Singapore River Regatta 05 and more
Recently took part in the 23th Singapore River Regatta 2005. It's part of the yearly 4 dragonboat races, and the distance covered is 300m. (basically the whole length of boat quay)
Took part in the inter-constituency races, representing Punggol Central CSC. After all our weekly hard trainings, we were ready to show the fruits of our labour and erase the farce of the SAVA sprints.
That's me and Jason. I always 'lompang" his van to trainings. Thanks dude!
This is a shot of the area under the UOB building near the big bird sculpture. Can you see the large crowd of participants! (NJC girls doing push-ups in the foreground, they are damn tough man)
Unfortunately, my camera's batteries died on me. This led to the subsequent dearth of photos.
Saw a multitude of teams there, from the schools to the foreign embassies to the private corporations to public sectors. Saw the NHG team, was trying to spot the Singhealth team but couldn't.
We finished 4th in a field of 6, coming in 1min 58secs. We were 6secs off 3rd place and 10secs off 1st place. Eunos CSC (1st placed) fielded a school team, which totally defeated the purpose of racing in a constituency (residents) race. (play cheat!)
Likely to be my last race. It was fun trying out dragonboating. The team commadarie is awesome but watersports are still not my forte. I'm looking forward to making a return to rock-climbing, especially after my half-marathon this weekend. My harness and shoes have collected enough dust.
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Half-marathon this Sunday. Still screwed. Managed a short run today, will do another slow paced relaxing run later in the week to loosen my joints and muscles. Schedule:
Mon: rest (after regatta race mah!)
Tues: abdominals
Wed: 6km run (80%)
Thurs: upper limbs
Fri: 3km run
Sat: skip, stretch, swim
Sun: RUN like the wind!
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The HOs in my ward are changing over tomorrow. Will miss them. They were a fun and great lot to be with. Learnt loads from them. Expecting the next few days to be more hectic.
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Keeping Plugging! (pun intended)
The longest night
Thurs 1415hrs: Post call. Head feeling groggy, limbs wobbly. Still thinks it's Wednesday.
I wonder if there's been any post-call syndrome described.
General: Slow response time, dark eye rings +/- bags, halitosis (i brushed my teeth ok!), wearing the same clothes as yesterday and may smell. Lethargy.
Cardio-resp: As your parasympathetic system kicks in the afternoon, you get bradycardic. Breathing gets deeper and you almost enter a sleep-like mode. Worse on sitting down for long periods of time.
Gastro: Gastric discomfort (from either an empty stomach or recurrence of stress ulcers.) Urge to BO but you decide getting in an half hour's sleep is more important. Doesn't matter what you decide, your urge wins anyway.
Neuro: Mild limb numbness and weakness. May have incoordination, procedural accuracy drops by 10-20%. Poor memory. Inattention.
Renal: Dehydration (especially when you realise you haven't been drinking water the past 5 hrs because you've got 5 more new cases, 10 more plugs and 20 more venepunctures.)
Orthopaedic: Low back pain (especially if you've been bending over the bed the past hour trying to get the plug into a old lady.) May have sprains or fractures if you trip on the stairs (Don't close you eyes when you walk!)
There you have it. Feel free to add on the list if you can think of anymore.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A summary of the night
Wed 1800hrs: Got my first procedure job from the HO. Set plug for patient in ...
1830hrs: Poked 3 times and failed. Call HO for help. (Bad way to start a call.)
1900hrs: HO saves the day. Got catheterisation at the same ward, he brings me through.
2000hrs: More plugs and blood c/s.
2100hrs: Called to isolation wards to clerk new case. Prescribed bld c/s, catheterisation, and plug.
2220hrs: Hops over to the nearby restaurant to get dinner / supper bites. Wolfs down food, get hydrated.
2250hrs: New cases and urgent bloods to check. I get on with clerking the new cases.
2305hrs: Wakes up the auntie from sleep, takes a history and performs a physical. Slow going as this is my first case, takes a while to fill in the clerking sheet.
Thus 0005hrs: Finally finishes. Staff nurse informs you another new case is admitted. You get started on it right away. Feeling pumped as I get into the rhythm.
0045hrs: Finishing up. MO arrives to vet the clerking and see the case. You feel good when your diagnosis is concurred.
0130hrs: HO arrives. I clerk new case with him, sees how he uses i-soft to aid clerking.
0230hrs: New cases come in. I get sent to see them first. More clerking!
0330hrs: Back pain from taking blood from new case. Starts to feel tired, sits down at computer to write. Feeling thirsty, wished I brought along my bottle.
0400hrs: Starts on another new case. Looks simple. Aims to finish it 'chop-chop'.
0430hrs: Starts to chat up the staff nurse while writing. Staff thinks you are going crazy.
0500hrs: Calls HO up to report progress and present new cases. Says he'll pop in to see the case. 0530hrs: Cases seen and done.
0535hrs: Bloods at psy ward. Difficult veins, ends up doing the leg veins.
0610hrs: HO asks, breakfast or sleep. Not a difficult choice.
0630hrs: Collapses on the on-call bed, gets some shut-eye finally.
0700hrs: Wakes up, freshen up. Rounds starts in half-hour. New day awaits.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Reached home at 3pm, slept like a log till dinnertime. Planned to run before dinner but much too tired. Weijie asked me to to tell him how it feels to run post-call, sorry dude.
Too tired to do anything. Blogging is easy work. "Word gets around."
Surfing the net, reading up on learning issues. PICC (peripherally inserted central catheter) , peripheral or central line?
The longest day
SIP is upon me!All too soon, I find myself doing SIP when it seemed like yesterday when I started my year 5 posting with geriatrics.
Just before the posting, I told myself I must enjoy this posting and approach it with enthusiasm and an earnest willingness to learn.
At the moment I'm still good on that promise, although I'm feeling a bit less 'on' already.
How do you decide if a posting has been a good one?
I think a posting is good if:
(1) good cases were seen.
(2) good teaching from doctors
(3) good rapport with the team and nurses
But the most important criteria I feel is my personal performance, be it in the end-of-posting test, skills in procedures or just plain answering all questions thrown at me.
For this posting, I'm having extraordinary luck with the venepunctures and plug setting. It's been mostly 'one shot, one kills' so far with a few exceptions. Hopefully the luck stays. I'll always remember what my anaesthesia consultant (Dr Wong Loong Tat) said, "The key to a successful plug setting is preparation of the vein." Wonderful advice.
In terms of being able to hold an intelligent conversation with the doctors (ie. talk knowledgeably about patients), I need to buck up. Sometimes I feel pretty dumb when I don't know the answer. Or sometimes you know the answer but it doesn't quite come out the way it should be, concise and smooth. Sometimes I get so nervous and unsure, everything comes out wrong and I end up sounding really dumb.
That really gets me down, especially since I feel I should know a bit of everything by now. And being able to talk intelligently to doctors is very important to me, because if I can't talk on the same level, then something must be really wrong.
In my ward, we see a lot of onco cases. Oncology isn't something I see in the wards often, especially these terminal non-surgically resectable types. The history is a bit hard to digest and lots of foreign terms and concepts. Although the aim here is to function as junior HOs, it's difficult to digest these cases and present them. What are the important issues? What are the patient's immediate needs? I'm taking longer than usual to digest through the cases on the team, it was frustrating to be asked "Do you know this case?" and I fumble.
Rapport with the nurses have been positive so far and lots of impromptu teaching, which is great because I learn better from that. And lots more teaching is promised.
So it's been good so far, I hope to keep it that way. Will actively remind myself to stay positive and keep plugging.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Saw my first "sign-out" case today. Was doing the evening round with the registrar when a patient "expired". I was planning to actually talk to him after his SJS subsided because he had some cardio findings but then...
Death can be assessed by 4 criteria: asystole, no spontaneous breathing, fixed and dilated pupils, Doll's negative.
I felt a tinge of sadness but I also knew he left for another journey. He suffered painful diseases in this lifetime, hopefully he'll have a better one next.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Good things do happen too. Was pleasantly surprised to hear that my registrar is an avid runner too.
What do you get when you put 2 crazy runners together?
Hopefully lots of conversation on sports!
(i know it's not funny, i just came out with it spontaneously)
In 1 minute
This post will record any thoughts that passes through my mind in 1 minute.
1) why am i doing this? it's because i thought it was fun to see what random thoughts will pass through my mind.
2) hmm... i feel like eating m&ms. spotted a packet in the fridge, will raid it later.
3) can't stop thinking about what prof low said today about his experience in paeds. no matter how ill a baby is, it is still a life and can be given care. do not shun it.
4) i can't stop thinking about prostatic acid phosphatase. i know it's replaced by PSA but why does it keep popping in my head?
5) saturday's coming! unfortunately got tutorials in the morning. that means the weekend will feel shorter. sigh...
6) at least got survivor tonight. i love survivor!
7) better pack my stuff for med sip. should i bring everything or just the essentials?
8) motor neurone disease presents in 4 ways: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, bulbar / pseudobulbar palsy, progressive muscular atrophy, primary lateral sclerosis. i don't understand why, just have to memorise it then.
Time's up!
Laugh
I felt a cold draught as i read this from
blinkymummy's blog.
有一天魔王把公主抓住, 公主一直叫...
魔王: 你尽管叫破喉咙吧, 没有人会来救你的! 哈哈哈!!
公主: 破喉咙~ 破喉咙~
没有人: 公主~ 我来救你了!
魔王: 妈的! 说曹操曹操就到!
曹操: 魔王! 你叫我干嘛?魔
王: 哇唠! 看到鬼!
鬼: 靠! 被发现了!
靠: 胡说! 谁发现我?
谁: 关我屁事?
魔王: Oh my GOD!
上帝: 谁叫我?
谁: 没有人叫你啊!
没有人: 我哪有?
从此, 魔王精神分裂...
Weak knees
In dire preparation for the upcoming stanchart run, I embarked on my weekly long slow run this afternoon.Plan was to run from my place to AMK and back. But I got adventurous and got lost.Ended running past AMK to the Yio Chu Kang entrance of lower Pierce, jogged towards the reservoir carpark, came out at the Thomson entrance.There I got disoriented and made a wrong turn towards Bishan park. Decided I should explore the park a bit. My knees felt a bit shaky as I ran round the park, finally decided to make a u-turn back to Thomson road.I then made my way back but gave up at the AMK junction. Ended up taking the bus back the rest of the journey. Covered roughly the same distance as I planned initially, but with a bit more excitement.Really tired now, still gotta read up on urology. Gambatte!
Obvious Man
Got this from an email I received. Points out some of the obvious contradictory things we say and do in our life.Some vulgarities, no offence meant.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Billy Connolly's 13 things I hate about people:
1. People who point at their wrist while asking for the time.... I know where my watch is pal, where the f*ck is yours? Do I point at my crotch when I ask where the toilet is?
2. People who are willing to get off their arse to search the entire room for the TV remote because they refuse to walk to the TV and change the channel manually.
3. When people say "Oh you just want to have your cake and eat it too". F*cking right! What good is a cake if you can't eat it?
4. When people say "it's always the last place you look". Of course it is. Why the f*ck would you keep looking after you've found it? Do people do this? Who and where are they?
5. When people say while watching a film "did you see that? No tosser, I paid 10 quid to come to the cinema and stare at the f*cking floor.
6. People who ask "Can I ask you a question? Didn't really give me a choice there, did you sunshine?
7. When something is 'new and improved! Which is it? If it's new,then there has never been anything before it. If it's an improvement, then there must have been something before it.
8. When people say "life is short". What the f*ck?? Life is the longest damn thing anyone ever f*cking does!! What can you do that's longer?
9. When you are waiting for the bus and someone asks, "Has the bus come yet? If the bus came would I be standing here, Knob head?
10. People who say things like 'My eyes aren't what they used to be'. So what did they used to be? Ears, Wellington boots?
11. When you're eating something and someone asks 'Is that nice?' No it's really revolting - I always eat stuff I hate.
12. People who announce they are going to the toilet. Thanks that's an image I really didn't need.
13. McDonalds staff who pretend they don't understand you if you don't insert the 'Mc' before the item you are ordering..... It has to be a McChicken Burger; just a Chicken Burger gets blank looks. Well I'll have a McStraw and jam it in your McEyes you f*cking McTosser.
Sapped
Ever played those chinese RPG games where your character has a list of attributes like life, energy, internal strength, agility etc? (ie. like jin yong wu xia zhuan)
Noticed that when the character's energy bar is low, he won't be able to do anything. Even if he does, it takes double the effort to accomplish the task. (ie. taking 400 turns to master jiu yang shen gong vs just 200 turns if you have full energy bar)
Well, I feel just like that. Everything I do seems to require extra effort from me. I feel tired more easily and sometimes cannot achieve the results that I want, even with the increased effort.
XIN KU!!
No time to stand and stare
For the past few years, I've been immersed in a myriad of activities.From training for the various sporting events I've signed up (I've never been so sporty in my life), to doing community work in my constituency, to studying (which I should be doing more of). From spending time with my family (which have suffered due to my other activities) to spending time with my darling (which I'm always happy to do so).It would be fair to say I didn't waste my time.But recently I started to feel that with all these activities packing up my time, I haven't really had time for myself.I look at myself in the mirror, peering to see if I could see the person hiding inside. And I realise I don't really understand myself.What kind of person am I now?Why do I react to certain things the way I do?How should I react to this situation?What makes me happy?What do I want to do with my future?I don't have answers to these questions. I don't have plans. I don't know what tomorrow will bring, I just let the flow bring me along.Maybe it's time to reflect. To understand myself better.But how should I start? I think I'll have to set aside time for myself. Time to ponder and wonder.Will I find myself? It will take a while. Will I get more lost?
Thoughts
Disappointment is directly proportional to expectations.I'm ill and tired. What a horrible way to spend the week.
Recently took part in the 23th Singapore River Regatta 2005. It's part of the yearly 4 dragonboat races, and the distance covered is 300m. (basically the whole length of boat quay)
