Exam Blues

It's the time of the year again - the dreaded exams! Input maxed, memory status: volatile. Having headaches in my balls, tummy aches in my brain. Wanted to have vocal diarrhoea but experiencing tenesmus instead. Aaaaahhh... I'm so loving it!

[Rantings from a brain slightly damaged by thick medical textbooks]

Seremban Half Marathon 2007

Pre-race, left to right: Quek, Siu Min, yours truly, Felix, Daniel, Kok Fang

Overall, Seremban Half is an enjoyable run. For starters, it's very near our rented house and secondly, there are six of us running! Not to mention a certain blogger personality who peer-pressured me into this race in the first place, the epitome of fitness in the medical fraternity - Dr Ray!


The organiser is competent too; we started on time and there were water stations every 5km. Adequate I think. And loads of free thirst-quenching refreshments at the finishing line.

The second quarter of the route, as Dr Ray puts it, was scenic. Saw him somewhere in the third quarter of the race. We ran together for a while, chatting. He kept commending on my pace, said I was fast and he can't even catch up - which I knew wasn't true! Was surprised with his "slowish" pace initially - after all he's a seasoned runner and a triathlete. I on the other hand, gave it an all-out sprint right from the starting line. And then it striked me in the face - most of the killer steepy terrains are in the last quarter of the race - he was conserving his energy! True enough, he smoked my arse after the last water station, while yours truly was limping due to calf spasms and tears welling in my eyes seeing Dr Ray's turbo-boost (muahahaha!). Now you know who was the one who couldn't catch up!

Post race, left to right: Felix, Quek, Siu Min (looking away due to severe leg pain), yours truly, Daniel.
Warning: I DID NOT PEE IN MY PANTS, in case you're wondering what the wet patch on my crotch was!

Having said that, I clocked the best timing for half-marathon this time round. (Not that I did many half-marathons anyway, this is just my third!)

Time:
02:10:52

Place:
91st

Clowning around.
Kok Fang mysteriously disappeared, so he wasn't in any of the post race photos. We suspect he went to nurse his severely chaffed nipples in the gents.

Here are the rewards of the race - the running certificate and the pewter "medal" (which looked more like a huge coin to me, but nevertheless nice!). In case you're wondering why would I wake up so early in the morning screwing my knee joints for premature osteoarthritis, here's the reason why!

Certificate and medal

The medal - Front

The medal - Back

The guys did pretty well. Daniel and Kok Fang, who were in the Penang Bridge Half Marathon last month, improved significantly in terms of timing. Daniel was about 10 minutes faster this time round, and placed 100th! Kok Fang on the other hand, did 30 minutes less compared to his debut in Penang! Awesome.

Here's the list of everyone's finishing time:
● KK - 02:10:52 (placed 91st)
● Daniel - 02:22:00 (placed 100th)
● Siu Min - 02:42:00 [debut]
● Kok Fang - 03:02:00
● Quek - 03:12:00 [debut]
● Felix - 03:22:00 [debut]

If you guys follow my marathon timings, you'd notice that I clock 5 minutes less in Penang Bridge, and 5 minutes less here in Seremban Half. Means I'd need to clock 02:05 for the next run, and 02:00 for the next, and come my sixth half-marathon, I should be able to clock sub-2hrs? Tough act!


Seremban Half Marathon Training Log:
05.07.07 ► 7.0km @ 00:42:35
08.07.07 ► 14.0km @ 01:18:40
Race day ► 21.1km @ 02:10:52

(Didn't really train that much for this run!)

My Third Run

What I'm gonna wear for the run, and some freebies from the marathon

Seremban Half Marathon is a few hours away, and I'm excited. Mainly because I have five mates running together with me (one chickened out last minute)! And fellow blogger and triathlete and hospital slave, tridoc, will be there too!

Seremban Half's official T-shirt

For RM10 participating fees, Seremban Half is sure worth the run! The official T-shirt is nice, at least better than the PD Half's (which is too plain and made from overly translucent cheap material) and Penang Bridge's (which is littered with too many adverts, thus cheap too!). Let's see how it goes tomorrow. No high hopes, as second half of the route is fairly steepy, and if it's a valid excuse, my right toe is still bruised!

p/s: Dr. Ray, what's your running number? Gonna target you as my pacesetter - that is if I can catch up lah... LOL!

Muscle Mania

In the late 90's, some mad scientists discovered myostatin, a gene that limits muscle growth in normal (non-diseased) condition. A mutation in the myostatin gene causes severe muscle hypertrophy, which is not good because that's abnormal!


To put things into perspective, here's a photo of a normal whippet (a breed of dog which look similar to greyhound):
And here, is a whippet called "Big Wendy a.k.a. Arnold Schwarzenegger" who has a genetic mutation in the myostatin gene, making her the Incredible Hulk of dogs!

Big Wendy the muscular whippet

The gene, which is also known as the "Mighty Mouse", had been exploited by many to produce the Belgian Blue cattles. Belgian Blues have natural mutation of the myostatin gene, a result of cross-breeding a number of cattle lineages, making them heavily-muscled "monster cows"!

Belgian Blue

In 2004, a baby was born with the same genetic mutation in Germany. He has muscles twice the size of other kids his age and half their body fat. And scientists concluded that myostatin works the same way in humans as in animals.
And you can imagine what happen next. Surely some innovative people somewhere would try to create myostatin-inhibitors to cash in the untapped potential of growing muscles with genetic therapy! I mean who wouldn't want to have huge lean muscles by just popping pills and doing nothing, right??!

Soon, the legacy of Arnold Schwarzeneggar and the standards set by Lou Ferrigno, Franco Columbu, and Ed Corney will be surpassed by these genetic-based products, without even setting a foot into a gym!

Medical students, doctors, specialists, consultants, lawyers, accountants, dentists, teachers etc. etc. can all become muscular beings by just popping pills! Or self-injection, depending on the patented formula. Whoah... how convenient!

Besides muscles, the relative size of your "balls" is increased too!

Tagline: Now everyone can be muscular!
Sure beats AirAsia aye?!

A Child With Fits and Hemiparesis

Notice the purplish birthmark on his face?

I presented this rare but interesting case during yesterday's ward round: a 20-month old toddler who came to the hospital with left-sided hemiparesis (weakness). He had two episodes of focal seizures at home, involving his left upper and lower limbs, during which there was no lost of consciousness. He had no fever.

Another photo of the same toddler, showing the distribution of his purplish facial birthmark.

He developed weakness on the left side of his body after the seizures. An obvious physical finding, which is very much related to his seizures, is the purplish "birthmark" (he was born with it) on his face, medically termed "port-wine stain". Can you guess the diagnosis?

Of Transformers, Donuts, Dim Sum, and Mango Loh

The chronicles of my immediate past weekend - trying to forget exams and sick children (I'm currently posted to paediatrics), and armageddon (the final exam)! Sigh, who am I to fool... anyways...

Transformers rocks big time! Went into the cinema with high expectations, came out in awe! Totally awesome! Optimus Prime's voice can kick Darth Vader's arse anytime! "Autobots, roll out!"

Living room

Had been hibernating in our cosy little hiding hole me and Rachel acquired not long ago. It's a 3-room condominium strategically located in Damansara Perdana. It is located within walking distance from Ikano Power Centre, The Curve, CineLeisure and Ikea. 1Utama is within a stone's throw!

Living room

"Action" room - where most of the sleeping action takes place

My hacking basement. John McClane: "You call this basement? Ha Ha Ha!"

The Kitchen

The way out

Swimming pool viewed from our balcony

The guys have been wanting to go to the Laundry Bar at Curve. So here's a view of the bar, taken from the third floor of CineLeisure.

Laundry Bar is at the left corner - there are tables and chairs in open space for al-fresco dining.

The fountain that separates Curve and CineLeisure. The colourful pointed roofs in the middle are that of the flea market stalls.

We were surprised to see The Big Apple Donuts being flocked by so many customers - the one in Jusco Seremban 2 chase flies most of the time. We decided to give Big Apple Donut a second chance, and guess what...

The donuts are definitely better than those found in Jusco Seremban. I wonder why the double standard? I mean why sell inedible donuts to Seremban people and tasty donuts to Damansara people? :P

The Little Dim Sum Place @ SS2

Iced longan drink and chinese tea.

Angmoh enjoying dim sum! Slurps...

Siew mai and salad prawn

Fried yam

Banango Fritters - with banana, mango, shrimps, and meat as fillings

Fried fun cheong (rice noodles)

The killers

We then adjourned to the dessert place next to Little Dim Sum Place, called KTZ (Kai Tak Zek), for their famous "mango loh".

Foreground: Mango Loh - damn sedap loh!

Red Bean Loh

Subungual Haematoma

Haven't start training for Seremban Half Marathon yet, mainly due to my subungual haematoma (bruise under the nail, also known as runner's nail in this case) sustained from Penang Bridge Marathon. Not sure if I'm gonna train at all, with impending exam stress and the painless purplish toe I'm having!

Unlike tridoc who's going to Lumphini Park this Friday for a highly specialised training with the hope of gunning it under 2hrs for Seremban Half (LOL!), I'm lying low nursing my bruised toe!

Consulted my orthopaedic surgeon, Prof. H this morning, as I was contemplating of draining the clotted blood by poking a heated needle through my toe nail (the standard treatment for subungual haematoma). He advised me against it, as my bruise is not huge and it is painless. Most importantly I wouldn't want any bacterial infestation by creating a hole on my toenail. And the complications of onycholysis and what nots. Will try jog a little tomorrow. See how it goes. The blistering hot weather doesn't help at all!

Up Next: Seremban Half

Due to the unrelenting peer pressure from tridoc, I headed to Seremban town during lunch break to submit my participation in Seremban Half Marathon scheduled for July 15, 2007. Which is two weeks away!

Right toe - 1wk post Penang Bridge Marathon

My poor right toe is still congested with haematoma (bruises) I obtained from the Penang Bridge Marathon. It may look nasty but it feels more like numbing than painful. Why ah Dr. Ray, why does this happen to my strong precious toe? Why???!!!

Seremban Half Route Map

This time round, I managed to rope in 6 other IMU mates - 4 being first-timers! Qualifying time for Seremban Half is 2 hours 30 minutes. Medals are given only to the first 300 finishers. It's is gonna be a race against Dr. Ray! Hahaha... eh kidding ya!

End of Surgery Posting

My 4-week surgery posting ended with a clinical and written exam last Friday. I had a rectal cancer patient who came in for chemotherapy for the clinical exam. The case was easy, almost spot on. Unluckily, I got the head of the surgical department, Mr. P, as my examiner, who's also an expert in colorectal carcinoma. I get the same comment as the top student in my group who was also examined by him:
"Your pass is out of mercy!". Fuhh... at least passed!

Morning ward rounds.

The written paper was easy enough, no fret there. Looking back, the questions asked by Mr. P wasn't that hard at all if we were to follow the surgical clinics daily without fail. Thing is, we med students always think that covering the textbooks would be more important!

In surgical theatre - gastric fundoplication.

We were supposed to be in the clinics everyday, but yours truly ended up attending only... let's just say my attendance was far below un-satisfactory ok! The rest of my mates' attendance too, got the attention of the dean. Heh heh...

In surgical theatre - herniorrhapphy.

We were supposed to be in the operating theatre daily too! And you guessed it right - I went only once! Not that bad lar considering I observed 2 important surgical procedures that day. A gastric fundoplication and a herniorrhapphy.

Actually right, cannot blame us students lar. Where got enough time?! We were expected to clerk patients the night before, reach hospital at 8am for case presentations (some stretches till 10.30am), then straight away go clinic till 12pm, then class from 2 to 4pm.

Clinical skills - examining breasts!

Sometimes got extra clinical skills class, add in another 2 hours. One whole day already so blardy packed, brain wanna explode, sometimes still need to on-call. If no on-call, have to go ward also to prepare cases for next morning's round.

Females can be shy too when it comes to examining fake breasts!

And we were supposed to extract some time from our already super jammed packed timetable for private studies. Hello, no life meh! Night time supposed to be chill-out time mah!

Frustrated, and tired, I ponteng-ed quite a number of the sessions. Life cannot be so stressful one! Mr. P's remark "I don't know if it's us that are not teaching you guys enough or it's you guys who never learn enough" didn't go unfounded.

Inserting a CVP into a plastic tube!

Nevertheless, surgery posting is one of my favourite posting, and one that I might further my studies on. Liked the surgical skills involved - the knotting, suturing, the instruments, the surgeries, etc. Everything is in sync with my inherent love to cut live people up! Ha ha just kidding!

TBL classes - time to catch up on sleep!

I also realised that surgeon lecturers have the tendency to be super-duper long-winded, besides the ability of standing still in the ward for 2.5 hours in one seating! Two-and-a-half hour of talking and standing still, what the heck! One can already finish a half-marathon and sitting on the grass gulping 100Plus!

And we students have to suffer in the end lah - no time to study in the day, study at night lor. And it is evident by noon who had studied the most the night before - the sleepy heads (majority girls)!

How you wished you were in medical school, right?! Ya riiiiggghhhtt....