YEAH I Passed!

Dear all,I'd really like to share a good news with you that my MRCP Part 1 result was just released. I PASSED! *jumping up & down*MRCP (Membership of the Royal College of Physicians) exams are the 3-part exams to get specialized in Internal Medicine. Well, I'm just one step nearer to my dream now=)Big thanks to everyone who has wished me, all your wishes really, really encouraged me a lot!What a

HO, MO and Specialist (2)

Case 1During ward round. MO's talking to an elderly patient rather loudly.MO: "Uncle, what medications are you taking?!"Specialist: "Hey, is that the way you're supposed to talk to pt? Must ask politely la." Turned to patient, "Hello uncle, may I know what medications are you taking?"Pt: "Huh?"Specialist: "Sorry uncle, I was asking what medications are you taking?"Pt: "Huh?"Specialist: "(raised

Interesting Case!

Early morning at 8am, a patient was pushed into red zone. A 60 year-old man, no known comorbids, has history of fever and vomiting for 1 day, then noted became unconscious this morning. GCS upon arrival was only 3/15. Very limited history available. Family members claimed he has no history of recent travelling/ river swimming/ jungle trekking.Clinically, his BP was lowish, having high grade temp,

"Ada-ada" Syndrome (2)

Ok now we've gone through the definition of it, maybe we can share some tips on diagnosing it. And bear in mind that this syndrome is most commonly seen on Saturday morning (coz can get a 2-day MC for good weekends off) and Sunday night (feeling lazy to go back to work after enjoyed weekends).From what I observed, most common "excuses" are headache, abdominal pain with diarrhea, low back pain,

The "Ada-ada" Syndrome

Ya, another newly-defined syndrome. To diagnose this, you need to learn some key phrases:

"ada-ada" means "got got"
"Kadang-kala" means "sometimes"
"Sikit-sikit" means "a little bit".

A typical conversation will be like this:

Dr: "So you said you've been feeling giddy these 2 days..any headache?"
Pt: "Ada."

Dr: "Severe throbbing kinda pain?"
Pt: "Ada-ada."

Dr: "Ok..what about fever?"
Pt: "

Are You Sure This is "Love"?

"KATE MOSS’s little girl loves the smell of petrol fumes, says mum — who’s been partial to a sniff herself over the years.Kate said that when she fills up she has to leave the car door open so Lila Grace, five, can catch a whiff.Kate has just released new fragrance Velvet Hour and said of her daughter’s habit: 'I’ve heard it is one of the most preferred scents in the world — maybe that’s

long or short?

I'm short.
My hair is long.
So I guess I don't just agree that we live in a world where both long and short can co-exist. I live it.
But every time I go to read a blog, and can't get past the 2nd or 3rd paragraph, I wonder. Is my attention span just severely compromised? Am I not interested in the content?
Or, more to the point: Why can't bloggers figure out how to get their point across faster, and go on and on and on after they've made it. So I can get what I came for, and those who want more info can hang in there for the nitty gritty.
I know the answer: these guys, and gals subscribe to the ole direct mail precepts. It's sales copy. It's written and designed to drive you further and further in.
But they lose me every time. I mean it. Every single time.
I don't really have time to read through these posts.
I blog, and read blogs because I want an instant hit of information, inspiration or sometimes just entertainment.
That's why I keep my posts short. In the hopes that I won't lose you.
May your day be filled with the Magic Medicine of quirky blogs that get to the point fast.

Just as a disclaimer: I'm not talking about story line blogs, where the authors are reflecting personally, and you might expect a longer post. And in fact are interested.

losing things that come back to you

So in addition to his brain change, Larry's been leaving things behind, in airports, and restaurants on the road. And they keep coming back to him, for the most part, in synchronicities like this: he happened to leave his card with one of the stewards on a flight to San Jose, which he left his reading glasses on. The guy called him to say he'd found them, and is on that flight back and forth almost daily. He'll hold onto them and Larry can probably get them back on his flight back to New York.
He left his wallet on the plane the week before, and couldn't figure out why he kept hearing his name on the P.A. system, as he hadn't yet discovered he'd left it behind. So when the stewardess handed it to him at the gate he returned to, he was more than a little shocked.
Luck? I don't think so. I think with his change of heart and mind, the universe is taking care of him. Bringing things small and large back to him. Including me.
I can't tell you what a delight it is now to talk with him on the phone and get positive upbeat emails throughout. For a million reasons I feel like the luckiest girl on the planet.
May your day be filled with the Magic Medicine of synchronicities and surprises large and small.

gratitudes

So Larry came home from DC the other night and announced he was doing gratitudes every morning. Turns out he saw a PBS special on the brain and learned that the brain is telling us lies most of the time. I've been trying to explain this to him for years, but who cares how he got it, he finally got it! And he's been just the sweetest man in the world ever since.
Okay, it's only been a weekend, and he flew out to San Jose yesterday, so it will be another week before I see him again. But those nightly phone calls will be a little litmus test.
Truth is, he's on an airplane almost every week, so it's understandable that he's cranky a lot of the time. But it's so much more fun to pick up a happy man than a cranky tired one.
Here's the best thing he did. He just opened his arms and gave me a big old hug when I picked him up at the airport on Friday night, after I'd been driving traffic in the pouring rain, had a fender bender with a limo driver who yelled at me even though he hit me, and then missed the exit.
That's all a girl wants when she picks up her beloved at the airport after a journey like that. That's all a girl wants most of the time come to think of it.
What are you grateful for today?
May your life be filled with the Magic Medicine of gratitude every day.

get lost

Yesterday I went to pick up a book at Oblong Books in Millerton, and then some fruit at McEnroe's Organic Farm Market. I tried a short cut home, through winding back country roads, and ended up getting a bit lost.
It was fun. Sometimes I think I know this area like the back of my hand, and it's refreshing to know I can get turned around and around in circles with one missed turn.
The weekends keep getting shorter and shorter, with Larry needing to catch planes out of LaGuardia and Kennedy airports earlier and earlier in the day on Sunday. But thanks to the rainy weather, spending the day doing laundry isn't quite so annoying. And is always more gratifying when some of that laundry is thrift store booty as it was again this weekend.
I've been on a bit of a spending spree, probably because I've got a new job that feels like a perfect fit. So I feel a kind of safety and security I haven't in a very long time.
I know it's just a feeling, because there's no such thing as security in advertising, or any job these days. But still, I relish the honeymoon phase of starting a new job that feels like a dream job.
It's not so different from the feeling of not knowing exactly where you are, in the sense that there's a dreaminess to it, an outside of reality kind of feel because it's not yet complete familiar, rote and routine.
Of course, that's after the initial moment of panic wears off.
May your day be filled with Magic Medicine of dreamy days.

imagination inspiration

I'm up early this morning, which I love. The past several weeks I've barely been able to tear myself from bed. But this morning I'm up, awake and alive, sipping coffee and delighting in the quiet.
I took a few moments to visit Dan Mack's website. His rustic work is magical and imaginal. I've always wanted to take one of his workshops and need to put that front and center in my intentions. I noticed he has a little bone sculpture very similar to the bone work that I do. And it's always interesting to notice how we feel when we come across something that so closely resembles something we feel is so unique to us. We want to own our ideas, and all the things that we do. MINE MINE MINE we think, but as creatives we have to be open to the idea that there is collective consciousness and lots of overlap. When fiddling around with the same materials it's only natural that one might have similar ideas, solutions, executions.

Let that help us to feel connected, not jealous and confused.
May your day be filled with the Magic Medicine of connection to your artistic dopplegangers.

9/11

Okay. So I may be the only blogger in America that isn't posting about September 11th today. I have to admit, it's not in the forefront of my mind. Unless I happen to walk by a blaring television set (and I note that with sarcasm and irony).
I am thinking it's the birthday of a friend who lives in Isreal, and it's cloudy, and I'm happy to have a new job, and while I know there are so many people out there whose hearts are broken and still breaking... I wish all beings be free of suffering and the causes of suffering.
So I will post a beautiful message given to me this summer in a postcard by urban shaman, Mama Donna Henes, on the anniversary of Hiroshima:
i am feeling a most urgent obligation
not to mention, suggest or even imagine
any but the most positive possibilities.
but only project willful wishful thinking.
i know the world is still turning
so there must be a change for peace.
May your day be filled with the Magic Medicine of peace.

details vs big picture

I was talking with a friend last night, about why some people focus on details and others are big picture focused. She suggested that fear drove people to details. Fear of the bigger picture, and the real problems or issues that seem too much to handle. We were talking about politics but it seemed an apt insight into every day behaviors too.
As human beings we cling to order and solidity. Even if we're free spirits, we need some kind of grounding to feel safe and secure. As I've learned in my Kaizen Muse creativity coaching, our brains are still hardwired as if we were living in caves (funny, I wrote cafes first!) in the wilderness. Our amygdala and cortex are in a constant tug and war between fight/flight and reason. In fact, so much so that the cortex will invent reasons for our instinctive fight/flight responses to everyday occurrences.
So... why details? We distract ourselves by focusing on minutia that doesn't really matter. We turn from the big scary monsters that face us - in politics, relationships, work, dreams, desires - and talk ourselves into thinking that small seemingly manageable details are the real issue at hand.
It's hard to break a habit that's actually biologically programmed. But really, why do some of us get the bigger picture and flee from the details, while others of us can't seem to find our way out of the details?
Do you think this might be evolution at work? Are big picture people one more tiny step away from our animal origins?
May your day be filled with the Magic Medicine of interesting questions to ponder.

Omega Ecstatic Chant

A visual post this week of my weekend at Omega. May your day be filled with Magic Medicine.

Final Countdown

1st to 8th Sept: Ultra-intensive phase.9th Sept: Yes, the "big thing".Where: SingaporeWho: 4 docs from Hosp Taiping.One mission.WE CAN MAKE IT!!