病人有分好人或坏人吗?

这是《奇迹》里问的问题。我的答案：有。病人当然有分好坏，但是身为医护人员的我们没得选择。不管好坏都得救。

So What More Is There To Be Done?

Somebody fell off the stairs in Esplanade. She died. Family commented more should be done to boost the architectural safety of the Esplanade such that a similar accident does not happen again. Problem: Esplanade is architecturally safe as determined by the authorities; each carpeted step (of each theatre) has a strip of light to illuminate it, and there is a handrail at the side for people to hold on to while they go up and down the stairs. I'll be blunt. This is already so much better than going to the movies. At times when you make last minute decisions to watch movies, ever noticed that the lights were already dimmed and you really have difficulty seeing the steps sometimes. Handrail? What handrail. Funny I do not read of anybody falling off the movie theatre steps and getting a bone fracture or the likes.

Back to the Esplanade freak accident. What exactly does the family want Esplanade's management to do to improve the safety? Light up the whole theatre while the play is on? Even then I think the deceased would still fall off the steps. After all, the steps ARE adequately lit to guide the patrons in the first place. Anyway, I am apt to think that the family is just trying to point fingers. As long as they can blame somebody for the freak accident. No constructive comments on how to improve the safety from them. They just want "some" improvements to be done. Such people really cannot be taken seriously.

Uncontactable

Forgot to charge my phone so I was basically not contactable for the whole day. Was kind of worried at first, but decided the world would still continue turning with or without the handphone. After all, I am the master of the handphone and not the other way round.

伟大的父母

Recently found out about the life story of a renal patient. She was born in China and then adopted by her current Singaporean parents when she was 6 months old. Unbeknownst to her current parents, her biological mother is hepatitis B positive and I guess in the less developed parts of China they still do not regularly vaccinate the infants when they are born to hepatitis B positive mothers.

In the end, this patient developed hepatitis related liver damage and had to take anti-viral medicine to control the hepatitis. A few years later, she started having renal problems and had to start taking immunosuppresants to control further damage to her kidneys.

According to her mother, $300K per year is not even enough to pay for her hospitalisation fees and medicine. Her husband who was already a retiree had to re-enter the workforce. Guess where he is now. In Iraq. A war-torn country, just to support the high medical expenses.

Frankly I felt a modicum of pity for this couple. They had no children of their own, that is why they've adopted the patient. However, little did they know it was not a healthy baby they had adopted. Yet, when my tech asked the patient's mother if she regretted adopting the patient, her answer was "no". To them she is a sweet girl even when she loses her temper at them. They truly loved her as their own.

Horny to Death

Thought this is really funny. Read in the papers regarding the sale of Viagra tablets. Only thing is this is Viagra for the dead. Somebody came up with this bright idea of producing paper Viagra so that people can burn them to their dead relatives in hope they continue to have a good sex life in the underworld. Talk about being horny.

Rambling... Yet Again

Complains... Some psycho patient was so paranoid about the potassium content in the glucosamine capsule we dispensed him that he called almost everyday to bug my senior about it. Problem is the potassium content is very low and I mean very low. It's about 2mmol per capsule, but patient insisted he felt his potassium had increased after taking the glucosamine for 2 days. Basically, he wanted the hospital to foot all his medical fees. *roll my eyes* Then there was a patient's dad, who complained that we gave short expiry medicine for his daughter and now wanted a refund for the expired medicine. Of course he made a lot of conjecture which only served to reflect his stupidity. Anyway, will post more about this case in my other blog.

Second week into work, and somehow I kind of regret going back. Heard some whisperings of asking me to take over the financial work at my section after my tech leaves. Have those people forgotten that I am NOT a permanent staff anymore and I absolutely do not have to handle any admin things?!

Having blocked nose now. Looks like my allergic rhinitis is more serious than a I thought. Woke up almost every night 2 hours after I doze off. Interrupted sleep is giving me headache, literally, and I am having difficulty concentrating at work. Sigh... feel like dozing off now...

Back to Work

Been working for 3 days now... as freelance. Yah, the HR called up last Mon asking when I can start working yada yada. To be frank, it feels good to be back to work. Being freelance means I don't have all the peripheral duties to do such as being A&E standby and oncall duties. Such life is a bliss.

So I'm Still a Kid

My junior, yeah my J.U.N.I.O.R, in pharmacy said I'm still a kid. Was complaining to her the other day about how I cannot stand it when patients lie to get what they want. Her reply was, "You've been a pharmacist for 3 yrs and you still feel 心理不平衡?! So like a kid."

What has this got to do with being a kid anyway. We've all been taught in school and at home that lying is morally wrong. MORALLY WRONG! So being a patient/ customer does not automatically make is right for you to lie to get what you want. Don't those people even feel a modicum of guilt when lying? Or does being an adult gives you the automatic right to lie?!

I know human beings cannot live on morals alone, but it is fundamental when living in a community because without the element of trust, the community's stability weakens; everybody will be wasting time setting up barriers to make sure they don't get conned, and at the same time preventing people who really do need help from getting it. Case in point, drug addicts that make use of legal loopholes to procure drugs to satisfy their addiction. So the government puts in new laws and makes it more and more difficult for the drug addicts to obtain the drug. Who looses out? Patients, such as those with terminal cancers, who really need the drug for their pain relief.

Come to think of it, maybe that's why the human society is not progressing. Moral values that we teach children are not practised by adults. The underlying message children are getting is: it's okay, when we reach adulthood moral values no longer apply to us. Worse: why bother with morals when my parents are not practising what they are preaching.

Finally Something That Works

Was out with Yun just now and I bought a bottle of styling gel/jelly/whatever-it-is that claims it will give you smooth straight hair. Okay, the ends of the hair at the back of my head is still curling, but at the very least my fringe and the rest of my hair is not. I can never achieve that with just plain blow drying, so I'm not complaining.

Call me a vain pot, but I've been battling curlies since I was born. Curlies look good if you have long and well-managed hair. In the curled up state well passed my shoulders, my hair always end up fighting with me for food, and they never look well-managed for long. I know there is such a thing as tying up the hair, but I looked funny with my hair tied up so I almost never tie my hair except when I'm jogging. Even then, I'll still end up looking half-crazed after I finish my 3.5km. So much for tying up the hair...

你体质本来就很弱

Went to see chinese sinsei today regarding my cough. Yah, I've been coughing since CNY till now. Actually I had an upper respiratory tract infection which cleared up pretty fast, but my respiratory tract has always been hypersensitive so there will be continued mucus production although the infection has already cleared up.

Since this was quite similar to the previous time, which was last year Nov, I asked the sinsei if it's because I am weak that's why it is hard for my cough to clear up after an infection. His reply? It's the title of this post.

(T_T)

*Flicker Flick F---------*

My CRT monitor died in its sleep. Was still fine when I was using it yesterday afternoon. Well, fine may not be the most appropriate way of describing. It was giving the ocassional flicker and I know there was something wrong, just did not want to let my dad know else he will start telling me to get a LCD monitor etc etc.

Well, now that it's dead, I am not left with any choice. At least it died when the IT fare is here.

没有工作的日子我在...

1. 上网读在线漫画。现在迷上了今市子的《百鬼夜行抄》。已经读到第十三册，还有多一册就读玩了。基本上都在画些有关日本民间流传的鬼阿，神阿。好笑的地方就在于故事主人翁与家人和他的式神的互动。

2. 看平时不能看的电视节目如 Kids Central 的卡通。真怀念读书的日子。

3. 打电动。找了一些以前买了可是没玩过的电动游戏来打发时间。

4. 不做以上三项时，就睡觉。

还好下个星期一就要开始工作了不然我真的会疯掉。二月的薪水都还没汇进我的户头，所以现在也不能老往外跑，钱还是得省着点。

年才刚过...

怎么又梦见过年。而且还是下着大雪的新年。

Go Ahead, Just Blame Us

Yup, we are the culprits. We are a major contributor to the declining birthrate in Singapore because we have doggedly stayed single. Can you blame us? Or at the very least, can you blame me?

Look at my working hours. If I work the early shift, I end work at 6PM. That gives me s.o.m.e time to go out with friends. Not for long because I will need to be home by 10PM else I would not be able to sleep early and concentrate at work, and being a pharmacist means I c.a.n.n.o.t afford to make mistakes at work. We're talking about humans lives here after all. If I work the late shift, I end work at 7PM, sometimes 7.30PM if the clinic finishes the last patient late. That's worse. By the time I get to anywhere, it will be 8PM. And I am suppose to have a proper dinner and have time to chit chat etc etc? So how exactly am I suppose to factor in time for a date? Weekends? Sorry, I am working a 5.5 workday week, and sometimes I have A&E duty on Sundays and public holidays too. My weekends are precious. They are reserved for family and friends.

Did I hear something? Work-life balance? Oh, that's nothing but crock. Tell a patient that I need to have work-life balance so from now on the pharmacy closes at 5.30 PM. I don't care if you have not collected your medicine, and that you have already ran out of medicine. My work-life balance is "very" important. Also please do not fall sick on weekends and public holidays. That way we can close our A&E pharmacy services and the single pharmacists can have more time to go out have dates or connect with people of the opposite sex. *roll my eyes*

Look at my work. After a day of working at the front line fighting with stupid Singaporeans, and questioning yourself why nobody taught those people that lying is morally wrong, do you think I still want to have kids? The patients exemplified that moral values are intended for la-la land. When you want to get something, use any form of trickery, or lies to get it. I am not bringing anybody into this world just so they can be similarly corrupted when they reach adulthood.

Besides, I think the world is over populated. Just because Singapore is not producing enough babies does not mean the rest of the world is not. We need to shift the people around. Maybe migrate more Indians or Chinese from India and China respectively to Singapore. After all, that's what our ancestors did.

Jobless

I'm officially out of job now. Starting my first day of rest, and hoping I can get use to it. Yah, I know I was suppose to start working freelance, but there was some problem with the terms of employment. Anyway, I am feeling half-hearted about working freelance at where I am working now.

Tired of all the screw-ups...