and when she speaks
Saturday, July 04, 2009
I talked to Lucia today on the phone after 3 full days of being out of touch because she was working so hard.She vented. I listened. We shared a common understanding of the tribulations beginning so early at the start of internship.The lack of time to eat from 6.30am to 8pm. The pager constantly going off. The amount of things to juggle:- consults calling you, nurses calling you, discharges to do, labs to follow, progress notes to write, attendings to talk to....... The support so crucial.The listening ear. The comforting words. The presence of a friend; someone who paddles the same boat.I know what it will take from me. I have done it before; and I've done it well. I'm going to do exactly the same this time.Only this time; at least I already know what's in store. I have more experience and mental strength this time- and I am prepared.This is the start of my medical journey. And you know what, just like I told Praz- we're going to survive this; and come out with super-glue type frienships :) :)---On another note; today I went to the Field Museum with Cheah who's currently "unemployed" or as he like to call it "in between employment" *laughs*We only had 3 hours but we managed to catch many exhibitions in that huge museum: the Aztec exhibition, China, the wall of jades, Tibet, a dinosaur named Sue ;) ... :)Then, I went back and had lunch with Karl and a new neighbour Andrew- at this place called Forno which serves a great tilapia meal with salad and even yummier mouth-watering dessert of chocolate torta lava :) topped with ice cream :)*bloody hell* not working= a LOT of eating with friends :pThen, went to snooze. and joined Karl - we both caught the fireworks for independence DAY!!! :)and then, left for a BBQ dinner and another Pakistan's house gathering.... Retreated back to Yuval's place and I had a great time getting to know his wife, Mette :) and their dog, Balu :)I have to catch up with david park! it's been so long since we've planned to head out.But the other people are going to Northwestern; and there's Karls friends BBQ- or outing with luke & paulina... Will see :) :)
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3:23 PM;;
Friday, July 03, 2009
Desmond said I never skyped him before.....til today :('Then I felt guilty.But he's coming!! :) :) either that or Im meeting him first in NYC or shopping in DUBAI :) xoxo and then, I forced him to 'give me a kiss'...well; virtual blow-kiss comes close enough anyway :)he said, I'd have a place to stay in NYC and if he hasn't sorted out his place; I can always bunk in with Jordan :) *so nice yea* :) :)I think tomorrow-I'll head over to the Field Museum :)and go for a nice leisurely run in the morning!
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11:03 AM;;
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10:12 AM;;
I went to Taste of Chicago with Cheah and Raina :) Damn- that Raina is a big foodie too.... *laughs*which meant being a small eater wasn't going to happen today :pWe bought coupons; and ate and ate.Here's a sneak preview of what went into our bellies :)One Nachos and GuacamoleTwo Italian icecream sorbets: flavors Mango, Blue raspberry & strawberry!One deep dish pizza-cheese & sausage from Lou Mahnati'sOne Oreo cheesecake from the infamous Eli'sAnother cheesesake about 3 hours later again from Eli's this time it's with caramel and chocolate Then, we tried to be 'healthier' and finished off our coupons with watermelon slices and cherries :)Bought a summer dress while Raina bought 2!! :)Then, we headed off to walk by the Lake- absolutely gorgeous with many yachts by the shoreline... and I caught a glimpse of the Segway (the super-cute moving vehicle - ie in The MALL COP movie; the one where you stand on it; and it moves everywhere!) :) I'm going to do that tour soon! *hehehe* :)We walked towards the Aquarium- and it was so worth it. We caught the 4D Theatre show @ the Shedd Aquarium; and it was such a great experience with real moving chairs and wind and water being sprayed into our faces!! :) Then, we caught sight of Beluga whales; dolphins, seals; penguins and otters :) and got to touch starfish too :) :) Cheah got me the city tour ticket instead of the ONE entrance ticket to the aquarium; cos he said I should do the touristy thing! -.-' *lol*Then, after I hugged Raina goodbye- we walked towards the train line; and we were caught by a bunch of students who wanted to do a survey for their school project. SO we got to be on TV lol...we had this fancy camera facing us with strict instructions to 'look directly into the camera' ;)and they proceeded to ask us all these questions while we held a microphone :) we were having such a good laugh by the end of it all :)Now I'm back home. Stuffed, satisfied and fulfilled :)Christine and Lucia left me a voice message.Christine's heading to bed soon with her emerge shift starting up tomorrow morning; and Lucia's highly likely already in bed at 8 something. She started work at 6.30am yesterday and onlygot home at 8.30pm... I quote her "it's torture Sueyi"... Yes. I will make the most of my slack rotation and enjoy all my friends' company whilst I can :)xoxoxoxoI love meeting wonderful people from all over; and making newfound friends :)
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9:54 AM;;
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Slept last night at 10 ish pm.Was so proud of myself- I slept more than 8 hours and woke up refreshed.Then again, I got off easy with having gyn clinic as my first rotation :) :)All I do is wait and wait - agonisingly- for patients and do pap smears ...*boring*Truth be told, I'd rather be inundated with work. real stuff. nitty-gritty.Then again, I might be speaking too soon. Wait til my eye bags get all heavy til you can't even see my eyes and granola bars start becoming my main meals 3 times a day... LoL.Ive got tomorrow, friday, sat and sunday off! I was going to do my paperwork tomorrow-hopefully, that application goes well :) *cross fingers*One female patient I heard had a vaginal laceration. She lost 300ml first when they saw her in the emergency department. They put in a speculum and didn't see anything. Later on, she admitted she did have intercourse right before. But they still couldn't find where the laceration was-and by that time, she lost an additional 200ml. Can you imagine a whopping half a litres blood lost from sex? I think, that's kinda a bit too much... They ended up sending her to surgery to sew her up. Then, my attending said to my senior- sit down with her and talk to her about positions; being on top for her might be better- more control... I laughed; but it felt so awkward and weird to be having that sort of conversation...... don't you think?I did 4 paps today. One had cheesy-cream like discharge which smelled so bad. Sorry...And then, another with a huge erosion on her vaginal skin outside; which my doctor then proceeded to scrape without really letting her know. ANd I saw and heard her wince in excruciating pain; he basically scraped off the skin over the eroded part! *ouch* he suspects herpes. I referred another patient to pain clinic because she wasn't getting any better with the pain meds she was getting for her endometriosis; and she cried in frustration and hopelessness. I couldn't do much; and I felt defeated for awhile there- but I had to move on to another patient. I guess this is why they say medical students do the compassionate bit; whereas we sometimes get so caught up and drown in work; we have no time for that... ironic isn't it?I managed to run off to meet up with Fareed and Rosalyn at the building across the road. And had 15 minutes to get lunch. So I ended up getting a big fat unhealthy muffin from au bon pain! *arghh*Then, all done. I was greeted with a warm welcoming email from Brian-my housemate; saying they want to have a welcoming dinner with their 'new housemate' which is ME :) And I thought that was so sweet :) :) *hehe*So, Brian , Karl (who's mixed Chinese and Swedish; hence he's super pro-IKEA lol) & I headed over to Damen street and ate at a grill & bar area.I ordered a apple woodchuck cider which contained 5% alcohol; and by the time I got home, my cheeks were red and swollen-and my head all light and woozy *bugger my poor threshold*We had a great time bonding :) They like my newly-done up room. *heheh* Once I settle in; I'll start baking muffins :) and practising my culinary skills *laughs*Need that stomach pump ...... ;)Cheah told me he's so free- so might head onto Aquarium tomorrow ...And they're going bicycling on Friday- but he knows I cannot cycle- so then Karl suggested using tandem bicycles- *hahaha* I agree, that's such a fantastic idea!! ;)This weekend's america's day.Lots of fireworks.... am thinking of what to do- was thinking of hittting NYC since I've got the whole weekend off. Or Karl says he might do a roadtrip thing. And the other group might have something up.Steph will be in. So will Ayesha =) David said something will be planned too :)I said to them I kinda feel left out starting off with such a slack rotation-but everybody says 'eNJOY summer' GO AND TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE! Of course I want to, but I also want good company :) xoxoxoxoMy first paycheck on July 17.. =) *yayy*
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12:32 PM;;
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Caught Transformers with Christine & Savio; after having dinner at Christine's favourite place- Chipotle *laughs*Then, luckily Savio has a car- it was 11pm; and he wonderfully agreed to drop us both back home :) Cheah was so nice! Helped me after work- went to Target with me to get my furnitures. *heheh*Like a domesticated auntie I teased him ;)But he was really kind enough to help me pick and decide-and then, carry with me my (hangers, dustbin, lovely soft pillow, etc) back to my place... :) Then, we had Tapas- which was chosen randomly by walking along the streets of Wicker Park @ "People"- He over-ordered; we had shrimp, crab meat with yumy salad with citrus vinaigrette, tuna tapas and pia diablo (chicken)!! Sabotaged my diet plan... ahahaa. But my god, is he determined to lose his weight! I need his determination and willpower when it comes to resisting food *hehe* ;)Today was a long, long day at work. Lectures after lectures...to prepare us for tomorrow-and intern year starting from TOMORROW- July 1!Had tonnes to eat. They fed us the whole day, buffet style. I had junk today :(' muffin, oatmeal raisin cookie as big as my face,potato chips, pasta, beef slices, there was red wine and beer (which I stayed away :))....... -.-' Apparently we get fed every day except for Wednesday's Grand rounds.Today Praz came over and bumped me on my hip- sat with Lucia for half the lectures; and the other half with Steph, Praz, Carlos... Praz teased me 'Hey little young one' -.-'Carlos watches opera- and he calls me the MTV generation *hahaha*He kept on teasing me with 'my many boyfriends' *pfffttt* -which happens to also include the guy from Chase bank a/c who was stationed there to help us medical interns -.-' and he says unlike me, he's "got no company".. he's good fun la. I like friends whom you can openly tease and vice-versa :) Should see him get all excited when he goes on talking about classical opera *LOL*Got my other housemate; Karl to help me assemble this Ikea wire-cupboard. I made one box all by myself-*pretty impressed seeing how I'm never so hands-on when it comes to putting things together* ;) He sat there pondering for a clever idea to make more boxes with the few screws he had left...*lol*Nice of David Park to call and check up on how I'm doing! Looking forward to tomorrow's start!I'm doing gyn clinic from 9am-5pm for 2 weeks :)I'm pretty excited already. It's going to be a great start-and I've made some really nice friends all around _whom I can pester and bug by P.a.g.i.n.g :) :)Let's see if it gets as exciting as Gray's ;P
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10:28 AM;;
Monday, June 29, 2009
Thursday: Dinner with housemates Sandy and Karl at Chinatown.I was craving for dim sum so badly that day for no reason at all- and I told them that. Silly me- I had also forgotten there is no dim sum in the evening *hehe* The owner of the first restaurant told us 'You guys are a few hours too late!' :) Karl was so persistent in finding char siew bao :)He wouldn't stop searching, we ended up going to two chinese restaurants and two bakeries - to no avail :(' Had dinner and then, dessert - mango with sago & red bean with even more SAGO! Friday: Went for Happy Hour with my chief residents and fellow interns @ Market Street Sports Bar. The toilet walls were decorated with X-ray pictures of limbs, much to our amusement ;) Drank a wee bit of red wine and gave the rest of it to Fareed who was starting to show a pink tinge on his cheeks by the end of his third glass. We all wanted to look "cultured" I quote Fareed.*laughs* Lucia and her husband Pat were nice enough to drop me back home :) :) Saturday: Aaron picked me up and we wanted to eat breakie at this place; but it wasn't open til 10am, so we ended up with breakfast sets @ McD. And then, off to my apartment-hunting adventure. I wanted a studio- the first one was perfect, near the train line & beautiful & with great security & fantastic amenities with a view of the Lake- unfortunately, it's so tiny, even my kakak's room is bigger than my living room! I cannot cannot live in such a small space!! The second one was bigger, with a perfectly squared living room-easy to layout and design my furniture arrangement- and right smack in the city with shopping easily available by stepping out the main entrance BUT it was 3 blocks away from the nearest train- too far to walk in the brutal WINTER! So-that wasn't a success- but Steph who lives in the first apartment opened her place for me to check it out. Her mum was there too, and they were amazingly wonderful and welcoming. Her apartment was beautiful; but it was a convertible-definitely more spacious than the studio I entered!After that, we had lunch at Niu- a Japanese fusion restaurant right at the heart of the city. I treated him for all his help. I had the Pepper Salmon Sashimi and Chocolate cake with ginger ice-cream :) *it was too rich* Then, I went home.I slept for a bit. Til sandy and brian invited me to a BBQ party. Met a ton of people yesterday. Met a couple of Malaysians there :) :) which was great! I got to know Sandy much more over the past few days; and she's heading over to NYC soon- I'm sure she'll rock that place there :) The strawberry cheesecake was mouth-watering...mmm... :) The Malaysian girls wanted to absorb a new housemate (ie me- becaase their other housemate was leaving for Washington but their (super gorgeous) place is unfortunately, a bit far off from the train line :( Then, headed off to Brian's colleague's housewarming party-where there was tonnes of booze, Brazilian girls dancing their hips away, great music- :) I learnt a couple of hip-gyrating steps from one of the girls.. after I was persuaded by Igor 'shyness is all in the head'. I cannot help it.... I just dare not let it all out... *hehe* But really, clubbing, pubbing- that's really not my cup of tea- as much as I'd like to enjoy it as much as them, that's not my kind of lifestyle fun. I'd rather hang out over food- and enjoy real company; better still when they're sober. Though sometimes it's way more fun when everybody's a bit of a kook and let loose with no inhibition ;)This morning, I had dim sum for brunch with Brian & Sandy, Ernest, Cheah and Peter :)Had my polo pau fix :) :) I'm catching Transformers tonight with Christine (Savio, Carlos -maybe) :)Got serenaded after waking up- from Hud *laughs* over Skype.I love that song - it's by King of Leons "Use somebody" No doubt friends throw a splash of colours into your life :) Thanks Kathryn :) :) xoxoxo
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3:28 AM;;
