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.

Laboche-Gorak Shep-EBC

It was cold in Laboche, waking up in the morning to perform Subuh prayers was not easy! It is interesting, how travelling in such extreme conditions is not an excuse to not perform prayers and such.Islam itself is not jumud as the practice of what we do at ground level may not be directly applied.Wudu' with cold icy water is not the answer as it may cause more harm. In fact, things are made easier; the combination of solats, the tayammum; its just whether you would want to do it or not!
The view while trekking was simply amazing as snow does settle in certain parts of the trek. The temperature is definitely cold and when we started off that morning it was 0oC.

 We arrived in Gorak Shep quite late relatively to our initial plan. We were supposed to take our fast lunch there and proceed to Base Camp. The one thing that our guide feared was the time we would get back. It was not advisable to return when it is dark as the temperature drop will be very significant. Breing exhausted and at 5000m above sea level is a lethal combination.
The trek to Everest Base Camp was really nice; the mental game that is being played can be very stressful. You could immediately see at far your destination at the first turn. Unfortunately, it would take one at least 3 hours to get there. Being tired as well as hypoxic doesn't really help. It is with great caution and care that one plans one journey. Ayob did not look well at all when we started off in Laboche but if you are in Gorak Shep, it is just too near to call it quits!

 Alhamdulillah..at 330pm, I arrived in EBC! I was the first to arrive and Rathi came soon after and we were elated to be there! It was such a great feeling having to leave your footprints at 5300m above sea level. Wooo... Subhanallah.. Masya Allah.. as the view was simply breathtaking. It was not possible to see Everest though as there were other peaks in sight, but the whole view area was just undescribable (is there such a word?) We waited for the whole team to arrive, which was much later when the last person arrived at 5pm. Me & Rathi had a walkabout in Base Camp. It was empty as the peak climbing season was just starting. Team Malaysia was due to arrive the next day. We took pictures at the famous Pooja Stoppa. Wow.. who knows one day i will be back here again to peak the summit? :)