Remember the 2 thumb-drives I won at a conference I attended recently?
I’d like to show you what one of them looks like:
Cool eh?
A 2 GB thumb drive encased in a 100% pure leather jacket.
Strange how a thumb drive can be turned into a fashion accessory. 
I haven’t figured out what to do with it yet.
Sat, 310508 @ 0700
It’s been a while since the kudos list was updated. The last one was sometime in March.
Here’s the new list of top kudos holder:
YY still tops the list at 20 kudos followed closely by CK. TFTD dropped a spot to 3rd place. Others who have made progress include FengY, chiet, nila, yumei, dytia and Syafiq.
Most notable entry into the list is peanut who zoomed from 3 kudos previously to 10 now!
Well done!
The changes are now reflected on the side bar in my blog.
PS: YY, you can come claim your ‘prize’ from me. Anyone who touches 20 kudos shall be rewarded.
Fri, 300608 @ 1330
There’s an old joke I heard a long time ago. It goes like this:
“What do you give a man who has everything?”
“Why, antibiotics of course!”
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.
.
.
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Ya, you were supposed to laugh just now….
Anyway, I am getting used to people stopping me along the way and asking me questions, as a matter of referral (an impromptu one, of course).
Two questions frequently pop out:
1. What are the risk of getting HIV when one engages in ___________(fill in the blank with all the different variety of intimacy you can think of)?
2. What kind of diseases can I get from _________(fill in the blank as above).
I got this picture in my email today, thought I would share it with you and cheer up your Friday!
The answers are here:
Answer to question 1: Risk of HIV Infection
Answer to question 2: STD Risk Chart
Next time I will just point them to my blog here.
Fri, 300508 @0700
One of the pleasures in life is to see the fruition of one’s hard labour. And I felt great pride as I looked at the result of one year’s work by the students under my supervision being displayed in the campus for all to see. The poster won them the first prize at the recent Conference on Clinical Emergencies held in Penang and organised by the MMA branch in Penang.
So, well done Syafiq, Shangari, Wayne, Jen Ern and Siti!
Now, if I could only get my 2 other student groups to get working!!! 
Thurs, 290608 @ 1506
If you happen to be around 1-Utama this coming Saturday evening (the Parkson, Jusco and Metrojaya sale is ongoing at the moment, so it’s a good reason to be there!), please do come over to the New Wing entrance and join us in the International AIDS Memorial Day event.
Be there, show that you care.
Never give up, never forget.
Jimbo will be there.
Thurs, 290508 @ 0700
For years I have dedicated myself to the art of healing and teaching my students that they have been bestowed with the noble task of healing. In short, we are licensed to heal.
But, in an ill-phrased statement, our own Deputy Health Minister has branded all of us as James Bonds by saying in Parliament that “doctors are licensed to kill”! He had to be ‘ordered’ into retracting his statement but he refused to apologise!
Sigh…
Normally I’d be flattered to be liken to James Bond but this time, I’m a little shaken and stirred.
Wed, 280508 @ 1938
White has been vilified! Apparently, some people think that school pupils wearing white are deemed too sexy and might serve as catalysts for heinous crimes including rapes, incense, and extramarital sex!
Good grief!
I am speechless.
We actually have these people as fellow Malaysians!
Well, to follow in their argument, since wearing white is deemed to be sexy and seductive (and apparently Malaysian men ~ at least some lusty horny old goats ~ can’t seem to take their eyes off little children dressed in white), I now propose the following:
1. White shoes worn by pupils (and nurses) be replaced by black/pink/blue/green/I really don’t care what color because some other horny lusty old goats find feet sexy and seductive. Otherwise this may lead to traumatic foot ulcers due to unsolicited sexual advances on these poor feet.
2. Nurses white uniforms be replaced as they may cause patients to suffer heart attacks due to sudden hormonal surges (lusty old goats admitted for heart attacks may suffer a second one).
3. The white ‘tudung’ worn by nurses should be discarded as well because the sight of them might send some old goats into lusty orgasmic spasms.
4. The white coat worn by doctors should be discarded as it might lead to amorous quickies in the store room, on call room, toilets, the ward store, unused patient beds in the ward, under the ward counter, etc, etc…
5. Buildings painted in white should be repainted to avoid over-sexy ambiance being reflected everywhere.
6. Ditto for white cars.
7. The white-of-the-eye (a.k.a sclera) should be painted black if possible as we do not want overly sexy eyes (lusty horny old goats should have their eyes removed).
8. Everyone should smoke and overdose on coffee to avoid overly sexy white teeth.
9. Whitening creams and lotions should be banned from being sold. We do not want whiter than white beings stimulating our old lusty goats in this boleh-land of ours.
10. White bandages and plasters should be done away with as they may make the patients ‘sickly sexy’. We do not want our already-sick and ill patients to be further subjected to lascivious leering and hypersalivation.
And once the color of sin has been ‘re-painted’ in our boleh-land, perhaps these bigoted people can sit down and think of better ways to tackle the price rise of everyday items, the rise of petrol price, the rise of toll price, the immense corruption in our society and upper echelons, the high crime rate, the religious intolerance in this boleh-land, the so-called merit system which is a farce and etc, etc….
I’m done ranting.
I wanna go smell my white flowers. Them old goats can go jump in the lake.
Wed, 280508 @ 0700
Jimbo ran in his first marathon last Sunday.
Okay, actually, it was a half marathon.
Okay, actually, Jimbo only signed up for the 11 km run, which makes it a ‘quarter marathon’.
Still, it’s not wrong to say ‘Jimbo ran IN his first marathon’, right?
Okay, now that we got the semantics cleared up, let me tell you a little about the event. Seven of us (1 lecturer-cum-ID physician-cum marathon runner wannabe-cum amateur mountain climber and 6 students) signed up for the event. One overslept and there were six. At 7 am, we congregated at the Admiral Marina and Leisure club in Port Dickson which served as the starting and ending point of the Port Dickson International Half Marathon 2008.
We each received a goody bag which contained 2 tubes of analgesic ointment, 10 tablets of branched-chain amino acid tablets, 1 pen, 2 notebooks, 1 T-shirt, one tiny Antabax soap and 6 tablets of Flavettes lozenges. I was hoping for Jusco shopping vouchers.
Since I was a wee-bit older than the rest, I was signed up under the ‘Senior Men’ Category’ and my number was this:
I had a feeling ‘E’ stood for ‘Elderly’. If I decide to run again next year, I might just be old enough for the ‘F’ category. I think ‘F’ stands for ‘fragile’. Anyway, being in the ‘E’ category does it have its advantages! I will tell you why later…
All the others were placed either in the ‘C’ or ‘D’ category, meaning ‘Young and restless men and women’. I felt kinda alone when they were flagged off 15 minutes ahead of me. I took the time to check out my competition. There were a few really well built and hunky fellas who intimidated me somewhat. The others were, well, pieces of cakes, or so I thought!
Anyway, we were given a green ribbon at the starting line, as proof of us ever being at the starting line. Along the route, we were handed more ribbons of different colors, again as proof that we actually passed by that way. I really couldn’t care less about them ribbons. My aim was to run from one water station to the next!
The gun went off and we, the ‘elderly’ people started the race. I was quite pleased with myself for the first 2 km or so of the run when I found that I could run without feeling breathless or pain. (This, by the way, is a major achievement for a person who could not run even 400 meters when he was in primary AND secondary school AND varsity! ~ you can read about my illustrious sports career here).
Heck, I even passed a couple of ladies and men who were wearing the ‘D’ tag, meaning they actually had a 15 min head start.
But as the saying goes, with pride, comes the downfall!
At 2.5 km or so, I felt my left knee stiffening up. I tried to ignore it, telling myself the injury I picked up while climbing Gunung Nuang last month could not be recurring! After all, I rested the knee for a month!
Suddenly I felt a sharp pain and I found myself stopping and grimacing in pain. I decided to just walk. At that moment, I had to decide whether to turn back or to carry on. I decided to go on (the thought of not completing the race, in front of my students, was too much to bear, compared to the knee pain!).
As I walked in pain, I noticed there were a few other runners who had the same pain that I have. Some were limping! Some were busy applying ointments to the painful parts. I didn’t feel too alone then!
By the time I reached the 4th km, the pain was much less and I could run a bit. Actually, my aim was to complete the 11 km in 1 hour but the marathon had by then degenerated into a ‘walkathon’ and if I was not careful, it could become a very embarrassing ‘crawl-a-thon’ !
By the 6th km, I found that I could run more and walk less. By the 8th km, I caught up with one of the student (she was a vital member as she held the car keys and hence my transport back to town ~ so it was pertinent that I at least keep pace with her!).
From the 8th km onwards, I was eye-ing a rather horizontally challenged guy in front of me who was also in the ‘E’ category. According to the rules, the first 80 runners from each category shall be eligible for a certificate and medal. Wild imaginations came to my mind then. I asked myself, “what if the guy in front of you is the 80th guy? Shouldn’t you be overtaking him? Go on! Overtake him and claim your certificate and medal!”
Still, tried as I might, I just could not catch up with him. He must have been powered with Energizer batteries! He just went on and on and on! I gave up chasing after him and settled in my mind to accept position number 81. if I had sling shot, I would have slung a pebble at him and knock him out cold!
But life is full of surprises, and this one was pleasant because as I crossed the finishing line, some one handed me a medal and certificate! I couldn’t believe my eyes! I actually asked the lady if she had made a mistake or what. She smiled and said the medal and cert are mine!
Whoopie!
Jimbo completed his first 11 km in an international half marathon! And he was amongst the top 80! (now you see why there is a certain advantage for being in the ‘E’ group because there were not that many of us, probably about 100 or so; unlike the younger groups!). Jimbo’s time for the 11 km run was estimated to be about 90 minutes (I forgot to set the timer!).
The other pleasant surprise was to discover that every single one of my students made it in good time and were bestowed with the coveted certificate and medal!
We are the champions! (Girl on left got position 18 while the 2nd girl on right got position 21). Ugh… the sun-spot got in my face again.
I never thought I would be bringing these home but it felt real good. The last time I won a medal was a million years ago.
Will I run again? I think I will.
But right now, I have 6 weeks to get my knee back in shape before the KK climb! Gaargh!!!
Tues, 270508 @ 0700
Related links:
I got this sms from one of my student yesterday:
“We didn’t get 2nd but we got 1st. Thanks dr J.”
A group of my students went to Penang to attend a conference on acute medicine organised by the Malaysian Medical Association. They decided to present their research project, which they completed some time ago, in the poster presentation.
I knew deep in my heart that they stood a good chance of winning it.
And they did!
Well done! Darn proud of you fellas!!!
Mon, 260508 @ 0800
This 24-year-old man presented with hemoptysis of 3 days duration which were minimal in quantity and mixed with saliva. There is no history of fever, cough or SOB.
On examination, his pulse was 100/min, regular and good volume.
The apex is located in the left 6th intercostal space just lateral to the mid-clavicular line. Examination of the precordium revealed a mid-diastolic murmur with a tapping apex. There is an occasional gurgling sound heard as welll over the apex.
On further questioning, he also gives history of frequent burping as well as reflux symptoms.
This is his CXR:
Questions:
1. Describe the findings in the CXR.
2. What is his cardiac diagnosis?
3. What might be the cause of his GI symptoms?
Mon, 260508 @ 0700
