everyday during his recess time. he has spina bifida (paralysed waist down including bladder control). other than physical needs, she's gotta deal with the child's emotional needs. bcz other than the paralysis, his IQ is normal. he's like any other children, who have peer pressure, the fear of being an outcast, self esteem issues etc. imagine urself to be the only person in the school wheelchair bound, and ur mother comes to change ur diapers for u everyday. it can be humiliating for him. and its not easy for the mother. but she's his motivator and stronghold. bcz she knows the moment she gives up, he gives up on himself. she's 1 strong woman. *salute

i imagine how mothers/fathers in the hospital feel when they see other babies around them growing and developing normally, talking, crawling while their 1 year old child looks different, doesnt talk, doesnt respond to them bcz she's syndromic. of course they love their child. but its not easy.

the emotional and psychological aspects are strong hard huge parts. and dr.s need to know how to handle and address them. it's all pretty overwhelming. i am moved whenever i see mothers taking care of their child with cerebral palsy. at least when we see how much the mother cares for the child, we know the child is in good hands.

the other side in peads: 

            

newborns. cutesie adorable newborns. they suckle at reflex when u put anything into their mouth. teehee. 

the art of coaxing babies? maybe just 60% there atm. kids love squeaky balls. babies love rattles. but if any1 starts crying, quickly give them back to their parents and runnn! unless u're in an exam. then u're trapped. xP 

having a short case next wk. keeping fingers crossed for a happy wont-cry baby.