Ehem!

Woke up this morning with a scratchy throat, and by mid-day there was definitely a sign of a throat irritation. Aiseymen.... this is the one thing that I have been trying to avoid, coz when I get the coughing fits they'll usually be accompanied with chest pains and insomnia and plus they'll last for at least a week or so. I hate it when this happens coz I could really bring the house down with the sound. Yup, that loud my coughs were.....

Already bought some lozenges from the pharmacy. Hope it'll help. Am keeping myself warm too, and definitely only warm water/drinks from now on.

Cepat lah sihat, penat ah sakit ni..... :((

Daylight Saving Time

... or DST is when the clocks are moved 1 hour in the spring. In the European Union, Summer Time begins and ends at 1:00 a.m. Universal Time (Greenwich Mean Time). It begins on the last Sunday in March (which is today) and ends on the last Sunday in October. In the EU, all time zones change at the same moment.

Why do they do this? This is to make better use of daylight, as the days in the summer are longer than in the winter. More sunlight, less electricity consumption, better environmental outcome so on so forth... Simply put, by turning the clocks 1 hour ahead, people get the opportunity to enjoy the day and the sunlight more.

(gambar hiasan)

When I first came here, I had no idea about DST. As a result, I was 1 hour early for Anatomy class! Yup, it was October and I was in front of the uni wondering why it was so deserted and freezing my a** off at 7.30am (according to my watch) when it was actually 6.30am!! It was only later that I found out from my classmates about the time change. Nobody else to blame but me for my ignorance, haha...

And guess what, I still am confused by the time change up till last year. If my friends haven't reminded me I would have totally forgotten about it. But this year I do remember, and have been preparing for it, i.e.waking up 1 hour earlier than my usual wake-up time in the morning for the past weeks. Since we now have morning rounds/classes everyday I figured that my body and mind would need to get used to waking up at an earlier time. Have to do this, because I found that nowadays my body is less adaptable to changes as I get older. Oh well, what to do, old already maaah...

FB

Apakah??

Lama giler tak log-in tengok2 diorang dah tukar lay-out la pulak.

Hisyy...kan ke dah konpius skang ni? Nape kena tukar lay-out/settings yang lama tu? Dulu tu okay dah apa...

Sabar je lah, hmmmphhhh.....

Case Study Presentation

Yeah I know, this entry is kind of backdated. Had the presentation last week but was too busy and sick to write about it. Well, here's the gist of it...

As I've mentioned before, my group had the honour of making the first case presentation for the class. We are now in our Paediarics cycle and are currently assigned to the Paediatrics Cardiac Clinic. Our case study was about a female patient aged around 1++ years old with Tetralogy of Fallot. She was practically bluish due to her heart problems.

TETRALOGY OF FALLOT is a congenital heart defect that consists of 4 anomalies (hence the name -tetra):
1. Ventricular septal defect (VSD)
2. Pulmonary stenosis
3. Right ventricular hypertrophy
4. An aorta that overrides the septal defect

All these anomalies result in a right-to-left shunting of the blood, that leads to the cetral cyanosis. In addition to the cyanosis, she also has clubbing of the fingers and toes (Hippocratic fingers & toes), and poorly developed teeth and poor growth. She was also dyspnoeic during feeding (difficult to breath during drinking/eating), so the mother had to feed her slowly so that she could catch some breath in between swallowing. She could only sit/stand with support because her legs couldn't really support her body. Both the patient and the mother were very cooperative, and according to the mother the patient only cries when she's hungry and sleepy. Other than that, she's fuss free.

Clubbing of fingers and toes

She will be undergoing surgery to correct the defects. And she's also given Amoxycillin as a prophylaxis for endocarditis. Children with heart defects are also prone to get respiratory infections, and that's why she came to the hospital this time because she had pneumonia. She recovered from her pneumonia and was discharged on the day of our presentation while waiting for her surgery next month.

Our presentation was almost doomed from the get go. Apart from being notified last minute about it, we were supposed to present the case last two weeks, but due to unforeseen circumstances (n.b.kes terlupa bawak usb, lol) it was postponed to last week. And out of 9 people in my group only 6 of us were present during the presentation day because 1 was sick, 1 was taking care of someone sick and 1 went MIA. But all in all, it was a success and we really rocked! It was really satisfying to know that you've gone all out and gave your best. What we were happy about is that our supervisor was really proud of us that made it all worth it...

So, next case presentation for us will be after our Paediatrics Surgery cycle starting next week. Saw some really interesting cases recently and Dr.AL had hinted that one of them may be the subject for our case study. Oh well...

The peeps in the my group (minus Mr.MA who's taking this pic, and Mr.OAH who's forever MIA...)

Well, guys, congrats for a job well done and hope we'll rock again next time!

n/b: The patient was also recently diagnosed with an atrial septal defect. Thus she now has a pentalogy heart defect, sigh...

Salam Takziah

Just got the news from my mom about the passing of my SIL's father in Kedah.

Semoga roh-nya dicucuri rahmat dan ditempatkan bersama orang-orang yag beriman. Amin...

AL-FATIHAH

Flu-ish Weather

Demam
Selsema
Sakit kepala
Sakit badan

Yup, I've caught the bug that has been making people around me feverish, sneezing and coughing. Barely recovering from bout of stomach flu a week ago and now this, sigh...

Luckily the fever wasn't that bad though, only traces of blocked/runny nose remain. PCM, antihistamines and plenty of liquids were my salvation. Plenty of bed rest should also be in the list, but we have had full day classes all through the week so I still had to go. I missed only one day of classes when I really cannot tahan...

MC? Well, there's no such thing as MCs here. You are either present or absent, unless you have a really valid MC from the student's clinic (which is really far from my place) or you have managed to convince your lecturers that you are really unable to attend the classes. Kalau dah larat bangun nakgi amik MC kat klinik pelajar nun kat Copou sana, maknanya dah boleh bangun gi kelas jugak la kan? Baik gi je kelas tu, kalau dah tak larat sangat mintak ler balik awal, habih citer...

And the weather wasn't helping too. Nowadays it's been sunny/rainy in the day and cold at night. And just when we thought that spring is finally here, all hell broke loose yesterday and it actually snowed!! Well, it was snowing (with winds all) but because the temperature was above 0 degrees celcius the icicles turned into puddles of water when it reached the ground. Sejuk panas sejuk panas sejuk panas...sedangkan batu pun boleh terhakis inikan pulak kulit manusia, isy....

Ok folks, that's all for now. Need to go lie down coz my head is spinning.....

Confessions of a Sci-Fi Freak

"To boldly go where no man has gone before..."

- Captain Kirk of the Starship Enterprise

Yes, I am one. A sci-fi freak I mean. Have been for quite a while now actually. But, funnily enough, no one would have ever pegged me for being one. Why? Well, maybe because no one would have ever thought that a typical plain girl like me would have an interest in all these sci-fi, out-of-this-world and sometimes ridiculous notions that we are not alone. I have always been sold to the idea that there might be other beings apart from us on Earth, because if we are the only living creatures existing on this planet that we call Earth in this wide universe don’t you think that it is such a waste of space?

My fascination with all things sci-fi started when I was really young, though to be honest I was never into Star Wars... I love astronomy (but I could never really give you the name of the stars and signs, and plus I suck at Physics… *dolefully grinning*) and have always been interested in all things related to the ancient civilizations and cultures (Egyptian, Roman, Greek, Incan Mayan, Aztec etc). Come to think of it, if I were not doing medicine I might just have chosen a career involving ancient civilizations and languages. Sigh, sometimes I do wonder if I had made the correct decision after all…

Ooopsss, I’ve digressed. Ok, coming back to the topic. As I’ve said my interest started really early, but not until STARGATE the movie came out that my fascination grew even more. If you’ve never watched STARGATE before, you really are missing something. For those who have watched it know the reason why I love it so much. First, it’s about the idea that we are indeed not alone and there are other beings that exist in this universe. Second, the storyline that was based on ancient Egyptian civilization, and amazingly enough their ability to make the idea that the Pyramids of Giza could just maybe, maybe, built by aliens as no one could really understand how they were built in those days without proper technology. Some theories were made saying that it must have been built by a far more superior race and technology ahead of their time back then. And third, the concept of traveling through space to reach other habitual planets in the distant galaxies, meeting new race of aliens, learning their cultures, languages etc etc etc….. Ah, what I wouldn’t give to be able to do that…

So, from there on I’ve developed a preference for all sci-fi shows, including all those related to paranormal stuff (it’s kind of arrogant of us to assume that we are the only intelligent life form, isn’t it?) and also space explorations… I especially love the more recent shows, because it makes more sense (well to me at least).

Among those that I consider as my favorites are:

MOVIES:

1. STARGATE
2. STARGATE: ARK OF TRUTH
3. CONTACT
4. STEALTH
5. UNIVERSAL SOLDIERS
6. TRANSFORMERS
7. THE MATRIX (the trilogy)
8. SPACE COWBOYS
9. APOLLO 13
10. STARGATE: CONTINUUM
11. FREQUENCY
12. MEN IN BLACK (1&2)
13. FACE/OFF
14. TWELVE MONKEYS
15. FIFTH ELEMENT

TV SHOWS:

1. STARGATE SG1 (I love, I love, I loooooooove this show!! Finished watching all episodes from season 1 till 10, in a month! Me a freak indeed ^_^)
2. BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (2003)

3. STARGATE ATLANTIS
4. FARSCAPE
5. ANDROMEDA
6. BABYLON 5
7. SEAQUEST DSV
8. STAR TREK VOYAGER
9. THE TRIANGLE
10. DOCTOR WHO

11. TORCHWOOD

So what do you think? Well, if you say that nah, what’s the biggie, then let me tell you this: I would rather forgo shopping with my mom than missing one episode of Star Trek Voyager. No sane female would miss out the opportunity to go shopping (especially when you don’t have to pay for it), so I guess I was a freak since back then huh?

n.b. I wish I could be Captain/Colonel/Major Samantha Carter in another life (hint: Stargate SG1): beautiful brainy brave, with a heart of gold.....

Stomach Flu et moi

Gastroenteritis, or commonly (and mistakenly) known as the stomach flu, is an inflammation of the lining of the stomach and small and large intestines. Most of the cases are infectious, although gastroenteritis may also follow ingestion of drugs and chemical toxins (eg, metals, plant substances).

Infectious gastroenteritis is commonly caused by viruses (Rotavirus, Norovirus, Astrovirus, Adenovirus, CMV), and less commonly by bacterias (Campylobacter, Salmonella, Shigella, E.coli O157:H7) and parasites (Giardia, Cryptosporidium).

Generally, there is a sudden onset of symptoms, with anorexia, nausea, vomiting, borborygmi, abdominal cramps, watery diarrhea (with or without blood and mucus), malaise, myalgias, and prostration. The abdomen may be distended and mildly tender; in severe cases, muscle guarding may be present. Gas-distended intestinal loops may be palpable. Borborygmi are present even without diarrhea. Persistent vomiting and diarrhea can result in intravascular fluid depletion with hypotension and tachycardia. In severe cases, shock, with vascular collapse and oliguric renal failure, occurs.

Treatment is symptomatic, although parasitic and some bacterial infections require specific anti-infective therapy. Gastroenteritis is usually uncomfortable but self-limited. Electrolyte and fluid loss is usually little more than an inconvenience to an otherwise healthy adult but can be grave for people who are very young elderly, or debilitated or who have serious concomitant illnesses.

(Source: The Merck Manual of Medical Information)

This was what I had last weekend. A rather bad case of gastroenteritis. First it was diarrhea. I thought it was just a plain case of lactose intolerance (had a glass of milk Friday afternoon) which usually would pass after a few hours, or at least food poisoning. But then the symptoms got worse; non-stop diarrhea, nausea, abdominal cramps, a pulsating frontal headache, back pain and muscle cramps. And come Saturday afternoon my temperature spiked! I was dehydrated from the diarrhea and had chills all over that I couldn't eat anything. All I could managed was sipping plain lukewarm water then and again, swallowing a couple of tabs of PCM, gulping down home-made ORS (oral rehydration salt) mix, wrapping up myself under the blankets, and slept and slept and slept...

Alhamdulillah, the next morning the fever, headache, cramps, nausea were all gone. Still had some mild diarrhea though. All I could manage was some dry toasts and soup. By nightfall I was almost normal, albeit a little bit weak. I was lucky that my recovery was speedy, I guess that my decision to rehydrate and control the fever worked in my favour. That and also the fact that although the urge to vomit was there I tried not to because I knew that if I do I'm gonna be more dehydrated. It may be bad to suppress the urge, but I do know my body well and how it reacts.

Until now I have been trying to figure out what had caused it. The only conclusion that I can come up with is that I may have had a viral gastroenteritis contracted from the hospital or from my colleagues. Why? Because apparently some of my classmates also fell ill with almost the exact same symptoms that I had on the very same day. It definitely wasn't food poisoning because we didn't eat the same food. Coincidence? I think not. Although, according to one of the doctors it could also be the fact that there was an epidemic of stomach flu at the time. And I think he could be right, because of this. Whatever it was, it affected my friends worse than me. Poor things. But as Ms MCL said there is an upside to it; she lost 5 pounds in less than a week! Good for her, but caution to all of you especially the bulimics: vomiting is NEVER the solution to weight loss, comprende?

It's been a long while since I was this sick. Thank goodness I keep some PCMs, aspirins, charcoal tablets, and paid attention during physiology class. Time and again the ORS mix proved to be useful when no pre-packed ORS are available on-hand. Thanks Prof. Ruby, you're a life saver!

n.b. I'm laying off rice for now. My stomach can't seem to stand it anymore, too starchy I guess. Might go vegetarian for a while. Wonder how long till I'll start craving for some meat...

PCD Rocks!!

Saw this back then in 2005, I think, when PCD made their live onstage performance on Fashion Rocks. They were an unknown group back then, but as soon as I saw this I could feel it in my bones that they would make it big. And look at them now....

Oh gosh, they just blew me away with this performance and I never grew tired of watching it...

Busy Bee

I'm wiped out. Tired of running around town for our classes in different hospitals scattered all over the place. Thank goodness the public transport here is quite efficient, although one do have to put up with bau-bauan yang kurang menyenangkan daripada orang-orang yang tak reti nak mandi, ada yang sanggup tak mandi berbulan-bulan sebab nak jimat air. Sheeeeshhhh....

We're having a case presentation tomorrow. It's about a patient in our pediatrics clinic with Tetralogy of Fallot. Interesting case, nice and very accomodating baby. My group has the honour of presenting first, so I would really hope that we'll do good. Will give an update later on how it goes.

Now need to get some zzzzzzzs before revising for tomorrow's presentation, got a killer headache residual from a very bad case of Gastroenteritis (stomach flu) over the weekend. If got time I'll blog about that too.

Oh, did I mention that I HATE public speaking?? Urghhhhhhh...

Eu sunt aici...

This is where I am. Right here, right now.

But sadly it's quite far from where He once lived, which was here ...

...

I haven't been there yet, but soon, very soon.....

Getting To Know Me

When I did this test, I had not expected that the result will be this at all. This is so freakily true of myself that I had goosebumps while reading it...

Your view on yourself:

You are down-to-earth and people like you because you are so straightforward. You are an efficient problem solver because you will listen to both sides of an argument before making a decision that usually appeals to both parties.

The type of girlfriend/boyfriend you are looking for:

You are not looking merely for a girl/boyfriend - you are looking for your life partner. Perhaps you should be more open-minded about who you spend time with. The person you are looking for might hide their charm under their exterior.

Your readiness to commit to a relationship:

You are ready to commit as soon as you meet the right person. And you believe you will pretty much know as soon as you meet that person.

The seriousness of your love:

You like to flirt and behave seductively. The opposite sex finds this very attractive, and that's why you'll always have admirers hanging off your arms. But how serious are you about choosing someone to be in a relationship with?

Your views on education

Education is very important in life. You want to study hard and learn as much as you can.

The right job for you:

You're a practical person and will choose a secure job with a steady income. Knowing what you like to do is important. Find a regular job doing just that and you'll be set for life.

How do you view success:

You are afraid of failure and scared to have a go at the career you would like to have in case you don't succeed. Don't give up when you haven't yet even started! Be courageous.

What are you most afraid of:

You are afraid of having no one to rely on in times of trouble. You don't ever want to be unable to take care of yourself. Independence is important to you.

Who is your true self:

You are mature, reasonable, honest and give good advice. People ask for your comments on all sorts of different issues. Sometimes you might find yourself in a dilemma when trapped with a problem, which your heart rather than your head needs to solve.

Whoa, that's me alright. Although, I have some doubts regarding the "flirtatious and seductive behaviour" part because I don't think that I'm a flirt at all. But seriously people, you should really try it for yourselves here...

New Semester

Sigh, the semester break is over and tomorrow we'll be starting full-fledged classes again.
One week feels too short for a full recovery. Bummer.
Oh well, what to do.

Gonna make some changes this semester. New semester, new resolutions. Stepping up, and aiming higher. Out with the old mindset and in with the new one. Just hope that I could maintain this throughout the remaining of my studies, insyaallah...

Mari kita bergumbira pergi sekolah, hooray!

GOD, give me strength!

Ameeeeeeeeen