You are currently browsing the monthly archive for December 2008.
All things come to an end. Both good and bad. Thus, if you had a bad 2008, at least it’s over. If it was good, well, it’s still over and hopefully, 2009 will be as good, if not better.
Reflecting on the year that has passed (thanks to the harrowing housemanship), I’ve learnt a few lessons in life…
1. No matter how bad the day/call is, it will eventually be over.
2. When you think that something is already at its worst, it can actually get even worse. (Murphy’s Law)
3. Shit happens and there’s nothing you can do to prevent it.
4. If you work with nice people, having a bad call can actually be fun.
5. There’s always something new to learn everyday.
Now I’ll skip the part of reflecting if I have fulfilled last years resolutions, which I obviously have not, and jump to the part of making new ones. Yay…
New Year Resolution for 2009
1. Eat more and put on some weight less the wind blow me away.
2. Drink more water and eat more vegetables to avoid constipation.
3. Read the Bible and pray more often.
Ok, that’s all folks. Better not to have too many resolutions as the less I make, the less I will break.
Happy New Year 2009 to everyone!
God bless and have a great year ahead…
Every patient planned for surgery (i.e not the emergency cases), should ideally be seen in the ward at least the day before surgery. This is to assess if they are fit for surgery and to explain the procedure as well as to obtain consent from them to gas them out the following day. While doing the pre-op rounds, I usually try my best to explain what they will be going through to alleviate some anxiety or uncertainty about being put to sleep the next day. However, some patients are just more interested in other things…
SCENARIO 1
Jel: “Ok uncle, first we will inject some medication into this port on your hand, and we will also give some gas to make you sleepy. After that, once you are unconscious, we will put a small tube into you mouth to help you brea..”
Patient: “What time is my operation tomorrow?”
Jel: “Err..you are case number 2, so err..maybe 10 or 11 am. As I was saying, the tube is to help you breathe during the opera..”
Patient: “How much do I have to pay for the metal they putting into my foot?”
Jel: “Err..that one you have to ask the surgeon. They are putting the metal into your foot, not me. As for the tube…”
Patient: “After the operation, I can straight away walk and go home?”
Jel: Dang it. “Well, that one you also have to ask the surgeon i.e the BONE doctor. Anyway, if you have no more questions, please read and sign the consent to put you to sleep tomorrow.”
Patient: “Ok. ok. Eh, why here say the mouth can get injured?”
Jel: “As I was trying to tell you, it’s may be caused by putting the tube into your mouth..”
Patient: “Whatever la.” Sign sign sign… “Nah.”
Jel: “Alright then. After 12 midnight, no food or drinks ok?”
SCENARIO 2
Jel: “So tomorrow, first we will inject some medication into this port on your mother’s hand, and we will also give some gas to make her sleepy. After that, once she is unconscious, we will put a small tube into her mouth to help her brea..”
Patient’s daughter: “How come I’ve already booked a 1st class room since yesterday, but my mother is still in this ward?”
Jel: “Err..that one you have to ask the staff nurse. Besides this hospital only has 1 1st class ward that caters to everyone, so the waiting list is very long. As I was saying, the tube is to help you breathe during the opera..”
Patient’s Daughter: “Who is the surgeon doing the operation tomorrow?”
Jel: “Err..Mr. X. I mean Dr. X. Actually it’s Mr. X because surgeons are called Mr in the hospital. As for the tube…”
Patient’s daugther: “Will Mr. X come and see my mother before the operation?”
Jel: “I’m not sure. I think he might come later.”
Patient’s daughter: “But it’s already 4pm. He hasn’t come since we admitted her yesterday.”
Jel: Pulls hair out. “Then maybe he’ll come tomorrow. Anyway, if you have no more questions, please read this out to your mother and help her sign the consent. You will also have to sign a high risk consent on her behalf as she is 80 years old and not in the fittest of health.”
Patient’s daughter: “Ok. ok. Can you please ask the surgeon to see my mother before the operation?”
Jel: “????” Grabs a Orthopaedic House Officer and pushes him infront of patient. “Ok, this doctor will tell his boss to see you later.”
SCENARIO 3
Jel: Uncle, your operation is tomorrow right? I’m here to explain to you about…”
Patient: I don’t want the operation, I don’t want! 76 years old, want to operate for what? I DON’T WANT THE OPERATION!
Jel: Quickly checks the OT list to reconfirm the patient’s name. “But your name is listed for tomorrow. You are Mr. ABC, right?”
Patient: CRAZY people! I told them I don’t want the operation! NO OPERATION! Almost jumps out of the bed in rage, despite having a fractured femur.
Jel: Calm down, uncle. Grabs another Orthopaedic House Officer. “This doctor will tell his boss that you don’t want the surgery tomorrow.”
Just when I was just telling my friend that no one reads my blog anymore, I discovered that this site/blog about red dragon fruit actually linked to a post of mine about purple-red urine. No wonder when I was checking my blog stats, one of the search terms that led to my blog was “dragon fruits red urine color.” Mystery solved. Haha.
I am amazed at the number or 3-way taps attached to this patient’s central line. Looks like something from Lego or Tinkertoy…
This is one of my current favourite songs 
We were both young when I first saw you
I close my eyes and the flashback starts
I’m standing there
On a balcony of summer air
See the lights, see the party, the ball gowns
I see you make your way through the crowd
You say hello
Little did I know
That you were Romeo, you were throwing pebbles
And my daddy said stay away from Juliet
And I was crying on the staircase
Begging you please don’t go, and I said
Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone
I’ll be waiting, all there’s left to do is run
You’ll be the prince and I’ll be the princess
It’s a love story, baby just say “yes”
So I sneak out to the garden to see you
We keep quiet because we’re dead if they know
So close your eyes
Let’s keep this down for a little while
Cause you were Romeo, I was a scarlet letter
And my daddy said stay away from Juliet
But you were everything to me
And I was begging you, please don’t go and I said
Romeo take me somewhere we can be alone
I’ll be waiting, all there’s left to do is run
You be the prince and I’ll be the princess
It’s a love story, baby just say “yes”
Romeo save me, don’t try to tell me how it feels
This love is difficult, but its so real
Don’t be afraid we’ll make it out of this mess
It’s a love story baby just say “yes”
Oh, oh
I got tired of waiting
Wondering if you were ever coming around
My faith in you was fading
When I met you on the outskirts of town, and I said
Romeo save me I’ve been feeling so alone
I keep waiting for you but you never come
Is this in my head, I don’t know what to think
He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring and said
Marry me Juliet, you’ll never have to be alone
I love you and that’s all I really know
I talked to your dad you’ll pick out the white dress
It’s a love story baby just say “yes”
oh, oh, yes
We were both young when I first saw you
~ Taylor Swift, Love Story
Saw this posted on the friendster bulletin board by a friend…
- The stethoscope
- They can give you the gift of “missing them” because they are always at work
- They can give you a free medical consultation
- You save yourself the embarrassment of going to a doctor with a water infection!!
- They are smart!!
- They know their anatomy well (know what works and where)
- They are heavy weight party people in the weekend
- Let’s play doctor!!
- They are well trained to listen.
- They know how you feel, or at least pretend to!!
I don’t quite agree with the reasons, but it’s kinda funny nevertheless…Haha.
Due to being absent from the blogging scene for a little too long previously, and with a little too much to blog about, I’ve decided to post a few pics about my worklife instead…
This is what I work with everyday. Meet ULCO.
I have a locker, like in Grey’s Anatomy!
What is Phua Chu Kang doing in the OR?
A ruptured kidney removed from a patient…
There you go. A little summary of my everyday life…and no, I’m not doing Surgery. I’m the one on the other side, the one putting the patient to sleep.
Actually I don’t really remember this quote, but I saw it at The Cube. Not quite sure which episode it came from either…but I think it is something to think about…
“There’s a point in your life when you get tired of fixing everything and trying to make everyone happy. When you finally decide to quit, it’s NOT giving up. It’s realizing you dont need certain people and the bullshit they bring into
your life.”
~ Dr Izzie Stevens, Grey’s Anatomy
During the most stressful of times at work or during on calls, just a look at my colleague’s Patrick the Starfish’s face is enough to take the pain away…
How can anyone remain pissed/sad/depressed/upset after looking at that face?
During my last on-call, I had a 20 year-old patient with a large inguinal hernia (a condition where the intestines get trapped in the scrotum due to a defect in muscle ring in that area) for emergency operation as he was starting to have pain in the balls. Anyway, since the operation was to be done way down there, I gave him spinal anaesthesia (half body anaesthesia where the patient feels numb and pain-free from waist downwards but is still awake). We put a cloth screen between him and the area of surgery so that the surgical field will remain sterile and more importantly, so that the patient won’t be able to see what is going on down there and freak out.
As the surgeon was about to start, the patient did freak out and started to feel nervous and anxious, so I decided to give him a little bit of sedation and to make small talk to distract him. While chatting about random stuff from his current work to how his ex-girlfriend ran off after he planned to get engaged to her, he suddenly got excited as the radio started playing his favourite songs and thus he started singing in the OT. He literally sang song after song for the next 1 hour much to the amusement of everyone.
Apart from that, he also managed to educate me about the cockroach. He told me that the reason spraying cockroaches doesn’t really kill them is because their lungs are below on their underside, and thus there’s no point in spraying their oil-proof back cum wings. He said if the cockroach actually stopped moving after being sprayed, it is a scam and that the roach is not really dead but just acting. The next thing you know, after you’ve turned your back, the roach would have ran off. He later told me that his uncle sells a special type of pest control drug which you paint on the ground like a moat around the room/house and when the cockroach walks past it, it will absorb into the lungs and kill it.
And there I was pondering, do cockroaches have lungs?
Hmmm…
Anyway, turned out the guy was still singing in the recovery area and even on the way out of the OT. Perhaps the sedation finally kicked in and he got a little “high”…
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