Subterranean Homesick Blues

One thing i'll miss the most in India is my room..

305B Sturrock Hostel
A room famous for it's cleanliness, neatness and openness
A room that earned me my MBBS degree
A room i spent my sleepless nights burying my head in the medical books
A room where all my sweat, tears, and saliva are shed
A room where loud speakers and heavy guitar are played
A room that connects me to what's happening around the world
A room where i spent enormous amount on online shopping
A room where many many video games are played and accomplished
A room of numerous sessions of gaming, eating, drinking, movie, football, chatting, gossiping
A room where most birthdays are celebrated
A room where food products are cleaned, cut, cooked, served and kept
A room that belongs to Liverpool FC

A room of which the bed is so soft that everyone wants to sleep on
A room at which the i spent a lot to make it different and comfy

A room at which constant changes are made throughout the 5.5 year
A room i feel so comfortable with i would call home

2005, when i first moved in:

simple bed

Acer laptop; an EPL time table and other stuffs from Msia

2006

The other life forms - fishy!!

My baby moved in - Fender Squier Strat

2008:

Dell laptop; laptop stand, gaming mouse, new speakers, executive chair

 BIG magic mirror on the wall

A gym set

Mouse at tray; 320gb ext hdd; ipod classic; Creative sound card

a bag of human on my bed

My birthday with Goan wine

 2009, the room painted blue:

a totally silent, night glowing wall clock

2 artistic photo frames

fridge; guitar; books; chairs

a tinge of dark blue pillar, shoe rack

wardrobe; luggage; huge mirror; new yellow night light

new natural fluorescent light tube

22" monitor; 1TB ext hdd; laptop on fridge

studying

 

playing

2011, the last days in India:

the high end desktop PC in an old ugly cheap Cooler Master case on fridge

the collection of my original games

the new white computer casing; XBOX controller

Altec Lansing speaker shipped home, using a temporary speaker belonging to my friend

all my books and games shipped back; a stack of GQ magazines

the Liverpool wardrobe; the belt hook

the guitar (guitar pedal sent back); the side table and the bed

the air cond essential for my sleeps

fridge

the sink, the cooking stuffs and the facial stuffs

my cooking ingredients on my shoe rack

private businesses

a session of red wine for farewell

p/s: For Facebook Notes' better view, click on "View Original Post"

Eight Days A Week

I'd completed my 365 days of internship here in mangalore, and am now in my one month extensions in comm med and pediatrics, 2 weeks each, which since the beginning of March, I hardly attend. The last one year of working experience was half busy, half free; half happy, half depressing; half useful, half useless. Most the postings i work every single days, eight days a week, while some of them has free Sundays. Most of them are half day duty, while some are 12-freaking long hours. Some of them you work constantly non stop, while some you don't even need to go.

There had been various pros and cons working here in the local hospitals, both private KMC hospitals (KMC Attavar & UMC Jyothi) and government hospitals (Wenlock hospital & Lady Goshen Hospital).

Out of the one  long year, most of my time are spent in KMC Attavar (medicine 1.5 months, Orthopedic 1 month, pediatric 10 days, 1.5 months surgery, Ent, ophthalmology & psychiatry 2 weeks each, and obstetrics gynaec 2 weeks).
KMC Attavar is the main teaching hospital of KMC and it's where most staffs work full time at. My job there is working under the Post Grads, mainly filling the enormous types of investigation forms, collecting the lab report from the computer system, doing dressings, assisting surgeries, and preparing discharge summaries. I don't really see the patients, or do any examination unless asked to do so. Working hours is normally 9 to 5, but most the time I can leave at noon if there's other intern covering the afternoon shift. I always take my chance to go to the coffee stall or the canteen whenever I'm free, to accompany Caryn if she's also posted there or just to hang out with friends or solely fill my empty stomach. Though the amount of pt is not many and you don't get to see as various kinds of rare diseases plus you don't do as much as in govt hospital, I enjoyed working there as it's quite hygienic, has many nurses to help you out, being able to communicate with some pt in English, and you can always chill out as your time is not occupied by doing some unnecessary stuffs like in govt hospital. Pt here are normally middle class, and care for the pt are primarily done by PGs. Most the time the prof get to know the case only during their rounds. In fact, the number of pt in certain department or units here are so low they don't fulfill the quota of MCI, and you can observe all the funny way they trying to fill the empty beds with camp pt or just some random old man from the Charity organization of the hospital. One stupid thing is that the big hospital don't even have a proper lab, and they're only able to do some simple blood and urine and stool test. How dumb is it. All reports have to be sent to the central lab in UMC, and there comes all the delay in collecting reports. Imagine one pt is critically ill and we need to know some lab values but the report is not updated in computer, then you call the lab but it take half day to pick up, or they'll simply drop your call or they'll talk in a very rude tone. I hate collecting reports as i find them annoying due to the faulty hospital system.

UMC hospital is the de facto higher end hospital owned by the college. I'd done my surgery posting here as well, and in that 1.5 months I'd been rushing btw 2 hospitals. Only higher class pt are able to afford to come here, and the pt do get primary attentions from the main doctors. But, this hospital building is super old and extremely narrow, and they'd been trying extremely hard to improve the aesthetic value of it by constantly making holes and patching up here and there. So imagine the constant drilling noise besides the ward. The OR is especially tight and limited that the surgeons hardly have a walking space. But at least the hospital has a air conditioned OPD, adequate blood bank, big central laboratory, fast elevators, private air cond ward etc to name a few. Things are done quite fast and efficiently here, but u can see many pt come just for some minor minor illness and the prof will do those minor minor procedures, of  which all these is impossible in govt set up. This hospital is like the main hub, where all lab reports are done here and entered into the system here. If one day the lab is burnt down, all the pt in any other hospital will just die. Besides, all kinds of propaganda and advertisement and sponsorship are being promoted to make this hospital famous and to  be the main money making machine of the college.

Government Wenlock Hospital is the scariest hospital i'd ever seen when i came. Old, ugly, dirty, dark, smelly, eerie. Thank God i wasn't posted in this hospital at all. I wouldn't want my shirts to stink every day the moment i step into this hospital. I was only posted here for 2 weeks in Casualty posting, something like an ER. Here YOU yourself have the primary care for the pt. Here u see all kinds of crazy cases ie RTA, fights, snake bites, burns, drunk, septicemia, poisoning, acute pain etc. Your job is basically do a triage on the pt, check their vitals, a brief history, refer to the PGs of respective department, and then whatever the PGs ask you to do. You can learn a lot of basic skills here, but the 12 hour duty time is also straining. Especially during middle of night while you are sleeping half way, a drunkard pt came in with head injuries, then after all the basic procedures are done, you have to suture the wound but the half conscious pt is rejecting to be treated, shouting around, moving vigorously around when you try to suture, or removing the bandage after you'd done a hard work to help. All these to me, are super annoying. I mean, why should i care if the pt don't care. He is drunk, lying on the road with a broken head, then some bystander just bring him in to ruin my life. Let them be, let them die if they wish to, let them leave without any treatment if they don't ask for it. Anyway, India has too many useless ppl and their population is over crowded, so it's fine to let all the lower class poor ppl die.

Now comes to Government Lady Goshen Hospital. I'm here for 1.5 months in O&G. It is an exclusively female hospital, so it's comparably cleaner than General Hospital. The ward duty is fine, you only work from 9am to 12pm, collect blood samples, write some lab forms and discharges and leave. But, there's is the Labor Theater posting of 2 weeks here for everyone, where you have to spend your 12 hour in the smelly, stuffy, unhygienic, narrow labor room. You have to constantly check the mothers' BP to rule our gestational hypertension, keep drawing blood for investigations, give the pt relative instructions to bring the blood sample to different labs outside, collecting reports on phone as they only have a computer and it's always unavailable, help the PGs buy tea and snacks, bringing and waiting for the pt for Ultrasound scan, getting signatures from different medical officers for different forms, shouting "Biki-biki!!(which means "push!!")"and holding the mother in labor , traveling to other hospitals to get blood for pt, and only occasionally, pull the baby out, and suture the episiotomy wound. Besides the last 2 things, others are to me extremely useless. If the hospital is more well equipped and the system has more sense, an electronic BP cuff will be available without me sending hours in taking BP one by one with the broken & inaccurate sphygmomanometer; blood samples will be sent to the lab INSIDE the hospital itself by nurses (no need for pt's relative to take a transport to travel to other lab outside, wait for the report, and come back to show them). Scanning will be done more readily all the time without need to call for radiologist to come and do the scan stat and i write down the report on some random paper on the spot. Collecting reports will be done in seconds using the computer rather than listening to the on-hold tone in the phone. Plus, i do not need to run here and there to get signatures which doesn't make sense if a centralized and standardized communication exist among all doctors. See, because the pt here are so poor that they cant pay a single cent for anything, i have to run up and down to get signatures so that whatever scanning, investigations, blood or surgeries can be done free, and the annoying part is sometimes you cant find the medical officer in charge at all for the signatures. All these are simply nuisance to me. I mean, if anyway the MO is going to sign, if anyway all the pt are not going to pay, what's the point of all these repetitive work which could be demolished right away. That's why i hate serving the poor. First of all, I cant communicate with the pt in whatever Indian local languages, I don't get to learn much of the essential knowledge on ways of managing the pt, and practice basic skills like delivering and suturing, but wasting your time running around hospital doing those extra useless work which are non existent in a more proper hospital setup.

The way they dry their OT drapes

count the number of people in the OT. Talking bout asepsis?

How the pt dry their sarees

the haunted corridor

the 'amazing' duty doctor's room

corridor as ward, sick

After 1 full year of internship, i can confidently proclaim that i do not learn much. I am not at all well equipped enough to manage a pt single handedly, from diagnosing, examining, prescribing, following-up to discharging him/her. I am not perfect enough on whatever clinical skills needed as i was not given enough chances to DO rather than observe. I had totally forgot 90% of whatever theory i learned in my Undergrad time. So what do the internship here prepared us out as?? Zero!! I would dare say the medical system here in KMC is totally broken, fool-UNproofed, and faulty. Intership, for Indian ppl, are just a 1 year break after their hectic final year MBBS, and as a time to study and take up PG entrance exam at the end of it. Moreover, internship in India can be totally skipped, if you have the right contacts and money.

So what have i done in this one year of internship??

• Gaming. I'd bought a new powerhouse gaming desktop PC and i'd gamed a good number of great games that i'd bought them originally. I play alone, i play with friends, i play online.
• Shopping. Both online and in-store. That's why my Rs8000 i get from college as stipend for internship plus JPA allowance is always finished.
• Hanging out. With Caryn or other friends. Drinking, dining, movie whatever you name..
• Simply resting, sleeping, chilling.
• Knowing new friends. PG or profs or co-interns i'd worked with/under. Yes, though i do not enjoy working in the hospitals here, i enjoyed working with many good doctors and fine people here.

In another month, i'll be going back Malaysia and start my houseman. I have to start from zero once again, both theoretically and practically. How well can i cope? how am i going to manage myself in the hectic 36 hours duty as the other fellow houseman in Malaysia? God Only Knows..

P/S: this is supposed to be broken down to many short entries throughout the year but i was too lazy to write any blog in the last one year. Pardon me for the length of the post.

Updated on 19th Mac:

All doctors have a right to be selective bout their patients.. doctor itself is a career, and in the end of the day, everyone needs money to survive.. that's what specialization is all about: you being more and more selective bout your pt according to your specialty but at the same time your patients scope is greatly narrowed down, mostly towards only the rich and affordable ones.. every doctors have different calling: some would volunteer themselves for free charity to help the poor or in war or disaster; while some would stay in the 5 star clinic treating specific patients..i am sure both are sincerely doing a favor for the community, just that different targets, and the former one is totally a big no for me..on the first day i stepped foot in India, i had much sympathy to the people here, but as years go by, as reality and adjustment and experiences got a hold on me, empathy towards the poor became deeply hidden.

I beg pardon for THAT harsh statement i made, which i do not meant all of it.. it was written solely out of frustration.. maybe the lack of elaborations made it a sick statement..i realized THAT line provoked many, which i do not meant to.. it was an ill written statement, and i feel sorry for it..
"I do not hate poor patients, but i despise a hospital that's full of poor ppl because of the many nuisance i experienced"
"i never refuse to treat poor pt, but i'm greatly annoyed when the pt is ignorant bout the whole sickness and treatment and advices.."
"i will not do harm to poor pt, but i do not disagree that if the poor and lowly ones are lesser, this country would definitely be a better place to live in, that's what civilization is all about"

P/S: i am no God, and i never meant to judge on people (yes i know i am critical and straight forward)..

P/P/S: i do not hate my one whole year of internship here in India, (but actually enjoyed it most the time). i'd never had any problem with the profs, not fought with any PGs or co-intern (which is extremely rare), but in fact i'd befriended many professors, PGs and batch mates (they are 'mostly' great doctors and friends).. i was never drained or exhausted by the end of the day but can still go out to enjoy almost every night, or play in the room (it was a very free working hours i would say, comparatively).  All the frustration in the above post came out because at the end of the day as i draw closer to return to Malaysia, i observed that i myself are totally unequipped to face the horrible Malaysia medical systems (which i know that it is totally a hectic, tiring, demanding, stupid and unfair system). I fear for the worse.. i really envy my friends here in India as they would already be recognized specialists by the time i finish my dog-manship in Malaysia..

Paradise City

Q: Describe India in colors:
A: Black (for the ones who walk); Brown (for the dirt they thread on), yellow (for the dust they breathe in)

"Imagine there's no clean air,
the whole world is yellow tinted,
it's hard if you breathe,
your nose blocked by black soot"

"Imagine there's no clear roads,
the sides are all dirt, the center are all holes,
when those lawless cars drive through,
your eye wouldn't see through."

"Imagine there are plenty of ugly buildings,
narrow, low, and holed,
wall from white turned yellow,
be extra careful when you enter down below"

"You may say they're constructing many new buildings,
but they're all interspersed among the old ones,
like a big new mall and around it are some old small ugly shops,
and the roads outside broken and crowded,
i hope some day they'll tear down all the old and unused ones,
and the world will be new and organized"

"Imagine you're in a car traveling on road,
the bus behind keep honking for nothing,
the rickshaw on your right trying to kiss you,
the car in front suddenly halt to pick someone,
and the pedestrians on the left sneak across your car not scared of dying."

"Imagine you can never see a proper dustbin,
rubbish exist at every inch of the earth,
cows and dogs scavenging the dump,
a naked fellow searching there and fighting for his lunch.

"Imagine the trees are gone and the sun red rod,
people walking around in long pants long sleeve as if they're not hot,

inside their mouth full of red disgusting paan, 

spitting their sputum or pan everywhere making the road look disgusting

taking a pee anywhere they want make the place smells like rum."

"Imagine a homeless family picnic at the round-about,
the father selling cotton buds to any car who would stop at the light,
the mother nursing a dying baby begging for money,
the sister drying their clothes on the road divider,
the lil brother lying on the road side playing with his mody dick."

"You may say all these are getting rarer or non-existence in big cities,
but i assure you it is there in any metropolitan here,
people are poor and low and they will always be,
development is fast but the old and ugly stay where it is,
people are still behaving the way they used to be,
India is just a third world country pretending as a uprising power wannabe."

Thank You for the Music

Today, CDs are obsolete.. CD Walkman is regarded as one of the stupidest tech of all time. 

Vinyl, despite its high fidelity, is near extinct. SACD or DVD-Audio which are aimed for audiophile, are dead too. Not to mention the low quality of radio, and the vulnerable cassettes. Blu-Ray is one of the top candidate set to be doomed in near future.

Today, online stores took over. iTunes Store is the number one highest music seller, Amazon.com comes second, and all shop retailer are suffering worse than ever before. For people who don't buy music, digital downloads or online streaming has become part and parcel of their life. Music has become a free industry, compared to "reserved-for-high-end-consumer-with hi-fi-players" of older times. iTunes Store is today the best online entertainment store, offering billions of Musics, Movies, TV Shows, Podcast, Lecture Notes, Apps, Games, Books. In terms of accessibility, productivity, usability, simplicity, longevity, affordability, exclusivity, Apple utterly nailed it.

When Apple launched iPod 9 years back, digital music players had been blooming, with products from Sony, Creative, Microsoft etc competing with the Apple's de-facto product. Today, Apple has won the music industry HANDS DOWN, the war is over. The ecosystem is simply too amazing it works under iTunes and with other Apple products are too user friendly. Somemore, what can beat the coolness, user-friendliness, functions, fun, capacity, battery life of an iPod Touch? An iPod, coupled with a good pair of earphone, is utterly unbeatable. iPod has become so important that whoever that do not own it, is totally considered not a music lover on-the-go.

my 4th gen iPod Touch 64GB

my Klipsch S4i earphone

Ppl who still buy CDs think that CD quality is still very much higher than MP3s etc, and you get to collect the nice booklet containing rare beautiful photos and lyrics. 

In 2009, Apple launched iTunes LP, an interactive digital booklet for albums.. In the beginning, every one thought it is just another fancy by-product of Apple, but after more than a year or so, more and more albums are getting exclusive LP contents, mainly containing bonus tracks and rare videos and beautiful photos and liner notes and lyrics. The music file of iTunes are right now at 256kbps AAC format, which is very near to CD quality (and that only if the listener listen through very high end speakers and have a very highly sensitive ears, can make out that very bit of difference). 

Yes, with iTunes LP, CDs have become TOTALLY obsolete. 

Here is the beautiful showcase of my personal collection of iTunes LP:

"thank you for the music
the songs I'm singing
thanks for all the joy they're bringing
who can live without it
I ask in all honesty
what would life be
without a song or a dance what are we
so I say thank you for the music
for giving it to me"

Pump It

My gym membership is coming to an end. For the first time in my life I joined gym, around 3 months back, when the new gym in Mangalore - Zeuss, just opened. The past three months had been quite fruitful for me. I lost around 4 KGs. My body is more toned up. My stamina is better. My strength is more. Mentally more sharp and energetic. And most importantly, my BIG FAT FLABBY tummy reduced by a lot. At least now when i stand straight, the protrusion is no longer obvious. ("the Chinese with an Indian figure", that's wat ppl here sometimes call me, zzzz). I would not say i have huge biceps and six packs right now, because they'll totally not there. I think 3 months doesn't do too much for a superman's body. Am i happy with my results? Quite OK. My tummy is not super flat, but at least it's much smaller. My arms are not huge and my chest are not wide, but at least there are some shape.

I think my daily routine is very much adjusted to doing exercise in the afternoon already. Before that, afternoon after class, my time will be spent sleeping or playing game. Now, after working in hospital, at least my body will tell me to work out. Of course, in the beginning, it's hard. The fatigue, the laziness easily took over. But as time goes by, it gets easier. And another important factor is of course having a companion means extra pressure and motivation. Thank goodness for all the trainers and equipments in Zeuss, plus my own determination and furthermore, my companion Caryn.

P/S: When i go back Malaysia, i'll definitely join a gym. Hopefully my houseman-ship is not that strangle-ling till i dun even have time to exercise..

the essential of my workout - iPod Shuffle 4GB, which is free when i purchased my new iPod Touch 4G

My workout sets in my room, which are abandoned for long long time

Going Mobile

the first day i got the scooter

most recent photo (changed the headlight rim to full chrome; got a knock at the front wheel shield from some stupid auto driver)

"I'm going mobile, keep me movin', keep me groovin"

I'm going mobile.. I bought a scooter last May at the beginning of my internship, reason because I need it too much for travelling between hospitals and hostels and college. The auto rickshaw charges just went up another notch that time, from 13 rupees to 15 rupees per Km, which is crazy.. Besides, the reason I'm writing this post so late is because I dun wanna let my parents know bout it at all that I'm driving in India crazy traffic, and partially because I'm busy and lazy. (Anyway, they knew the truth last November but din really scold me, just asked me to be extra careful)

The bike is a vintage Vespa 150 Super.. It is the same age as me (25 yrs old).. Right now, this old vintage bike is extremely rare except in 3rd world countries like India or Vietnam where the citizens are still stuck in the 60's and 70's era.. Being truly 'vintage', it will actually cost a huge sum to get one and restore it with the rare parts. I bought this bike for only Rs9000, and fully refurbished and repainted it for another same amount.. Ppl here say I paid too much for such an old scooter cz I could have got a high powered bike with the same amount.. But I am sentiment about old things and i was willing to spend, plus I had not had a single thought of getting those big bike like most of my friends are riding.. I wanted something special, different, rare, cute, cool.

So far, in the past 9 months or so, my driving experience had been full of ups and downs..
Ups means I love the look of the scooter; the sound of the engine; the way ppl ask bout my bike and admire it; the exceptional convenience it gave me as an intern to travel around hospitals and coming back for lunch; ability to go anywhere i want without needing to fight with auto drivers; feeling the smooth and steady stroll on the roads; the experience of riding my girlfriend around; the fun of exploring places here i'd never been before; the thrill of high speed on road and experience of cool breeze at late night...

Now comes to the downs. As they say, an 'old man' needs lots of fixing.. I'd experienced numerous amount of bike breakdown, not able to kick-start, no light, water clogging the engine, excessive smoke problem, parts getting loose etc, and consequently visited the garage uncountable number of times.. Yes, old is gold, (which means u need a lot of gold to own an old)..

Another thing I always wanted to stress on is the stupidity of the Indian drivers here.. There's not a single second when I'm on the road here that I do not curse the drivers and pedestrians.. I mean, they're freaking dumb and ignorant.. Already everyone knows bout the road condition here. Big holes out of nowhere, non stop digging and patching up of roads, stones and bumps on the side roads, absence of draining system, no pedestrians pavements, no line separating lanes, lack of sign boards and traffic lights, extremely narrow streets, pedestrians crossing the roads however they want... (the list goes on).
Majority of the drivers here are totally bunches of lawless, brainless, selfish, ignorant, rude, impatient ppl..The things that piss me off all the time are the way they dun use their signals before they stop or turn; the way they don't know how to utilize a round-about properly; the way they dun stop or start at the right time at traffic lights; the way they ignores signboards and breaching the rules; the way they like to sneak in every inch of free spaces; the way they horn at everyone; the way ppl here drive counter traffic; the way buses bully the other small vehicles; the way ppl just stop wherever they want in the middle of the road; the way everyone blinding others using only the high beam on roads at night. Driving here in Mangalore is really annoying and stressful.

I love my Vespa despite the troubles this old folk gave me. I hate Indian roads and drivers to the max for the way they drive around me. I'd always wonder how nice it would be if i'm able to drive my Vespa in Malaysia's proper roads?? Till now, i'm still unsure whether i should bring this scooter back to Malaysia, or just sell it to someone who love vintage bikes. There are many foreseeable problems if i bring it back eg customs, taxes, shipment, availability of spare parts back home etc, but the relationship, the bond that we shared in the past months had been quite strong till i'm not willing to part from it.. Right now, I'm still in the midst of dilemma..

Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum

It's been ages since i blogged.. My last blog was during my very first internship posting _ Community Medicine, and now i'm in my very last posting - Obs & Gyn.. It's been exactly 10 months!! Does my blog still appear relevant when everyone else is super into Mark Zuckernberg product or just about tweeting around.. Who would still want to purposely open a blog page when every updates of friends and followers can be shown right in one big full screen in front of us?? Well, i myself personally love Facebook.. It's an awesome way to connect my social network, and the most important thing is that every single one is using it, how could i lose out? But, one thing i find annoying is the 'status updates', where everyone post just about anything from what u thinking, what u did, what u saw, what u play, what you re-share, what you listen to, what apps you using etc etc etc.. it just freaking flooded many of my other important updates which i so often missed.. Then, there're ppl who find Tweeter being more relevant in terms of privacy and controlled status updates..you post a thought, or many many thoughts a day, and ppl who follow you see it and re-tweet on it.. But for me, 140 words is just too little too less.. i cant really convey my ideas properly, and if it's in 140 words, the whole thing look hollow and inaccurate, plus having to wait for ppl to follow or follow others is just another nuisance for me. Yes, every time i blogged, it took me more than an hour per post.. it's a BIG commitment to post a blog.. but i find myself 'publishing' in better words - more profound, more refined.. yes, my ideas might not be as wide spread among my friends as in FB, but in FB, my post appears only to my 'friends', but in Blog, my product goes to hundreds or thousands of eyes around the world.. Am i such a bragger to become famous?? Not at all, and i hardly care.. but there are instances when ppl i do not know found me and befriended me, or ppl whom i expected the least to read my blog actually find some of it really informative and helpful.. So, now on, i decided to use my blog as a mini tweet, to continue spreading my daily life and ideas and activities, but with a much lesser commitment in terms of quantity but more in frequency, as in, i will write in short passages, not long long essay which i used to. See, i'd never intended to write such long post this time round, but i just can't help it.. Now you understand why Tweeter never appealed to me at all... Social e-networking had evolved so much in past few short years and had gotten ppl very very much involved with the whole internet thingy.. From Blogger, My Space, Yahoo Group, to the famous Friendster, to the India famous Orkut, to Facebook, then Tweeter and so on..Who need to hang out with friend for a drink or play some games out under the sun or rain and waste petrol to drive out or use up energy walking and talking when you can just sit in front of the desk and be extremely acquainted to every single latest news and happenings and rumors?? Is human being truly becoming more electrified and dull? i certainly do think so..

A Day In The Life (Community Medicine postings)

Woke up, got out of bed,
Brush a wax across my head
Found my way downstairs and drank a cup
And looking up, I noticed I was late

Wore my shirt and grabbed my bag
Made the bus in seconds flat
Found my way upstairs and put on my shade
Plug in the earphone and I went into a dream

Reach Ullal, signed my name
Sit down there and bore myself
Patients came, tell their complaints
I gave them drugs and off they went

Power went off and the fan stopped
Wet my shirts and flood my brain
Read a book and kill my time
Found myself gain nothing everyday

It's 4.30 and off i left
Reach my house in an hour
Throw my bag and bath myself
Jump on the bed and again went into a dream

Can't read their mind, dun speak their tongue,
Bad facilities, frequent power down
Simply diagnose, prescribe for fun
Suffer and being uncomfortable for Rs1500 per month

P/s: Community service is definitely not my thing. I find this one month of rural community postings utterly useless and time wasting. I don't see myself sacrifice for the illiterate villagers and get nothing back. I would prefer sitting in an A/C room, enjoying my time, take few patients but take my own sweet time, do the job properly and charge a good amount.

(Updated 1/5/10) At last this uncivilized, useless, boring and time wasting posting is over.. No more stupid medical officer, no more power cuts, no more bad food, no more travelling.. The whole posting in juz utterly wrong in all senses. Without protocol, ineffective drugs, illiterate patients, no gloves, no suture material, no spirit, bad MO, bad staffs etc..
At last, i'm now back to civilization. Am now posted in Atavar Hospital Medicine Unit IV, which is a very hectic unit.. So, i am gonna change my attitude towards this new posting and be interested and work hard, at the same time have fun.. (the "Fish" attitude)

Traveling on public bus everyday to and fro, it takes 30 minutes bus ride to reach Ullal from Mangalore, and i have to depart at 7.30am and come back only at 5pm. Indian buses sucks, super crowded and hot and smelly and noisy.

The scenery i see from Mangalore to Ullala

"essential health care based on practical, scientifically sound and socially acceptable methods and technology made universally accessible to individuals and families in the community through their full participation and at a cost that the community and the country can afford to maintain at every stage of their development in the spirit of self-determination"

Sitting at the hot and small OPD wasting time. Every of my colleague will be busy studying for the PG entrance exam while i alone will be there reading novels, play PSP or go to the dorm to take a nap. What a life!

Lunch break at the common room with my colleagues. Meals are prepared by a sister who're hired by the college.

A laparoscopic camp at which the duty doc did each sterilization case in just 3 mins, awesome!

Visit to Anganwadi to check the general health of small children in 'schools' around Ullal

Our dorm of which everyone of us are supposed to sleep at every nights.

But i couldn't stand the condition and the lack of A/C and numerous mosquitoes bites and the uncomfortableness of the beds, so i go back home everyday.

Had a party at Vijay's house in Ullala. Thanks for the foods and the hospitality..

Things Ullal is famous for - beaches

On the way home to Mangalore after a tiring day

Slippery When Wet

I had been suffering from hyperhidrosis for the past 20 years or so.

Hyperhidrosis = abnormal excessive perspiration, in excess of that required for regulation of body temperature. Most common sites being palms and sole. My problem is whenever i'm exposed to hot weather, my palm and sole will sweat profusely non stop for the whole day till i sleep at night.

I can still vividly remember how i have to put a tissue paper under my palm whenever i'm in a drawing competition; use a handkerchief when i write my homework and exams; made the keyboard, mouse & gamepad soaking and sticky after i use them; my guitar strings rust 10X faster than my friend's; and more recently, having trouble while examining patients; totally wet the hand glove when i wear them; plus not to mention all the social frustration in having difficulty shaking hands and holding hands.
Hyperhidrosis is a very common problems affecting around 3% of the population, and i myself have few friends suffering from this also.

Recently around 1 year back, i got to know that hyperhidrosis is treatable, and the ultimate cure is by surgery. That discovery is like a light in my life. I can now hope to actually get rid of all these above mentioned trouble once and for all! The surgery is called Endoscopic Thoraco Sympathectomy, which is minimal invasive surgery using laparascope to remove bilaterally the T2 nerve. Also, I stumbled upon an useful website called Wet Hands Club. It is a social website set up by all the hyperhidrosis sufferers in Malaysia and have all the information one needs to know. From there, i got to contact a doctor (Dr. Jasmi) in HUKM. I started emailing him about the possibility of getting the surgery done and he always answered me promptly without fail. After that, I also got to know he transferred to Ampang Puteri Specialist Hospital. My plan was to do the surgery in this long vacation of mine.

After i knew i passed my Final year MBBS, i wanted my parents to 'award' me with the surgery. I really need it for my internship. I had a really hard time convincing my parents to do it. . They were very worried bout the complications such as Horner's syndrome, rebound sweating etc. Besides, the cost of the surgery is expected to be around 10k, which is a large amount. After non stop of explanation and insistence by me, on this Sunday, they finally agreed on it.

On Monday morning, my awesome dad drove me all the way to KL to Ampang Puteri Specialist Hospital to see Dr. Jasmi. Dr. Jasmi is an energetic, cheerful, middle aged professor. He quickly explained to me the procedure and all the necessary things to me as i'd knew most of the things by that time already. He also promised he would help me reduce the cost as much as possible as i'm not covered by any insurance. He said he'll not use the disposable trocar for laparoscopy as that itself cost RM2k. He'll also ask the assistants to use as least disposable item as possible to reduce the fee. He told me instead of access through the axilla, he prefer to access through the back around the scapula as it is easier to perform and with less complication to the lung, just that the scar is more apparent. That day, I was immediately admitted. On that whole day, i had nothing to do after a simple blood test, and my dad and I walked around at Ampang Point and had the famous Ampang yongtoufu nearby.


The next morning, i was the first case to be operated. I changed into OT gown, was shifted into the OT at 10.30am, and then the anesthesiologist put me under GA, and off i went into a dream. When i woke up at 11.45, i found myself having dyspnoea due to the GA side effect. My back has some vague pain and i couldn't move at all. After 1 hour in the post op, I was then shifted back to my ward. As time goes by, the pain at the back became more apparent as the analgesic worn off. I continued to be in drowsy mooed and slept till around 4pm, then only i felt my breathing was better and the pain at the back became less. I could walked around a bit, woke up to pass my first urine after the surgery, and after a while, Dr, Jasmi came to see me. He also gave me the specimen of both my T2 ganglion (sending the specimens for confirmation is another amount of money, which he think is not required as he's 100% sure that are the nerve tissue). He also gave me a DVD of the recorded laparoscopic procedure for me to watch.


The next day, on Wednesday morning, Dr. Jasmi came again saying that i can be discharged. He removed the bandaged on my back to reveal 6 bullets-like holes. Then he sprayed some glue so that i could take bath, and asked me to go to any hospital in Kuantan to remove the suture a week later. By 11am, all the payment and discharge procedure has been settled by my dad and off we depart back to Kuantan. (I was really glad that in the end, the fee of the surgery is even less than what we expected.) Throughout the 3 hour journey, i dare not rest on my back at the car seat because of the surgery wound. That whole day, even at home, though the weather is blazingly hot, my arms and soles do not sweat a bit. I was so so glad and relieved. Now on, i do not have to worry about all those frustration of my clammy hands anymore. I can sweat normally like other ppl at the back. I do not need to worry about sweaty hands whenever i'm exposed to sunlight.


Thank God the surgery went on successfully.
Thank you Dr. Jasmi for his specialty in endoscopic surgeries and also his understanding on our financial restrain.
Thanks my papa for his sacrifice in terms of energy, time, business, & money to accompany me for 3 days at the hospital.
Also thanks my mummy, Caryn, Caryn's mum for their constant concern.