this week

This week is full of life and fun, I should say. I was assigned to a patient in ICU to review his TPN as a part of my clinical attachment. It was my first time there and it was not as I have imagined before. I have always thought that ICU was a silent room full with critically ill patients with only the sound of machines that keep the patients alive. But no, this ICU I came across was rather hectic, with people rushing about saving lives. I searched for my patient on the board near the front door, trying to get his bed number. It was fruitless, so I approached the front desk to get ahold of my patient's information. And gues what?! The lady behind my desk informed me that my patient had just passed away the previous day. I was taken aback and lost for words. I suddenly realized it was real, someone just passed away. It just hit me that what I am studying is not as simple as I thought it would be, it was no game, it was real, dealing with lives. I have known it all along that it was a heavy job but I never knew it was so grave till I met something real. Someone just passed away just like that~snap of finggers. It seemed, that time, that life is so fragile, it can break anytime anywhere. According to my lecturer, the patient expired. I tried to change the way he said it cos it was like human is just a product that has an expiry date. I don't deny that. We are the product created by God so I guess we do have expiry date. I turned to my friend and suggested we should start sucking and drinking blood in order to keep our youth as we are too fragile. Just joking. Other than this, I came across a lot of other patients, young and old, expected and unexpected. Working in the hospital really opened up my eyes and heart and made me be more grateful with what I have, I should appreciate what I have. I have become a patient myself, so I know the feelings of being sick (I am referring to my knee).

Then, yesterday was the first day of the Career Carnival at the main campus in Bangi. Unfortunately (or should I say fortunately?), I was selected to attend the opening ceremony in Bangi. Yeah, it was bored as expected. I went to Bangi to meet my housemates and then came back before the ceremony even started, kinda ran away. We went to get the car, not mine, Soon Hing's, a PDR student, to head back to KL. We happily got in the car and just to be kicked out of it a minute after that cos the car would not budge. Both the front tyres were a few inches deep into the mud. Yeah, a big problem. We got some wood boards to support the tyres for them to rise when we pushed from the back. At first, it didn't work and the tyres barely moved and even spurted some mud onto us, most of it landed on Tian Sung. I was smart enough to run away though later I still got some on my white pants and favourite purple pumps. After a few tries, the car moved out of the mud just to be stuck in another puddle of mud a few metres away. Lol.. The second time was a lot harder than the first. We pushed and pushed and pulled and hauled and pushed with all our might but still to no avail. At last, we managed to flag a lorry and they were kind to help get the car out of the mud by pulling it with a big fat chain. Thank goodness!! The car was out within seconds, much more easier than using human. Then, the rain came, very heavy. It was a great help though, washing all the mud of the car.

Next interesting thing happened in the carnival. A pharmacist from Singapore General Hospital approached me to brief me about working in Singapore. He was introduced to me by my friend. At first, I thought he got the wrong facts about UKM Pharmacy undergrads could work in Singapore. Because all the while, USM has been the only University recognized by Singapore. But now, he said, Singapore has recognized UKM and UM as well. Quite interesting and enticing, isn't it? We can work in Singapore right after we graduate but we still have to do a year of houseman or pre-registration, as they call it there, in order to be registered in Singapore. It looks inviting, there's a trick, we might not know if our government recognizes the license or not. If not and we decide to come back to Malaysia, there's always a possibility we have to work the 4-year off our ass. There's always give and take. It does attract me especially when I know I would be earning Singapore dollar. Hehe.. Might give it a try. It doesn't hurt trying, does it? As I was told, Singapore hospitals are kinda desperate to recruit Undergrads from Malaysia. So people!! Grab the opportunity while you can.