Finally I am here..continuation

I am late again...huhu.
Well I went for 3 more exams after the Part 1 in Singapore (Jan 2014). I sat for M.Med Masters written & clinical exams in April & May respectively. Followed by MRCP Part 2a written on 9th & 10th July 2014.
All these exams were in KL - Masters being in HUKM, whereby MRCP in UM.
The trips to M.Med exams was with Rabeah; while for the on in July, I brought along my parents & little nephew, Ameer - just to take them for a trip. For exams in HUKM, on the first trip we (Suba, Rabeah and I - of course separate rooms :) stayed in a not so cozy budget hotel called "The Room Hotel" ; but on 2nd trip, we switched back to Maple Inn - which cost us RM90/room. Maple Inn was the place we stayed during Intensive Course in March.

Just to share in regards to the clinical exams which was really a "mental torture"...huhu. We (about 60 of us) were separated into few groups. I was in the so-called 2nd session group ~ which means we had to go through a period of 3 hours of quarantine prior to the exam. Whew..that was really tormenting. 3 hours of wait in a small room for an exam which is only 40minutes. I had 4 patients (just like everyone else)
1) Hepatosplenomegaly with hyperpigmentation (I think he was a Thalassemic pt)
2) B/L cerebellar disease with RT side being more dominant - really dunno what was it
3) Psoariatic arthropathy
4) MR with functional TR in failure

MRCP - Part 2 written was an exhausting exam & the questions were out of this world !!!
Firstly, all the papers only started in the evening - which is actually time to take a nap or even a good sleep! In fact 2 of the papers started at 6pm! Each lasted 3 hours & consist of 90 questions. Questions were generally long with at least 30% of them having an additional attachment (ECG, CXR, myocardial perfusion image) which we must refer to. So flipping here, flipping there. Good thing was, I did not fall asleep (as during Part 1) & I went to toilet only during one paper. As it was Ramadhan, was something memorable & enjoyable to break-fast as I answer questions. As usual, my good companions gardenia bun & soya milk were there with me.

Exams being exams are not without stress, emotional distress etc. Especially the run-in to M.Med exams were really suffocating. Thank Allah for helping me to prepare for them & as well as for giving me success in these exams.

So relieved after 10th July 2014 (that night was live telecast of Argentina vs Holland - WC Semi Final); that I was so determined to stay up & watch the match, but I slept off by half time as the game was dull & was like a lullaby to me.

Now I am taking a short break after a marathon of exams. Insyaallah shall start preparing for Paces very soon & hope can get a place next year Feb, mac or April...and hope for the best...Insyaallah.

"Cukuplah bagiku Allah (yang menolong & memeliharaku); tiada Tuhan yang berhak disembah melainkan Allah. kepada-Nya aku berserah diri & Dialah yang mempunyai arasy yang besar"
- At-Taubah 9 : 129 -

Dengue and I

Im writing about something which happened almost 3 months ago. Regarding my own encounter with "the DENGUE VIRUS". All of us know this virus can be fatal. I've got experience treating dengue patients; but when it comes to the fact I myself having dengue in me is a whole different story...huhu

I was back in Penang on 3/10/14 morning for Aidiladha break & was in the mood of travelling to KK 4 days later. 1st day at home was fine, I even managed to assemble the "katil kayu jati" which has been stranded for no use since 2011.

On 4/10/14 (after maghrib)- malam raya, I started to sense something a miss with my body. It started with a backache and soon temperature of my body shot up. I knew it was different from a "normal fever" but I did not bother much.

The next day, I woke up early; but fever and chills were terrible; forcing me to skip Aidiladha prayers at the masjid. Was still able to taste briyani my mother made (though relatively small quantity)

I did not take take heed to what was actually going on inside me until the third day of illness. When I finally accepted this is some form of bad viral fever....DENGUE! Went to OPD in GH and alas! TWC : 2.7 ; plt  : 104 , Hct was pretty much ok @ 45%

Then started the daily routine of going for FBC checks until Day 7 of illness. The illness was really terrible; especially the headache. I wanted to sleep, but could not. Tried sitting but cant stay for long. Thank Allah, my mom & sister was always there to get me drinks, PCM & put blankets on me. I survived on juices, 100+ & plain water for one whole week. On day 5 particularly, I really felt tired & miserable, thus went to ED in hope of getting myself admitted; but they discharged me after 3 pints of IVD...huhu. But I felt better a bit after those drips.
Then there was this one young lady doctor in KK Jalan Perak (I went here on Day 4, as it is nearer to my house), who palpated my abdomen as if she was doughing capati... I was really lost for words..huh. . To make matters worse, after getting blood sampling, they dare to say, machine broke down! Poor service & arrogant attitude. Never ever coming here again

My febrile phase was stretched to exactly 7 days. My last plt count was 14! But kudos to GH PP doctors, who were too bold to still discharge me. (Unlike their counterparts in HSB ED - who will admit a patient nicely whacking nasi lemak; saying "the patient has "warning sign - persistent vomiting")

Alhamdulillah...Day 8 started defervescence. I was back to work on 14th (oncall). Nevertheless the entire recovery to my normal self took exactly another week.

Just a graph to show natural history of dengue

Looking at this , day critical phase strats around day 3-4, but mine started around Day 7- 8 . So the duration of the phases could differ by a day or 2.
My Sabah trip inevitably cancelled. I believe there are blessings in disguise.

In conclusion - dont take dengue lightly....Im serious about this. You will not want to"feel the dengue"

Finally I am here...

14.1.14 - shall be a memorable day for me; no matter what happens in my career path. Finally..after 7 years & 8 months, I really sat for an examination! It was truly an exhilarating feeling mixed with some regrets (which is of course is of no use) to have sat for an exam to further advance my career. An exam which I first thought of sitting in 2010. Due to "distractions", failure to plan, failure to prioritize and failure to look at future; I delayed & almost lost direction in career & life.

Allah is Great...Allah guided & re-routed me to the right path and I am happy to at least have found some direction & to have kick-started my journey to propel my career.

At this point of life, I learned an important lesson; Allah is always with us..be close to Allah. No humans can be as close as Allah is. Humans may disappoint us & never bother about us...but Allah is always there for us. Never lose hope.

As what mentioned in the holy qur'an :

I (Allah) said : Ask forgiveness from your Lord; Verily, He is Oft-Forgiving. 'He will send rain to you in abundance;'And give you increase in wealth and children, and bestow on you gardens and bestow on you rivers.' "

- Surah Nuh verse 10-12-

Allah will give us the guidance. If we get distracted from the path & face difficulties...get back to Allah...Allah is ever-willing to forgive and guide us back to correct path. But we humans are just too arrogant & ignorant.

Just to cap; I sat for Part 1 MRCP (this is THE EXAM I was mentioning earlier) in Singapore (my first time entry to this city). Took a direct flight from Penang. Arrived at around 5pm. They have an excellent MRT/ERL system which practically connects you to every corner of Singapore. I took this MRT from the airport, down to Terminal 3 (if I remember correctly). There on I took another MRT & disembarked at Al-Junied station..somewhere in Geylang

There starts my headache.... I wandered around the area for almost 2 hours, before finding my "unnnamed" hotel, with the help of a waitress in a bar-cum-restaurant just opposite this so-called hotel. The direction they gave when I booked online was correct; but the signboard was not there. It is basically a budget hotel on 2nd & 3rd floor of a grocery shop. From outside, it looks suspicious (like one of those hotels where you can stay 2-3 hours to get "the job" done.

But inside was quite decent (in terms of that there were no unsightly scenes).

I booked a room for my own & they gave me a small room with 2 double-deckers inside; but with reassurance of that no one will be staying with me. Was really damn tired (I guess I would have walked at least about 2km to locate this place).

I started the next day quite early, at 5am. Went for Subuh in a masjid named Khadijah Mosque (approx. 800m walk from my hotel) *I noticed that azan was not heard there (I suppose not allowed in this secular city)* I admire muslims living in this city as a minority group; yet upholding Islamic values. In fact I saw a banner whereby one of the mosques I went, were promoting a kind of "weekly charity work at old-folks home"; something which I have never come across in Malaysia (or perhaps I might be unaware of any such programmes)

Well, by 8am I was out of the hotel & went straight to the MRT station. My b/fast being gardenia breads which I had tapau from our airport. MRT took me about 40minutes to reach Kent Ridge station (at NUS). However, the exam is somewhere on the other part of NUS; thus had to take a shuttle bus (provided by NUS) to reach there. Was a bit confusing & tiring to finally reach the exam place at about 10 (there is still a good 2 hours for the exams to start; which finally started after an hour delay) Just wandered around; met 2 housemen of mine (back in Kulim & HSJ). There were quite a number of ppl from other places besides Malaysia & Singapore. But I guess I am the oldest of them all...hahahaha...

Finally they called to enter the hall at 12 and after a long queue of verification (they want to see passport with photo & signature attached on it)

Exam started soon after we settled down. 100 questions of ONE BEST ANSWERED in 3 hours... That was a really looong 3 hours. Dizzy with the questions; my brain became hypoxic, requiring me to go toilet to reventilate. A gap of 45minutes were given (during which I quickly had my Zohor & Asar Jama' in a basement room - courtesy of an Indian gentleman working as labourer in NUS) ; before we were in again for Paper 2 (another 100 questions ~ which was tougher!!!)

When we left the hall, it was already dark. Went back to MRT station by taking a shuttle bus from Prince George Park's Residence. Disembarked at Bugis station. Wandered around the place looking for the place to get a bus ticket to LCCT. Finally found the place and the bus was scheduled to be at 12MN.

I meantime, went to a nearby Masjid & just opposite there was a "Malayali" shop, where I had a nice chicken briyani (which cost me SD 6 only - reasonable) & teh halia (SD 1.50)

Boarded the bus at 12MN & reached LCCT at around 5.30 (transit at Pudu).

Was home sweet home by 10.30am (delay being the wait for a bus from Penang Airport to Jelutong - as usual unreliable Penang public transport)

Alhamdulillah 3 weeks later the reult was out & I passed. Felt happy; "looking forward" for following exams which are in line for me (I shall write on my experiences with the following exams soon). 

Appreaciate my colleagues' contribution (in Ward 5c) for covering me when I was away with study leave & exam.

*This story was written in March 2014 (approx. 2 months after the event)* but I only "found time" to post today...hi3

Tafsir Ad-Dhuha &Al-Insyiroh

Has been MONTHS since my last post... Gosh..I am lazy. So to motivate myself, I looked at the ultimate revelation..the Qur'an & wish to share some verses here

These translations were taken from 'Amazing" Qur'an Tafsir published by Karya Bistari. An Indonesian translation.

Ad-Dhuha (Chapter 93 : Verse 1 - 11)

1.   Demi waktu dhuha (tatkala matahari naik segalah)

2.   Dan demi malam apabila telah sunyi

3.   Tuhanmu tidak meninggalkan engkau (wahai Muhammad) dan tidak pula membencimu

4.   Sesungguhnya kesudahan itu lebih baik bagimu daripada permulaan

5.   Dan sesungguhnya Tuhanmu pasti memberi kurniaan-Nya padamu, sehingga engkau redha-berpuas hati

6.   Bukankah dia mendapatimu sebagai seorang yatim lalu Dia melindungimu

7.   Dan Dia mendapatimu seorang yang kebingungan, lalu Dia memberikan petunjuk

8.   Dan Dia mendapatimu sebagai seorang kekurangan, lalu Dia memberikan kecukupan

9.   Maka terhadap anak yatim,janganlah engkau berlaku sewenang-wenangnya.

10. Dan terhadap orang yang meminta-minta, janganlah kau mengherdiknya.

11. Dan terhadap ni'mat Tuhanmu hendaklah kau nyatakan (dengan bersyukur)

Al- Insyiroh (Chapter 94 : Verse 1 - 8) 

1. Bukankah kami telah melapangkan dadamu

2. Dan kami juga telah menurunkan bebanmu (Muhammad)

3. yang memberatkan belakangmu

4. Dan Kami tinggikan bagimu sebutan namamu

5. Maka sesungguhnya bersama kesulitan ada kemudahan

6. Sekali lagi ditegaskan, bersama kesulitan ada kemudahan

7. Maka apabila engkau telah selesai (sesuatu urusan), tetaplah bekerja keras (untuk urusan lain)

8. Dan hanya kepada Tuhanmu engkau berharap

These verses (especially those I've bold) really touches me. Allah has reminded us not to give hope when you feel helpless. For which Allah is always there for us. When you had no one to turn to, enough for you to turn to only Allah. Turn to Allah, get back to Allah!

This is really an anti-dote for depression. If only we put full faith in Allah, everything shall be fine in life. We shall be in a position where by when met with failures & casualties, we will persevere as we know Allah is there guiding & watching over us.

Another point for motivation, don't rest on our laurels when we feel we have done/achieved something (of course we can feel satisfied & happy with the achievement) but nevertheless must never stop. As Islam encourages us to propel forward in life; as if we are going to live in this world forever; BUT with humility & syukur to what Allah has bestowed upon us.

"No soul can save us from hardship; only Allah"

I've not gone into asbabun-nuzulof these verses (shall do so next time)

Dining out In Jitra - 21.4.2014

21 APRIL 2014

Whew! I am finally writing after almost a year. Has been quite hooked up to books & work since joining masters in June 2013. (I shall talk about this past one year in some other entries)

I was to meet Miao2 & Pratab some where in Bandar Darulaman to go for dinner. Miao2 (as usual) was on his "food trip" across Northern part of Malaysia.

Well..this town is not a place I have been before, though it is only like 5 minutes drive to Jitra. Hmm..after looking at the place, I would rather just call it a "taman" rather than "bandar"

Anyways, by 7.30pm we were at this place called Haji Shahril Low Restaurant, very near to Jitra Mall. We were "navigated" to here by Pratab's wife who is a Dentist in this town.

At one glance the internal design of the shop was not that great; though it is quite spacious. So we placed our order after going through the menu for 15minutes. Good thing about this place, they have a "musollah"(prayer room), so we can perform prayers on time

So we ordered dishes like no one's business : 

• Deep fry Thai Style Siakap (about 700-800gm fish)
• Kung Pao Chicken 
• Baby kailan 
• Telur "Fusong"
• Sizzling Tauhu Telur Jepun - this one was awesome!!

Drinks was like free-flow for Miao2...He ordered not less than 4 glasses of different drinks.

The service was quite reasonable. Waiting time was good..our gastric juices were not overstimulated & not excessively secreted.

Tastes were acceptable; though not to say marvellous (well I am not a good food tasting judge anyway)

Overall the place offered variety of food & beverages. Menus were mainly Chinese food (or at least had Chinese name..) which was quite exciting for me, as it is not that easy to find pure Chinese food which is halal. It was not too hard to find the place (just about 15 minutes drive from Hosp Bahiyah (A.Setar)

It was really tough on my stomach to contain all those food after so long not being on eating spree (like those younger days...huhu)

All the best to both of you guys in joining masters. It is time to be in close contacts with books...huhuhu...

P/S: Just found out that this restaurant has a branch in Kajang.

Usual baby kailan masin ... again

Siakap Deep Fry Ala Thai Style

Ayam Kung Pao (don't ask me what does that mean)