The last post is an understatement compared to this

I thought I was in deep shit 2 weekends ago. Boy, that was peanuts compared to what happened 2 days ago. I was flung so suddenly and so violently into this pile of mess. 

I am a one-month-old houseman. I haven't got the chance to attend a mortality meeting before. I will be attending my first mortality meeting tomorrow and guess what? I will be presenting. I will be presenting in my first ever mortality meeting and need I add, in front of 2 heads of departments, all the consultants and specialists, all the MOs and all my colleagues. 

There is no word to describe what I am feeling and what I am about the feel tomorrow. Everything that I was feeling since 2 days ago will be amplified 10 times tomorrow. I just hope my knees will not give way from shaking too much or my fingers will not shake so much that I couldn't press the keyboard. And most of all, I hope that I will not betray myself and start crying. 

Some colleagues have been nice and helpful. My HOD requested to meet me first thing in the morning today. It's a miracle I could still sleep last night. But it turns out, he just wanted to ask me how am I feeling, if I am feeling depressed and if I could continue working. Thank you for the concern Dr. In view of what has happened, I never thought that you would still have time to think of my wellbeing. So I am truly touched. Another MO whom I have only met once gave me a pat on the back. It wasn't much but it is an encouragement to me. In times like this, what I need most is ENCOURAGEMENT, not sympathy and not even comfort. 

I know I will survive tomorrow. God will not give us challenges that we can't overcome. Although I am aware of this, it doesn't stem my fear. As usual, trying to numb myself so that I won't have to think or feel anything. I have been thinking so much that I don't know what to think anymore. 

Thank God for that mistake

I finally screwed up. I have been anticipating the day when I would have my first screw-up. Better to get it over with. And now I am actually relieved. I am nuts but that's just me. It's like the first time you step foot on a land mine. You know there will come a time when you will be blasted and so you wait in anticipation and the anxiety of waiting can be excruciating. But when you have actually stepped on one and the first explosion has gone off, immediately the stress and anxiety of waiting and anticipating disappear. It's not to say that I won't ever be afraid of making mistakes anymore. It's just that when I have committed one and have actually experienced the whole thing, it puts me more at ease because the next time it happens, I'll know what it feels like, I'll know how to cope with it. I'll know that it's not that difficult to get back up from the fall, not as difficult as I have imagined. And that I will survive because I have survived one before.

No, I didn't cost a life, in case you are wondering. Just some things which I could have done better . And it wasn't because, I was negligent or stupid or lazy but simply because I have no experience whatsover. It was my first time dealing with such a case although I have read multiple times about it in the textbook. But needless to say, theory and practical are worlds apart. And no matter how many times you have read and imagined the scenario, nothing is ever the same when you actually see one in real life. All information you think you know and you have so carefully memorized seem to have flown out of your mind.

Oh well, that mistake was a valuable mistake and I did learn from it as I have expected to. In fact, the next day, I got to apply what I have learned on another patient who came in with almost similar presentation.

Thank God for that screw up?

Transition & Adjustment

OH HOW I HAVE MISSED YOU, MY DEAR BLOG!

So much has happened in these 2 weeks. I underwent and am still undergoing one of the major transitions in life- from student to working adult.

The whole world must know by now that I got Paeds as my first posting. I was a bit disappointed. I wanted to enter Paeds later on, when I am more competent and experienced because I wanted to do really well in that department and maximize my learning there. Oh well, God has a better plan. And I am starting to see the  upside of it.

Most of my colleagues are nice and kind enough to show me what I don't know. I am incredibly grateful to 2 of my new colleagues, Soo and Lim, who have taught me the most. Being new, I have no idea what I am supposed to know and what I don't know. Both of them have been telling and teaching me the essentials of what a HO must know. So, so far I am surviving thanks to the knowledge they have imparted to me.

Found a fabulous house to stay. It's exactly what I hope for with a reasonable price. Again, it might be a blessing in disguise that I didn't get a place in the hospital quarters.

Loving the kids in Paeds. Witnessed Salaam fits after many rantings from Dr Selim in the past. And being a doctor now, I don't feel like as if I am a space-occupying lesion in the ward. Now, I have every right to walk where I want in the ward, flip the case note, write in the case note and examine the patients. And my favourite of all...procedures.. I am still grabbing every opportunity I can to practise and master blood-taking in Paeds.

But it's not all a bed of roses. I feel like I am walking into a landmine everyday when I go to work. Any moment, I could have done the wrong thing or miss an important sign or symptom in a patient, calculated the wrong medication dosages, stepped on the foot of any colleague or MO or specialist and be extended.. And in JB, thanks to everyone's reminder, I am at high risk of being a robbery or snatch theft victim or worse. So every morning when I stepped out of my room, the stress level starts to mount.

I really have to learn to take things easy. I am putting so much stress on myself unnecessarily. And I really have to learn to trust God more then perhaps, I would have more peace. Everyday, after work, when I got into my car, the first thing I do is to thank God that a day has passed where I didn't screw things up, that I was an okay doctor today, that I didn't cost a life.

Night call today..and 2 days off the following days. Time to unwind and relax after tonight!!!

Know myself

The priest asked me today..."If I were to ask you to name 3 good qualities about yourself, what would they be?" It took me lots of "Err... Ah.... Eee" before I could muster up my first quality. And it turned out that it wasn't a quality, that what I have said did not count as a good quality. In a nutshell, I was unable to name, on the spot, even one good quality about myself. If it were to be a job interview, I would have failed MISERABLY.

The take-home message from Father to me was "Know myself. Don't let me be a stumbling block to myself.. Be thankful for what I AM." 

It seems I have plenty of self- reflection and soul- searching to do.


In the end, Father had to name one good quality OF ME. LOL..And he said "Intelligence". From his point of view, that is one good quality of me. He was surprised I didn't say that. When he mentioned that, I was surprised at myself for not thinking about that. I think that I have taken lots of things for granted. I have taken my own intelligence for granted, all my good qualities for granted when I should be thankful for them. So I thought long and hard (well, not that long and hard actually) and came up with these. The pathetic thing is that I couldn't think of anything else to add in.. :( Are these my only good qualities?

MY GOOD QUALITIES:-

INTELLIGENCE

DILIGENCE

DOWN-TO-EARTH

RECEPTIVE AND OPEN-MINDED

EAGERNESS AND WILLINGNESS TO LEARN

RATIONAL

TIDY AND SYSTEMATIC

LEADERSHIP SKILLS

ABILITY TO BE A TEAM PLAYER

LOYALTY

I was also advised to dwell on the positive emotions. One good and bad thing about me is that I am too aware of my negative feelings that I tend to dwell on them. For example, when I am jealous or envious or disrespectful, I am aware of those feelings when I am feeling it. I am aware that what I am feeling is a negative feeling. So, in the end, I end up dwelling on that, beating myself about the fact that I am such a terrible person for being jealous, envious, disrespectful etc etc. In a way, my OVER-AWARENESS of my own emotions, which is supposed to be a good thing, turns out making things worse. 

That is why I have to KNOW MYSELF. Know that I am not a terrible person. That I am a person with all the good qualities above and dwell on them instead. Focus on the positive emotions. And I still have time to do that because as a person gets older, it becomes harder to change. If you are always an angry person and continues to focus on that, you will of course, continue to be this angry person and even your face changes and takes on an angry expression. So that negative emotion will consume you. And then people don't like you, you sink into depression etc etc...

Father mentioned stuff like cortisol, hippocampus, memory loss, emotions....I was impressed by him, by what a priest actually knows. Within that few minutes, he has touched on anatomy, physiology and some aspects of psychology and psychiatry, not to mention spirituality. WOW! No wonder priests have to study for 7 years. 

Am I expecting too much?

The tap water is running and overflowing in the bathroom and somehow, he can't seem to hear it.
The stench from his pet permeates the living room and somehow, he can't seem to smell it.
The mother is groaning in pain due to backache from overwork and he can't seem to lift a finger to help out around the house.
The parents are worried sick of his future and yet he can't seem to push himself to study harder.
He has so much potential, so many talents, so much determination, so much discipline but yet they are not properly utilized.
He has a soft heart, a kind heart, loyalty, sensibility but are these enough for him to survive in the harsh and cruel world?

I love him so much. That is probably why I am so exasperated that he is not trying his best to live up to his potential. I thought maybe I expect too much from him. But how can you expect too much from someone who has not even put in 20% of their effort?

I don't look down on the garbage-collector, the trishaw-puller or the kueh tiaw-seller. I respect these people for their diligence, their down-to-earth self. These people earn an honest wage.

I don't expect him to be like me. I just want to see some form of effort, some hard work. I want him to have a goal in life towards which he can pursue and work hard to achieve. Most of all, I don't want to see history repeating itself and the victim being him. THAT is why I am so worried about him.

The most unappreciated job

The most under-appreciated occupation is, I think, a homemaker, whether a housewife or househusband. I will use the term 'housewife' because it is more common than a househusband. The day of a housewife begins at the crack of dawn. She wakes earlier than her family because she needs to wake her children up for school, prepare their breakfast and send them to school. Then comes the second round of waking up the husband for work and preparing breakfast. After the husband and children have left, the chores begin- sweeping, mopping, dusting, laundry- laundry is only ONE word, but laundry itself involves washing, hanging it up, collecting it back when it's dry, sorting, folding, ironing and putting them back into different cupboards in different rooms. So, 'laundry' contains ONE word but it involves at least 7 acts!

And then comes the meals- breakfast, lunch, dinner and sometimes, tea-time and supper. For those who have never stepped foot into the kitchen, it may perhaps be a very lucky thing for you. Why? To prepare a meal, the housewife has to start by THINKING of the dishes- what her family wants and likes to eat, what each of them dislikes or is allergic to, what is nutritious and good for them and cost-effectiveness. Depending on each family's practice/ habit, a housewife has to think of not ONE dish, but at least 2-3 dishes for not ONE meal but for at least 2 meals (lunch and dinner). Then, comes marketing- she has to drive to the market, supermarket or shops to get the various ingredients. For the not so fortunate housewives, whose husband never earns enough, then they have to wisely plan the budget for each meal as well. Again, for those who has never laid their hand on a spatula, contrary to what they think, to cook say, a curry chicken doesn't just require ONE ingredient, that is chicken. Besides chicken, you need potatoes, garlic, curry powder, coconut, the seasonings etc etc. So one dish is not equivalent to one ingredient! I will not elaborate the details and steps of preparing a curry chicken. My point is to cook ONE dish involves MANY processes. Don't forget the dirty dishes to be washed after each meal! So imagine a housewife who cooks EVERYDAY to have the children come home and say "Yuck, I don't like this vege!" and another child saying "I am on diet, I'm not eating that lemon chicken" and the husband coming home saying he has eaten outside. 

Yes, a housewife may be given money by the husband every month but the money is meant for household expenses. In other words, a housewife DOES NOT have a pay. Few would have enough money left to spend and indulge on themselves. I am talking about the average housewife, not the rich tai tai, of course.

Here comes the children. The housewife is expected to take care of the children, which includes their studies. Helping them with homework and projects, fetching them to and fro school and tuition and even to other places when they want to hang out with friends. When the children becomes naughty, it's the mother's fault for not taking the children in hand.

A housewife is also expected to perform their wifely duty and serve their husband well. Amid the hours of slogging on household chores and the financial limitation (as elaborated above), a housewife is expected to still look beautiful for the husband and to welcome home the working husband with a warm smile and a warm meal on the table. After all, to the husband, how tired could the wife be?! She is at home the whole day, while he is out the whole day.

Apart from being a housewife, some women also have to juggle a career and work in order to make ends meet. Imagine having to do everything I have described above AND having to WORK outside at the same time. If anyone thinks this is an easy feat, then you are a very prosaic person because you cannot IMAGINE how difficult it is.

Why do I say unappreciated? How many children and husband express their gratitude and appreciation to their wife or mother for each meal prepared, each time the floor is swept and mopped, each piece of clothing ironed and hung out nicely for them, each time the mother dropped the children off at school? Most often, the children would look up to the father for working so hard and bringing money home for the family. And the children would also be reminded many times by the mother to study hard because "Your dad works so hard for you." But most husband and children forget that the housewife works just as hard too. How often does the husband remind the children on how hard the mother is working at home, ensuring a cosy home for them all?

I am not sure if I could ever be noble and self-sacrificial enough to be a homemaker. Well, maybe yes. The last I heard, motherhood is quite a life-changing experience. So the cliche says "A mother will do anything for her child" but when the time comes, I sure would negotiate for a better deal- AT LEAST, there should be a maid or two, a pay with annual bonus, annual review of the pay and EPF.

One helluva woman

I found a 2-day part-time job for the weekend. I worked as a promoter for Nestle Omega milk. They were running a roadshow with promotional offer of free cholesterol check with a purchase of a pack of milk powder. I was provided with a T-shirt for the 2-day job. Being a bit of a cleanliness freak, just a little, I washed the T-shirt after the end of my work on Day 1.

I was washing it by hand when my grandmother, who came over to stay for a couple of days, asked why was I washing clothes at such a late hour. I told her the reason, that I have to wear it again the next day. The next morning came and it was raining cats and dogs. When I came back from church, I found my work T-shirt all dry and hung up ready to be worn. My grandmother, knowing that it wouldn't dry in time in such a weather, had ironed my shirt till it became dry. I was touched beyond words. She remembered what I said, when I only said it briefly. I myself didn't even remember or think of the fact that my shirt would not dry in the cool, rainy weather. I hadn't even thought of wanting to check if it was dry. But, my grandmother, this amazing woman, thought it all.

I have never yet met a woman like my grandmother. She is kind, generous (in time, money and effort), thoughtful and considerate, hardworking, open-minded for a woman in her 80's. Did I mention that she single-handedly raise 7 children on her own after her husband passed away when she was only in her late 20's? She never remarry. She, a widow, continued the tofu-making business left to her by her late husband and her children had always had enough to eat, wear and use. All her children always had at least 3 pieces of new clothes for Chinese New Year when they were young. When her daughters wanted to pursue a career in hairdressing and beauty all the way to UK, she supported them fully and not just 1 daughter, but 3 daughters. A few went on to get a degree. I have never heard her utter a word of complain or regret. I have never heard her grumble.

Over the years, she lost both her sons. The pain of a mother watching her child go before her is something which, unless you experience it for yourself, is completely unfathomable. In my popo's case, it was not 1, but the 3 most important men in her life- first, her husband, then her oldest son and subsequently, her youngest son. Apart from the permanent and painful scar it left on her, she is still this amazing, amazing, awesome lady that she is. She is so soft- spoken, so mild-tempered, so gentle and at the same time, she is an iron lady- the strongest and most resilient woman I have ever met.

She is one helluva woman!!!