CSR Sime Darby & Pertiwi Kitchen Soup 21 July 2013

I initially saw the posting in facebook. Izad was looking for docs who can volunteer for his CSR programme. I read through the posting and thought why not. It is something that i would like to do when i have time. Especially it is ramadhan now. I browsed and google to look more info about Pertiwi Kitchen Soup.And it was cool to read through the blogs for the volunteers who participated in the past. I then confirmed with Izad about my intentions and Alhamdulillah he was ever so glad for me to join!
Right after iftar, I was off to KL. I was worried if i am late but the traffic was excellent. It took me less than 20 minutes from BJ to Jalan Sultan Ismail. Amazing isn't it when you realize you are not that far off from KL in distance. It is usually the traffic which slows your travel time.
I was clueless about how it is being done, as they wanted more doctors to be involved in this programme.

 From the SIme Darby building in Jalan Raja Laut, we walked to Tune hotel and beside the main road, we saw the setup. People were already queing as it is a routine thing done during the week. This time around , they saw the whole group clad in green (Sime Darby colour) haha The kitchen Soup van was ready to distribute the food packs prepared earlier.
I was introduced to Dr Muhammad-Kumaran (a South African) with his wife. and they are the main core in organizing the clinics on Sunday night. We were straight away into our duties, a simple day to day clinic running. Of course, we had loads of patients waiting for us. It reminded me the time when i did locum and at the same time, glimpse of P2 HKL. The patients are mostly the typical patients i had with me during those days. I guess when P2 closed, they became homeless and it is around the Kl streets that we see them.

 Next stop was Kota Raya but the amount of patients waiting for a check up is not as much as in Chow Kit. Seeing Kotaraya at 11pm on a Sunday night is different from what i used to see. I've not been to this part of KL >15 years therefore it did bring some nostalgia. People were waiting for food to be served and we had quite a crowd there.

 The last stop was the most interesting stop. As it was under the Jalan Syed Putra bridge. This is the heart of the homeless community. An organized terrace and borders between each member can be seen when one walks along River Klang on the embankment. You might have thought most of them would be the illegal immigrants but by fact, they are all fellow Malaysian citizens. Such poverty and seeing their large simple lifestyle, one wonders how they survive in their day to day running.

One might argue, they become homeless and live in such conditions because they decide to do so.There might be a number of them who are like that, but i am sure there are a big number themselves who are just unfortunate. They just dont have the means. More so the ones with infectious diseases such as HIV and Hep B, the social stigma is still as how the casts are that they just have no where else to go. I guess, i do realize why my former Consultant in medicine emphasized how we should treat all patients the same. Itis just so easy to slip into the judgemental mode and be unfair to them.

 We had an interesting mix. Sazzli, a colleague of mine was one of the doctors invited. We didn;t know both of us participated in this programme and it was fun to see Sazzli shocked seeing me! There was Dr Chen as well, an Aesthetic physician who unfortunately had a bout of asthma attack during the trip. Dr Fairuz, a Public Health trainee was certainly in his elements while doing the check ups. They had to give us the manual BP cuff and i can't remember the last time i used it ( being anaes and techy as well.. hahaha)

 Thank you Izad for the opportunity.Insya Allah, i hope to have the enthusiasm of serving as how the regular doctors who does it week in week out.I do salute the efforts of Auntie Munirah to sacrifice her time and effort for such a noble cause. Insya Allah.

Mid ramadhan post

Its the 16th day of Ramadhan today. Time flies very fast. It'll be Syawal in another 2 weeks and its August next week! I can't believe I left Perth only mid February and there's a lot that has been happening ever since.
I'm tight with my daily routine that I've not done raya shopping for the kids or even sending my kain for baju melayu! haha I'm not sure its due to laziness or me just not prioritising properly.
Alhamdulillah, we've successfully completed our 6th open heart surgery in UiTM. I am very pleased with the outcome so far. The plan is, we are getting busier with having 2 Cardiac OT days per week. I am more than happy to commit and Insya-Allah will vie my best for the institution. Its time that i look for a partner as it can be hectic.I wonder who would be interested to do cardiac, or if they are already one, to join us in UiTM. It'll be tricky to look for somebody that i can work with.
On another note, I'm currently doing the Department's website. Thanks to technology, its easy to do one today than say compared to 5 years ago.
the link.. mafeitz.wix.com/anaesthesiauitm ..
do browse through and give your comments! It is still at its infancy stage but I'm not looking into an award winning site. Just some info on our department and the activities that we do.

Going on strong

It is the holy month of ramadhan, A month of celebration but at the same time a remembrance of how we should always be thankful for what we have. We are getting busier in Anaesthesia UiTM but I am thankful that we are progressing as how we should lately. Alhamdulillah, the 5 CABG was done uneventfully and the plan is after Eid, we will do 2 open heart cases per week. Even the thoracic component is going on strong with the few complicated cases that was done.
I am happy but the same time sad that my two initial colleagues, Suraya and Hady are not with us anymore when we started CTS services. We were working for it for about a year when the 3 of us went our separate ways.Don't get me wrong, there was no feud or dissatisfaction but the decision for our own future. I left for Perth, Hady went private and Suraya into business. We had a good thing, the 3 of us but it was not meant to be.I'm sure they would have been proud to see what UiTM Anaesthesia has achieved in this short period.

As much as I can, i do try to maintain my link with Sungai Buloh Hospital Anaesthesia Department. I do feel I can contribute a lot to the development as well as being in touch with the hecticness of KKM hospitals. ICU can be a nightmare to manage but somehow, i do enjoy it. I guess thats why i pledged to do Anaesthesia and it is a part of what makes me today. It can be disheartening to decide on life and death issues but again when i am not oncall as often, i do feel fidgety and loathing for that 1 moment of terror.

Another first for Medic Fac UiTM

I must say, when Prof Zamrin said that we will be doing OFF PUMP CABG today, I was a bit worried as my experience in handling off pump is very limited. Alhamdulillah, Prof Amir from HUKM came around to help and facilitate. They have been doing this together before therefore he is the best person to be around for this case today.

And today 2 July 2013, Another history mark in UiTM calendar as the first Off Pump Bypass was succesfully done. Alhamdulillah :)

AOSRA PM 2013 Kuching with love 18-22 June

 SIGRA (Special Interest Group in Regional Anaesthesia)  lobbied for this event 2 years ago and Alhamdulillah we won the bid. The task to organize the biggest Regional Anaesthesia Conference in Malaysia was challenging. MSA did most of the organizing and Shah as the SIGRA Convenor did the necessary to get excellent speakers & facilitators for the event.

 Like our usual MSA meetings, SIGRA members were more than happy to run the hands on workshop. I reckon our workshop and live demo is cool because most overseas conference do not really show how the block is performed on real time patients. We did the workshop in Kuching GH and Alhamdulillah it went well.

 When one of the speakers pulled out, I was asked to replace him. it was a mammoth task considering I am still young and new at this. However, i took the opportunity to speak and it was a real nail biting experience. Interestingly, I did not loose my cool but i guess looking back, i could have done a better job with the content of my presentation:)

 Honestly, I was mostly knackered during the whole conference. The stress of doing the workshop and before presenting totally knocked me off. I did not go anywhere on my own (very unlikely of me!) as I've been here 2 years ago during Yo's wedding. All my evenings were spent with the SIGRA team on the sponsored dinners around town. I guess when you are one of the speaker, the spectrum changes as compared to if you are the participant.

Hari ini dalam sejarah UiTM

Alhamdulillah, 11 June 2013 I am very proud to have been involved in this major leap stone n the history of UiTM. The moment we have been waiting for eagerly; yet rewarded perhaps with the best gift of team. Our first CABG on UiTM soil, the first ever and Im sure will be mentioned in the history books. Alhamdulillah, everything went according to plan and I've just extubated the patient.
It was literally heart stopping but with the full support from all quarters to run this first case it felt good.
Insya Allah.. to better future :)

                                                       crucial moments

                                                    Perfusionist team

Kuantan Century Ride

I registered for it after hearing about it from a riding friend whom I just met. I didn't exactly know what i was putting myself into! There was no proper training but to join in the fun..Why not? As usual.. the motto I've always had. As usual. i suffered.. hahaha
Brought the whole clan of MDQs to support me, well since it was the school holidays at least another place for them to relax. I was lucky as the room i had was big and suited a family with 5 small kids. We stayed at the MS Garden which is the official hotel for this event.I was amazed to see the enthusiastic crowd of riders who came in with the best looking road bikes I've seen. The Malaysian scene is really a happening one at the moment.
I met Rathi in the early hours of the morning for breakfast.Apparently, MS Garden catered especially for riders with an early breakfast time at 4am! Imagine having breakfast at that time! We were then off to UIA at about 630am.

 The sea of bicycles was very prominent. I was overwhelmed by the atmosphere. Certainly the most happening cycling event in Malaysia and Im part of it.

Nearly had a heat stroke but i finished it.. haha Not an easy ride when you start cramping at 100km with 60km to go :)

Cardiothoracic.. here we come :)

It is almost time.. we have a new surgeon with us, a reputable one and i am confident this time around we are set to run the Cardiothoracic list in UiTM! We just had our final check up and OT flow trial this morning. I am all ready and set for this now. Insya Allah.. really soon.

Fun Run S&C 8km

 This event was held as a prelude to SC Kl Marathon which will be held end of June.I managed to coax the missus to join the run; in fact her first ever event run! I did ask her to take up the 4km challenge but she said that it was too short.. haha Well, she's been on the threadmill for a few months now since joining Celebrity fitness gym in her workplace. I said why not and Yes.. she did it :)
We were off from home after Subuh prayers. It was a bit far ; the trip from Bukit Jelutong to Putrajaya but as it was early in the morning, there was no traffic. We took the Park & Ride option and i am happy to see a big number of runners did this. However, there are still another lot who would try to park if possible next to the starting line.. hahaha

 The run started a bit late as we were waiting for YB KJ the Sports & Youth Minister to flag us off. It was about 720am and we were on our way! The crowd was sporting and cheerful that morning. The 8km route was a scenic one by the lake but by 740am the sun was up! It was really hot and humid! This is the main difference between running in Malaysia and overseas.I was quite surprised with my pace as i did push myself to have a go at this short run.
Wifey managed to finish her run in a respectable time; though her knee was giving that twitch of pain.A good introduction for her to join me in my future event :)

SHOES (Shadow Housemanship Oncall Simulation) 2013

This year is the 3rd year SHOES is running. A programme where intially was KIV for that year has become an important essence in the whole Shadow Housemanship programme. Despite having my own opinion of how it should really be run, I am in tandem with the Dean's concept. I do hope that I can improve more for  years to come.
When we started this in 2011, it was just revolving on the idea of Simulation, what we have read and what we thought would be good for students as how we've wanted it when we were at their stage.Having been the Simulation Fellow in Perth had made me wiser and i truly understand how it should work.Being in an organized system taught me a lot and definitely it is time for me now to contribute.

  I do feel that for the current medical students, this is another the way to teach them. Even during housemanship, a dedicated team should run dry simulations for the house officers, not just before but during their training as well. It is a known fact that the hands on training they are getting nowadays is appauling. Can't really blame them though as all the developed countries do havethe same problem. The only difference would be how they realize and cope with it. We are still way behind as the beings in power still do not understand whats going on on the ground; plainly critisizing rather than trying to do something good or different for their younger ones.

The urge to improve oneself is never easy to be instilled. I am not expecting everybody who underwent the short session to learn and understand everything that i explained. The learning process is lifelong and the hope is one day, during that one moment in time during the terror they are facing; they will look back and reflect at what my team was trying to do. Perhaps to inspire them to always be proud of where they come from; be real in the real world as they have always been protected in one way or another. Survival of the fittest.. that would be the theme of the day.
I must thank Julina for her iron-lady ever hardwork and the rest of the team: Fahmi,Adlin, Nadia, Rusnaini, Izzat & Halim for being there to run the show. Of course to the dedicated CSL team, Irwan & Kamal as well as the superb AudioVisual team who made the set up in my mind to reality.
It was fun for everybody i thought, though in the comedy of errors moment i do hope that the young doctors realize the seriousness in it. I am myself learning, and truly to the words of wisdom, I do learn a lot from them as well in this stint.

MUDS Duathlon UPNM 2013

When i accidentally found out that MUDS was just around the corner, I quickly registered. I would have loved to take part in all 3 but I had engagements on the other dates. I would have been keen to join MUDS in Um but unfortunately it was not possible to do so. Therefore, I was only able to take part in UPNM. Its not too bad.. 3km run-13.8km bike -3km run again. I did not fully train but my occasional weekly run around BJ does help.
I came early and i was really early. The organizers were just setting up and not that many participants were around. I did not attend the briefing on the previous day as it was too impossible to travel to and fro in the Sungai Besi direction on a Friday evening! After collecting my bib, I was getting myself ready. I was expecting to see familiar faces but to my avail, i could not recognize anybody. I guess the event was mainly for university students and having left Malaysia for almost 2 years I don't know anybody! Lone ranger today! hahaha

The race started at 9am and the heat was on. The weather has not been kind for the past few days and we could feel the heat even when the clouds were covering the sun. Having to see a lot of athletes with MAS tag on was certainly intimidating hahaha Takkan nak race dengan Malaysian National athelete kot! Haha it was not funny. But i guess, its interesting to see how far you are from them when the race finishes.

My initial run was not too bad. But i kept my pace and not to try huf and puff to finish it. However, i could have gone faster but then again, no point being exhausted in the end. The transition was not too bad as My legs did not feel wobly or unstable, however there was an initial concern that something was wrong with my rear wheel. Apparently because of how we places the rear tyre, it had hid my brakes and it was prohibiting my wheel to turn smoothly. I did panic a bit but kept my calm and repaired it. Alhamdulillah.. off i went with Mizz Pina!

 It was really hot as when the cycle leg finished I was really thirsty. I had taken a lot of gulps as well and with a bit of Energy gel, it boosted my energy to do the final leg. I did feel tired but it was not too bad as when i slowed down my pace I was able to speed up a bit later!
Just browsed through the website, and my time was not too bad . 1:05:56. I am placed 22nd in the men's Open category.. not too bad though.. Haha Of course, when compared to the young univ students my time is just average but I am glad I am still able to do this.:)

EBC-Dzongla-Dengboche

On the way back from EBC, I was suddenly called from afar. There was a medical emergency. I rushed back eventhough I've walked quite a distance. Apparently Ayob was in a real bad condition. He was exhausted and in a severe state of shortness of breath. I went back to assess and Min and Raj was with him. We slowly assisted him to walk back but as it was getting dark, the conditions were getting worse. We were lucky that there was a porter returning from EBC and Raj managed to coax him to carry Ayob. Initially, another guide had run to Gorak Shep to call a horse for rescue.

I was with the back group and at this time, Amir's AMS was getting worse. He was quite fatigued and had to walk really slowly back. Guess what made things to go worse? haha Snow started to drop uncharacteristicly for this season. It was getting really cold and the snowfall was not helping. We arrived in Gorak Shep lodge at about 9pm. It was cold and the dinner did not make it better. I was slowly losing my appetite.

Ayob did not do well. We had an SPO2 monitor and it showed his saturation to be 50%. Mine, at this altitude was 70%. Clinically he was having an impending APO. Woo..at this altitude with no medical facilities, it was a challenge for me to manage. Of course, the first thing Ayob should do is descend but with the snow falling hard outside there was no way he could travel down. I gave him Diamox, limit his fluids and nursed him conservatively. It was a cold night as well. If he gets a full blown APO now, thats it.We were crossing our fingers that he would be Ok for the travel down the next morning. 

The weather remained terrible as it snowed the whole night. I had to go to the toilet a few times and everytime the snow level increased.(the toilet was outdoors and we had to walk quite a distance).When we woke up with the sun up, the whole scenery just changed. Totally changed. Yesterday it was dusty and today it was just snow saujana mata memandang.

The group was split into two. Me, Rathi, Amir & Razi were to continue to complete the Chola Pass trek. The others decided to descend to Periche. Ayob was going down with a horse. Raj was hoping that the snowfall was just a freak show and the weather today would be OK.

However, the weather turned worst. The trek to Dzongla was almost impossible. There was even a snow storm and it became really cold! Visuals were bad as i can't even see what was in fromt of me clearly. A group of European trekkers turned back as they could not see where they were heading. Raj offered them to follow but according to them they were lost for about 2 hours! We arrived at Dzonghla at about 4 pm and how glad I was to be in a warm area. Frost were all over our bags and it was my first experience, really doing snow trekking.

Staying overnight in Dzonghla, Raj dropped the bom and informed us that it was impossible to carry on. The Chola Pass trek is very dangerous in these conditions and for our safety he was not keen to continue. We can;t do anything as that was the situation. No point risking our lives to endevour in something an expert like Raj is suggesting. He was able to find the way to Dzonghla despite the snow storm, so he must be really good. A group of Europeans followed us back to Dughla the next day.

It was evident with the snow which was knee high when you really press your walking sticks down. But the view.. Masya Allah, was superb and wonderful. It was not easy to trek in the snow and Alhamdulillah, I was glad i was given that glimpse of opportunity to do so.