The Pensieve

SDA clinic

It’s kind of odd, and me it sounds a very superfluous. I don’t know what we’re achieving here with this SDA (same-day-admission) clinic. First, it’s already a misnomer. It’s more of a pre-admission clinic.
Here’s what happens to a patient who presents with… let’s say… an inguinal hernia.

1. Patient sees the polyclinic and gets a referral letter to hospital, the appointment is usually in 3 months’ time.
2. Sees doc at hospital. Assessed. Usually not listed for op immediately.
3. At follow up, decides for op. Surgeon looks at his list. Slots him in.
4. Pt has to go to for pre admission testing (bloods, ECG, CXR for some)
5. Then on the same day, he sees the anesthetist.
6. Then he has to see the pre-admission clerking clinic (run by HO) where the only useful thing done is….
- writing which antibiotic to give on-call to OT (and often times, the drug isn’t given at all)
- getting the consent
The other thing done is writing the story onto the clerking sheet.
7. On day of op, the patient goes up directly to the ward where… another ill-fated HO has to clerk him and examine him and then print out the OT chit.
Sigh, are all these steps really THAT necessary? Especially No. 6.

All the patients feel it’s such a hassle, and I myself feel that there’s so much duplication in effort and wastage of precious time that the inpatients from our already filled-to-bursting lists could benefit!

Peter Mayle, acclaimed author of ‘A Dog’s Life’, entralls his readers once more with ‘Anything Considered’. In a desperate attempt to earn some money to ensure his continued stay in St Martin in France, Benito Luciano, decides to advertise himself in the newspapers.

“Single Englishman seeks jobs. Speaks fluently in several languages, anything considered except marriage”.

He draws the attention of a multi-millionaire Julian Poe who wishes him to impersonate himself to live in Monaco so that he could evade the taxes, ‘a bit of harmless deception’ which would do both them good, as Poe had put it. Unfortunately, things aren’t as simple as both had hoped. In no time, Benito becomes deeply entrenched in a plot to lay hands on this secret serum to grow truffles, enabling its owner to control the truffle market, which would be tonnes more financially-rewarding than the oil market.

It’s an exciting read, which makes one loathe to put the book aside after embarking on the adventure (which accounts for why I finished it in less than a day).

The story is based in a society where deviation from the norm is frowned upon, where ‘deviants’ are sought out, persecuted and driven into the wilderness. Any plants that are too big, too small, too many leaves, of the wrong colour, go up in flames, and any animal that might have a extra toe, a missing ear would be slaughtered. All these done to ‘appease’ the Lord. It is a world where people are close to being fanatics are ‘preserving the true image of God’ ie, anyone who unfortunately had any physical difference would be persecuted.

David, who has grown up as one of the ‘true images’ has secretly known himself to be different. He, and a group of select few are able to communicate in thought images. As these children grow up, they learn the terror of being found to be different, even if they were superiorly different. They manage to keep this special talent (what I would call it) hidden from the rest, until one of them marry a Norm and the secret leaks out.

What follows is an exciting escape into the Fringes and a journey of self discovery. They learn that everything is merely a difference in perspective. Interesting enough, in the Fringes, there are communities of people where everyone is ‘different’ in the same way, and the resultant Norm, is considered an abomination of nature.

Beneath all the excitement of a good adventure, this novel brings out everyone’s desire to fit in with the rest, it’s not easy to be different, even in a good way. It takes loads of courage and confidence in oneself to be able to choose one’s own route in life and persevere in it no matter how different and ‘abnormal’ others might perceive it to be.

Did I tell you guys how fun this place is? I truly enjoyed myself there. :D The décor is just superb, with artfully placed veils and pillows making it both a place with privacy and comfort. Yet still economical enough such that it could accommodate a fairly large number of people. The menu is extensive, with quite a few kinds of variations. I think I had this chicken teriyaki with ginger shreds in the rice… a bit like claypot texture, together with udon soup and sashimi which I promptly surrendered to my friend. Haha… I don’t particularly love sashimi. My friend had this broiling pot of eel with eggs, accompanied with rice and sashimi too.

Didn’t get to the dessert since we were filled to bursting from just the lunch alone, and all the gossiping hehe… But I’ve heard the creative stuff they’ve got there, like how the green tea cheese cake’s served in a birdcage (though the logic behind it has always baffled me). Hmmm anywayz, it’s a place that I would definitely return to. :D

The ‘nastiness’ (if there were ever such a word, surely not) began 10min before the consultation. There I was, checking out the background information and previous tests for a patient who was going for an operation, and painstakingly calling up drug info to look for a suitable prophylactic agent the correct dose for patient X (cuz X is allergic to all penicillins), and there X was, outside the clinic, complaining why she had to see so many doctors in one day and go through such rigorous processes.

Here’s the gist of the nightmare:

- Why do I have to wait so long to get all these things done? So many clinics, this is so inefficient!
- Sorry mam…
- And you, what were you doing? I saw the previous patient going out 10min ago, what are you doing? Taking your own sweet time? I’m a patient you know!
- Sorry mam, I think you’re mistaken, I needed to check out which antibiotic would be suitable for you since you have so many allergies.
- (cuts me off), you call yourself a doctor? You don’t have a caring heart.
- Mam, please would you listen to my explanation. I was checking out your background information so that everything will be ready for your operation. I know that you have to go through many processes and it’s a hassle.
- If you know, you call yourself a doctor, why can’t you tell your hospital not to do such a thing?
- Yes mam, I would love to. Perhaps you could also offer some suggestions because the hospital would… value your feedback.
- HOW DARE YOU INSULT ME? Do you think I know how to run a hospital! If I could, I would run a hospital already! Why would I come here?!
- Mam, I did not insult you, I merely said that the hospital will value your feedback…
- What religion are you? I’m sure you’re not Christian, you don’t have a caring heart!
- Mam, I do not think that my religion should be the topic of YOUR MEDICAL consultation. I think we should talk about your problem, since you are busy and in a hurry. I just have to ask you a few basic questions and then you can sign the consent form.
- You are just using me for practice is it? Don’t think I don’t know, I’m medical profession too you know… (blah blah), (quotes name of a community hospital in Sg), my nephews are lecturers at XYZ (medical university) and my son is a professor at (foreign medical uni). And I’m (so-and-so’s) patient too!
- Mam, if I were using you for practice you wouldn’t be signing a consent form here. Let’s get back to your medical problem ok?

Phew. What a nightmare!

I think I must have been crazy today (that’s Sunday), having finished my rounds pretty early since my list is short (big boss not around), we were all (actually just the miserable three that makes up my team) having breakfast. I made the extremely unwise choice of eating BAO. HAHA… I never thought anything worse could happen since I’d already chalked up an urgent MRI to rule out nec fasc and another CT to rule out retroperitoneal hematoma. Then… horrors of horrors, barely 15min after bao…

“Doctor, doctor!!! Patient XYZ’s BP is now 70/45 and he is sweaty all over!!!”

GARRRR!

So, NEVER tempt fate!

Genre: Animation
Rating: ****.5 (one of the highest ever that I’ve given for animation films)

Ratatouille - a sort of French peasant dish during summer months. Made of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, garlic, herbs lightly sauteed in olive oil. Nowadays, it seems like they add eggplant too! YUM!

Anywayz… It was the HIGHLIGHT of my week ok, and the fact that I was meeting up with my friend. Sigh.

Had lunch at Corduory first though, the bratwurst blah blah blah, sauerkraut and mashed baked potatoes almost made my stomach flip. There were such huge sausages and so little potato. Actually I got the dish more for the potatoes rather than the bratwurst, and for once, these people were generous with the meat rather than the staple -_-

Ratatouille is about a rat with a wonderful sense of smell, who yearns to cook but knows too well that the kitchen is like a minefield for him. Linguini, is the bumbling son of reknowned ex-chef Gasteau, who is due to inherit the restaurant. However, he really can’t cook for nuts, and so he hides this Rat under his hat to give him instructions in order to churn out loads of gourmet cuisine. It’s ridiculous really, as the rat controls his actions by pulling on his hairs. -_-

It’s not really the storyline that makes Ratatouille such a great film, but the richness of colour and music, and the inspirational theme of looking forwards with courage and being true to oneself.

The Painted Veil by Somerset Maugham

Rating: ***.5/*****

Somerset weaves a sad but beautiful story about a woman, who, for fear of being ‘left on the shelf’ and wanting to escape the pressures from her mother at home, marries someone so unlike herself that we would know the marriage to be a tragedy even before it started. Kitty is a social butterfly, ravishing and superficial, who’s main worry in life is marrying off poorly and not being invited to important parties. Her new husband, Walter, is a serious, introverted bacteriologist, bound for HK in the course of his job. Over in HK, Kitty meets the glib-tongued and handsome Charlie Townsend, and starts a torrid love affair with him, this was unfortunately discovered by her husband, who then makes her accompany him to somewhere akin to the ‘end of the world’ - - - mei tan fu, a poor village striken with cholera.

Practically quaking in the face of certain death, and heart broken by the ruthless rejection from her lover, Kitty picks up the pieces of her shattered heart and looks forward to a certain sort of death. As expected, life in those areas is hard, but Kitty soon finds solace in the convent, where she becomes caught up with care of the orphans and the sick, more important than nursing a broken heart for someone who didn’t even treasure her. The convent was also her place to atone for what she’d done to Walter, who was really devoted to her.

The story takes a sad turn as Walter himself dies from cholera. Kitty attempts to obtain his forgiveness at his deathbed but is replied with this: The dog it was that died. (the last line of ‘Goldsmith’s Elegy’) (I’ve got to figure this one out.) Kitty returns to HK and during her stay with the Townsends (er-hem), she commits her folly yet again, despite knowing by then the true colours of Townsend. Eventually she takes flight back to London, where she finds her mum dead from cancer while his dad finally becomes Chief Justice (a position her mum had yearned for but never realised while she was alive). Kitty, then pregnant, sets out to carve a new life for herself, and vows to teach her daughter the importance of making her own, informed decisions and life her life like a free person.

To me it’s a story of a girl growing into a woman, of human nature and foibles, of not wallowing in one’s miseries but to find a way out of them, to have hope and courage and be at peace with ourselves.

Yea, which means I shouldn’t be complaining about my current posting. I’ll look forward to my bed every night and to the weekends which I’ll spend decadently with shopping, friends and lots of fun. I absolutely refuse to let work take over or cast a shadow over my precious weekends!!!

Sigh. I was supposed to be blogging about my wonderful last wk of HO posting but I think now I’m receiving retribution from enjoying too much!!!!!

Last week, I remembered going home so late cuz of all the partying, this week I’m leaving at ten pm or so (even when post call) because there is just SO much work. Sigh.

Triple 3
Tummy almost exploded there! My nice MO ah K took some of the HOs he’s worked with there. That night, sparks flew and the grape vine flowed, I’m sure a certain few pple must have had a sudden attack of sneezes that night! haha… As for the food, whoa v nice leh, it was like foodparadise… Haha such cute lil’ cups of entrees, really yummy food, and the dessert bar was like waaaa… flowing away! I can just imagine dobby’s delight! haha…

Station Kitchen @ St James Power Station
A seriously over-rated, over-priced establishment which charges seriously pocket burning parking fees. A prata at 5 bux! You get the idea. Super ‘atas’, as ah K told us.

Brotzeit
Yeap, this German place @ Vivocity! Jon was so onz about the pork knuckle, he had to have a go at it. Anyway, drinks flowed and people started turning really red, like one of our fellow HOs looked like he got erythroderma, while another started to poke an MO… Tsk tsk, disinhibition haha…

HO farewell lunch @ the Yacht Club
Wonders of wonders, where the previous batches of HOs had gotten Samy’s curry catered to the sem room as a parting gift for the blood and sweat and loss of skin turgor the last four months, we the lucky batch of HOs got a treat at…. the Yacht Club! TADAAAA… Nothing really new cuz been going there with my cousins since I started pottering around. Anyway, I think this was some sort of desperate last ditch attempt to change the currently circulating rumour that er-hem hospital is not a good place to do HO-ship. I say ‘rumour’ cuz frankly speaking, I thought it was quite an ok place to do a posting. Or perhaps, it’s all the good food making me speak well of this hospital. Haha…

After all, it’s always better to work in a smaller hospital cuz people know each other better and as a result, I suppose, are more cordial (nevermind wat we call the surgeons and orthopods behind their backs, haha I’m one of them now!) Anyway, small hospital, but not too small, otherwise you just might not see much beyond cellulitis and abscesses. Hah.

Streeters @ Keong Saik Street
Our big boss treated us all to Spanish cuisine on the last Wed of our month there! woohoo! haha, nothing new either cuz I’ve gone there before. This time round it’s better, the food’s not as salty s previously. We had the black ink squid, portobello mushrooms, meatballs, and the scallops! OMG they were fantastic! haha I think I have a fetish for scallops. One of my subslaves sheepishly remarked after the meal that… he/she’d thought the scallop shell was a biscuit until he/she saw the other subslave scooping the stuff from it. Haiz… The seniors mostly had paella, those guys really can finish the whole PAN! I had a wonderful pasta de marinero and we all had sangría. :)

Indonesian Restaurant@ Riverside
Brought our hardworking house-elves there for dinner! A glorious mix of bbq stuff (the Rayfish was really good), chicken, satay, taohu goreng, sotong… It’s just in between Cafe Iguana and Brewerkz.

Asylum
I totally agree with what Dobby said, ‘you go in sane’, ‘you come out nutty’! First, they took really long to get our order cuz the waitress (who is from mainland er-hem) couldn’t really understand English and we couldn’t get her English either… Then, they told us only half an hour later that our jug wasn’t available! ARGH. Anyway by the time the drinks came, those who hadn’t got drunk on alcohol were already drunk by boredom!

Manz, I never knew such torture, pure torture existed.

I’m in the team that carries around this bag (aka the Santa Claus bag), everyday i admit dozens to get their vessels poked. then off they go home happily cm!

ARGH. I’m so alone…. :( 1 HO 1 MO 1 REG.

Not that i want my con to come back so soon!