DAY 921-935

Mar 11-25

1) Two weeks have passed by, and with it another wave of experiences and memories have come and gone. In these two weeks, our group has presented our MPU a.k.a. General Studies project (for Ethnic Relations); we've sat for the Ethics examination (1 of 3 which contribute to a total of 20% for our Forensics and Legal Medicine module); my friends and I tried RM1 red snapper at Canton-i Gurney; and my mum came to visit for the weekend - and I got a chance to try the most outrageously over-the-top decadent slice of cake I'll probably ever have! In short, it's been a really productive week...

2) Starting off with our General Studies project with Pn. Farah, we had around 15 minutes to do a presentation on the topic "Cultural Traditions in Malaysia". We finally came up with a short skit, with a homesick Sabahan girl, Pandalela, (Melissa) coming over to Peninsular Malaysia to study. She meets three friends, Ali (myself - representing Malay customs and traditions), Kumar (Kuhan - representing Indian customs and traditions), and Ling Ling (Emma - representing Chinese customs and tradition). Also, the classroom teacher is Mr. Tan (Zi Yan - representing Chinese customs and tradition as well). Introducing each character and setting the scene is expertly handled by the narrator (Melvin).

3) Essentially, Pandalela learns more about each one of the three main cultures in Malaysia (Malay, Chinese, and Indian), with each of us performing while demonstrating our cultures and traditions (myself with the ending "pantun" or poem; Kuhan with the tabla playing; Zi Yan with the traditional tai chi performance; and Melissa with her traditional Sabahan song). Afterwards, all of us sang verses of the 1Malaysia song, whilst beckoning everyone to remember their roots and heritage, and to preserve our identity for the future generation. Suffice to say, Pn. Farah liked it very much, and we were very touched by the positive response we got for our performance :)

4) Next was the Ethics examination, which just concluded on Friday. Although it was only a 30 minute exam, it required an ethical analysis of a long-case scenario. Some of us got the same cases, while others got different scenarios. Mine was regarding a middle-aged gentleman with moderate dementia, who suddenly developed appendicitis (a medical emergency). We were required to write an ethical analysis, while considering if he had the capacity to give informed consent, and if not, if any of the family members were to be contacted, and finally, if they were contacted and there was a family dispute, what would the next appropriate steps be? As you can well imagine, there's no obvious answer (or indeed, correct one) - so we just tried to defend our positions with facts and points.

5) The other day, Denise, Hoong Yun, Lanre, (all from the year above) and myself went to Gurney Plaza for dinner. It was a crazy deal which was on offer that day - just RM1 for a whole red snapper. My Malaysian upbringing tells me if it's too good to be true, that means it probably is - but this was really what it said on the tin - no strings attached. So we found ourselves sharing a whole fish, cooked in hot soy sauce with garlic and spring onions - absolutely marvellous! It was the first time meeting Lanre, who hails from Nigeria. Also, we had seconds at Secret Recipe - and I found out that my favourite cake there (Chocolate Indulgence) is actually their bestseller. I guess I have good taste then XD

6) Finally, over the weekend, my mum came over to visit! I tried my best to take her around, mostly with Grab taxi service as I don't have a car haha. We went to James Foo Restaurant at All Seasons for dinner, and the next day we went to Big Ben Cafe for breakfast. We then called a taxi to Gurney Paragon, where we had lunch at Sushi Zanmai. Finally, for dessert, my mum had the best idea ever - the gargantuan superhumongous "kenot brain" cakes at Flover Flower Cafe. Before anybody corrects me by saying the cakes are actually from Moody Cow Dessert Cake, I'm well aware of that, but they also sell their cakes here. And after hearing from a friend how incredibly delectable they are, I decided to be the judge myself.

7) My mum had the "cempedak"(same genus as a breadfruit and jackfruit, but is not either :p) cake, while I had the Nutella one. It was absolutely ginormous and filling - and I don't think I'll ever eat a more over-the-top/outrageous cake haha. But it was really really delicious, which might explain the hefty price. But since this is a once-in-a-blue-moon treat, I don't expect to come back anytime soon. After the cake, I helped my mum back to the Sungai Nibong bus station, before saying goodbye. It is so convenient indeed to live so close from my hometown (Ipoh), as this means I can come back (or my parents can come visit) anytime.

8) That is the summary of my past two weeks - very exciting and productive. Looking forward to the coming week, and what it has in store for us. Stay tuned, and always, thanks very much for tuning in. Have a nice week ahead, cheers!

From l-r: 

Pandalela (Melissa), Narrator (Melvin), Ali (Myself), 

Kumar (Kuhan), Mr. Tan (Zi Yan), Ling Ling (Emma)

All our hard work and effort finally paid off! :)

Flover Flower Cafe with dearest mummy ^^

Melvin and Kuhan arm spans manage to block the view XD

Striking a pose!

A bit more formal haha

Thanks very much Sidi for the "Baju Melayu"! (Traditional Malay wear)

Hoong Yun, Myself, Denise, and Lanre - at Canton-i @ Gurney Plaza,

about to tuck into dinner!

Claypot pork belly with salted fish on the left,

Red snapper in soy sauce on the right (for 1 measly ringgit or 20 cents!)

Stir-fried string beans with minced pork

The advertisement for RM1 red snapper

Chocolate Indulgence at Secret Recipe ^^

Not my car... yet XD

James Foo @ All Seasons, with my mum

Their homemade burgers are huge and flavourful :)

Big Ben Breakfast Cafe this morning

Had to sample their signature big breakfast - with all the fixings :)

A short walk in the Botanical Gardens afterwards

The Japanese Garden

At Gurney Paragon

Very beautiful sunny day today :)

Grilled eel on rice with egg set

Our trip was complete with dessert at Flover Flower Cafe - L6 @ Gurney Paragon

Each cake looked just as tempting and inviting as the other

I had this absolutely terrifying monstrosity of a cake - I finally understand what a food coma is! XD

Jayzzus would you look at that!

And this - the cempedak cake!

Felt as though it was my birthday - I probably have enough cake in me now 

to last till the following year XD

Why does everyone seem to be looking towards me?

Another one of those group pics pics haha

Photo credits go to Esther :)

DAY 915-920

Mar 5-10

1) In the blink of an eye, we have finished our first rotation in surgery/orthopaedics, and have begun our first week of medicine. We are still based in Seberang Jaya Hospital, but this time we clerk patients in the medical ward. So far, medicine has been by and large the same as surgery, with the only difference being its breadth and scope. While surgery is quite organ-specific, medicine is really quite broad, and literally anything under the Sun is examinable. The plus side is we've gained a lot of exposure even in our first week of rotation alone.

2) After seeing a fair share of patients in the ward, I have begun to reflect a little on the things we take for granted. The other day, I was clerking a gentleman who had been hospitalised for bacterial meningoencephalitis. That basically means he had a bacterial infection of a part of his brain, probably caused by an accident he had two weeks earlier. The more I talked to him, the more I realised how lucky he was to be alive.

3) So apparently he was involved in a motorcycle accident recently (I'm being selectively vague on details), in which he had intracranial bleeds and fractures. He was hospitalised for a week, then discharged back home without complications. He returned to hospital after two weeks, complaining of headache, neck stiffness and photosensitivity. Some of you will immediately be thinking of meningitis, and in this case - you would be right to suspect it.

4) After one day onset of symptoms, his condition rapidly deteriorated, and on day 2 in hospital, he became increasingly agitated. His GCS later on was 3/15 (3 is the lowest score possible, and indicates no eye response, no verbal response, and no motor response). He had to be intubated (to ensure oxygen levels were maintained), and as culture and sensitivity of his lumbar puncture CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) was positive for resistant strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae (ie ESBL), he was placed on IV meropenem.

5) For one week, he was in a coma. He was informed by the doctor that he was basically touch-and-go at any point during that period. And despite all that, barely two weeks after the incident, he's walking about with his cup of Milo greeting the nurses and talking to me with no apparent speech deficit. He still has minor headaches especially at night, and a recurrent 6th CN (cranial nerve) palsy - which means he has diploplia (double vision) over the left lateral gaze. That was due to the trauma from the motor vehicle accident. But otherwise, you would be hard pressed to distinguish him from anybody down the street.

6) Somehow, talking to him made me hyperaware of how indispensable modern science and technology is. The medication and treatment he had been given, managed to revive someone from the brink of death back to relatively normal. It made me realise how indispensable the medical team is - everyone from the specialists to the medical officers, the nurses, the staff, and caretakers - all had a role to play in his wellbeing (and indeed, survival). It also made me realise how important it was for us medical students not to study to pass exams or get good grades, but to become safe and competent doctors. Finally, this experience also made me realise how lucky I am to be fit and able, and how foolish I was to complain about a variety of things (a habit I feel most of us are guilty of).

7) For medicine, the requirement is to clerk a list of 10 symptoms, and to practice at least 10 different systems examinations on the patients in the wards. We have a portfolio requirement as well, but the notes can be typed (a huge relief I'm sure). I have been really lucky these past few days because I've gotten really cooperative patients, who were not just cooperative but also extremely friendly. I can only hope to soldier on with my studies and hopefully one day contribute in any small significant manner to the wellbeing of our patients.

8) That has been it for today's blog, thank you very much as always for tuning in, and have a great week ahead. Cheers!

Just a close up of our school as I don't think I've ever taken a photo of the front :)

That is the Malaysian Campus of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and the University College Dublin, or RUMC for short

That heaping plate of food costs only RM6.00 - or around €1.20 - beat that XD