Thoughts To Ponder

1. If time doesn't wait for you, don't worry! Just remove the damn battery from the clock and Enjoy life!

2. Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person is like expecting the lion not to attack you because you are a vegetarian. Think about it.

3. Beauty isn't measured by outer appearance and what clothes we wear, but what we are inside. So, try going out naked tomorrow and see the admiration!

4. Don't walk as if you rule the world, walk as if you don't care who rules the world! That's called Attitude! Keep on rocking!

5. Every lady hopes that her daughter will marry a better man than she did and is convinced that her son will never find a wife as good as his father did!

6. He was a good man. He never smoked, drank had no affair. When he died, the insurance company refused the claim. They said, he who never lived, cannot die!

8. So many options for suicide: Poison, sleeping pills, hanging, jumping from a building, lying on train tracks, but we choose Marriage, slow but sure!

9. Only 20 percent boys have brains, rests have girlfriends!

10. All desirable things in life are either illegal, banned, expensive or married to someone else!

11. Drinking is our biggest enemy- Jawaharlal Nehru
We should learn to love our enemies- Mahatma Gandhi
Now, whom to follow and which one to choose?

12. 10% of road accidents are due to drunken driving. Which means - it a logical statement that 90% of accidents are due to driving without drinking!!

What Would Your Choice Be?

Ever since I started O&G, one thing has been running through my mind - for Caesarean or for SVD (vaginal delivery).

No, it's not like I am planning to get pregnant anytime soon.
But then, seeing pregnant women everyday, I can't help but wonder what I would choose were I the one pregnant.

SVD is of course the better choice - it is the natural way, and it is how it is meant to be.
But then, it is also associated with a lot of pain - some say equivalent to 'shitting out a watermelon'.
Sometimes, I see ladies in so much pain, and I wonder if that is what I want.
Although, some of the staff nurses (who have given birth) said that the pain is all in the mind.

Of course, there is the choice of epidural.
Painless birth.
Labor can take the whole day long, and you won't feel a thing.

But then, if it is your first child, and you don't feel pain, you just don't know how to push and when to push.
Which is why quite a number of primigravidas (first time pregnant women) tend to go into poor progress. When a labor is in poor progress, there are 2 choices - for forceps/vacuum or to go for caesar.

Then let's talk about vacuum/forceps delivery - big episiotomy wound, possible 'marks' on the baby's face. If you fail vacuum/forceps, then you go for Caesar.

Oh, that reminds me - if you choose SVD, then you have to have an episiotomy done, especially if it is your 1st delivery. Extra pain.

Now, let's talk about Caesarean section.

You will be under spinal/general anaesthesia.
No pain during the op.
But then there will be pain after the op.

Recovery time is longer.
Possibility of operative complication - injury to bladder, ureters, colon.
Possibility of post-op complication - infection.
What if something goes wrong intra op?
There is also an increase of risk for placenta previa or placenta accreta/increta/percreta during your subsequent pregnancies.

But then, think about it - if you choose SVD, and then let's say you go into poor progress,or if there is fetal distress and eventually you have to go for C-section, then it is double the pain and suffering. Right?

My friend said that you should at least give SVD a try first.
If it really doesn't work out, then too bad.

Most of the MOs and specialist would say go for SVD.
But there are still some who say they would elect for Caesar.
You see how confusing life is?

So, which would you choose?

I Did It!

Yesterday I went for a party - the Perak MMA (Malaysian Medical Association) Night (I don't know what is the proper name for the event).

I didn't really know what to wear, but since it was a formal function, I decided to tie a saree.

Now, I call myself an Indian, but I have never ever tied a saree for myself before.
I know how to do it, as in I know you go this way and you do this, but have never tied it for myself, and have no confidence whatsoever in tying it for myself.

So, I asked my room-mate to help me with the trying.
She said OK, but she had a wedding to attend on the same day, in KL, in the afternoon.
Fine with me, the function doesn't start till 7pm anyway.

Yesterday, after work, I had an ultrasound scan teaching, and so I only came back at around 4pm. Since I had the time, I thought - why not just try to tie it myself. Then my room mate can concentrate on getting ready herself.

And so, I tried, and tried and tried.

At 5pm, I gave up and tried calling another friend of mine - she was asleep and did not pick up the phone. Then, I tried another friend, who was at the saloon and so couldnt' help me.

Choiceless (my room mate was delayed in KL) and frustrated, I removed the saree and decided to give it another go.

This time, I somewhat managed to get something that remotely resembles a saree.

I guess it was OK, since it did not fall off even when we were on the dance floor.

Not bad for a first timer..:P

The 'product' of my hard work

Quote of the day - maybe a man will only learn how to swim when he is drowning..

Problem Solver

I am pretty sure that sometime in your life, you would have heard/read this story, or a story similar to this.

A farmer and his son wanted to sell their donkey in the market.
So, they walked to the market, pulling the donkey along with them.

They passed by a field and met another farmer who called out to them, "What's wrong with the both of you? Why are you walking when you have a donkey that you can ride on?"

The farmer looked at his son and told him to ride on the donkey.
The son obliged.

A while later, they met a lady who was on the way back from the market herself.
"Shame on you, young man," she said. "How can you let your father walk all the way to the market while you are riding on the donkey? Get down this instance and let your father ride the donkey".

The son, red-faced, got down from the donkey and told his father to ride it instead.

Not too long later, they met a couple of farmers who were working on their fields.
"Look at that," one of the farmers said to the other. "The father is having a good time riding the donkey, while his son has to suffer the heat and walk."

The farmer and his son were dumbfounded.
Finally, they decided that they would both ride on the donkey.

The donkey, struggled to walk as the combined weight of the farmer and his son was just too much for him to bear. As it was trying it's best to put one step after another, another farmer walked pass.

"What are the both of you doing? Are you crazy? Can't you see that you are too heavy for the donkey? It is the both of you who should be carrying the donkey to the market, not the other way round."

The farmer and his son then got down of the donkey. After a while, they decided that the donkey is too tired to walk to the market and decided to carry the donkey themselves. They tied the donkey to a stick, upside down, and carried the stick over their shoulders.

The donkey, who had had about enough that day, did not like being upside down. It kicked, and brayed and struggled and managed to get itself free. It then ran away, as fast as it could.

The moral of the story : There is no way you can please everyone.

But then, the story does not really teach us to solve the problem, does it?
It gives so many variants of solutions, but none seems right.
In the end, the donkey escapes.

Problems, however, don't just disappear.
If you don't solve them, they just multiply.

So, what can you do?
Is it actually possible to solve a problem in a way that would make everyone satisfied/happy?

3 Not-So-Simple Tests

A Short Neurological Test


1- Find the C below.. Please do not use any cursor help.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

2- If you already found the C, now find the 6 below.

99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
69999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999

3 - Now find the N below. It's a little more difficult.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMNMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Supposedly, if you were able to do all 3 tasks, you are not on the verge of getting Alzheimer's. I don't know if it is true or not, but hey...wasn't it fun looking for the hidden word?

Of Statistics And Life

Let's start with 10000 pregnant woman.

10-25% of them will end up with a miscarriage (we'll take an average of 15%).
Which leaves 8500 viable pregnancies.
There is an average of 8 deaths per 1000 life births.
We now have 8432 babies who survived their 1st week of life.

1:800-1:1000 of these pregnant women will deliver to a baby with Down's syndome.
That leaves about 8424 babies.

About 1:2500 babies will be born with Turner's syndrome.
We are left with 8420.

1:700 will be born with cleft palate.
8408 left.

1:120 will be born with a heart disease.
There's 8338 healthy babies so far.

Spina bifida 1-2:1000.
8324.

1-2 out of 1000 are born autistic.
8312.

There is a long list of other congenital disorders - more than a hundred.
We'll give an average of 1:1000 of each of these disorders.
8212 healthy babies.

8212 healthy babies from 10000 pregnancies.
82 out of 100.
8 out of 10.
4 out of 5.

A father, a mother and their 3 children.
That is 5 people.
1 out of 5 babies are not born, or are born with some anomaly.

Aren't we lucky to not be that 1?

p/s - All the information here are those that I got off the net. I have no idea how trust-able it is.

What The Future Holdsr

I have to say - I am rather shocked.
Only 5 posts so far this month.
I didn't even realize how fast time flew by this month.

Maybe there was just too many things going on.
Or maybe it's because of the labor room - a place where time just doesn't seem to matter.

One thing I like about the labor room - they (the ladies) come, they deliver, they leave.
We don't have to see the same patients over and over again for a few days and wait for them to get better slowly.
In fact, most of them who come to us are not even sick, they are just delivering, which is a normal process of life!

I have decided that this is what I like - seeing patients for a short while, as in handling a particular patient for a particular moment and then moving on to the next patient.

I don't want to have to wait for a patient to get better over a long period of time.
I want to see, treat and tell the patient that they are well and they can now leave.

So, what field should I get into?

Medical is basically a chronic field- some even say people come there to die.

Kids are just too complicated.

Surgery - not interested.

Ortho is basically surgery - not interested.

O&G - kind of nice, but don't like the surgical part of it, so, once again - not interested.

A&E - never been there, have no idea what it is like. But then, yes, acute management. Either patients come there and die or they get stable enough to be transferred to other wards. But, is there a future in A&E? Why do people say that those who are in A&E are those who can't get into other departments?

Ophthal - can't even do a fundoscopy properly.

ENT - once again - surgery.

Derma - boring?

Anaest - seems interesting. But seems like it needs lots of knowledge - will I be able to know all? What if I can't get a line for a patient? Whom do I turn to?

Did I miss out any departments? I don't think so.

Hmm...I just don't know what I want.

Am I supposed to decide now? Some say that the faster you decide, then the faster you can start to study to become a specialist and so you won't have to be an MO for long (being an MO is NOT EASY!).

Maybe being a chronic MO (being an MO forever) is not too bad (as long as not in a GH).
Maybe be an MO in a KK or district hospital.

Do I even get a choice or will I just be posted out?
I wonder.

Why is life so hard?
So many decisions, so many uncertainties..