Category Archives: All in a days work

as a medical officer

An unfavourable outcome

Posted in All in a days work, Ponderings & Personal Development by

I started my new year with a business trip to Lombok. Neh.. I wish.

Instead it started with me being oncall.

Assisting people in diagnosing their medical illness and while at it, solving their social issues. Honestly, if one decides to step their foot in the emergency unit – it must be for a very serious and urgent matter. Hence, they must be prepared for the outcome of the visit such as

  • for admission to stabilise the condition or observation
  • for a follow up consultation in the respective specialised clinic
  • transfer to a tertiary centre with relevant expertise, should they need one

Therefore, it is heartbreaking and at times frustrating when after the length of procedures and test we do prior to the above 3 solutions, you suddenly say

  • I want to be admitted at a private hospital – do they not realize that a similar battery of tests and investigations will be repeated at the private centre.. membazirlah test yg dibuat earlier from the RM1 payment.
  • I can’t be admitted to the hospital now – my birds at home needs to be taken care of or someone needs to cook dinner for my 25 year old son ..
  • or you did not honour the follow-up appointment we got for you the week after and make a return visit to the emergency unit – saying the previous ER doc that saw you did NOTHING and yet we found a referral letter folded neatly in between you BP trend notebook dated a year ago!
  • you refuse transfer to the best hospital (which is conveniently only 45 minutes away) because it would be difficult for your relatives to visit you – like hellooo.. if your distant relatives want to visit you, do it when you are well or during festive seasons..

So yes – nak sembuh pun I kena merayu masuk wad. 

And I haven’t even listed the grandiose, bongkak statements some patients make regarding the health that Allah bestowed upon them. Perhaps I shall leave you with one ..

“Tak payahlah nak cuci2 darah doctor, tengok saya nih umur masih panjang dan sihat”

(there’s no need for a dialysis doc, look at me, look at how I am still very much alive”

Yet your Urea is a freaking 51, Creatinine a horrifying >900, potassium of 6.2 and an acidotic blood gas? And you came to the emergency unit for being lethargic. *sigh*

I woke up with a plan ..

Posted in All in a days work by

I woke up with a plan knowing that today would be horrendous. We are still short of people at work. 

I envisioned that my little Hazeeq would wake up without a fuss. That he would gulp down his bottle of milk before 630am and voluntarily strip off his pyjamas for his morning bath. After wearing his day clothes that he chose for himself – he would then get into the car with his chosen toys for the day so we could arrive at grandma’s house by at least 650AM – this will give me time to say HI to the mother in law – make some small talk before rushing to work at 7AM.

I then hoped that traffic would be fine – that the traffic lights would be all green shortening the pit stops I have to make before arriving at my supposed destination.

So far so good.. 

Then plan continued with me going up to wards to check if the patients have been transferred over from the tertiary hospital for their operation here this morning. I feel blessed for both of my patients were in and adequately fasted.This means I can have a quick breakfast at the cafeteria before the surgeons come to the operating theatre (OT). Quick is 7 minutes eating time of nasi lemak and a bottle of mineral water. Otherwise, I’d just wait to have my proper meal during lunch or if the emergency unit is awaiting the arrival of this emotionally labile princess than I’d skip lunch and bear the hunger till dinner.

I did skip lunch and delayed my Zuhr prayers – felt guilty afterwards and prayed to ALLAH that he wouldn’t give me a difficult resus case in the midst of this busy-ness. My cases in the OT finished a bit late and I was so worried that my colleague would be left alone to manage the emergency unit. He turned out fine and cheerful.  

The plan also included a short trip to the Record Office to collect my pending medical reports. And also to hand in my leave application form to the administrative office.

Both chores did not happen. 

I planned to leave sharp at 4PM so I could fetch my son promptly and we both head to Giant Hypermarket and do some meaningless grocery shopping. And also fuel up the car since the bar is already at 1.

That also did not happen. I ended up having dinner at my MIL’s house and arguing with my boy of who must get into the shower first. I had to be first. I need a change of plans tomorrow. A better one. 

Simple detective work – to look for people

Posted in All in a days work by

How do you find a particular someone in a sea full of people? Well.. I was put on a test today.

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A few weeks ago, a middle aged lady was referred to our centre from a private GP for subsequent management. After this lady was assessed by an attending specialist, Specialist M, at our hospital, it was decided that she needs further investigation at a tertiary hospital where the facilities were more advanced – in this case, they had a CT scan machine available.

After the patient was transferred there, I have quite forgotten about the case until Specialist M wanted to see her again – for educational purposes. *gasp*

I did the easiest thing I could imagine, I traced her Casualty card to get her number. I then met Panic & Horror as the phone number belonged to someone else. Patutlah tak angkat.  The first thing that crossed my mind was, “OMG.. do I really need to get the police involved in this – to track her down and get her number?!!!” That is like so dramatic right..

I suddenly remembered that she brought along a relative who happened to be working as part of the private cleaning company in our hospital. Too bad I don’t know her name since she is not working in our unit. I tried my best to describe this particular relative to the other workers but alas, they are unable to recall who this lady tembam2 with tudung is. I was at wits end, I even tried to google her name in case someone mentions her on the web. Or if she by chance has a Facebook account. kerja gila.. I know. 

After much silly effort within that long 30 minutes, HELP came in the form of a friend.

“She was referred from a GP right?”

“Yes”

“Why don’t you call the GP and ask for her details. When patients register for the first time, they usually get their contact number and all”

OH bless him! And indeed he was right. I spoke to the GP owner herself, explained my predicament and voila.. I managed to give the patient a call and confirmed an appointment. Now that is one way how you find a person in a sea of people.

Emotion overload

Posted in All in a days work, Good Things by

It was a bit of a roller-coaster ride this week. Mixed emotions of anger, despair and elation all rolled into one. Not knowing which had a greater impact to the physical being – just realizing that at the end of the day, the physical body succumbed to exhaustion drowning still, in adrenaline. Not even my usual cup of coffee helped to ease the tension. And an extra cup was not much of a help either.

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I never expect people to understand the tiredness that comes with working in the Operation Theatre (OT) or in Casualty. If my fellow colleagues in other departments couldn’t even get why budak2 GA penat onkol OT padahal duduk tepi mesin je.. how would I expect other people to understand. Or those who thinks us in Casualty just knows how to shout orders and sit at the desk writing case histories??

Well my dear.. if only you understand the gravity of an Adrenaline Rush. Its when the potential of all your 5 senses are heightened firing rapid, fast, continuous impulse to your brain. In a way, it prepares your body for a fight or flight situation. Imagine this happening for long hours everyday – inevitably the mental fatigue and physical weariness ensues.

percayalah.. even though the anesthetist looked like their just watching the vital signs monitor – a lot of things are racing through their mind.

What if the patient woke up

What if the bleed continues

What if this, what if that

haih. penat. 

So yes, sounds very negative right? Until something happened today. Dalam marah2, tak puas hati and kelam kelibut.. and of course the adrenaline rush..  God carved a way to forgiveness and redemption.

A colleague needed help today and like reflex, everybody put their differences aside and worked together as a team to stabilize the patient. And for a while everyone had amnesia of how much trouble some people caused some people.

Consequently? I felt less tired and happier. *peace*