I know I'm not supposed to feel sad and blah blah blah on this day and whatever, but I can do whatever I want, so... LOL.

Anyway, talk about opportunity cost! Because I had my hospital attachment to go for, I had to forgo going to school and seeing my beloved teachers and juniors for their Teachers' Day celebrations. Aih.

Anyway, since I was done early with my hospital attachment yesterday, Yenn Ling came over. <3 Just to listen to my stories. Hahaha.

Joanna called me yesterday evening. It's good to hear from her again.

And then Li Za called, and we spoke for about an hour. Ridiculously long, I tell you. But it was fun. Haven't spoken to Li Za since she came back from NS, I'd think.

A week in a hospital. This sounds crazy, but I miss the sounds (Not the screaming/crying, though, hahaha), the kids running around and playing in Paed 6/Daycare (I'm actually NOT there most of the time, LOL), the sights and the SMELLS. I don't know whether it's disinfectant or whatever, but I never hated the way hospitals smell. I like it. It smells... clean. Hahaha. I especially like the smell of the scrub foam (the soap). It's... nice. Hahaha.

I'm actually done with the sketches of the scrubs and bone marrow needles and stuff. I'm now drawing a strip of the process of harvesting. Hee.

Um bum bum.

Aw, my hospital attachment is over. The Prof asked if I wanted to come again next week, but I really have to start studying for my SATs, so it's a no. Aw.

Anyway, like I have done every day, I'll write what happened today.

Got to the hospital early, as usual. At 8am there was this meeting thing by the Paeds doctors - a professor was reporting on a conference he and a couple other professors attended in Hangzhou... last week. It was pretty funny, at the end, he was showing some pictures of Hangzhou and they were making all sorts of lame jokes and talking about 'eventful' things that happened in China and complaining about the smoking and the spitting and the general loudness of the Chinese. And how the Chinese's Chinese sounded very 'chou lou' (rough). But, hey, you're in Hangzhou. Their dialect of Chinese sounds pretty rough. And you'll get the smoking and the spitting and the loudness in Europe, as well. Oh, and America. Anyway, the report was pretty funny. And it was Prof Lee (That rather scary Prof from Day 2... which I realized I hadn't blogged about. To make things simple, he's rather House-like. Not sarcastic or anything, but there's something... Unapproachable... about him) who was reporting, so it was pretty awkward.

During the morning rounds at the BMT Ward, GVHD boy's condition is improving slightly, though Brat and Addict's platelet counts are still unstable, though Addict should be ready to go home in about a week. Bone Marrow Harvest Girl is feeling a lot of pain from the harvest sites (I've actually got some of the sketches done. It should be up soon! :D), but that's kinda expected. Mum couldn't stand up for a week or something, according to Dad. Anyway, Mum's an adult and BMHG is a kid - the kid should recover faster. Cord Blood Transplant (CBT) Girl seems okay today - at least, no complications so far. They're just keeping an eye out, since Singapore said that the cord blood transplanted has 95% viability, while UH's own MLTs reported a viability of only about 36%, which is utterly ridiculous and mind-boggling.

Once rounds were over, The Prof thought I should have a look at what usually happens at the Paeds Daycare (Which is just outside the BMT Ward. Basically, you get out of the lift, turn left, and you're in Paed 6. The Daycare is part of Paed 6, and the BMT Ward's basically the isolation ward in Paed 6). So she left me with yesterday's MO (Dr Myrna). Dr Myrna was very nice, teaching me how to feel the liver and the spleen (Spleen on the left, liver on the right) and stuff like that, and was like, "Want to set a line?", because these are pretty much thalassemia patients who are undergoing chelation or blood transfusions. And I was like, "WHAT? NO. IF ANYTHING HAPPENS... NO" and we LOL'ed about it. Hee.

Anyway, some routine checks, setting lines, things like that, then there was a LUMBAR PUNCTURE. MRUAHAHAHA. Dr Shanti (Dunno if it's Dr or Prof. She's ranked higher than an MO, but she's not a Prof either, I think) was asking Dr Myrna if she had done any LPs before, and Dr Myrna was like, "Uh, not many?" then Dr Shanti was like, "Then Dr Joyce will do the LP, and you (meaning me) can watch the procedure". Oooooooh.

The poor kid. She was all drugged up with Ketamine (And I was just talking about Ketamine yesterday, LOL) when they did the LP. And injected the cytotoxin/chemo drugs up her spine as well. Ouch.

SO, by that time, it was almost 12, and my parents had called The Prof up to say that we're going out for lunch and blah blah blah so we went for lunch and THAT WAS THE END OF MY HOSPITAL ATTACHMENT.

Just before leaving, I thanked Dr Shanti and Dr Myrna and whichever Dr/Nurse from the week that was conveniently in Paed 6, and Dr Shanti was like, "SO, DO YOU WANT TO BE A DOCTOR?" and I was like "I DON'T KNOW" and she was like, "YOU DON'T KNOW? THIS WEEK DIDN'T INSPIRE YOU?" And it went all awkward and all, "Of COURSE I was inspired! It's just that... *mumblemumble*" hahaha I fail.

Anyway, this whole week has been awesome. The nurses at the BMT Ward are very nice, they really are good at their jobs (Hey, nurses are just as important as doctors, okay?), even the clerks. The MOs (Um... let's see... Dr Joyce, Dr Eg, Dr Myrna, Dr Hannah and one more whose name I cannot remember) whom I followed around/told me all sorts of things (Special props go to Dr Joyce and Dr Myrna), the Housemen (Dr Khaw and Dr Uzair. HA, if they Google their names I'm going to LOL), Dr Shanti, the MLT who was telling me about cord blood, and of course, The Prof.

I've drawn blood, checked BP (Okay, I did that even BEFORE the hospital attachment), seen a cord blood transplant, seen a bone marrow harvesting (And put on scrubs), seen an LP, gone on rounds (Putting on the gowns and shoe slips), seen lots of blood drawings, gone to an empty paediatric ER, gone for a lecture, gone for a conference report, a department meeting and had clinic duty.

I may not become a doctor in the near future (Well, I still want Columbia/International Relations), but one does not know what God has planned for our futures, so I'll just study hard and let my life be the way God planned it to be. :D

It really is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I am thankful as well as grateful as to have experienced it. I mean, I left having more respect for hospital staff than I already had, and my Bio paper on stem cells tied in perfectly with paediatric oncology, where one of the earliest forms of stem cell therapy is used to treat patients every day - bone marrow transplants, so I have some pointers I could use for my presentation once the holidays are over.

So, next on my list: SATs.

Gosh, I only have one day left to my Hospital Attachment. I have to say, the time spent in the hospital was well worth it. Anyway, TODAY! TODAY! THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY, and I can literally say, highlight of my life.

I mean, I know it sounds ridiculous, and you have to be a little crazy to say it, but I like being in a hospital. Not as a patient though, I would think(I've never been admitted in a hospital, not counting my premature birth). Anyway, I've always liked going to hospitals. Following my sister to Polyclinic sessions can get boring, but you know, waiting is boring. Although I am easily amused (something that has come in handy at times this week).

This morning, went to The Prof's office before we started our day in the BMT Ward (Her world, I'd say), and she started her rounds. When we got to the ward at 8am, the Operation Theater (OT) people were already there to pick the girl up. And, as usual, The Prof did her rounds (This time with a different MO. Dr Hannah had car problems yesterday and had to take today of to sort everything out); The Brat is still a whiny brat, I don't know how a sick kid can have the energy to be so bratty - but then again, he's okay, platelet's just weird; The Addict's mum went back home (They're outstation), and his dad was there with him. And he had his specs on (Hahaha, I was wrong, he already wore specs. That kid's going to be like a BAT when he turns 20) and GVHD Boy seems better after yesterday's meds, and they're just trying to keep his platelets up over 30.

The Medical Lab Technician (Med Lab Tech, MLT, not Mad Lab Tech, hee) came up with a water bath (The kind you find in the Chem Lab that heats water to a certain temperature and keeps it that way) and a coldbox. One of The Prof's patient's having her cord blood transplant today.

The process is pretty insignificant; The Prof injects the donor cord blood into the girl. I was chatting with the MLT and the MO while the MLT was waiting for the cord blood to thaw (It's this packet stored in a small metal container thing transported around in a cold box which has liquid nitrogen in it. The MLT had to use cryo-gloves. Awesome stuff :D). The MLT's a pretty cool lady. And the nurses, too. Anyway, The Prof actually didn't want to do the CBT until after she did the bone marrow harvesting, but the MLT came at about 8.45am, and when The Prof asked one of her staffers to call the OT, it seems that they were not ready yet.

CBT went well; girl was puking, though. I guess it was the drugs. Also, people, if they sell you ketamine on the streets, don't freaking take it. Ketamine = not fun. I never took it before, and don't plan to unless I am administered ketamine by a medical professional, but I know someone who personally hated the experience of being drugged with ketamine. ANYWAY, after the CBT, The Prof was LOLing with her staff about how on days when they're really busy/running late/rushing for something, the OT people are early, but when they do things in good time, the OT people are slow.

Therefore, in good time, we made our way to the Operating Theater. It's like a totally different world from the wards - medical staff in there wore scrubs, and I think I would've lost my way in the operation section if I hadn't been following The Prof with the MO.

We made our way through a labyrinthe of corridors (OKAYLAH. NOT SO DRAMATIC. WE MADE OUR WAY THROUGH SOME CORRIDORS) to the changing room. Okay, I thought that, you know, UH has an operating suite with the observation room, a la House, but duh, House is a TV show. I got to put on a pair of scrubs (Comfy. Hahaha. The 'SMALL' sized scrubs were exactly as it said, "small". Meaning that they were pretty loose. Hahaha), put on a surgical cap (NOT cool like the ones on House. The ones they have look like showercaps) and a mask, a pair of boots and into the OT we go!

Girl Whose Bone Marrow The Prof Was Going To Harvest and her mum were in the OT; The girl was already in bed (obviously), and the anaesthesiologists were prepping her. Took a while to get her out of it, and she was scared and started crying and all, but she soon was out cold. Mum went out of the OT.

First thing to be done was get a liver biopsy. The Prof was letting Dr Myrna (The MO) do it. But, you know, I doubt Dr M had much practice - but these sort of things come with experience. First, she had to slice the skin a little; an incision of 1-2mm only. Then, she tried getting a bit of the girl's liver, but she failed the first time. The Prof stepped in to explain what the MO was doing wrong, snapped on a pair of gloves, and got a liver sample.

And, damn, was The Prof fast! It was literally a push in, pull the syringe pump and pull the syringe out at the same time, and bam, you have a bit of liver. She let Dr Myrna have a second go. Dr Myrna got a slightly bigger chunk of liver (By big I'll say a really thin string about 1.5cm long, and by 'thin string' I mean as thin as a needle) and The Prof was like, "Still too slow, and this time, you took TOO MUCH liver". Heeee.

Anyway, once the biopsy was over, they lay the girl flat on her front, since bone marrow is harvested from both sides of your pelvis (I'll draw a diagram and put it up once I'm done with the attachment program). And they got the needles out. No, they're not long like the ones you see on House (The one from the ep where Foreman had to forcefully get marrow from the boy is actually the length of a biopsy needle), but still pretty freaking thick.

There's little blood involved in bone marrow harvesting. Apart from the roughly 300mL of bone marrow we were harvesting, of course. The doctors just use the same puncture to move the needle around and really push to get the needle to penetrate through the bone of the pelvis. It. looked. painful. I mean, it is painful - who am I kidding? It's painful enough to warrant general anaesthetic, anyway.

The harvesting took about... an hour? If my timing is right (I wanted to use my stopwatch; I forgot until a good half hour before the procedure was done), we started at about 9.50 and ended about 10.50. We were in the OT at around 9, anyways. The Prof explained to me the 'Rules' of washing/scrubbing your hands (They call it the 'No touch rule'. Hee, doctors) and that there was a certain way that they needed to wear their gowns, and they have to wear their gloves over the sleeves of the gown.

Since I couldn't/didn't take any pictures, and the pictures of bone marrow biopsy needles I find on the Net doesn't look like the ones they were using, I'll draw pictures! Because I need something to draw, anyway, HAHAHA.

During the harvesting, The Prof was like, "And this is pretty much what your Mum had to go through," and I was mumbling, "Gnaaaaaaarly," which was presumably unheard behind my mask. Hahahaa. After the harvesting of bone marrow was done, The Prof injected some local anaesthetic, and they were done.

Bone marrow harvesting isn't openly gruesome, like an actual surgery, but if you're already grossed out by injections, and can't stand the sight of NEEDLES BEING MOVED AND FORCEFULLY HAND-DRILLED IN, seeing this kind of stuff isn't for you. I don't know whether it was because of my over-exposure to gnarly things on TV or I'm just sadistic, I wasn't too creeped out by it. HEHEHE. I don't think I'd still ever want to poke anyone with a needle, though.

Got out, got changed, and we decided that it'd be a good time to... have lunch! Since it was around 1120. Kinda early, but my lunchtime at college is at 11am anyways.

After lunch, we decided to go and see if there was anything going on at the ER, so we walked over to the new A&E block. Into the ER, and, more specifically, to the Paeds ER. Which was, anticlimactically, empty. Which is actually typical, because parents are at work and whatever.

Went back to The Prof's office and tried to build a database for her with Microsoft Access, but, meh, I'm not an IT student, hahaha. Got most of the stuff figured out, anyway, but I had to bring work home, LOL. CLERICAL WORK. AHAHAHAHA. If I were an IT student, I wouldn't be on this hospital attachment, anyway. Although, I'd think that there should be a Bio, Chem, IT Studies combo in college. Bioinformatics is today's form of science.

And now that I'm done with another novel (To the extent that I'm not even blogging about anything else), I seriously need to get started on my 'homework'. Hee.

[Edited to add]
I bumped into Pn Mok today. I had gotten into the lifts to go up from the Ground Floor to the 3rd floor to make my way up to The Prof's office, and Pn Mok got into the lift on the 1st floor. When everything started to get squishy with too many people. AND GUESS WHO WAS RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY FACE?

Thank goodness she doesn't know me/didn't recognize me.

[EDIT 2]
I TOTALLY FORGOT TO ADD - During the entire bone marrow harvesting procedure, the anaesthesiologist was on the AirAsia website, looking at some promotional deal on a holiday to Gold Coast. HAHAHAHA WIN. I'M SERIOUS. He was searching on Yahoo for some phone, looking through his Yahoo e-mails, looking at the Air Asia website choosing his holiday destination... Seriously funny stuff (Oxymoron!).

During the LOLtastic Oncology meeting, Dr Vivek was talking about some weird ruling/protocol of UM Medical Centre (UMMC or PPUM in Malay) and UM Specialist Centre (UMSC, basically the private wing of UMMC), in which a doctor CANNOT PHOTOSTAT patients' notes from UMMC/UMSC and send it to the other division. For example, I want to photocopy my patient's notes from UMSC to myself in UMMC... it's not allowed. And vice versa - I won't be able to send photocopied notes from UMMC to UMSC.

Anyway, the doctors were all, "What kind of ridiculous ruling is that?" and me, sitting behind making ridiculous faces with the same thoughts. Then, Dr Chong (I saw her name on the list today. She's Dr Chong! Not Prof. Ha.) suggested that Dr Vivek write a referral letter. Then Dr Vivek mentioned that he just wanted to transfer HIS OWN PATIENT from UMSC to UMMC. Then Dr Chong was like, "Aiyah, no choice lorh! If you want, you can write 'I'm Dr Vivek from UMSC, and I'd like to refer this patient to... myself in UMMC' " Hahahaha.

Oh, and remember the inaugural lecture I was talking about? The one that was interesting yet boring? I TOTALLY saw Prof H sleeping when I was looking around the LT. Heeeee... Adults...

Um, and yeah, since I'm back early today, and nothing much happened, I'll just talk about Day 3 here.

I got to put on the gown and masks and shoe covers and all and follow The Prof on her BMT ward rounds. Fweee. One poor boy (Fine, the one with ALL) is currently having GVHD (Graft vs Host Disease). And then there's a patient who's CLEARLY getting better - anyway, he's always glued to his PSP. Seriously. On Monday when I first went there, when The Prof checked him (Size and 'feel' of spleen and liver), he held his PSP so close to his face, playing. Roll to the side, STILL playing. I don't think even a fire in his room would seperate his PSP from his face. He might get a PSP tan. Hm. The Prof was like, "The other room has Monster Kid" (Kid to be replaced by kid's name. Which I remember, and he's discharged and all, but like I said in my first post, not too sure about confidentiality and stuff) "I'd say that you're Addict Kid" The Prof's MO giggled. Oh, did I mention that, with mask on, I swear that The Prof's MO looks like Cik Suhana (My Form 5 Bio teacher).

Then, since a new patient got admitted last night, The Prof asked her MO to 'present' the case, so to speak. So I learnt quite a few pointers there. The Prof wanted her MO to 'sell the case', as in, completely convince The Prof that they're not wasting any time/resources taking in this patient and stuff.

Then she went to see the new patient, and brief the patient's mum about the course of treatment and the risks and stuff - Informed consent.

Then we went to the clinic for more Clinic Duty, which is amusing like House Clinic Duties, except that this is specifically for Paediatric Oncology patients. Monday's for post-transplant patients, Wednesdays for post-chemo/radiation, no transplant. So it was pretty quiet. Except for a hyperactive kid here and there ("I'd say he has ADHD" "Aiyah, I see all these kinds of patients all the time. It's normal"), and the nurse who looks like Nurse Lydia from ER, and is just as funny. (:

And then, done for the day, since The Prof has some sort of Examination Board meeting after that. Oh, well!

Some Medicines used in the BMT ward:
- Morphine
- Ketamine
- Vancomyacin
- Interferon
- Amphoterecin A & B
- Something that costs RM2210 a vial (I kid you not. It's freaking expensive)

Tomorrow:
- BONE MARROW HARVEST!!1!!

Other random things:
- Yih Shan was over at the Dental Faculty when I was listening to The Prof go through the process of informed consent. Hahaha.
- The Prof checked her clinic patients' eyes to look at their optic disc, to see if there's papilledema (She said it so quickly I almost missed it, and I actually spelt it right! I checked) - which is, swelling of the optic disc caused by intercranial pressure.

I return with Day 2 of my hospital attachment. Because I think writing a report about it will be good. The Prof/The Good Doctor says that it'll help in my Med School interview. I didn't mention that I'm most probably not taking the Med School interview because Australian universities require you to apply for Med/Dentistry by July, and my Mid Term results suck, AND I'm sitting for my SATs in about 2 weekends, so... Anyway, I think it'll be great to write a report for myself, it MAY help with my college application essay(s), so you never know!

So this morning, I arrived ridiculously early, since I followed Mum. I waited outside the Pharmacy for a while, pretending to be someone waiting for the Pharmacy open (PS. KACHE! Best times to avoid traffic at the Pharmacy: When you go for checkups, ie. ridiculously early in the morning, or around 3pm/4pm. YOU COULD TOTALLY DRIVE THERE NEXT TIME). Then at about 730am, messaged The Prof and received instructions as to where I should go... which was the Clinical Trials office thingy on the 2nd floor above the Pharmacy.

The Prof was dealing with some paperwork, so I indulged myself in daydreaming a little bit, then we went off to a conference room somewhere in the hospital for a Radiology/Paediatric Oncology Department(s) Conference. I swear, I thought some of the people there were med students. They were all professors. I think.

Anyway, the Conference is a weekly thing, when doctors from the 2 departments review scans of patients and get input from the Radiology Department as to what the results are like and stuff like that. According to my scribbles in my notebook, the doctor who was reading the patient summary should not have mumbled, and should have spoken with a clearer voice. Oh, me. So attached to English. xD

SO, the first patient reviewed had a pretty morbid condition - he has lymphoma, and then he has/had lesions in the liver, kidney AND spleen. OH, and gallbladder polyps. And the lesions on the kidney? All the way through to the adrenal gland. And his polyp biopsy cultures came back positive for TB.

Where's the Salk vaccine when you need it?

So then the poor boy has had I don't know what. Basically, poor guy.

Then there are lung CTs, brain CTs (Patient presented with tumour along the cerebellum, pretty big, and had Burr holes), MRIs, and you can actually see the shape of the bones of the spine as we reviewed the scans.

The Conference, though only about an hour long, was really, really cool.

After that, The Prof dropped me off at Paeds 4 to follow a Houseman/House Officer around. To make things simpler the ladder is - Medical Student, Houseman/House Officer, Medical Officer (MO), then Professor/Consultant. Basically, the Housemen do the rounds in the wards first, then the MOs would join in.

So Paed 4 had about 18 rooms or so, with about... 23? patients? There were 3 cots at the end. Anyway, Paed 4 is for the Paediatric Gastroenterology department. The Houseman was good, and nice. In fact, the MOs were awesome too. There are 2 housemen and 3 MOs. At least, when I was there in the morning. One of the MOs looked like my Bio lecturer. When the Houseman I was supposed to follow around had to discharge a patient/deal with boring appointment paperwork, the other Houseman suggested that I follow him to draw blood from a baby.

Poor baby. Her veins were all poked at. Well, okay, not all, but bad enough. And the Houseman tried drawing blood twice, but no blood, so he had to call an MO (Housemen are only allowed 2 tries on a baby, then they have to call a more senior doctor. But of course, there are some who'll be all Jesus-complex and whatnot and keep poking a poor baby. Anyway, this Houseman was good). The MO also needed 2 tries, but her 2nd one, at least, got a better flow of blood. Along the way, I discovered that the MO used to study in SAM too, hee. And she asked me, "SO, WHY DO YOU WANT TO BE A DOCTOR? AND DON'T SAY 'BECAUSE YOU WANT TO HELP PEOPLE' BECAUSE THAT'S A LIE" HAHAHA. Then the Houseman was like, "Aiyoh, even I still don't know the answer," so I went with the conventional, "Oh, haha, I DON'T KNOW" omitting the fact that... I'm not good enough to be a doctor.

CONTINUING ON, went back to meet up with The Prof, and had lunch, then rushed off for an Oncology Department meeting. Prof Hani was there. When I was a kid, I used to think that Prof Hani was Prof Honey, a Chinese, since she's VERY fair. Anyway, there was Prof Hani and a Prof? Dr? Chong? (No idea what her name is), some other professors, my Prof's MO, Dr Hannah and Prof?Dr? Vivek, the Orthopedic surgeon.

The Prof first warned me, "Oh, this may be a bit boring - we're only reviewing patients and stuff, so not much". Well, she doesn't know that I generally like what people think are boring, so... hahaha.

In the beginning, The Prof was like, "OH, I ALMOST FORGOT. EVERYONE, THIS IS S'L. She wants to be a medical student, so she's following me for the week" Dr Chong giggled, "HEE HEE, YOUR SHADOW"

Anyway, IT WAS HILARIOUS. The meeting, yes, may have been boring at moments of "Patient's name - stage of chemo", but I tell you, those doctors. Are FUNNY. The Orthopedic surgeon was there on a consult as to whether his patient should continue chemo after a major surgery, as he's already responding well, so then they were talking about the patient. HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY, I TELL YOU. Here's a paraphrasing.

DR VIVEK enters. PROFESSORS welcome him in. They continue with the meeting.
THE PROF: Oh, Vivek, you wanted to review your patient?
DR VIVEK: Oh, yeah!

Medical terms, blah, blah, basically the patient had a tumour in the bladder or the bones or whatever, and the cancer metastasized (Sorry, Bio terms) to the bones in his lower body (Guy's 21), and another surgeon had told Dr Vivek to do a lower half AMPUTATION, and...

DR VIVEK: And I was like, "WHAT? NO WAY I'M GOING TO DO A LOWER HALF AMPUTATION ON A 21 YEAR OLD"

OTHER PROFESSORS look rather shocked

DR VIVEK: And the patient actually agreed! Anyway, after reviewing the stuff, I decided that the guy could have a pelvic replacement, since his lower half is PERFECTLY FINE. We'll just remove the masses, the pelvis, genitilia and bladder, and reconstruct.
SOME DOCTOR, I DON'T KNOW WHO: Genitilia? How's he going to excrete?
DR VIVEK: Aiyah, we're removing his bladder as well, he'll be in a bag anyway
THE PROF: His sexual health isn't as important as his life, so...
DR VIVEK: So, yalah, give him a new pelvis
THE PROF: What kind of new pelvis ah? Those plasticky ones ah?
DR VIVEK: Oh, no, I ordered something from China. Metal pelvis
THE PROF: METAL?!
DR CHONG: So, you took an MRI of the guy's pelvis then they mould one of the exact shape ah?
SOME DOCTOR IN THE ROOM: No lah. Comes in Small, Large or Medium. MASS PRODUCED.
DR VIVEK: It's like a puzzle lah! Just assemble the pieces and stuff along the way.
THE PROF: IMAGINE HOW HEAVY HE'LL BE WITH THE METAL HIP

DOCTORS LAUGH.

THE PROF: And when he plays football or whatever, and starts butting people with his hip - HE won't be injured, his opponents will

MORE LAUGHS. Among the commotion...

PROF HANI: *Still laughing* Does it come with a ASSEMBLY MANUAL?

DR CHONG is still laughing her head off.

DR VIVEK: Aiyah, orthopedic surgery - is almost always experimental lah. We always cut the patient open, see what we need to do...
PROF HANI: So, how many of these sort of surgeries have you done?
DR VIVEK: None.
DR CHONG: Observed?
DR VIVEK: None.
THE PROF: ... IN MALAYSIA?
DR VIVEK: ... ... None?
THE PROF: HUH? NONE? In that case... the world?
DR VIVEK: Oh, quite a number in China lah.
THE PROF: Quite a number? What's the number? Don't tell me 3 or 4

GENERAL LAUGHTER AROUND THE ROOM. I mean, SERIOUSLY, we have some of UH's best doctors in the room laughing. It was hilarious. In the end...

THE PROF: OH, HEY, VIVEK - WHEN YOU'RE DONE WITH THE PROCEDURE, TAKE A PICTURE, YOU KNOW?
PROF HANI: YAH, YAH, SHOW US!
DR VIVEK: NO PROBLEM.

HAHAHAHA morbid doctors. Anyway, other cases reviewed in the meeting were stuff like sinovial sarcoma and orthosarcoma on the sacrum.

After the meeting, The Prof and I went for another professor's Inaugural Lecture in one of the LTs. Okaylah. I mean, it was an interesting topic (Relation between body and mind), but... okaylah. Hahaha. SAM totally teaches students to be effective presentation givers. After that, I went home.

OH, KACHE, I think I saw Prof Fatimah after the lecture. I mean, looked like Prof F, but I didn't see her tag, so anyway... SHE KNOWS YOU, NOT ME, SO WHATEVER.

IN CONCLUSION:
- Today was an interesting day, with the Radiology conference, Paed 4 and best of all, Onco meeting, and the lecture.
- There's no way a doctor's life really is this fun. But the Houseman I followed admitted that today was a slow day, and Paed 4 is sort of a cut and dry ward, not many complications, so pretty straightforward, despite the severity of the cases
- Lunch? What lunch?

TOMORROW:
- I'm supposed to go straight to The Prof's office tomorrow morning. Hope I don't get lost, hahahahaha.
- I don't know what's happening.

THURSDAY:
- THE PROF IS GOING TO HAVE A BONE MARROW HARVEST SESSION IN ONE OF THE THEATRES. SHE SAID SHE'LL BRING ME.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAA!

More tomorrow! :D

Well, not really Day One. More of Day 0.5 of my Hospital Attachment.

I spent my half-day there today following a paediatric oncologist around! We will now refer to her as The Good Doctor, because it's more fun that way. And no, cancer kids aren't like Wilson's Cancer Kids, either. Apart from the bald heads.

So I got to UMMC this morning, and the first place I was brought to was... the Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) ward! The 'new' BMT ward. I call it new because the last time I was there, I was probably about 4, and that was before UH/UMMC had a renovation/new tower/new block/something new. Anyway, the BMT ward in Paed 6. 4 patients in isolation (Read: Post-transplant, shot immune systems). Not going to talk much about these patients, especially since I'm not too sure about patient-doctor confidentiality and stuff like that.

When I walked in, there was a senior nurse, and the doctor I'm following asked her, "I don't know if you remember Shu Yin, but this is her sister" Haaaaaaa. And the nurse was, "Oh! Shu Yin's sister!"

Anyway, a kid in there had Acute Lymphoblastic Leaukemia (ALL) (Shoutout!), another one had some other kind of leaukemia, and someone else had thalassemia and someone else had something else, they were all young kids (Paeds, duh), from 3? 4? years old to 10.

Seems that there were only 2 doctors then (Doctor I'm following and a Dr Hannah, a Medical Officer. Don't be fooled by her English-sounding name. Dr Hannah's a Malay. Hahahaha. She seems good, though. She's training to be a paediatric oncologist). I wasn't allowed to put on the gowns and stuff to go into the rooms to look, but I didn't mind. If someone gets an infection, I don't want it to be my fault, hahaha.

Since it was Monday, The Good Doctor had Clinic Duty. No, not House-like, typical cough-cold clinic duty. Monday's the Hematology/Oncology Clinic, so the patients The Good Doctor (and me!) were going to see were pretty much post-transplant/treatment/long-term survivors (Eg. Someone I'm related to). I didn't know 2? 3? months post-treatment's considered 'long-term', but at least they fit in one of 3 of the given categories. Hahaha.

SO, SINCE I ONLY HAD HALF A DAY, I think I only saw about... 10? patient? I KNOW, THERE'S NOT MANY AND HOMG HOW COULD YOU LOSE COUNT OF 'THAT MANY', BUT, WHATEVER. THIS IS MY HOSPITAL ATTACHMENT, NOT YOURS.

The Good Doctor let me read the patients' reports before they came in. These reports are basically brief summaries of the patients' diagnoses/treatment/complications/transplant info and stuff like that. Familiar terms included 'Prednisolone' and 'IV Augmentin' and 'IV interferon' and 'chelation'.

So, some of these patients has had some form or other of leukemia (It sounds like Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leaukemia's pretty rare - 2 patients had it, but their reports show that they actually went to Singapore for a second opinion/The Good Doctor called some other doctor in Singapore for a second opinion), one? case of Aplastic Anemia (Thank you, House, ER and SAM Biology), and mostly Beta-Thalassemia Major (The Good Doctor's 'Pet Project', she's doing some sort of research on cord blood/stem cell treatment for beta-thalassemia major in our country. I have a feeling that her role in the local medical scene is a lot bigger than the impression I'm getting).

Things I did today:
- Tail people/a person
- I DREW BLOOD. AHAHAHAHA.
- Checked a patient's BP. I ACTUALLY FORGOT HOW TO DO IT. HAHAHAFAIL.

ELABORATION ON THE STORY, "I DREW BLOOD TODAY!!11!!"

No, I'm not as awesome as I make myself sound, and no, it was not as impressive as my multiple exclamation marks and capslocked words made it sound. So this girl came for her checkup, right? With her older brother - they both have (had) b-thal major. Checkup with boy went by fine, then the girl (She's skinny. Like I used to be. Hahaha. At least, when I was a kid. Although I don't think I was that skinny any more when I was... I think she's 9. I cannot remember) needed to get 200cc/200mL s of blood drawn. 20mL was to go to the labs to check for ferritin (If I recall that's what it's called/how it's spelt), and the next 180mL... to throw away. So we were using these 25cc/25mL syringes, and then The Good Doctor went, "OH, HEY, WHY DON'T YOU DO IT?" and I was like, "WHUT?"

The Good Doctor set up a line with a butterfly, and did the first 40cc, I did the 3rd syringe, failed at changing syringes (LOOK, I'M NOT A TRAINED MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL, OKAY? And I never really followed my sister for checkups when she needed blood to be drawn), but all went well after. Except for the fact that it took forever to draw blood for the 4th syringe, and as I started the 4th, The Good Doctor was like, "OKAY, I'M GOING TO LEAVE YOU HERE. I'LL BE NEXT DOOR. HAVE FUN!" while I'm thinking, "WHUT? WHUT? LEAVE ME - WHAT IF I KILL THIS PATIENT?" No, I was kidding. You can't kill the patient by drawing her blood. It's just that I was really worried if I moved the needle, because my sister always whined about how some new MO's/nurses would move the needle ALL THE TIME AND IT HURT LIKE SHIT (and then we'd sekritly chuckle about their incompetence). And it's actually really, really hard to SUCK BLOOD out of a person. I mean, seriously, you're SUCKING BLOOD.

If you know me well, I have no problem with GETTING injections, but I'd never try INJECTING SOMEONE. Nor do I have a problem with blood. Anyway, continuing. The Good Doctor (Okay, I'll call her The Prof now. Good Doctor's getting too long) came back and asked, "So, how's it going?" and I'm all, "Uh, we're still kinda at the 10th cc of 20" "Huh? So slow?" and she came by and went, "Oh, no, you were to slow, blood's clotting" *cue panic sounds in my head* "Nevermind. It's normal with this girl. Her clotting factor is really, really good."

So then The Prof asks Fierce Clotting Factor Girl if it's okay if she set up another butterfly on her other arm, and FCFG nodded okay. So we did, and drawing the next 6 syringes of blood was a breeze. And it was fun!

Did you know that, because there's such a thing as internal body temperature, when the blood is drawn, you touch the syringe and it is warm? Anyway, I hope I didn't suck too bad at drawing blood, and that Fierce Clotting Factor Girl doesn't go home and evilly giggle at my incompetence at drawing blood with her brother.

--End Story--

So I actually met even more interesting patients in the clinic today, but I don't think I have the right/liberty to elaborate, so I won't.

IN CONCLUSION:
- I am suddenly fickle, therefore, my mind has suddenly gone back to, "If I'm applying to Australia, I'll apply for Biomed, and if I work really really hard, I'll still consider bridging to Medicine" Well, the first part is actually still the plan. The latter part was kinda dropped for I-don't-know-why reasons. Also, I just remembered that, if I do Medicine, I'll actually get the Chia Family Financial Aid Package. Hee.
- You know that past patients will be very nonchalant about getting blood drawn when they reach about age 10. Need to inject you? Okay. Need to draw blood? Whatever. Growth hormone treatment (Okay, moving to Endocrinology for a moment), requiring injections every night? Sure.
- And past patients' siblings will be relatively nonchalant about needles as well. Looking at blood/people getting injections/whatever? Hm. Freaky, but, whatever.

TOMORROW:
- Radiology Department is having a meeting/briefing thing. The Prof thinks that it's a good idea if I go.
- A new patient is coming in to the BMT ward, pre-transplant. Prof thinks that it'll be perfect, since I will be able to catch WHAT HAPPENS, BEFORE A TRANSPLANT
- I AM STOKED.
- I STILL FEEL LIKE I AM INTRUDING, THOUGH.

[Note: To Dear Sister: NO MENTIONS OF THIS ON THE PHONE. NONE. NO, "OH, YEAH, I READ IT ON YOUR BLOG". Okay? Please? Especially since we mostly talk *with loudspeaker on*. Hahaha. You totally blew my 4-year-old cover the last round. xD]

Min Shen mentioned about losing her blogging mojo.

She's not the only one.

Anyway, got some stuff to update before I go to bed (Definition of going to bed: Going into bedroom. Doesn't mean I'm going to SLEEP immediately).

1) My hospital attachment starts tomorrow!
- I'm supposed to be at the hospital at 8-ish in the morning. Prof Chan was like, "You know where my office is, right?" and I was like, "Uh... no?" Then,
Prof Chan: But your sister knows where it is.
Me: Ah... I only know how to get to Delifrance, the Pharmacy and... the Clinic. Possibly the Radiology Department - other than that, I'm hopeless.
- I'm going to be done early tomorrow, apparently, about after lunch.
- Prof Chan suggests that I hang back on one of the evenings to soak in the Accidents and Emergency (A&E) Department atmosphere. SOUNDS GREAT. Did you know that, when I had (once, long ago) thought about doing medicine, I wanted to do Cardiology... or Emergency Medicine? It's ER, I tell you. Although I know a real hospital =/= a TV show, it'll be cool.

2) Tennis
- The French Open started today! Red clay! It's frustrating, though. After years of seeing such beautiful clay court tennis, complete with sliding and great tactical prowess, all you see now is hard court style on a freaking clay court. SLIDE, PEOPLE. SLIDE. CLAY COURT IS A GAME FOR STRATEGISTS, NOT BESERKERS.
- I'm still pulling for either Kuznetsova or Safina to win this year's French. Kuznetsova's kinda hit or miss, and Safina's volatile and all fresh and stuff, so my picks are really... unpredictable and quite unlikely to win. Unlike last time. Bet on any final, my money would go to Justine.
- I saw a repeat of the exhibition match between Steffi Graf and Kim Clijsters. Steffi could still beat any current Top 10 players, the way she's playing. The angles of her shots! So breathtaking! I can't find a download for the Steffi vs Justine exhibition from 2 years ago - would've been a sight to behold. Steffi playing made me miss watching Justine play. Thank goodness for matches downloaded onto my computer!

3) Basketball
- GO LAKERS!
My goodness am I sounding like Nastia at the moment.
4) Damages
- UNCLE PETE! T_T
- Dear Damages TPTB: More Glenn Close, less Rose Byrne.
- I miss Zelkjo Ivanek on the show. He played very well opposite Glenn Close.
- GLENN CLOSE! I didn't post this when I had downloaded the Season 2 premiere back in January, but... WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY DOING WITH YOUR HAIR? IT'S ALL... FLOPPY! PATTY HEWES IS NOT SUPPOSED TO HAVE FLOPPY HAIR! YOU'RE PATTY HEWES! FLOPPY DOES NOT GO WITH CUTTHROAT BITCH!

Tomorrow, I will type a lot of nice, ranty things because I'm in a nice, ranty mood before my 'holidays' begin.

Time to sleep. Slept at 3.30-ish this morning, haven't had a shut eye since. Brain going to shut down soon. I'm amazed by my ability to stay awake. It's useful in SAM, I tell you.

Tomorrow, I go deal with my NS postponement nonsense. And hopefully I might be able to join my classmates on our original, post-exam plans before Mum decided to ruin it for me.

Yes, lack of sleep is making me cranky.

Goodnight, all.

Tomorrow's the last day of my midyears, 2 papers, CALCULATING subjects which I dread.

Anyway, SHAWN WON DANCING WITH THE STARS! HAHAHA.

Yeah, so her win deserves a line on my blog. All she needs to do now is GET BACK INTO THE GYM. NO HURRY, SHAWN. NO HURRY AT ALL.

Anyway, someone posted this oWilde interview somewhere on LJ, and, HAHAHA, so LOLtastic.

"What is your definition of "hotness," and just how hot are you?

"Hot" has become a euphemism for all things positive, making it generally acceptable to use to describe everything from a jalapeño to a drum solo. It's sort of a useful word. We don't have to think of appropriate adjectives for people, places, performances, tacos, or objects anymore as they all fit snugly under the glorious umbrella of "hotness." So I don't know how hot I am but I'm honored to be considered as warmer than the average taco."

Hee, fit snugly under the glorius umbrella of 'hotness' and 'honoured to be considered warmer than the average taco'. The next question/answer was even better.

What do you make of the modifier "drool-worthy"?

My bulldog drools constantly so I'm not sure that term is too exciting.

Interview can be found at:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-05-19/femme-fatale/

Go read it. It's funny.

[Edit]
1. Damn you, economy, and damn you, CBS. Why do you keep taking away my favourite female cops? First, Kelly Hu runs off to do another show, now you DO THIS TO EMMANUELLE VAUGIER? MY QUEBECOISE? WHY? It's like Maxim Roy on ReGenesis again. Hmph. DO NOT LIKE. You could've done better with doing it to Adam instead. More fans would be devastated, but at least you don't have stuttery lab assistant and you'd have panas cop. Which reminds me, no Emmanuelle Vaugier in Maxim this year? >.>

2. I didn't know Emmanuelle Vaugier had a wrist tattoo.
3. Anna Belknap! <3
4. Hill Harper! <3
5. Gary Sinise! <3
6. MELINA KANAKAREDES! <3
7. ROBERT JOY! <3
8. This is what I call season-ending.
9. Oh, pok. 50-cal Desert Eagle. <3
10. Fierce, Flack. Fierce. I didn't know you had it in you.
11. I hate you, cliffhanger. IT'S LIKE SEASON 2 OF REGENESIS AGAIN. I TELL YOU. IF ANNA BELKNAP OR MELINA KANAKAREDES DOESN'T COME BACK NEXT SEASON, I'LL KILL SOMEONE. SERIOUSLY. GENDER BIAS, MUCH?

WHY?

WHY MUST THE WATCHMEN BOOKS BE SO EXPENSIVE?

WHY MUST WATCHMEN:PORTRAITS COST MYR170?

WHY?

WHY?

WHY MUST THAT JUSTINE BIOGRAPHY ALSO COST MORE THAN MYR100?

At least The Audacity of Hope has dropped in price. And at least I have ONE book to read when my sis comes back. She got me Scarpetta. Yay, her. Except for the bit where she wrote 'Scarletta' instead of 'Scarpetta'. Hee. Non-fan.

HOMG, MPH has 'Little Girls in Pretty Boxes'. But, ONCE AGAIN, IT'S FLIPPING EXPENSIVE. Oh, they have a Shannon Miller book too. I recall Yih Shan mentioning seeing the Nadia Comaneci book.

I will never be able to afford books in this country. ):

When can I go down to Singapore for book shopping?