My Long Case

I had my long case yesterday at St V. Well, I wasn’t scared or nervous at all, that’s the worrying part. I got a patient with a metastasized colon cancer and she was a lovely lady. I should mention that the staff at St V were being surprisingly nice. There were a couple of issues with my exam:

1. The patient wanted to go for a walk before I started the history taking. I was 5 minutes early, so I said ” since I’m gonna take 1 hour of your time, just go for a quick walk”. After taking the history for half an hour, she again wanted to go for a walk. For fear that holding her would upset her (hence her coorperation), I let her go again and decided to scribble the obs and drug chart.

2. She wasn’t sure when she got in so I couldn’t decide how many days post-op she was. So I concluded that she was admitted on Friday since the drug chart began on the 13th, and since the 24 fluid balance chart started on the 15th, she must have had the surgery on the 14th. I hope I was right.

3. The relatives came in the last 10 minutes. I tried to withold them from entering but after the second request, the patient wanted them to come in since they’re from the country.

So there were some interruptions in my exam. The exam assistant was particularly concern whether I had enough time, but I guess; what could I do. I wasn’t frustrated or anything, since the patient was nice. When I sniffed to clear my blocked nose, she thought I was crying because of the interruptions. That was funny.

The examiner was my tutor when I did my GP, and I skipped half of her tutorial; my bad. LOL.

I pray that I pass this exam, Insha’Allah.

Do we need to FIT IN?

There is one article in The Age (16^th Nov) on this poor 12 y.o. Aboriginal boy who is being prosecuted for being involved in stealing a Fredo frog (70 cents). Appallingly, he was imprisoned for several hours for this misdeed and it is classified as a court case. Should people go to this extreme to prevent crime? To punish a 12 y.o. over some mischievous act that hardly costs anyone any major problem. Is it really the intention or it’s actually a way to express one’s dislike towards certain race, in this case the aboriginals. Quote taken from the article:

”If this was a non-indigenous child, the most he would probably get in Victoria and most other jurisdictions, would be the mildest of warnings by the local sergeant.”

It’s true isn’t it? How being different/look different costs you to be treated differently. So the best way to avoid such discrimination and to earn your equal right of treatment; try to look the same and fit in, adopt their lifestyle and be one of them. The keyword here is FIT IN.

What would happen if you don’t try to fit in? Instead of trying to be one of them; we live our lives according to our cultures and religions, adamantly trying to uphold the long practised religious/cultural values. Some are very open to such changes but some feels that it pollutes the society.

For examples:

1. For men: We have our Friday congregation prayer during lunchtime; the locals might feel threatened to see Muslim praying in mass and preaching spiritual speech before prayer. The men’s identity as Muslims is exposed. Wouldn’t it be easier and more anonymous if we don’t have the mass prayer so we could mask our Muslim identity?
2. For ladies: We act as the ambassador of Islam by putting our hijab on. But then again; we’ll become the easy target. Some view hijab is a political symbol of the oppression of women. Hence; we received rude comments from people and being bombarded with prejudice accusation over how Islam oppresses women by asking them to cover their beauty. It is MasyaAllah an immense task to bear. To avoid such difficult situation; some resort to taking off their scarves. It’s more than fashion. It’s a hard responsibility.

My own experiences:

I remember one occasion when I had my clinical placement with this old atheist GP in the city. He suddenly questioned the logic behind wearing the hijab; and loudly expressed his dislike and his view on the necessity of religion. He said because of the holocaust he didn’t believe in religion anymore. He said “it’s a shame that I’ve to cover my beauty for oppressive men”. He was clearly getting more emotional as he raised his voice; without giving me a chance to defend myself. I could raise my voice to express my view/disagreement but it would just show how disrespectful I would be. Plus; I thought it would be futile to argue with a man who was clearly out of his mind. Yes, it’s true that by wearing the hijab, you’ll be the subject of discrimination and prejudice. But think again, whose contentment do you seek? People or Allah’s?

When I was in my third year, I worked in the kitchenette/waitress in a restaurant during summer holiday. Because it scorching hot, I changed the way I wore my scarf, I tied it to the back. What strike me the most was; I was losing my comfort of having my sisters/brothers around. Muslim sisters didn’t greet salam/smile to me anymore because they weren’t sure of my identity. Was I a Muslim or just another person putting the scarf on for fashion? I realised that I treasure the sisterhood/brotherhood relationship I earned when I’m wearing my hijab.

When I was talking about the news with my husband, it reminded me of an article he showed me regarding Marwa-El Sherbini (2009). To summarize; she was testifying in court against a man who verbally abused her over a trivial matter (use of playground). The defendant smuggled a kitchen knife into the court and when the plaintiff (who was 4 months pregnant) was about to leave with her husband and her 3 y.o. son, the man rushed to her and stabbed her 18 times, and she died on the scene. Her husband who was also severely injured trying to protect her was in coma for a couple of days. It was a gruesome murder. May Allah bless her soul for doing the right thing before her death. Although…. it was shocking to know that she was stabbed 18 times! Was there nobody to shoot the man down? Surely it took a long time to stab a person repetitively up to 18 times. Wasn’t there basic security at all? Could it be that the others were just witnessing the gruesome murder and the struggle but only interfered when her body was clearly lifeless? Was there a second thought as to jump and help just because she’s a Muslim? It’s scary isn’t it, to know that just because you look different, you’ll be treated differently. You’ll never fit in.

Then I remembered an article I read few years ago on the inspiring Muslim of the year titled “Finding a place, without needing to fit in”. I’m sure most of you read about her since the newspaper section was pasted on Frank Tate’s board. The story of Susan Carland, who bravely embraced Islam as her new religion from being an avid Christian. Her brief story was enough to inspire me on what I have; it’s truly heartbreaking that others are missing out. It was an enormous step for her to do what she did; ‘losing friends and experienced a lot of anger for becoming a Muslim’ (quote).

An Indian (was) friend of mine once told me he was interested in Islam and wanted to learn more. I couldn’t offer more than just some encouraging words since I’m illiterate in the delicate matters in Islam. We even called him by his ‘soon-to-be’ Muslim name. Few years later, he texted me on YM exactly one day after he embraced Islam, and told me his full Muslim name. I was so happy that I almost broke down into tears. It took him some years to study Islam and convinced his family on his decision; I’m glad his family respected his decision. Alhamdulillah, he’s now married to my friend whom I believe is the perfect match.  I pray they’ll have many babies with big beautiful brown eyes.

Sometimes I thought to myself, I don’t have anything much to lose (compare to them) if I were to make such big changes but why am I so stagnant and slow in changing myself into a better person? What am I afraid of?

There’re many ordeals on our faith. But if the situation is life threatening; lying about being a Muslim is permissible if telling the truth will result in death. On the other hand, if it’s your fate that your life ends regardless of what you say (being a Muslim or not), would you prefer the last deed that you do before dying is lying about your faith? But then again; I’ve never had an experience where my life depends on the mercy of a killer, so I don’t know what I’ll do. I pray that Allah saves our souls.

P/S: My last exam is tomorrow but I could hardly study so I resorted to writing this entry whilst hubby isn’t home hehe. He’ll nag me for wasting my time like this. The weather’s perfect, so maybe I’ll ask him to go for a walk. Good luck to all of you *hugs*

Pre-Grad countdown 9: Memoir of the Med underachiever (Yr 6 – My Job Hunting)

Lots of big things occurred this last winter. To summarize; job application, house hunting, Bangkok conference presentation, wedding preparation and not to mention the tough O&G exam. I really have to juggle my times between these matters, and to avoid over-stressing myself, I usually head out of Melbourne to get some fresh air. I’ve to admit that I got to the point where I lost my head a few times, sometimes I felt completely head over heels, but hubby reminded me that we should put our heads together in these (Well, that’s a lots of heads..lol..Just for the fun of of it.. Don’t even know if I’m using these idioms correctly). Here’s my story:

My Application for Internship

My resume isn’t that great, plus my very average mark for my below average effort are not getting me anywhere. So I thought; I better work on it and so I did!  i.e. the Bangkok presentation which consumed some of my times. When I was doing my paediatric rotation that I realised the clinical school isn’t going to inform on the opening dates for the application so I better check it out and register my name on PMCV (Post-graduate Medical council of Victoria).  The registration was just the beginning of all the hassle.

Sometimes I thought; why do we have to apply for jobs when we’re greatly in demand? Why couldn’t the hospitals just offer us jobs and save us from all this hassle (like in Malaysia)?

For the locals, yes they’re guaranteed a place but for not us. Well, this is a separate issue and I won’t babble about it here. But there is an interesting article for you to read regarding inadequate intern position in Australia “Medical students in no-pay offer as intern crisis bites”.

My preferences were metropolitan hospitals (Austin, RMH, Western, Box Hill, Alfred), Frankston, Southern Health and Geelong, excluding St V hehe. My reason for choosing these hospitals is very clear: I want to live in Melbourne. So interstate was out of the question. Alhamdulillah all works out well, I got an offer from Western. New hospital, new ambience, new experience= I’m definitely up for it.

My offer letter. Details have been scribed for confidentiality

There’s a funny story behind my interview with Western Hospital. 2 hours prior to the interview, I went to the Northern Hospital to collect the signatures for my obstetric logbook. To my frustration, the doctors were not there on that day. Then I drove straight to the interview which was scheduled at 3.30 pm. I overlooked the map (silly mistake); there is no exit from the main road to the highway that gets to the hospital. I was late, and very anxious. I figured perhaps I shouldn’t come at all; but I made a wise decision: called them and told them I’d be 15 minutes late because of the traffic. Deep within my heart, I knew that my chance to get employed has banished, thanks to my very good first impression. Surprisingly, I managed to impress the interviewer when I told him about my possible field of interest; and he applauded me for being ‘non-judgemental’. Plus; when I told him I’d like more exposure to Infectious disease (ID), and so he offered the single intern position in ID. I guess that was how I got the job. I found out that I was matched early Monday morning on PMCV website. I was hysterical to find out that I was matched to the very hospital that I thought I had no chance! And whilst I was still hysterical, I received a call from Western Hospital’s staff congratulating me on my employment offer, I said “it’s great isn’t it??!!” I clearly failed to mask my extreme feeling of contentment.I’m so glad most of colleagues managed to get an intern spot despite the high competition amongst the international students. Congratulation to Aliya and Muth (Frankston), Faiz and Mar (Frankston), Azni (Austin), Wahyuna, Rei and Syafirul (Adelaide).

Just to share some few tips regarding the interviews:

1. Austin: Book your interview time online early, the longer you delay, the more difficult for you to organise the interview time to suit your study schedule. They’ll segregate you into a group of 8 and ask you; to describe yourself in 2 minutes and then 2 group tasks to be completed. Finally they’ll test your vocabulary by asking you to describe in one word on; internship experience etc. Very hard to stand out.
2. RMH: Book your interview time online. Again this is a group interview. They’ll segregate you into 8 and you only have one chance to speak up. Each candidate has a 5 minute chance to talk about themselves, their achievements + hobbies, why they wanted to work at RMH, how they could contribute and what they wish to gain. These informations aren’t told in any guidelines, but generally these are the things that you should inform them. What you have to do is to write a page long summary on the above matters and memorise it. Keep on practising your script until you memorize it. Do it in front of your friends (who aren’t applying for the same place haha). Because in the actual interview, you’ll have 10 audiences listening to every word that you say; and there is no chance to screw it up.
3. Western: The only way to book for your appointment is during the Medical Career Expo (find out about the date on PMCV). Be there early, and scribble your interview time on the available time slots (refer to you class schedule first). Western Hospital has a one on one interview session; you’ll be interviewed by one interviewer for 20-30 minutes. Questions; tell me about yourself, your future field of interest and some clinical situations e.g. what makes up a good intern, what do you do if your friend intern is not coping. Impress them or go for a field that has the least competition e.g. psych.
4. Box Hill: I don’t remember how I booked the interview but I think you have to call them up. Anyway, it was a ‘2 interviewers for each candidate’ session. Questions they asked were: Tell us about yourself + why Eastern Health + what do you wish to gain from Eastern Health, 2 clinical situations i.e. if a patient insist on giving you an expensive gift, how to handle disagreement with a nurse.
5. Geelong: They’ll call you to set an interview time. Interview was very short ~ 10 minutes (and I drove all the way to Geelong for 45 minutes!). Funny thing was; they asked you questions as if they’ve employed you i.e. what rotation do you want to do, any annual leave that you can’t miss. And of course the golden question on; why Geelong Hospital.
6. Southern Health: They said that due to the enormous amounts of applications, they’ll shortlist the candidates. The truth is Monash graduates will get more priority. But I’m thankful that I didn’t get Southern because they could place you for rural placement 2 or 3 times a year, so 10 weeks x 2/3 times in rural= not for me!. They asked for ridiculous information in your cover letter i.e. your inspiration and 2 clinical experiences that changed the way you practise medicine. Sounds so SPM-like question.Plus, it’s compulsory for you to attend the information night (they tick your name off omg!). Good luck though!
7. Alfred: They only took 1 international student the year before, and there was almost no chance they’ll hire more. Why did I even bother trying?
8. There is no interview for Frankston Hospital. So impress them with your resume!

The battle for me wasn’t over after the interviews. I had exams and also had to hunt for a new place to stay. We’ve applied to more than 10 houses before we managed to get a house. And the day I finished exam was the day we moved out, basically very minimal rest. I had to unpack and get the house ready for my big day in 3 weeks. That’s why I took a self-proclaimed holiday during the start of the semester. I have to say I’m surprised at how I could handle all of these at the same time and keep up with my study. Thanks to the help I received especially to hubby who was being very supportive. Bigger and newer challenges are yet to come once I step into the “Work” world. I have no idea what challenges are awaiting me; but I’m definitely up for it. Gambate ne!!!!

P/S: Victoria is the lowest paying state compare to the other states. Although the idea of moving out of Melbourne sounds like an enormous decision, you’ll get better pay. Perth is definitely the place to go (4 hours from Malaysia=balik kampong once fortnightly?). However, bad news is more graduates will flood the market and the competition WILL get tougher. I know my Med colleagues in the pre-clinical years are doing very well, so keep up the good work    In the end, it doesn’t matter where you’ll end up for your internship because if you’re good, you’ll find your way back to the major hospital. To maximise your chance of employment, apply interstate. Plus, it’s good to work in different places because you’ll gain more experience.

Al-Lergy

When we’re waiting for our turns for OSCE the other morning, we randomly chatted about visa application, Hanna’s misfortune, contraception and my uneventful admission to MAPU. I was telling them how the nurses tried to give me Nurofen for my pain when I clearly had the red wrist band which said NSAIDs. And so I started talking about the event when I realised I’m allergic to NSAIDs.

Once upon a time in the land of Australia, 20 students were sitting for their English written test. Prior to this, I was complaining of my terrible menstrual pain and I forgot to bring my usual painkiller. Then there was a helpful friend Nini who offered me this tablet (Naproxen) and after swallowing it, we quickly headed to the exam hall. Within the first 10 minutes; I started to realise that something wasn’t right. My eyes were runny and it was slowly getting harder for me to see. I was rubbing my eyes constantly and had to resort opening my eyelids using my fingers, whilst the other hand was vigorously scribing. I also noticed my other colleagues were looking at me. I had no inkling that my face somehow evolved into something incompatible to life. I quickly asked for permission to go to the toilet. And the truth hit me! I couldn’t recognise the person I was looking at the mirror. It wasn’t me!! My eyes were bulging and oedematous, and lips were big red sausages, and my face was moon facies (really round and uggggglyyyy~)!!! I broke down and cried in the toilet but funny enough, I couldn’t really feel my tears coming down (might be due to the numbness or because my eyes were already runny to begin with).

This is how I looked like when it happened. p/s not my photo, but just imagine this face with a scarf on:)

Then I went back to the exam hall, ignoring the curious staring eyes. The staffs offered me Zyrtec which helped to control the swelling and the runny eyes. I kept looking down since I wanted to hide my hideous face. By the end of the exam, Faiz kindly told me that it happened to him before because he was allergic to NSAIDs too. Oh was I glad to know somebody understood my situation. Due to visual difficulty and shame for my evolved face, I was covering my face with one hand all the time. So you could imagine walking home would be tricky. Faiz helped me to get home; which I’m thankful till today. It took 3 days for the swelling to subside, so I missed 3 days of class. But then again; it took another event before I learned my lesson. Few months after that; I had fever and flu so I went to the pharmacy to buy some over the counter medicine. The pharmacy offered me Advil; and I blindly bought it. After swallowing one tablet, there was this familiar feeling of blurry vision and watery eyes. To my surprise; it was actually made up of Ibuprofen (NSAIDs). So I went back to the pharmacy to buy myself Zyrtec, and tried to find my way into getting my money back for the Advil. I tried to blame the pharmacist for not asking my allergy before suggesting me to buy it; but it didn’t work haha. Thumbs up for being so foolish! Now; I always read the back of box before swallowing any medication.

I guess I do have lots of allergies namely nickel allergy (severe rash during childhood which required bandaging to avoid more scratching), cold weather/hot shower (severe urticaria), NSAIDs (Angioedema) and the recent allergy I just picked up is pollen; which means my spring will be slimy and yucky without antihistamine. I can’t even stop sneezing now.

Pre-Grad countdown 8: Memoir of the Med underachiever (Yr 6 – My Bangkok experience)

I’ve done my first exam..so I deserve to write 1 entry. Btw, I seriously think I fail the investigation station, because I just realised I read the questions wrongly. So, see anyone in the sup exam okay?

What’s so special about my trip to Bangkok? Nothing much, this trip wasn’t a holiday trip, but more of a semi-holiday plus work trip.

It all started last year when Prof texted me to send an abstract to the Harm Reduction committee, for the April conference in Bangkok. Previous year it was held at Barcelona. I went along with the idea, hoping that I could a poster up at the conference. But I got more than what I bargained for;

Dear respective speaker,

Invitation to Speak in a Major Session at ‘Harm Reduction 2009′ – Bangkok, Thailand, 20th to 23rd April 2009

I was perplexed; excited, terrified, confused and stunned. I’m not a good public speaker; I wasn’t gifted with the gift of  the gab. I remember how terrified I was when I had to speak at Monash global health seminar regarding my research as part of the HIV/AIDs awareness talks. Prof had to call me up personally and begged me to represent him. I thought he was the one who wanted to talk, that’s why I consented to participate in the whole idea. Who knew, he meant him=me. Speaking in an audience of 50 was nerve-wrecking enough, but this was out of the question. No way was I going to get on the stage with international audiences/conference to speak about my tiny irrelevant insignificant research! But then again; I would be so foolish to let go of this opportunity. So I closed my eyes and clicked the “I accept” button.

My local supervisor was equally excited and prepared to pay for my Melb-MYS flight ticket, and my other expenses was sponsored by the Malaysian Aids Council. So who wouldn’t want to surpass this opportunity? There were some problems though.

1. It coincided with the first week of O & G term. The first week consists of 4 ½ days of lectures and an exam at the end of the week. The exam accounts for 4% of our final mark. After weighing the pros and cons, I thought; bugger it. I could afford to make up for the lost 4% in my final exam (so confident, masking my worry).
2. I had no contact with the team I was going with. It was only in the last week before departing then, I’ve got in touch with Dr N who was the manager of MAC. He was surprisingly a nice family man, a medical graduate from Adelaide (orthopaedic), the person whom I trusted most out of the team for reasons which I think are inappropriate to share. Luckily I wasn’t the only female in the group of 10. And there were some familiar faces too; the people whom I worked with during my research term.
3. The week before I departed was when the riot in BKK began. It was the headlines of the news, and my phone was full with texts from family and the team regarding the riot. My family was terribly scared and advised me not to go; but they know me better. I didn’t mind going as long as the airport wasn’t hijacked. My email was flooded with string emails from the members of the team, expressing their concerns and decisions. Some even decided not to go for fear of their safety. One by one pulled out, so I was worried I might ended up going alone. I almost called the airline to cancel my ticket; but then the news update informed that the situation was under controlled. Plus the reassuring email from the organizer;

“…. we’d like to let everyone know that the city is in full swing with New Year celebrations and it is business as usual. As you will all have seen on the news, the protests (which were taking place some 10 kms from the conference location) were peacefully dissolved on Tuesday and the local people are getting on with the celebrations in a big way (as in fact they were starting to do while the protests were on)…. We’d like to extend a very warm welcome to you all from a warm and peaceful Bangkok.”

And this email was followed by another email asking whether I’d still present at the conference. Which I thought was funny.

I departed from KL on Sunday morning, and to cut it short, we arrived at the hotel safe and sound. The situation in BKK was really overrated by the media. BKK was calm; everything was operating normally, as if nothing major had happened. In fact, the city was busy and lively as usual. The weather was very warm and humid. Forget make-up. It’ll melt the moment you step out of the hotel room, even at night. What I gained from the conference;

1. Met numerous people; whom I failed to recall their names (my diary is full with their business cards though). Many Malaysian figures especially doctors. Dato’ Robocop was even there, presented how the program changed his approach towards Intravenous Drug Users, repented his past doings and now seen as the merciful Robocop.
2. Malaysia has giant steps towards improving this program in Malaysia. A global view on the Harm Reduction program across all countries really made me realized that we have lots to do. The countries which have implemented these programs for years are providing help and services which are all-incorporating, which are proving to be fruitful.
3. IVDUs are truly being wrongly treated. There were active and peaceful demonstrations during the conference, demanding IVDUs to be treated as human (and I got a free T shirt hehe). It was very disturbing to see the videos that were displayed on how inhumane these unfortunate people are being treated. One video was showing the IVDU’s hand tied at his back and was left being bitten by dogs, and the other being bashed using the police batons.
4. Other new inputs which were very refreshing but I think I’ll be flooding the entry with just my opinions. Again; nobody ask for it so I’ll keep them to myself. Continue on; I do think that Harm Reduction program is being underutilised and heaps of improvements need to be done. Do I think that this program is the absolute answer to fighting drugs? Honestly, I don’t. Because the idea of supplying them with paraphernalia just doesn’t seem 100% right, but the question is; what is NECESSARY to curb the ever growing HIV epidemic. Maybe somewhere down the line, we’ll find better solutions and perhaps the cure. As the hadith says, “There is no disease that Allah has created, except that He also has created its treatment.” I’ve received a lot of exposure towards and this field, and have established some networks but still uncertain whether this is the field that I’ll pursue.

Of course I did some leisure especially after I’ve presented at the conference. Places that I’ve I went to were mostly night markets, since we went out as a group at night to do some massive shopping. I couldn’t recall the names of the markets but I remember going to the Patpong market which is very popular with tourists. The ambience and the price are very similar to Petaling Street although the alleys are much more spacious. Beware! If you don’t know how to bargain, you’ll get fool easily with the high price. They’ll mark up the price up to 300% and you’ll have to bargain like crazy and pretend that you’ll walk away. If all means fail, just walk away and if they’re desperate for customers, they’ll come chasing you. What I enjoyed the most was riding the Tut Tut taxi. And again they tried to charged us with an awful high fee. We finally managed to get to a group of tut tur drivers who were willing to cut some slack. The 3 of us rode in the fast speeding Tut Tut, zigzagging our way in the traffic. It was really fun, although the free air was so warm that we were sweating along the way whilst inhaling the generous carbon monoxide from the other vehicles. I really wanted to go to one of the floating markets but then again, I don’t think I’ll be buying anything there. I’ve lost count of how much I spent on souvenirs and calling card (Oh I should say that the pre-paid international calling card is the best! I called Australian line directly from my mobile at a rate of 10 baht per minute, which I think is a very good deal )

Although I did enjoy myself whilst working, I would’ve love it even more if my hubby and family was there. But then it wouldn’t be a work trip, would it? My point is; a fully sponsored work trip + entertainment are not the same as an earned out-of-pocket real holiday trip. Although the later tax your savings account, it’s definitely more memorable. Well, next year Insha’Allah we’ll have our holidays at the same time i.e. mid July. Very excited and looking forward to aim for one of our 8 world wonders!!!

Pre-Grad countdown 7: Memoir of the Med underachiever (Yr 6 – My Haemorrhagic cystitis)

It started yesterday evening (9^th November) when I experienced this constant burning pain while urinating. I had all the typical urinary tract infection signs; dysuria, frequency with a bonus of some blood tinge in my urine and toilet paper. It was so painful that I had to take 2 panadols, which helped to relieve the pain to some extent. The pain was 6/10 so I had to struggle to grab some sleep. Around 11.30 pm I received a phone call from Najmi telling me about Hanna who escaped an attempted kidnapping. She was in ED RMH for forensic investigation. I figured; I might need to go to the ED myself because of my hematuria but I thought I better see the GP first. My sleep was greatly disturbed because of the pain and the frequency. Mind that I had to bear the agonizing pain when I was passing urine.

Right sample: Prior to 1 litre of NS. Left sample: After 1 litre of NS.

When I woke up for subuh at 5.30 am, I didn’t feel any better, had diaphoresis, dizziness and nauseous. I couldn’t stand up for prayer. I got petrified when I urinated frank dark blood which filled the toilet bowl, not to mention the strong bloody smell. So hubby thought; just got ready and we’ll head to the ED now.

Triage nurse saw my urine sample and quickly called me in. I was in the ED for 4 hours, blood sample was taken to exclude sepsis (no fever since I’ve taken Panadols since last night), and urinalysis didn’t yield anything because the dipstick was tinged with blood (they couldn’t see anything). I was hypotensive, BP of 93/53 so IV Saline was commenced. With a provisional diagnosis of pyelonephritis (no flank pain just suprapubic pain), they decided to give 160mg Gentamicin IV. I was transferred to the short stay unit (SSU) for another 3 hours. I asked for pain relief for the burning pain. I’m allergic to NSAIDs (although there were some attempts to give me Nurofen without looking at my red wrist band), so I’ve to resort to 5 mg Endone (narcotic). The pain subsided but I got a big headache and felt very drowsy after that. The plan was to get me discharged late afternoon but my urine was still bright red.

I was then transferred to MAPU (medical assessment and planning unit) which gave a hint of I might need to be admitted. I was given another litre of normal saline, 2 gm of amoxicillin and another paracetamol for the low grade fever. The plan changed, seeing my urine sample; I might have to be admitted and given 6 hourly Amoxyl and discharged tomorrow morning. I got really upset because my exam’s on Thursday. When the nurse was chatting to me about not to worry about exam, he asked me “which one is your priority? Your exam or your health?” My exam of course!!!

But Alhamdulillah, after the second bag of normal saline, my urine’s clearing up and my pain settled to 2/10. I was discharged at 5 pm with 1 week of Trimetoprim. It still hurts whilst peeing, but not as bad. At the moment I’m feeling very nauseous from the loading dose of antibiotic. But I have to be a good girl, drink and eat as usual.  Hubby’s taking care of me.

What I learned are:

1. Hospital food sucks. Made me even nauseous.
2. It’s easy to communicate with hospital staff when they know you’re medical student.

If I’m feeling better tomorrow + exams over, I might visit Hanna for support.

Freshwater megafishes

We took up this fishing hobby just this year, but indeed, we enjoyed going out to fish once in a while. Bear in mind that sometimes we don’t catch any fish at all, but we did caught some experiences along the way. On a few conversations with fellow fishing friends, we spoke about a fish: the stingray (malay: ikan pari). Once in Port Campbell, we saw this fisherman trying to land a big stingray, but eventually was defeated (couldn’t remember how, his line snapped perhaps?). Wifey and I, with fellow friends, always talked about how nice it would be if we could catch one of those and grill it. Ikan pari bakar anyone?

Anyhow, I would like to point something about a particular species of fish. Freshwater whipray / Giant freshwater stingray (Himantura Chaophraya). Pretty sure many of us didn’t know that freshwater stingrays do exist! It is one of the largest freshwater fishes in the world, with reports from the Chao Phraya and Mekong Rivers of individuals weighing 500-600 kilograms.

Look at the size of that freshwater stingray!

What’s more interesting is this thing actually can also be found in Sabah, Malaysia (the Kinabatangan River)! And I thought fishes of this calibre can only be found in huge rivers like Chao Phraya. Oh, it is also found in Australia, but only in NT and WA though.

Since I was a kid, I like to read and watch documentaries about animals (and plants, to a lesser extent) and I must say, God’s creation never stop to amuse me. I like especially those unique animals, those rarely documented, rarely seen as living animals. I strongly recommend David Attenborough’s documentary series for this reason; they show the other side of animals we don’t actually see on everyday basis.  Plus the details of the footage they show- they use special cameras and equipments in their documentaries. I assure you, as long as you have the slightest interest towards animals, you’ll be amused at what these guys are capable of filming.

On another note, few years back in Malaysia, people were quite surprised to see this unique species of fish, the so-called ‘Ikan ganjil berkepala buaya.’ TV3 even had a footage of it on the news. What TV3 didn’t know was this fish is actually quite common in southern US, and it is called Alligator Gar (Atractosteus spatula). Some aquariums in Malaysia even sell this fish for RM25 for a 15 cm long alligator gar. Quite embarrassing on TV3 part eh?

Ikan ganjil berkepala buaya

Scary teeth: suits the name!

This fish can actually grow up to 8-10 feet and often weighs at least 90kgs at maturity. Huge freshwater fishes! And there are lots and lots of other huge fishes as well, e.g. arapaima and giant catfishes (now these are more commonly seen in big aquariums). Can people actually land them with fishing rods? O__o

Who laughs at these jokes? Somebody does…

A guy says to his friend “My mother in-law is an angel”

His friend replies “You’re lucky, mine’s still alive”

Funny isn’t it? It’s good to hear a good joke every now and then, because you need a good laugh.

Laughter is the best medicine, the simplest non-pharmacological approach to self-remedy in gloomy and miserable times. If one could crack a joke in an audience of strangers, the strange silent ambience is broken. Be funny, that’s the shortcut to making new acquaintance. But ever wonder what people define as joke(s)?

Definition of a joke is:

1) Something not to be taken seriously

2) Something said or done to provoke laughter

Hence a joke has to be amusing and funny. Golden rule is; a joke is not funny if you’re the only one laughing. It’s indicating that your joke is either too bizarre or offensive. The former is better than the later isn’t it? Some people are naturally funny whilst others try so hard to crack jokes; sometimes to the extent that it’s insulting and rude. The question here: is there a clear line between a joke that’s funny and insulting?

I remember one event where Sue invited me and Anas (who was coincidentally in Melbourne for his summer holiday) to go with her to a comedy festival show because she won the free tickets (what a lucky girl). I didn’t know what to expect in the show; since I’ve never been to such event. What I hoped were; 1) the comedians could crack really funny jokes because I don’t think Australian jokes are that funny to begin with and 2) No terrorist/ Muslims/ Scarf or anything related jokes because it would make us feel extremely uncomfortable.  Thank God, there was none. Although we noticed some eyes staring, including by the comedians. Unfortunately, I still think that Australian jokes are not that funny (even the reality TV shows). And to my disgust, this is then supported by the recent hot issues by some of the Australian TV celebrities who clearly crossed their lines.

Celebrities are trying hard to crack jokes for the sakes of gaining higher TV/radio ratings, but unintentionally have caused some disputes. Recent example was the case of Kyle Sandilands when he made an inappropriate comment on Magda. What made it worse was it happened not long after he made the teenage girl confessed on air about her abuse experience. The other example is the TV celebrity who used a terminally ill child as the substance for his joke. People have lost their definition on what they perceive as funny. Flashing bums on TV isn’t funny, it’s disgusting and humiliating. But some people love it and most importantly, the TV rating will rise exponentially.

Russell Peter is famous for his racist jokes. He even admitted that he cracks a lot of racist jokes; his usual victims are Indians and not so much Chinese. Nevertheless, his audiences are mostly made up of the people he was making fun of. How ironic is that? Not really. His audiences were clearly open- minded on such issues, plus Russell could afford to preach such racist jokes. He’s an Indian himself, so he is practically making fun of himself too. Be that; a fair-skinned person tells similar racist joke about Indians, he will definitely be bashed to death.

If only you spend your time surfing looking for tips on how to tell a good joke; you’ll find numerous tips which are funny. Albeit it’s hard to tell a joke that will carve a smile on somebody’s lips/ start a burst of laughter, the most important thing about cracking good jokes is; to know your audience. Don’t just blindly spill a medical joke in a crowd of people with no medical background. You’ll look like a daft. I always smirk when my fellow colleagues start cracking jokes using medical jargons; I always thought to myself “what a nerd.. ‘

Someone known to me; who is an avid politician told this joke:

“Owh, it’s the 9^th of September, if only Negeri Sembilan is having its election now, it would be the 9^th general election in Sembilan state on the 9^th of 9^th month…” and he laughed. We offered some sympathy laughs.

After a period of silence, somebody added “Even better if it begins at 9 am…” Well, the last part was funny.

And I burst out laughing.

Pre-Grad countdown 6: Memoir of the Med underachiever (Yr 6 – My Trips)

I went for my Visa Health Check the other day, which costs me AUD 350! Anyway, the pathologist was telling me that his friend went to Fiji, India and the State in a total of 9 months for clinical experience. That sounds fun… I love travelling, maybe it’s because of the mole on my 4^th right toe..myth myth..

I’ve travelled heaps this year, more than the years before. That explains why I run out of money haha. Well here’s my travel diary for 2009:

Teluk Batik: Family holiday at Teluk Batik for no reason. Hated the beach, so dirty. I blamed the organizers for the lousy venue; nonetheless, it was very pleasant to have a big family gathering once in a while. The mothers chatted and munched the nuts whilst looking after the young grandchildren, and the youngsters headed to the Karaoke house late at night, shopping non-stop and tried various new activities i.e. snorkelling in the murky water and got chased by a turtle.

Johor/Singapore: We went to Johor and Singapore to visit some friends and relatives. At Danga station, we were greeted by Yus and Kak Shima who gave us a quick tour of Bandar Baru Uda, where they stayed. That night, few other friends; Yot, Ajis, Fadli, Jaei, Ahmad from Batu Pahat and my cousin Maisara had dinner at Danga Bay and some headed to late night karaoke. We headed to Singapore the next morning and stayed at the backpacker’s bed and breakfast accommodation in Kampung Arab. The accommodation place was very ideal; next to the heritage Sultan mosque. So, it was very convenient for prayers.  Went to several places which names I failed to recall, including Sentosa Island. What I remembered most was when we took a photo with fat pythons around our necks. Not our first time to hold pythons, nevertheless, it was fun. We visited my uncle’s house too. The downside of the trip was; hubby made a simple mistake when he was getting out of the cab and didn’t do his usual ‘double checking’ the seat.  Unfortunately, this one simple careless mistake costed him his new mobile phone.

Batu Caves: We’ve always wanted to climb the Batu Caves’ stairs, and so we did. We made it to the top without halting.

After we were back in Melbourne after our summer holiday, we planned some weekend camping trips. We had 1 camping trip every fortnightly; Port Campbell, Lorne, Lake Eildon and Lake Entrance.

Port Campbell: The drive along GoR was definitely refreshing. It was actually the first time we went camping in ages, and also the time when we started to learn fishing. We stopped by frequently for nice shots during our trip back home.

Lorne: Freaking cold nights to fish, Shah once got an eel here but he let it go!!! Why didn’t you give it to me??? In terms of the camping spot, it’s near Foodwork so you don’t have to worry about bringing your food supply. Hated the hot water system though, as you have to chip in 10 cent coin for a quick 2 minutes hot water. If you don’t have coins, you’ll have to settle for the cold water. The camping spot is next to the beach, very nice to wake up with the fresh sea breeze.  We went for few jungle trekking, got to the most beautiful waterfall- Erskine waterfall (made me jumped up and down), fishing at the St Georges’ River and at the pier with several hundreds of fishers (lol) but our baits were stolen by the seal that was happily swimming beneath the pier.

Lake Eildon: 3 hours drive from Melbourne and you’ll pass the areas affected by the ‘black Saturday’. In fact, we went there 1 week after KingLake and Marysville areas were opened. We were driving through the remnants of the fire; the black stained trees and the pieces of the burnt down houses. The camping site was perfect, next to a river which reminded me of Malaysia’s fine cold river. The sun was burning, so a quick plunge into the sparkling Goulbourn River was just what we needed. A visit to the Snobs Creek Falls is a must. Fishing wise: not as great. We went here as Lake Eildon is a popular fishing spot; unfortunately the river hasn’t been very generous lately. According to the locals, the fishes have been shy lately. Yet, we still craved for fish so we went to the nearby fish farm and caught 4 big fat rainbow trouts in half an hour lol. Fishy dinner:)

Lake Entrance: I love Lake Entrance the most. It’s 5 hours drive from Melbourne-which was tiring but it was worth every penny and effort! You’ll drive past Traralgon (LaTrobe regional hospital) and it’s further down West South. It’s THE perfect location for fishing or crabbing. We caught 60 big fat sand crabs! Not so much luck with fishing though since we only managed to get 2 tiny ones, and had to let them go. We only called up to book for a camping site 2 days before Easter holiday started so you could imagine that most of places were fully booked. So we were lucky to get a spot. The site was fully equipped with a spa, swimming pool for kids and tennis tables. *grin* Heaps of activities were done in Lake Entrance;

1. Caving: Beautifully preserved underground limestone caves, The Buchan Caves (Royal Caves and Fairy Caves). No crawling involved. The pathways were dimly lit and there were stairs that head underground. What impressed me the most was the history on the discovery of the caves. The man who discovered the caves found a small opening on the ground and he dug the tunnel which led to the big caves, finding his way underground using just candles. How impressive. But I still could remember the group that we went with, was very ‘loud’, conversing their native language at full volume thus making video recording unattainable.
2. Horse riding: Hubby always wanted to go for horse riding so we did. We went for a 2 hours guided tour and went home with sore bums.
3. Fishing cruise: 4 hours trip to learn fishing from a pro. Initially we wanted to go for a deep sea fishing cruise but it took longer, probably minimum half a day leaving us with little time to do the rest of what we wanted to do. So we settled for the second option. The tour guide told us that sometimes, sharks as big as 7 feet swim in that area, the exact same place that hubby once used to do kayaking. If only they knew, I bet they wouldn’t even dip their toes in that water.
4. Crabbing: THE perfect location for crabbing. Locals see crabs as pests; we see them as scrumptious food. We bought a crab net because hubby has never done crabbing before. But it was a worthwhile investment. We caught crabs as big as the size of our palm, and we caught 20 on the first day, and another 30 plus on the second day. If we had a bigger container, we would continue catching those pests. We even hired a boat to catch the crabs, and you could just imagine how excited we were when we could see through the sparkling water, the crabs crawled into our net. We were drunk with freshly boiled crabs when we got home.
5. Catamaran ride: It’s not as easy as it seems. You have to really know how to look at  the wind to navigate the catamaran. It only costed AUD 50 per hour, and that would be long enough, I could assure you. When the guy taught us how to handle Catamaran for 5 minutes and let us ride on our own, I thought: he must be kidding?? But then again, we managed to return to the shore, without getting lost far into the sea. Just watch your head, or you’ll break your skull. Because once you get into the right wind flow, the sail could swing in your direction in 2 secs. You wouldn’t want to blackout and fall into the sea which was full with jellyfish.

Bangkok: I submitted a draft to the Harm Reduction committee last September, and was invited to speak at the conference in April. I was jumping hysterically when I got the offer, and terrified at the same time. I’ll write a separate entry for this, just because there are lots to tell.

When it was approaching winter, camping trips have slowed down a little bit. Most days we only hit a day trip out of Melbourne.

Kilmore/ Hanging Rock:

Hubby was doing his rural rotation and he got placed in Kilmore which is only an hour drive. It was approaching Ramadhan so he drove back and forth everyday so we could break fast together and went for Terawih. We spent one of the weekends in the bed and breakfast accommodation there. The B & B had a very meticulous presentation, offering a sense of homey feeling once we stepped in. Not to mention that it was also equipped with Foxtel and Dvd player. It only catered for one couple though. The place was surrounded by the owner’s farm animals i.e. sheep, horses and llama. So you could imagine how ‘Farmy’ it felt. It was the 1^st Ramadhan, and we opted to hike Hanging Rock as to mark the memorable 1^st Ramadhan in the suburb. It was just half an hour drive from the accommodation, located in the Daylesford region. It wasn’t as challenging as I expected lol, but the journey to the top was rewarding. Once we got to the top, the view was priceless; reminded me of Grampians. Anyway, after hiking, we went to search for a good fishing spot around the region but none looked promising. So no fishing activity, instead we spent the next day driving around the area enjoying the scenery.

Geelong/Barwon Head/ Ocean Grove:

The cold weather hampered fishing activities for a while, but hubby couldn’t sit still to get started. So on the last day of Ramadhan, we headed to Barwon Head at 10 pm. The tide was up, which was promising, but the weather was extremely chilly (darling, you owe me big for torturing me this way). As the weather is getting warmer these days, our fish gears are actively searching for its ‘catch of the day’. We tried Frankston but availed nothing, apart from some starfishes which are practically ‘pests’. Alhamdulillah, our recent trip (to Barwon Head) was very fruitful and we’re certainly more up and about for more trips!!

The shining sun is calling us to get out of our hibernation. We definitely have some trips planned, and are very excited to get started once our exams are over. In the meantime, I should, should I, I should, should I study.

Ocean Grove & Barwon Head’s Great Haul

Yesterday we went to yet another fishing trip to Ocean Grove & Barwon Head, which were about 1/2 hr from Geelong. Planning to make an early start at 9, we departed quite late (arrived in Geelong on around 12ish pm). This time there were  6 of us: wifey & I, Shah & Haidar and Jai & Iylia. Alhamdulillah weather was good (though it was scorching hot in Geelong when we got there, and bone chilling when we arrived in Ocean Grove to start fishing).

Our initial plan to rent a boat was hampered as we didn’t make a booking beforehand. The 2 boats Rent A Tinny has were booked out, and we looked around for any good pier in Geelong for fishing. To those who are interested, Rent a Tinny rents out small boats (fit 4-5 ppl each) at Geelong waterfront, and doesn’t require any boat license whatsoever. Prices as stated in their website (No I’m not receiveing any commission for this~). After an urgent discussion, we then decided to go Ocean Grove instead, which is about 25 kms from Geelong.

It was quite foggy over there, sort of a myst floating over the sea surface. Sudden change from hot to cold- some of us (especially the ones wearing single layer of top a.k.a bajet cuaca panas) had to wear the emergency ponchos as it was getting a bit too cold while fishing. Having 4 rods among us (and a crab net which was rendered useless- not a single crab from the Ocean Grove jetty), we started fishing with squids, prawns and live tubeworms as baits. Immediately after casting, Shah caught a small flathead for the entrée. A bit too small, it was released, and then few more small flatheads were on a suicidal mission – kept coming for our rods (and all were released). And it wasn’t long until the next ’sizeable’ fish started to take our baits (prawns are so laku here!). 9 fishes were caught here: 5 King George whitings, and 4 Australian herrings (tommy roughs). Plus they were quite a number of near misses as well.

Then we moved to another spot, Barwon Head, which is 4 kms away, in hope of catching sand crabs. To our disappointment, the tide level was too low, we didn’t even bother to try our luck in crabbing (+ our past experience of catching babies @__@). The ladies did some cooking (hot megi kari yummm), and jai was feeling a bit unwell, so Shah and I went on fishing to finish the living worm baits. Much to our surprise, we caught another 3 whitings, and a yellow-eyed mullet from just 1/2 hr of fishing  from the sandy beach over there. The uncles fishing next to us keep catching pufferfishes, and were quite surprised when Shah showed the worms we used as baits.

The happy faces of the nelayan berenam, with hasil tangkapan

8 whitings on the left, 4 Australian herrings on the right, 1 mullet at the bottom.

13 fishes in total, Alhamdulillah what a great haul. As the wise man once said, Geelong is the best place to go fishing in summer (Kamil, 2009). Looking forward for more fishing trips (after our exams perhaps), and for the fishy dishes tonight!

Sunday night, the 6 of us and ohey started cooking our own recipes for the fishes. Me and wifey cooked ‘Whitings bakar’ dipped with the ‘kuah asam’ made by Haidar, Jai and iylia cooked ‘Herring Tempura’ dipped with the odd looking sauce (but tasted great!). Food was abundant Alhamdulillah, and the roast potatoes yumm! We bought a simple cake (last minute plan) to celebrate Haidar’s belated birthday, Ohey’s and Iylia’s coming birthdays too. What a delightful dinner whilst watching movie.  All was simple and perfect *grin*

The luxurious fish dinner!