SHAH’S RAMBLINGS

OK I admit it, I’m a dummy when it comes to Photoshop. All this time I’ve been using Ulead’s Photoimpact as well as Corel’s Paintshop Pro when it comes to photo editing since I find them very user friendly for photoshophobics like myself. But the one thing I’ve been meaning to do for the past [...]

Anaesthesia induction time: 9.20am. Surgery start time: 10am. Estimated duration of surgery: 9 hours (biasanya mesti terlajak la..) Time now: 4pm. Estimated finish time: most probably 8pm tonight, maybe even later. Nampak gaya cam tak sempat je nak gi join diorang makan-makan malam ni even though dah plan seminggu lebih dah. Sori ye Inah & [...]

Tengah on call lah dari pagi tadi sampai esok pagi…

Yesterday marked the start of the new academic year and with it came several notable changes in the work schedule. The most dreaded being the abolition of shifts for the Anaesthetic MOs handling cases in the operating theatres. As of yesterday there’ll be no more half day morning or afternoon shifts and instead, everyone is [...]

About 14 hours to go before the end of my last day on call hopefully for the rest of the month. The past few weeks have been really tiring being on call every third day & taking on the responsibility and workload of two people each time on call. Next week the department will finally [...]

Made a day trip to Bukit Tinggi this afternoon to indulge in some click clicking at this highland resort I’ve never been to in the past. Our first stop was the Japanese Tea Garden. The beautifully landscaped garden provided countless angles for perfect picture postcard shots. This place would surely make an excellent location for [...]

Two hours sleep in 24 hours and after reaching home this morning, I could only manage to replace an hour of the lost amount of sleep from last night. I’m going to be walking around like a zombie today with so many errands to run. Last night was one of those nights that got me [...]

This is the final month of my elective posting away form the main hospital. I’m currently doing a Respiratory Medicine posting, another non-anaesthesia posting. There’s still one more posting to do before I return to more familiar territories in March. At this current elective attachment, we get to learn a vital skill required in anaesthesia [...]

At registration to the ASEAP Congress this morning, I was relieved to find that the bag given out at this meeting was actually quite decent. I’ve got quite a few bags from various courses and congresses I’ve attended in the past, hidden somewhere in the apartment and I’ve sworn to myself never to use in [...]

The management of acute and chronic pain is a lesser known role of anaesthetists but one of high significance for patients suffering from various inflictions resulting in intolerable levels of pain. This year’s Congress of the Association of Southeast Asian Pain Societies is currently being held in KL and I’m fortunate enough to get to [...]

On the third day of my attachment in cardiothoracic anaesthesia, I was on call for the first time last night. And what a call it was. I was priviledged to be part of the anaesthetic team involved in a major surgery that day – a major organ transplant that very rarely takes place in Malaysia. [...]

Bear with me for a while as I get into a rambling mood and write a little more than usual for this post. After today it may be a while before my next post, the reason for which will be known towards the end. We were recently at another Ramadhan buffet, this time all the [...]

I’m just recovering from the stress of preparing for yet another department presentation. It was my turn to present during the Tuesday morning department CME today and now that I’ve got that out of the way, all I can say is “Phewww…It’s such a huge relief” There’s nothing more stressful than having to present to [...]

No photos today. Just a longwinded chronology of one of my worst days on call yesterday. Although this is not the busiest call I’ve ever had, it’s a good example what is referred to in the Malaysian medical community as being “Jonah”. 8.00am – Attended ICU morning passover with the team on call the day [...]

Patients who are on artificial ventilation due to respiratory problems or neurological causes will require an endotracheal tube (ETT) placed into the main airway via the mouth. However long term placement of the ETT is associated with numerous complications. As such, patients requiring prolonged ventilation or have a permanent reduced level of consciousness will require [...]