Wednesday, April 28, 2010

A Clinic Session

I arrived half an hour ealier than my 10am appointment at the Skin Clinic in JB hospital. I received no 5001, which indicated that I was the 1st patient to be seen by the specialist in room no.5.Usually, the specialist would visit the wards before attending to outpatient clinic. So patiently, I sat waiting. Arround 10.20am, I approached a nurse at the counter. She said the specialist was in. Back to my seat while trying to make sense of the delay.

Finally, at 10.45am, 5001 was displayed on the electronic board and hurriedly I entered the room. A lady patient who registered much later than I was seen leaving the room! After exchanging greetings, I showed the specialist my right palm which was cleared of warts. She decided that I was cured and needed no further treatment.And should I need to see her in future I could call up for appointment.So kind of her. The whole session lasted less than 5 minutes. Thanking her for getting rid of the warts, I got up to leave. On impulse I turned my head arround and said, ' You must be real busy as usual!'. " Yalah, what to do, so many patients to see!', came the answer.

So many patients! I thought I was supposed to be the 1st one! Hahaha...wishful thinking! There must be 2 groups of patients in the out patient clinic: one group numbered and one group unnumbered! Or maybe she meant so many patients in the wards. Guess I'll never find out.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Waking up in April 2010

Updating this blog is like waking up from a long slumber. What have I being doing the past 3 months of 2010 ? Anyway, syukur alhamdulillah, I'm still blessed with all the goodness in life.

In early January, I declined a tutor assignment. There were 2 reasons for doing so. Firstly, the U management never failed to notify by phone of the assignment 2 days before the 1st interaction with the students! And I already had an appointment elsewhere. Secondly, my darling daughter advised strongly that I consider the stressful experience I went through during the first assignment. In my condition, stress is enemy number one.Being unable to take responsibility lightly all my life, I don't think the new assignment will be any less stressful. So as much as I love the subject, I love myself more!

February was the month of hectic travels. That month, I traveled back to Kelantan twice. First, I drove both ways for the Chinese New Year. This year, we had to bring both cars to accommodate 9 people including my lovely grandson(to be introduced 1st time to the folks back there). My younger sister back from the US who paid me a visit in BP and 2 nieces working in KL made up the other 3 passengers. My hubby co-drove with my son who is not used to distance driving. Syukur alhamdulillah, the trip was memorable. I flew in for the 2nd trip and spent a few days with my sister in my parents'place and flew out to KL with her on her return journey to the States. The trip was sponsored by my sister by the way.

After the 2nd trip, in early March, I experienced some health problem. Both my feet, especially the balls, hurt badly. My stomach, my abdomen and my shoulders ached terribly.My eyes tired badly. I was practically aching all over!! It scared the hell out of me. Is my cancer back again ? I usually avoid taking any form of pain killer so I prayed hard for guidance. Then, it dawned on me to use my favorite herb, the aloe vera. I used the gel to rub on every part of my aching body. Every morning, I'll juice an approx. 7 x 4 cm piece of aloe vera gel, a green apple and 3 pieces of 'pecah beling' leaves with 1/4 mug of pure water. I 'll drink it on empty stomach. Syukur alhamdulillah, it works. Anyway, I kept the appointment with my surgical doctor. The doctor prescribed gastric capsules and multivitamin for me. So what's wrong with me? It must be gastric plus stress !Insyallah, I'll be more mindful.

On April 15 around 6.30am,I received a call from my ex colleague. In a daze and disbelief, I received the sad news on the passing of another ex colleague. He was 52 years old. A Physical Educator who was still involved in competitive game and he succumbed to heart failure. So what went wrong? As far as I know, he put on weight after he stopped smoking and used to complain of heart burn. Later, I discovered that he was always reluctant in seeking medical attention. I guess that explains it all. His passing is a great loss to the PE department. He was knowledgeable and skillful and most of all a dear friend. May Allah swt bless his soul. Amin. Rest in peace, SUI.

"Health is Wealth" goes the saying. Most of us know it but how many of us are able to keep healthy ? Healthy life style is the key word, we know that. Maintain balance diet, drink enough water, exercise , manage stress and have scheduled medical check-up are the dos yet how many of us are able to adhere to it? I believe habits die hard so good and healthy life style must be inculcated from young.

Family must play the primary role in this afford. However, sad to say that most parents are preoccupied with other aspects of living to pay attention to teaching their children about healthy life style let alone be role models themselves. Then, the responsibility fall on schools.

Physical Education(PE) and Health Education(HE) are two subjects in school meant for educating school children on how to lead life long healthy life. If those subjects are allowed to play their roles, I am sure the effect would be substantial. Then again, as we know, being non examination subjects in exam oriented institution, PE and HE are not given the due respect. Most of the time, PE and HE are taught by non PE and HE teachers as subject to make up for their time table hours, or the time allotted used to tutor pupils in 'important' examination subjects like Mathematics and Science , and worst of all, the PE and HE time are used to carry out school
team practices or in preparing the examination hall!!! So there goes the aim of getting the school children to lead healthy life. The vicious circle will keep on turning..... So help us God. We are so 'helpless' Amin