The Malignant MO...

I know i know...i've been slacking in my posts for my blog lately...just that i've been busy with on calls and locums...and the only few things i can write about my work are bad calls, useless HOs, more bad calls, more useless HOs....you get the idea...and that would get rather dry after a while... just the other day i was having breakfast with Siang Lin and a few other MOs, he labelled me a malignant MO...along with the other female MOs...oh yea, us MOs have started to go for breakfast sessions as well (when time allows) since all our HOs will be having their ritual big table breakfast at the hospital cafe every morning (without fail) before they go to clinic/ot/scope room etc...and they have always managed to arrive later than the MOs and specialists...

Honestly, i don't really give a damn if the HOs think i'm a malignant MO coz i scold them for the things they didn't do...if i were a patient, i wouldn't want any of these inefficient HOs to be looking after me...you're wondering, how bad can the HOs be right? if you read my previous post, you would be appalled...and i'm actually post call today...and i've always managed to end up having an inefficient HO as my OT call HO...this one has no insight of his inabilities...and still dared to ask me to let him do appendicectomy...he couldn't tie his own OT gown properly...can tell me that he forgot to have his breakfast in the morning so he was very hungry while i myself hadn't had breakfast and was still working as he was...does not know what is AKA...and he just plain irritates me with the things he says...but at least i suppose he is still a bit better than the one i described in my previous post...

Really, what is becoming of the healthcare quality in Malaysia?...these new bunch of HOs have no learning initiative...do not understand work ethics of a doctor and some are actually dangerous to patients...there really shouldn't be a need to scold them since they are adults...but since they don't work/act/behave like adults/professionals, there's no use treating them like one...here i go again.... HO-bitching again...but i do still have many stories to tell...but if i told them, i may cause many to lose all faith in us doctors...

Bridesmaid dress....

I haven't been updating my blog for about a week...guess i've been busy and distracted....and there isn't much happening lately...was doing locum from 2-8pm yesterday...quite busy...but what to do... have to earn more money coz will have more liability now that Petrina's going to med school...anyway, Elaine texted me and asked if i thought it was a good idea if she made dresses for her bridesmaids...she was thinking about something short, simple and flattering to all types of body habitus...

So i got quite excited and told her i'd help her look for some designs and email them to her...so i was surfing the net for photos of bridesmaid dresses...in between seeing patients...saw quite some lovely ones...i found some one-shoulder dresses which i liked a lot...and some v-neck, cap-sleeve and strapless ones...so in the end she decided she wanted us to be wearing strapless dresses with ribbon at the waist...

Actually, i've been surfing the net for wedding dresses the last few days...suddenly had the urge to check out wedding dress designs....must have been coz i went to see Elaine and Siang Lin's wedding photos few days back...was thinking, if i could draw, i'd probably have been a fashion designer instead of a doctor...at least i won't be missing a PGU like how i did on my Saturday call...sigh....

Anyway, Elaine's gonna be checking out the material for her bridesmaids' dresses...she's thinking of maroon colour...and i'm supposed to be taking my measurements for the dress...gosh...don't dare to measure...might be utterly shocked at how much i've grown...:P

'Truly amazing'....

I haven't been HO-bitching for a while...was trying to break bad habits...unfortunately, i was on call with a 'truly amazing' HO recently...i just had to blog it down so i won't forget about the things that happened during that call...so apparently it was this particular HO's first OT call...boss has always been telling me he thought this HO (let's call him B) was a little weird...and he definitely was no brightest brick in the block....but i actually got to know how thick his skull was during that call...

We had 3 operations that day...2 appendicectomies and 1 PGU repair...thank God only 1 op required my 2nd MO to come in...or else he might have died of MI or stroke if he saw the things B did while he's scrubbed...i think my BP increased by at least 20% that day...so the 1st appendicectomy...it was as if B had never scrubbed up in his entire life...coz he doesn't even know how to put on the OT gown...the nurse had to instruct him how to do it...then after he gloved up, he put his hands below his waist...anything below waist is considered not sterile...the nurse told him off once...and twice...and thrice...and he kept doing it....

And during the op, he isn't helpful at all...doesn't retract where i need to see...even though i already placed the retractor where i want it for him to hold, he'd still manage to move the retractor out of place...it was quite frustrating....and he would put his free arm behind his back...much to the astonishment of my scrub nurse...who told him time and again that the back is also non-sterile area...he didn't just do this for the 1st appendicectomy...he was doing the same things again during the 2nd appendicectomy...i mean really....even a cat/dog can be trained to obey commands when told or showed enough times....

The icing on the cake was when he was helping me drape for the PGU repair patient...usually we'd drop the sterile towel so that we won't come into contact with non-sterile environment...but no, our hero B did a graceful arabesque and nicely placed the sterile towel over the patient's top while gently brushing the GA HO's head (who is a guy) with his hand....my eyes totally popped out...i just couldn't help but to yell at him and asked him to change his bloody glove coz he still had that clueless look on his face as if i was yelling at him for no reason....it was actually damn funny to watch it happen...except that i couldn't laugh at that time coz patient's life was in hand...if any of the 3 patients had post-op wound infection, we'd know where the germs came from...

By the time we were closing the patient's wound, i've had enough of B that i asked him to please unscrub...i actually asked him if there was anything wrong with him...he answered that he was not feeling well...but i don't think that's an acceptable reason for being totally thick-skulled and plain stupid...after that, the urology consultant came in for a cystoscopy and asked the OT call HO to scrub in...i called the runner to go in instead...to spare the consultant the risk of MI or stroke...

I just pray he won't be my OT call HO again anytime soon....he's Siang Lin's OT call HO today...will see what Siang Lin has to comment about B....Lord help us all...

Goodbye Grandma...

I was on call on Tuesday...got a message from Mom telling me that grandma passed away at 9.15am that morning...i didn't cry...i guess i was kinda expecting the news...she hasn't been well since her choking incident during CNY...she had a left BKA done about 2 months ago...been on tube feeding since her choking incident...i supposed that's enough suffering for a poor old lady...

I was never really close to this grandma (she was my dad's mom)...she used to live in Taiping...and i only saw her once a year during CNY...but i remembered that i loved going back to Taiping...my grandpa and grandma lived upstairs this shophouse...there was a Siamese temple on a plot of land next to where they lived...and i've always been intrigued by it...i've never entered the place until the recent Wednesday...they brought my grandma's body back from KL to Taiping...so the wake and funeral service was in the Siamese temple...

I flew back from KK on Wednesday...coz it would have been quite impossible to ask someone to take my call on Tuesday...had to ask boss to help me buy my flight tickets coz i couldn't get out of the hospital...the tickets cost me RM915...and that's the cheapest already, i guess...and i was flying airasia...oh well, no choice...my bro drove my elder sis, my 1st aunt and i back to Taiping...we reached just in time for the prayer service...by the time we finished it was about 930pm...so we went for supper at this place my Dad calls "Kam Pin" (coz it was located among rows of goldsmith and pawn shops)...

Then we went to check-in at this new hotel at the lake garden called The Flemington...bathed and slept...felt quite tired after a whole day of travelling...wanted to skip breakfast and sleep more but my parents wouldn't allow it...we were at the temple again about 9am...the funeral service started about 1015am...then we went to the burial ground...my grandma was buried next to my grandpa...after we checked-out from the hotel, we went to have our customary chendol before we drove back to kl...

I don't usually cry at funerals...especially those of old people...i supposed it's coz i feel that at least my grandma isn't suffering anymore...and that she's in a better place...towards the end, she didn't even recognize me anymore...perhaps when we meet again on the other side, she would remember me...Goodbye Grandma...rest in peace...

Elaine's Gown Fitting

Elaine went for her gown fitting on Sunday...she and Flora were post call so they went home to sleep a while before the gown fitting appointment...which was at 3pm...i was having my afternoon nap as well... woke up half an hour before 3pm, after getting ready, rushed to the bridal studio at Lintas which was called All About Love...thought i was late, but as of Malaysian custom, everyone else was late too...about 5 mins later, Grace showed up...so we went into the shop and waited for the bride and groom and Flora to arrive...

They arrived about 10 mins later...and so we started browsing through the gowns...the shop didn't have that many choices...so we had to make do with what they had....we managed to narrow down to about 6 white gowns and 6 coloured gowns for Elaine to try...by this time, Siang Lin has disappeared off somewhere....so it was just up to us girls...we were totally having fun helping Elaine try out the gowns and help her choose...so she tried gown after gown...eventually we narrowed down 4 gowns for her photoshoot and 1 gown for her dinner reception...Really, Elaine is definitely no bride-zilla...coz we finished trying out the gowns and she decided on her choices within 2 hours...then it was Siang Lin's turn to try out his coats and pants...then we were watching dvds of other couples' photos while we waited for the tailor to alter 2 of her dresses as one was too loose and another was a little too tight...these are photos of post alteration....After we're done with her gown fitting, Elaine and I went to City Mall to check out the shoe shops coz she needed to buy her wedding heels....unfortunately, we didn't find any that really wowed us...so we went to 1B to have dinner and continue shopping for Siang Lin's shirt and Elaine's shoes...managed to buy the shirt...unfortunately, we still couldn't find the right pair of heels for Elaine...i guess she'll continue her shoe-hunt next weekend...

The escortist...making a come back...

Yesterday was our whole day OT...long Mondays like these aren't exactly the cure for Monday blues... but around afternoon, a colleague called and asked if i could escort a patient to Selayang Hospital on Tuesday...i was a bit divided initially...coz i'm on call on Thursday which means i don't get to take the week off after i escort the patient...but since my colleague said there was no one else who could go, i guess the escortist needs to make a come back...

So i went for round as usual this morning...but i brought my overnight bag along since i was leaving with the ambulance...halfway through the round, suddenly i remembered that i forgot to bring my 'pas pekerja'...that would be a bit of a problem with the immigration...but it was too late to rush home to get it...so i left the hospital just slightly pass 8am with the patient and her husband...stopped by at Queen to pick up my ticket and off we went to the airport...

Checked-in and got my patient (on the wheelchair) into the boarding gate...thank God the immigration ppl didn't give me problem for checking in with my IC...so we waited for the time to board our flight...we were supposed to depart at 1045am...but as is expected of all Malaysian efficiency, our flight was delayed...reason being the one and only runway of KK International Airport is being closed for repair...apparently there's a hole somewhere along the runway...really, that's the first time i ever heard of such a thing happening...

So anyway, we had to wait...and i was praying real hard that my patient wouldn't develop difficulty in breathing coz until yesterday, she required oxygen support due to her right pleural effusion...but the primary team tapped her so they managed to wean her off oxygen...finally, close to 12pm, we boarded the plane...i was sleeping almost throughout the flight...except for meals and drinks...i felt pretty bad to be eating heartily in front of my patient but i really couldn't help myself...it was so bloody cold and i was bloody starving....

By the time we landed at KLIA, i had 29 missed calls...all from the Selayang Hospital staff nurse who might have been too worried she won't make it back in time for her pass over...anyway, when we reached Selayang, i was quite surprised to see one of my ex-specialist and an ex-colleague there in the ward...i kinda didn't realize that they would be there...so i waited for dad to come pick me up...got stuck in some massive jam all the way home...while i was sleeping rather uncomfortably in the car...

Still it's good to be able to drop by home and have dinner with my parents and siblings for one night...and it's a trip paid for...so i get to sleep one night at home...hehe, i'm beginning to think of my home as a hotel...oh, i just saw on FB that Khalil will be having a concert in NZ on 4th august...dang!!! i'm going to NZ the last week of august...:(...never mind...can't be attending too many of Khalil's concert in a year...

I've got my car back....:)

So i was lamenting about my 2nd car accident in 2 months about a few posts ago...and a friend recommended a mechanic to me, whom in turn recommended me to the mechanic next to his shop... and i was prepared for a heart attack when the guy said it was better to change the whole bonnet and front bumper...but he quoted to me a price that was even cheaper than the last time i fixed my car...

That was really a relieve coz i really couldn't afford to pay so much for my car...i was already preparing for the worst, which was to just drive around town with my deformed car the rest of my car's life...so anyway, the guy said i didn't have to leave my car in his workshop...he would call me when the spare parts arrive...initially he said he would get the pirated spare parts for me but then he said those were out of stocks and so he had to get original spare parts...which was still cheaper than what i paid for the last time...

So the guy called me on Friday to tell me the spare parts have arrived...so i took my car to his workshop around lunch time...and got my boss to bring me back to the hospital...initially the guy said he'll probably need till Tuesday to get my car ready....so i thought, dang, i'll be carless for the next 4 days...got locum Saturday evening, need to go for morning round and then church on Sunday...and then how to get to work on Monday and Tuesday without my car?

But really thank God...coz by this afternoon before my locum, the guy called and told me my car was ready...quite a shock but i wasn't about to complain...so asked Jasmine to drive me there to get my car...my car looked quite alright...so i paid the guy and drove home....totally relieved that my car problem is settled...hopefully the guy did a good job and my car won't fall apart anytime soon...

Anyway, praying really hard that i won't get into anymore accidents...