On call again

This is my first on call since coming back home. On call means 24 hours stay in call. I was called back to CTC one of the nights ; attending a sick ailing patient but that was not really a call.It was more a call for immediate emergency!

Managing Sungai Buloh Hospital is not easy especially manning the big number of ICU beds. Recently, theres ICU1 and ICU2 instead of ICU and HDW!However, i do take it as a challenge and it is a privilege to be on call as a specialist here.What i love most about being here is the variety of cases and possibilities that i may face. It is always challenging, to decide on what is best for the patient with the ever so busy patients coming in from everywhere.
It can be tiring, it can be mind boggling but that is what is about working in Malaysia. Trying our best for the best management of our patients would be the priority.
Having enthusiastic and keen MOs is another key factor to make the call enjoyable. Hopefully crossing my fingers that things will go well and Insya Allah.

And the cycling continues

 The doubt was there about was i able to continue my new found hobby while i was in Perth. The answer is Yes! Slowly I'm getting myself into a weekly cycling do. Initially it was the 3 of us, me Azad and kamal. Last weekend i was fortunate enough to start off the long ride with a big group, BJCC i reckon. I've got my contacts and Insya Allah i shall join them in the future. I'm gearing for Kuantan Century ride in June :)

                                         Nite ride- BJ-Denai Alam

                                          MTB Putrajaya

                                         BJ-GCE-Puncak Alam return

Tanggang kembali

Yup.. back to my office. Back to my job. And happy to continue :)

It was a warm feeling to see the things that you desgined & planned.. now on paper and in the system :)

Back to basics

Its in a way good to be back working in Malaysia. How I've missed the "patient-care" scene of Malaysia. It is different, i cannot really compare what I've gone through in Perth and Malaysia. Its not apple to apple. Being back in the Malaysian health care system made me realize what our limitations are. However, we do have our own strong positive points and if given the chance, I would like to continue and serve in the public sector.

 On Mondays i will be in Sungai Buloh Hospital. I 've always love the setup the amazing systematic infrastructure that it has.Though unfortunately it is not complimented by the available staff for the 100% running of the hospital services. However, what makes the hospital thrive is the dedication of its staff. I am amazed by the will power of the Intensive Care Consultant, working above self to ensure patient's get well in the ever depressing ICU. I have learnt a lot from her, and i know I am still learning. Having the young Medical officers in the department can be a bonus, as i've always enjoyed to see the glimmer in their eyes :0 Though there maybe frustration due to intensive working hours.. but that is part of a doctor's life especially if you are affliated to the Anaesthesia and Intensive Care.

 And of course.. the morning traffic and the peak hour going home traffic. Never easy.. but haha.. thats Malaysia my friends.

The journey never ends

When i started this blog, i was a junior medical officer; not knowing where my path wuld lead me. I had interest to do paediatrics but somewhere along the way, I've chosen to be an anaesthetist. It has been an ongoing journey and i am still learning, gaining experience and expertise to practice this wonderful art.
I feel blessed that along the way, I've crossed path with senior consultant anaesthetists, either directly or indirectly for me to absorb their experience in building my own wisdom. I've had the opportunity to exchange my views with Emeritus Prof Alex Delilkan (still my anaesthetist idol!) ever since i was in med school and now as a qualified specialist. I am thankful to have been under the professors of UM ( Gracie, Patrick, Wang, Lucy, Marzida) during my Masters training which had widen my horizon. Of course my stint in Perth was excellent, where i have my role models who i want to emulate.
Coming back home, now i have with me Prof Karis; one of the UKM Anaesthesia founders and a very senior Consultant.He is my current mentor and I believe I have a lot to learn from him. Not just the discipline but on managing a department and hospital.
Alhamdulillah,  i feel truly blessed to be with all of them in my journey of practicing Clinical Anaesthesia.

Nuang summit via Janda Baik

 Do you think i would just sit down at home and not go out? Of course not!I am an outdoor freak and I will be restless if I am to just stay put at home or just plain city life!
Last Saturday as part of the EBC training, I joined Saf & Pakcik Burn to climb Nuang. But it was not the usual route which is from Ulu Pangsun; which could take us the whole day to do up and down. Instead, it was a route which i have heard but not explored; via Janda Baik. It was definitely the shorter route and more feasible for a relaxing day hike.

The day started with all of us meeting up at the Petronas station. After all members were identified (Well, Saf who was leading us on behalf of Deeno didn't know who's who..) we were off to Janda Baik for breakfast. It was a hefty nasi lemak but it was needed for the early morning carbo load! The starting point was near a small river and after du'a we were off! And of course, had to have our feet wet hahaha

 The sweet smell of the tropical rainforest.. how i've missed it for the last 18 months.It was humid and sweaty but it was a nice feeling to be back outdoors. The climb was fairly easy, nothing to technical but the mencanak part was still mencanak! In Perth, there was none of this as the bush was about flatlands!
The group moved at a reasonable pace and we arrived at the summit after 4 hours climb.

 The weather was good and the skies were really clear! I've never seen the surrounding from the mountain top as my previous summit was when the clouds were surrounding the peak. Subhanallah.. You can see KL from here. It was certainly nice and to amaze God's gift!

The climb down was rather fast as Amir wanted to be back before 6 to send his children for swimming. I followed him as I thought of going back early too. Amazingly it took us about 1 hour and 40 minutes to reach the starting point! I did force myself to descend and not too sure whether it was a good idea! It was to test my muscle fitness and we will see hahaha
Overall, the first outdoor outing was excellent and I can foresee me doing lots of this hopefully with the family in the near future.

Home sweet home

It has been 2 weeks. Arrived in KL on the 12th of February; leaving all my Perth's sweet memories. It was not easy to leave i can tell you but I guess life has to go on. A lot of my peers asked me why did I come back since I've seemed to have embraced the Aussie lifestyle? haha Not an easy question to answer :(

I am still with UiTM; and i have pledged to set up something here, something big and perhaps a legacy for the future generation. Being the first batch of anaesthetist employed by UiTM, its my duty to honour my promise. Of course there will always be the dilemma of self vs needs. Ethically, this is the right thing to do for now. I have a unit to set up, students to teach and true.. Rezeki Allah di mana-mana.

I can foresee a lot of obstacles incoming, as how it has been for the past 18 months. I left and came back and we are still in square one. Not much of a progress. Its easy to blame here and there but the reality is the planning was bad. It is not easy to set up something big but a proper planning term is important to realize that. Insya-Allah, if we are sincere to do something, god will reward. The perseverence is the challenge as how my two initial colleagues went tangential in our destiny after a year post Masters. One is happily in the private; earning tonnes of money and the other in her business; seemed well too! I am still here, maybe an idealist; but not to be worried, i am a realistic idealist. I do give time for things to work and move on. Otherwise, it is such a shame to see such potential being shot down and put to grave. That is one thing i would not want to see; a project with so much promise demise.

Dengan lafaz Bismillah.. Que sera sera.. !

Thank you.. thank you..the last week in Perth

MAfeitz Mamat

13th Biannual RA Workshop in RPH

It was a priviledge to be involved in this workshop organized by Prof Krishna Boddu. I stayed one week in Perth to be involved in it and i reckon it was a superb experience facilitating an oversea's workshop. The stuff we do is not much different from the local Malaysian workshop but having to deal with the participants which are Consultants can be a bit intimidating to start off with.

 I was given the task to man the animal lab pig station. Yup you heard it right.. pig station! It was an experience i would not trade it with anything else as it was my first time handling an anaesthetised pig! I am thankful i was entrusted to man this by Krishna and i guess it is time since I was the Regional Fellow. I was also involved with the ethics video for Adriano's session as i was roped in to be one of the actors for it! It was fun and certainly having seeing yourself doing the spoofs can be a bit embarrasing.. haha but i certainly had fun :)

As any other workshop, it was tiring but at the end of it I was certainly satisfied.It was worth the trouble to stay here another week and a good end to my stint in Perth.

Shakti's farewell visit to Perth

Shakti was the one who made me come to Aussie 18 months ago. As i made a visit to his place earlier this year, he wanted to come to Perth when I'm still around.. so the circle is complete :)
He was only here for 3 days but i can tell you his activity here was super packed! I was trying to show him "MY" Perth and I reckon he did see Perth how I saw Perth. We did the walking, cycling, running, Jacob's ladder ( which Shakti hates the most.. haha) swimming and just purely physical activities! It was as if having a boot camp here and he was certainly whipped!
Swan River loop, UWA, Kings Park, Cottosloe.. it was just pure adrenaline bringing us around.. haha Good workout and honestly I was totally knackered after he went back!

 It was also a reunion for the 3 of us, the ICU team in PPUM 2010 and it brought a lot of memories :) Who would have thought a few years later we would meet up in Perth for dinner and career? This certainly tells you that you cannot predict what the future holds for you.

I brought Shakti to all my favourite places in Perth and it was my Au revoir to this place. Rottnest will always be my favourite Island and i am glad that I did say goodbye to it on my last week in WA.

Farewell radio melayu

Had my last sit on the console last Saturday..2 Feb 2013. It has been a fruitful year to be on the radio.. a priviledge and such an experience out of my box!
Thank you Encik Kamarudin, KAk Sharifah, Abang Zul and Hilman.. we were great together!
And to Imran aka Aaron, Good luck bro for your stint with Radio Melayu :)

The end of one and the beginning and another

Indeed, the adventure which began with an email to enquire for possible opportunities has come to an end.
I do feel a bit sad having to leave this comfort zone that I've been on for the past 18 months; and now it is over. Really-really over .. :(
I've not manage to blog any post last month as I really do not know what to say or write. Denial took its place and i was behaving as if i am not leaving this place for good. The real deal was when i sent off all my boxes; and then reality hit me. Yes I am going slowly.. slowly..

                                            Regional anaesthesia team

Thank you Perth.. It was a fruitful stint.. a good one.. and I am a grown man now :)

2013 Outdoor opener

To start the year off as well as to finish off my tick list for Perth, I was in Beelu National Park Perth Hills for a camp night out.I managed to get a few others, Anisa and Cheng Bee along with Michele ( Dato Hasan's niece) and of course Imran to follow me. I've booked to camp here before but never had the chance to do so.I have to do this before I go and yup..the plan materialised.

 Camping in WA is definitely different from other states. Strictly no fire therefore the park would have a kitchen prepared for us.And of course, in my programme, BBQ food is a must! haha We camped at the site for the night and managed to catch the outdoor cinema show. The stroy wasn't too great but not too bad; something called Sister's Sister.

 Early Sunday morning (well not that early as everybody woke up late! haha) too many mozzies and it was a hot summer's night! We started our short walk to the dam after a hefty protein rish breakfast.The walk was not that far as we were heading for the all famous Mundaring Weir. A very historic dam which was made to churn the gold mining industry in Kalgoorlie. The legend of CY O'Connor was relived and I have finally found my peace  with this short overnight trip :)

                                           Mundaring Weir

2013 datang dan pergi

Its the 10th of January today, 1/3 of the first month of 2013 has gone by. Cepat betul. A month from now I will be boarding my one way ticket back home. The end of my fabulous adventure in Perth.A temporary experience granted by god to me.

Looking back at my 2012 resolutions, I am thankful that I have managed to fulfill all.Alhamdulillah.. especially the yearly weight loss resolution which only last year came into reality! haha I do hope to maintain my weight and fitness for 2013. The challenge to NOT EAT in Malaysia would be the biggest task of all :)

The presence of Dzulaikha was certainly something unplanned; never thought my 5th child would come so soon but as it is Allah's gift, i do take it as rezeki.Having 5 growing children is my next challenge; to provide them with all the essentials and prepare them for life. It is a task which nobody really has the right way. I pray that i will be given the guidance for me to perform my responsibilities dilligently.

What will 2013 hold for me? For starters, I am in back books with the central UiTM! haha My current fellowship tenure was not approved and they have stopped paying me since last October. Yesterday, i received a letter demanding my immediate return. In a way, i am a bit disheartened by the unsupportiveness of the university. I like their last sentence on the official letter:

"Diharapkan keputusan ini tidak mematahkan semangat tuan .." HAHAHAHA Honestly, I AM DISSAPOINTED with them. Who are they to tell and value my worth? Haha biasalah Malaysia.. not recognizing the aspiration of the motivated. Instead its all about cronysm and who you know. If in 2013, I go astray from my initial plan for UiTM, i put these stupid guys fully responsible. I believe that loyalty is only to those who appreciate.

My immediate aim now is to be involved importantly in the coming Regional Workshop organized by Krishna.It'll be an interesting experience and I hope to be part of this Annual thingy where I can return to Perth every year :)

Ironman? Definite plan to be one of them, maybe not in 2013 but definitely 2014. I just need to SWIM and SWIM.

The closing chapter of 2012

Alhamdulillah.. 2012 will be leaving us soon and 2013 beckons. 2012 has certainly been one of the best years of my life; being, doing, living something that i never ever imagined. The downside would be me being far away from my family but I reckon I've really maximized what I could being in Ozzie land.All my objectives for year 2012 has been fulfilled and few extras here and there.I will certainly miss Royal Perth Hospital!

                                          boss doing the BBQ

                                            Krishna and Stefan.. the 2 Pain masters

                                                      the ever cool Richard Riley
I am thankful for the grace that Allah has given me, the rezeki of such opportunity and the health that he provides for me to live every minute of it.

2013 will bring me a different fortune, and all good things will come to and end. I'll be going home and continue my adventures in Malaysia. I do feel sad leaving Perth but the extra 6 months on top of my planned 12 months has certainly eased the denial. I am still in denial as i have yet to pack.. hahaha

Happy New Year my dear friends and may the New Year bring prosperity and rezeki to you :)