CSI: Bad to the bone

The chilly air greeted us in creepy manner that morning. Happydoc had just moved out his car from the front porch when I noticed a strange looking white object which was hidden underneath his car now staring back at me.

I took a few brave steps closer, and suddenly I felt a shiver came down my spine like a bolt of lightning on a broad daylight.

"Meromaaanngg buluu pakcik"

We examined it carefully and it looked like a piece of human mandible (jaw bone) cut in half. Unlikely to be from dogs, because the canine tooth was not sharp and long enough.

"Perhaps a stray dog dug it from a shallow grave and dumped it here" Happydoc thought loudly.

"Hmm it could easily came from a young adult of between 14 - 17 years of age old... (dramatic pause)... possibly asian female" I summed up the final diagnosis.

Suddenly I felt the the spirit of Hardy Boy's enters my body (err in Happydoc case - maybe Nancy Drew's). Dang! what are we gonna do now?? After some serious consideration we came up with 3 options:

1. If this is a human bone - we need to send it to the police, they may come and turned Happydoc's house into a homocide crime scene. What would the nice 20's something-girl next door think?

2. Show it to our forensic colleagues at the hospital for confirmation - then if yes.. send it to the police.

3. Throw it into the neigbour's compound and it now became their business. Muahaha!

Finally we decided if this really belonged to a human victim. Then the owner deserve a justice and a proper burial. So we handed the bone to the nearest police station and surprise! surprise! Those folks were unsure but promised to confirm it with their experts.

The very next day I called them up for answer.. and creepy enough they said it belonged to a certain mammals of a yet undetermined origin...

"Who are you... who? who? who?"

CSI Bukit Bintang: Pilot

There was a mixture of excitement and sombre mood in the air. The street was dirty with little humidity to be shared around tonight. The crowd was restless, few security guards were trying their best to hold back some curious onlookers.

The object of affection was a scrawny-looking young malay lad who laid unconscious in front of Sg Wang with his skull half-cracked open. I tried to walk away with my shopping goodies, but my conscious told me to stay put and be a good boy.


So I introduce myself to the guards and they allowed me to pass through. For a split second I felt like Horatio Caine of the CSI Miami (minus the sunnies and a quippy one-liner... errr and hot babes wearing bikinis in the crowd) walking in a slow-mo approaching a crime scene.


This unfortunate chap was attacked by some bikers armed with Grade A helmets. So yeah he was totally knocked out with a Glascow Coma Scale of 8/15 (google it lor), a rapid non-alcohol breathing with relatively strong pulse.


The thing with ambulatory medicine (or pre-hospital care) is we aren't equip with all the standard gadgets in an emergency room. No gloves, IV Drip or Oxygen mask to play around. So my 'street magic' healing process was pretty farking useless. Feeling naked and helpless all I could do was putting him into lateral recovery position so the poor sod didn't aspirate his semi-digested lemang into his lungs.

In a classic M. Night Shyamalan's twisted ending the loud wailing siren vehicle finally arrived and TA-DAA!! The hospital ambulance came in a form of a van from the Jabatan Pertahanan Awam. Well don't get me wrong, I was thrilled they came. But the way those JPA boys carried the victim was a bit too rough.. err please handle the neck with care boys.

For goodness sake, whatever happen to our national health revamped that took place few years ago. I'm sure with couple of million pumped into buying Mercedes-branded ambulance. Maybe Anwar could use this piece of ass - ops! I meant information for his next election.

Cheerio!

Mentor

A wise man once said that a great teacher does not teach but to inspire others. This is exactly how I feel toward this man who has inspired many generations of doctors in this hospital.

He is an internationally renowned physician who has dedicated his life to mankind through his clinical work and research.

Although I didn't have a direct opportunity to be his student, but many of my teachers were once thought by him. So one way or another I feel indebted to him.

The bad news is he is currently unwell, the old enemy that he fought and defeated has returned and want a rematch, which I believe he will not give in or give up that easily. With Aidilfitri is around the corner, things would be even more challenging for him and the family.

Be strong now Prof, now more than ever.

We are with all the way.

alone@aidilfitri.com

Happydoc is a newbie in our hospital, having just joined the masters programme last June, he was considered a junior. His stylish hair, boyish look and nice taste in the clothing department reminds me of the once locally famous 4u2C group.

But oh boy! I was totally wrong about him, after knowing him later did only I realised that he has strong experience in internal medicine having gone through all the major postings in GHKL.

So superdoc has helped me a lot during my rough period in these last few months. Perhaps he's one of the few good soul out there whom willingly want to befriend a crooked chap like me.




On another note, I must say this would be a lonely Aidilfitri for yours truly. I thought I could be happy again this Raya... but i guess that my wish would just have to wait this time... which may be forever. I finally realised that in life.. it's not what we want that matters. And above all the ironies in this world one thing stays true -- sometimes we can't always get what we want.

I have to live with that now.

Lastly but surely not the least Selamat Hari Raya to all my readers
... may all your wishes come true.

Listen to your heart

Once upon a saturday morning...

A 70 year old man presented with neck pain which aggravated by movement. Which of coz is your typical 'atok tua dengan sakit tengkuk' scenario. A young doc at the A&E however noted something is amiss. His pulse rate only register at 26 per minute!



An ECG revealed a second degree heart block - Mobitz type II which could progress rapidly to 3rd degree or complete heart block which is your Grim Reaper's recipe for dinner.

The heart is likened to a pumping machine which in a normal mortal pumps out about 5 litre / minute of blood into the circulation. It however needs an electrical supply to coordinate its pumping activity. Right now his heart's electrical wiring is fucked up big time.

The A&E doc paged the cardiology unit MO on call aka 'me in sleepy mode' to further manage this case. On further questioning he admitted to been having giddiness for the past 2 days. After consultation with the registrar & cardiologist on call, we decided to perform an urgent transvenous temporary pacemaker (TPM).

Under local anaesthesia we pierced the right internal jugular vein (a big vein at the neck) and push the pacing wire into the heart.

One hour later with the TPM on board we set the heart rate at 60 beats/minute. This should buy some time until the 'fellowship of the heart' reconvene on Monday morning to decide the next best course of action.



My only concern that night was what if the old man suddenly 'mengigau' at 2am in the morning and pulled out the pacing wire that hanging down from his neck !

Thank you for smoking

Malaysian public and mass media have forever blasted our public hospital/clinic/A & E waiting hour. Accusing doctors for incompetency and what not. Even though it's true that long consultation takes place. However they are unavoidable since communication breakdown happen not just between 2 lovers but also between patient and doctor.

For me mostly the challenge stems out from the difficulties in taking medical history. As the old medical axiom says: "99% of diagnosis comes from accurate history".

What I could easily achieved in 10 mins in overseas, takes twice as long in Malaysia. Here is some of my personal favourite.

Q: Pakcik dah bape lama ade darah tinggi?

A: Dah lamaa, sejak anak pakcik yang sulung tu lahir.
- Yup, great as if i know his eldest son personally, please be more specific uncle.

****

Q: Makcik bawak tak ubat, boleh saya tengok?

A: Nah (She emptied an old expired multivitamin bottle onto the bed - at least 5 different types of drug mixed together came out)

- Those unlabelled medications really speed up our consultation time.
****

Q: Okay, saya rase masalah jantung ni okay, kite jumpe 6 bulan lagi.

A: Hmm okay, tapi boleh tak tengok telinga pakcik jap.. macam ade lendir keluar, dah 6 bulan.

- The habit of showing 10 different types of medical problems in one clinic visit

****
Q: Your heart attack is related to your smoking habit.

A: But doc I have quit.

Q: Oh okay.. Since when?

A: Yesterday.

- Buddy that doesn't count

****
Q: So you had an abdominal surgery done it Selayang Hospital a year ago , exactly what did they do?

A: Hmm i dunno, they never told me... Hmm why don't you check your record?

- If someone cuts open your tummy, please pay attention on things he/she removes.

****
Q: You'd been admitted 5 times into Ampang Hospital before, why did you come here this time?

A: I like to try new hospital, it might be better here.

- Argghh 'doctor shopping' isn't a good idea. Your '2 volume' medical record is not here.

****
Q: Asoo, kenapa datang hospital, apa sakit?

A: Aaa.. sebab... aaa tatau cakap melayu.

Q: Anak mana, biar saya cakap dengan die.

A: Dia balik rumah.


****
Q: So how can i help you?

A: I got breast lump here - since 2 years ago.

Q: Great! you've come to the right place. Here in A & E, we give priority to chronic breast lump.

The hunter became the hunted

First came the abdominal pain.. then the purging! The man laid with eyes wide open the whole night literally restless on his queen size bed. Every single joints and bones within him felt twisted and burned to ashes. Not to mention the hourly visit of chills & rigor which clamp down his muscles while making his mind seem cease to exist.

Thinking it was just a viral food poisoning he stayed at home the morning after, tried to shake it off with oral hydration salts and lot of water. Which was an error in judgement because by afternoon his condition deteriorated which left him with no choice but to drag himself out and drive all the way to the hospital.

Upon arrival at the emergency dept, a newbie triage medical assistant made a 'diagnosis of probable dengue fever' hence advised him to go someplace else for blood checking. He proceeded by ticking the 'normal' checklist box without examining the patient. However the triage machine detected a rapid pulse rate of 120/min with a low BP of 100/60 whereas it should be 120/80.

The patient was then put in an observation ward with 1.5 litres IV drip went in over 5 hours, however the repeat BP later was even lower at 80/40. Then the man started adjusting the IV drips himself made it running faster.

At 9pm the senior doctor 'on call' came down to the A & E and started 1 pint gelafundin fast and having assessed it lack of response he finally said...

"Frapp, we gotta admit you upstairs".

So there i was, admitted into my own ward.. and put in the very bed where I did resuscitation on another patient about a month ago. Things started to feel different after I got my first dose of IV antibiotics called rocephin. The recurrent chills & rigor decided to shy away for good. Six days later , I was discharged home...with a different perspective on life in ward as a patient.

To all staffs & my friends, thank you for everything.

***
The CSI folks in the lab finally found the culprit from my sample... an uncommon 'Gram -ve bacilli' from the vibrionacea family named called P. shigelloides. I hope they burned in my gut.