Nepal earthquake mission - Part 4

Ittapole, Sankhu. 15km off Kathmandu. According to Wkipedia, this used to be a famous city as it was a stopping area for the famous Tibet-Kathmandu route. It was apparently the area where the former prime minister of Nepal was from and still the representative.

Sankhu was the off Katrhmandu city which was badly affected. As per NSET assessment, that was Mercy Malaysia's field hospital destination. We were off quite late in the evening. The way there was not straight forward. I was jumping up and down at the back of the lorry during the journey. It was raining that evening, it looked gloomy on our way there. 

We witnessed the destruction of the earthquake as we proceed to Sankhu. The roads were cracked, buildings which became rubbles. It was certainly a different Kathmandu from what i experienced in 2013.The current generation had never felt or experience how an earthquake would be. Imagine, the last one being 80 years ago. 

 The army truck brought us to a school compound, and the school was pink in colour! Most of the villagers who had lost their homes are taking shelter there. Our arrival was received warmly by the displaced villager,  a constant trait of the Nepalis which registered in my mind till now. We were lucky to have the Nepali army guys to help us unload, it was amazingly a lot! We managed to have the lot on the mid ground, and it was drizzling. It was superbly cold by our Malaysian standards. But not surprising, since we were at at least 1400m above sea level. 

 The people were really friendly and it helps when a number of them are able to speak in Malay as they've worked before in the country. We joined their communal dinner, as they made a point to cook for everyone who were taking shelter in the school compound. From what i can remember, at least 15 families. 

It was a cold and wet night. We were given two classrooms to fit the 7 of us. The camp beds were opened and it was more comfy than spending the night on the cement floor. I was lucky i brought my sleeping bag and my jackets. It helped a lot and i was reminded of my dreadful EBC trek trip haha At about 3am, we had an aftershock experience. Everybody was awaken by the movement it made. However according to the 5 second rule we did not need to flee from the classroom! It was amazingly scary and i cannot imagine how one would feel with a bigger magnitude shock. 

The morning was beautiful. I woke up early because the sun rose early. It was beautiful to witness the landscape of outskirts of Kathmandu. Around us were the paddy and wheat fields. We were surrounded by few building which were still standing but a short walk further revealed the utter destruction. The wrath of god. Subhanallah. Malaysia is lucky to be not disaster prone and may Allah not punish us with one in the near future. 

Nepal earthquake mission - Part 3

We boarded the C130 early that morning, by 5am we were all set to leave Kalkota. We saw 2 other Charlies, but both were Singapores. No movement from them meaning their departure would be much later from us. 

Despite the reassurance about our landing rights , we had doubts and I will only be thankful when we reach Kathmandu airport safely. We were then delayed 1 hours circling around Kathmandu airport before we had the clearance to land. The suspicion of being directed back to where we came from was possible. Luckily today, it was only about 2 hours plus we were in C130. The 6 + hours flight from KL to Kalkota was an expereince to remember!!

The scene at the Kathmandu airport was as real as it gets. I remembered how in Kelantan it looked like really we are in the movies, this time around.. lagi Waah.. as international air forces from all around the world were flocking the airport. The US army, Israeli, Indian.. a number of big countries sending their SAR team to help the Nepali government. It was a scene "textbook" from the movies. I felt overwhelmed. All our stuff was then unloaded. Mercy Malaysia's stuff pun banyak gile. Wow.. this are our assets. Thanks to the SMART boys, we were able to have it done in a jiff. 

 Dr Heng divided us into 3. Dr Heng and Yati to report at the coordination centre, Pak Hapis to be with our stuff together with the SMART team and myself, the reinforcement from on the ground crew; looking for Aliff and his volunteers from KE7B just outside the airport. The atmosphere was havoc, as many foreign rescue teams with their uniform and stuffs in the airport. We reported ourselves at the UN counter and was told to go to few different places on coordination. We did not really have a plan and honestly, Dr Heng himself was unsure where will we be spending the night. And we were set.. to somehow just find a way. The big plan was to meet up sometime later.. where? nobody knows.. haha

 I managed to find my brother and Aliff. I was then introduced to Boiy and Harith who would be our invaluable help in the near future. It was chaotic, the scene outside the airport. People were stranded - looking for a flight to get back home. I could see tents being set up all around the compound. I guess it was because of the aftershocks, nobody felt safe being in a building.

Aliff and I had an adventure of a lifetime that afternoon. We were made to run around Kathmandu because of some miscommunication. The one positive thing aboutit was, wearing the Mercy Malaysia vest we were treated well. Its all because of Mercy Malaysia's reputation in the relief NGO circle. There were few intenaces when bigshot foreigners came to us to introduce themselves praising Mercy Malaysia and of course, Dr Jemilah.
We were made to enter the UN compound headquarters; looking for our team members when they were not even there! Haha I actually made the UN OHCA coordinator (cant remember her name) doubting her own knowledge about the compound as i was confident that my team members were there. It was really funny thinking about it now. The positive side about that incident that day was I amde the whole UN aware of MERCY MALAYSIA's presence! Hahahaha 

Pak Hapis thought he was in UN OHCA when in fact it was not. I even asked the UN OHCA Health coordinator about the whereabouts of my team and of course, he had absolutely no idea who i was talking about! hahahaha

We then regrouped at the designated SAR teams home base near the airport. This was where our SMART team were with our stuff! We met up with Dr Heng and Yati here, and were told to be deployed a village about 20km away from Kathmandu downtown. It was getting dark, and together with 6 Nepali soldiers we then went off to our designated area. It was dark and gloomy, i felt cold due to the rain. Subhanallah, the adventure begins.. 

Nepal earthquake mission - Part 2

I was informed by Ain quite late evening about the departure plans. I was wondering how were we expected to fly to Nepal when the Kathmandu airport was currently closed. All flights in and out was cancelled. I was then informed that the Mercy Malaysia team will depart with the SMART, RED CROSS & army from TUDM Subang airport. This will be my second time boarding  Charlie C130 after Kelantan early this year. But for a 6 hours flight ? oohh.. 

We were told to assemble in TUDM Subang at 4am. I had Azad to help me which luckily he was free to do so. I packed that night to the minimum that i could thought off, all for outdoor and survival type of travel. I was told to expect the worse and Insha Allah, I am quite alright with that. I had shivers in my spine.. seriously my first time on a ground zero mission. 

 When i arrived at the TUDm Subang, as usual there were issues with the guard. It was not too long before i met with the other team members. It was good to see some famiiar faces, but none was going! Kak Nita, Angie, Pak Hapis, Guna, Yati and of course our team leader, Dr Heng. 

At the same time, I managed to get in touch with my friend, Aliff who was in KAthmandu. Coincidentally, he was with the KE7B team which had to cancel their expedition plans. Apparently, he was a miassive help during Mercy's mission in Kelantan that Pak Hapis requested if it was possible for Aliff to join our team. Aliff of course did not hesitate and we were to meet at the airport when tomorrow comes.

Before leaving Malaysia, we had to take our jabs.. 3 in one shot as per required by the army since we are going to a third world country haha I took it in my stride but it was funny to witness how the docs themselves tried to avoid the vaccinations that were supposed to protect us during the mission. 

Getting on the C130 was exciting - as this time around i was in THE Malaysia rescue team to Nepal. The SMART fellas were looking smart and determined. I had goosebumps when the flight took off. May Allah protect all of us in this journey. The flight was not too bad, I managed to get some sleep despite the discomfort. But since macam dah mengantuk..ok je tido haha

 After 6 hours we were scheduled to land in Kalkota. Unfortunately, we did not get the clearance to land in Kathmandu that day. The pilots were negotiating but to avail. Later i got to know, our Airasia contact in India sought the help of the Malaysian Embassy in India to help negotiate with the Nepali government. We were stranded for 5 hours on the tarmac in Kalkota airport! Beat that! haha 

Later, we were told that we had to spend the night in Kalkota because we were only cleared to land i nKAthmandu the next morning. What can we do can't we? I have learnt, along my past missions.. one the requirement is to have patience.. lots of it! I remembered how Dr Essam with his smiling face telling us.. "Patience.. brother.. patience.. this is all god's will"

Well, we were then escorted to a hotel in Kolkata and I will always remember the 2 LOUD n CLEAR incidents with Dr Heng.. haha tak bule cerita la.. ni cerita utk team sahaja.. but something i thought it would be of a good trait to apply in my future missions:)

Nepal earthquake Mission - Part 1

It was a normal Saturday afternoon. I was on my way back from the book signing session in PABKL.

When something as big as this happened, the social media will go on frenzy mode. My contacts who were with the humanitarian groups were the first to post on this disaster. Immediately i switched on to CNN when i got back home. 

It was confirmed. Nepal just had their biggest earthquake since the 1930s. A Richter scale of 7.9 (when it was first reported on the news). wow.. that is big and i can imagine the destruction! Kathmandu and Nepal was dear to me as I fell in love with the Himalayas during my trip to Everest Base Camp in 2013.

And from that moment, i was glued on the tv screen as well as browsing throught the facebook entries, looking for updates. I knew of a Malaysian team were off to do a cycling expedition in Annapurna. The epicenter of this earthquake was near to Pokhara and I can only pray then that they were alright.

Papa msg me that night telling that Meng is there when it happened. My brother who was travelling from Tibet. Nothing much was disclosed as it was just a short call and sms to tell my dad he was alright but he had lost everything. Papa was worried and it made me wonder.. as he was travelling alone.

The next day I was in the MSA meeting and somehow ended up into the Exco for 2015 haha Well, since you are there and nominated why not. I've not been a committee member for quite sometime back. And it was then, i received an sms,

My heart went racingly wild. Honestly, I answered straight away without much ado. No thinking was involved, almost reflex. And i thought.. wooo.. and what about all i have arranged and my commitments? 

Disclosing this mission to my wife and family members were only after I have sorted out my things with my working colleagues and friends. 

This will be my first time, stepping into the unknown. Ground zero of Disaster.

#DIAgnosis2 book signing in PABKL (the one i attended)

 #DIAgnosis2 publisher: Whitecoat enterprise did not really have a booth in this Book Fair, mainly because they were only recently formed. The booths are usually sold out, you need to book it way ahead. PABKL is the biggest bookfair in Malaysia and in having recently attended this year's edition, I can see why all publishers are keen to be involved in this carnival of books galore.

We were lucky that 2 distributors, MPH online and Deens Print were kind enough to have a signing session at their booth. Both were the distributors of DIAgnosis2 and Alhamdulillah the sale during this book fair was excellent! I was excited and at the same time anxious, as i would not know whether we do really have fans out there who will come in throngs to get our signature! 

 I only attended the first session, on a Saturday afternoon. The traffic was horrible, parking was nowhere and i could see people in masses coming tothis book fair. Upon arriving at our station, i could see people were already waiting for us. Huhu risaunya.. Ben and Din could not attend because of their commitment to work as this particular session was not really planned to happen. Alhamdulillah, MPH was kind enough to give us the slot and it was worth the wait.

 Thank you very much to DIAgnosis2 fans who came and waited patiently for us. It was such a pleasant experience seeing people appreciating your ideas in writing. Insha Allah, this will spur the team to move forward and perhaps writing up more goodies for all of ya!

Kids in PABKL 2015

I brought the kids to PABKL and i guess this was their first time in the biggest book fair in Malaysia. Honestly, I have not been to one voluntarily for the past 10 years, except a few times when we were brought by the book vendors for UiTM library purposes. This time around, Diagnosis2 team had a book signing session for our fans. Why not bring the kids to see what is happening out out there.

 It was jammed packed. I guess this is how it has been for so long that i did not even bother to come and attend. Parking is crap, everything is wrong for the big crowd but nothing beats the atmosphere of 10 thousands of people in the massive crowd! Especially PWTC.. How can you beat the experience in PWTC? This was the first time too there were here, so i brought them to see the potraits of our previous prime ministers. 

We had fun.As the kids looked for their own reading materials, as usual Qaisya has always been keen to fill in her inquisitive brain. I wished we could have spent more time and i was thinking of coming again but fate had it that i was to go somewhere else! (will be revealed in the coming post).

Towards Hajj 2015/1436

Wow.. it has been almost a month since i last blogged. There were so many things that has happened, and I will share with you what has been going on. It has been an interesting period. I have certainly learnt a lot. I find all these insha Allah will contribute to my preparation for Hajj. We continue to learn and it is not easy to purify yourself to god in the coming journey.

 I may not have attended 100% of my Kursus Asa Haji on Sundays, due to work commitments and other stuffs but Alhamdulillah, it was an eye opener. Despite having learnt all of it in school before, it it is not the same. I now understand how life maturity can change a lot of things. The hajj journey is a total body and soul experience. I believe that what is inside is important, and that is the thing you would want god to see; your sincerity and total submission.

 We had our set of practicals in Kelana Jaya, the organizer did it well for us to experience the doings. A mock Kaabah and set up for jamrah was done. I was myself dressed in ihram which i have not don since i was 16 years of age. Waa.. memang terasa dekat betul nak gi haji! There are few more courses to attend, Intensive Course, Grand Course.. Insha Allah, all will be helpful. I just have to find the time to juggle in between my work commitment and attending these. 

Insha Allah.. May Allah easen my journey. It will be in a few months time, and to maintain the intention is a challenge. 

Stay and play

I had fun this week. Not fun "fun" but fun in administrating my anaesthetics. I guess after doing lots of bread and butter cases, you do long for that stress in planning an anaesthetic for your patients. Patients may come with multiple problems and to avoid any further issues, one needs to plan which technique to use. 

Honestly, the anaesthetics is not an issue. Anaesthesia is safe and you can be assured that you are well taken care off. Its the issues that might crop after, as an example: a patient may need to go for a surgery to settle some sepsis source issues but at the same time, just recovered from a bout of pneumonia. Giving GA can be simple but the patient may end up in ICu for post op monitoring and what further happens will be delayed discharge due to more time taken to recuperate. 

I was faced with these patients isssues this past few weeks. Therefore, i do have to resort to techniques which would minimize risk. ie peripheral nerve block and TCI. I had fun with the TCI remifentanil today as it made my nurses go like, " what the heck is my doctor doing?" haha 

Alhamdulillah, what is important of how this knowledge can be put into practice.And it becomes a satisfaction when you have options to decide with when you have to solve the pressing issues. 

Putrajaya Duathlon - Ironman70.3 2015

Ironman.. the final frontier..

Last year we entered the relay event in Putrajaya 70.3 in the hope of being a part of the carnival. Unfortunately, it was classified DNF when Kamal could not continue and the mood became sombre. It was not satisfying especially for me being the runner, i had to wait for at least 5 hours in the hot sun before it was my turn to run. Azad had to leave for Vietnam last year, and the atmosphere was none to feel at all. Because of that experience, rasa taubat cam nak join relay..

 This year somehow, i guess the participant numbers must have not been encouraging, the event organizer decided to have Duathlon as well. The distance was not too bad and despite me not having enough training, i registered without hesitating as i know how the atmosphere can be like. To me what is important is to join the event and finish it, janji habis! Haha 

Azad was as enthusiastic as ever as he registered immediately when i mooted the idea. It was something doable and i was happy to have somebody with me. The gameplan was simple, Janji Habis despite kena potong by those who can be double my size hahaha 

We took the opportunity to collect the bib and place our bicycles the day before. The atmosphere was as how i imagined. Memang best, the brand ironman.. 

We were early. Azad and I woke each other up and with our cars convoyed to Putrajaya. Parking was ample and from that early morning, it was electrifying. we took the opportunity to pray subuh at the mosque which i thought was excellent! Never that i thought the venue would be so close by that it was convenient to pray in jamaah.

How did i perform, well.. the first 5km run was a breeze for me. I was comfortable and not too tired. I did not push myself but i did run all the way. My knees were doing fine. The cycling bit.. huhuh.. this is a total weakness as my only cycling training these past few months was on the trainer; even that it was not too long on it. So as expected, i could see people passing me easily as i struggled in this mere 45km race! My sister has been completing the 160km regularly and if she were to join this event, im sure she'd sayur me anytime! hahaha And the nighmare was at km40 i think, when my right knee jammed on me! total lock..dammnnn.. I wasl ucky i did not fell down but managed to cool myself down before restarting. I was really lucky i did not end up with a DNF hahaha

 Of course, the final 5km was a lenggang kangkung all the way. I could not be bothered to run as i was not going any faster anyway. Alhamdulillah, everything was in due time and i managed to finish it in one piece! haha Memang rasa tak puas hati tengok orang potong but i am thankful i managed to do it despite my lack of training due to my injury.Azad was not too far from me after he caught up during the cycling leg. In fact his time was at least 6-7 minutes better than mine during this leg!!

 It was cool to see my friends like Aktar and Shah completing their half ironman distance in a convincing time.. Hmm.. i started before them but they have surpassed me by miles! Hahaha

All in all, i enjoyed the event. It may not be my best performance but my most satisfying. I will come back, and camana ek..my triathlon dream?? I need to realize it..

Thalasaemia Run 2015

My knee was getting better and i needed a better motivation to be active again. I am getting back the fat i lost few years back. Luckily there was a bib available for the run organized by UiTM FOM. I was non hesitant to join the 8km run despite not running for the past 2 months!! 

The run was held in kepong which the taman was famous for its evening layang-layang session. The affair was moderate but definitely well organized. The students were enthusiastic organizing this. I saw Adli during parking and he gave me Abid's bib. Apparently Abid had to go for a course in Singapore and i was damn lucky to have it for me to join this run.

The run was not that bad. I followed Adli's pace earlier but only managed to keep up till km 5. He has definitely improved and i guess his preparation for his first ever half which will be in two weeks had been optimal. I was exasperated but tried to maintain my cool keeping behind him haha Imagine not running for 2 months and now you're trying to run all the 8km non stop. Memang tak larat hahaha

I enjoyed the run and was happy that my knee and legs were able to cope. At least i have this trial so that my Putrajaya Duathlon the week after will not be too bad, or so i hope.. 

Its your place now

Call me sentimental but when i saw my own scrubs with my name embroided on it, I felt good. I felt belonged. Haha Memang jakun nak baju sendiri :) 

March has been a good month as the cases doubled compared to February. Things are getting busier and the cases we are getting is getting more complicated. Maybe not too complicated as other places that i know but enough la. You don't want to be too ambitious that it can cause you more problems than anticipated. Its a mixed feeling honestly, as one would love to just do the simple cases and chill with the remuneration, at the same time missing the intensity of high risk cases. The high risk cases were the main reason why I joined anaesthesia. Its the balance i guess, and perhaps a good mix would fulfill my needs. 

We had our first anniversary Open day recently. KPJ is very good at this, creating events and making the whole staff work as a family. It is very difficult not to like KPJ management with the approach that they make. It was a hot Saturday afternoon but that did not deter us from enjoying the day.