KL-Kathmandu-Lukla

Deeno invited me in an email to join him in an epic journey to the Himalayas. I was certainly excited as this was a feat I have never thought I would be able to do. To reach Everest Base Camp is definitely an achievement, at least for me a nobody.  The planning started last year and by November I have confirmed my participation in this event.

Deeno was suppose to lead this group- as he did plan to make the expedition more exciting, a whole big round route where we were supposed to reach EBC, Kala Pattar then through Chola Pass summiting Gokyo Ri. However, the turn of events and rezeki ; Deeno was to lead the team ssponsored by FELDA ummiting Everest in May 2013. Indeed I was happy for him but at the same time, I was wondering.. who would then lead this group of hopefuls to EBC?

We had a practice team climb, and I met a few of the future team members. It was good to know that Amir and Sobrie was coming, with Saf most likely to lead the group. It was interesting to find out that Dr Hussin (KPJ) who I’ve done locum for him before was also joining us!

I booked early enough last year to get a very good deal with MAS. MAS and AirAsia had just began their flight to Kathmandu in February this year. On paper, there was the 3 of us and none of them I knew before hand!

Went to the airport early in the morning of 11/5, after Subuh. Funnily enough; I checked in behind Ayob but at that time we did not know each other nor did we try to greet each other! Haha I guess I dressed up to casual (with sandals) and Ayob looked like he was going for a business trip. When I was at the boarding gate, Rathi called me up to introduce himself and we got to know each other then. We tried to call Ayob, but to an avail. The person who was Ayob, we thought WAS NOT AYOB because he did not answer the phone.Hence.. the journey to Kathmandu begins!

The whole team regrouped in Manang Hotel Kathmandu. We were greeted by our guide Raj and his boss Ganesh. I was priviledged to meet al the team members, from the eldest Haji Ali who is 72, Dr Husin, Hakim, Razi, Ahmad Radhi, Ayob, Nithin, Yasmin, Sobrie, Amir and Saf. The 12 of us, the team by Puncak Event J Raj gave a briefing of the details of our trek of what to expect and the possible emergency scenarios. The whole of next Friday, we were shopping around in the outddor “heaven” of Kathmandu; completing our equipment and clothing. I did bought a few things; a down jacket, a proper weatherproof trousers, few drybags, walking poles etc! I wished I had brought less so that I could buy more as the choice is just beyond words!

We started our “proper” trip on Saturday 13 April 2013. The flight to Lukla was supposed to be straight forward but the weather played a bit with our group. Only me & Rathii went on the first flight to Lukla the most dangerous airport in the world!Haji Ali followed suit in the helicopter (as his name was left out in the earlier list of names for flight!) The rest was stranded in Kathmandu for a while and we heard this news upon arrival in Lukla! However, in the afternoon the whole group came around with the helicopter!

The epic adventure EBC 2013

I was away from 11 - 26 April 2013.
I was well above everybody else :)
Yup.. went on my lifetime trip trekking to the Everest Base Camp.
Alhamdulillah, i survived it .It was an experience of a lifetime.
I am still a bit fatigued having coming back from the trip,  I thought i would be just ok but i guess i still need to do a bit of acclimitazation as well.
Fear not.. as i will detail my trip on this blog, on the adventure from Kathmandu to Lukla. From Lukla the walk to the top and back.

SMTTDI nostalgia

I was invited (which i thought) to the Hari Anugerah Cemerlang of my secondary school. Honestly, it did not cross my mind that i was the Guest of Honour haha I thought i was just one of the ex-students invited to give a minute or two speech to the current students on their Prize Giving Day.Puan Nurhana made the courtesy call and of course , for SMTTDI I will never not attend!
When i received the text that was written for me few days before the event, only then did i realize that I WAS THE VIP hahaha I was oncall the day before and was crossing my fingers that nothing urgent would happen early in the morning. ALAS.. at 7am, my MO called for help as she was struggling to insert lines for an 11 year old who was going for craniectomy. Alhamdulillah, i managed to sort out the invasive lines in just 10 minutes. And there I was rushing to SMTTDI on a Saturday morning.

 Just as how was planned, I arrived on time! The crowd was ready for me and for the first time in my life, I was given the honour to inspect the line. It was refreshing to see the glimmering eyes of the young students; in an assembly. Honestly I was tired as literally i did not have much sleep but being there was adrenaline rush for me.

 The event went well and it was nostalgic to see the students performing & receiving their prizes for their excellence. It was good to meet up with my former teachers, Ustaz, Cikgu Azhar, Puan Nurhana.. the stalwarts of SMTTDI.

Thank you Datin and SMTTDI for inviting me. I am always ready to motivate and inspire the young. Especially to strive; coming from a simple day school like ours.
Indah permai sekolah kami, Sekolah Menengah Taman Tun Dr Ismail,
Mendidik putera puteri negara, demi nusa dan bangsa.

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 :)