People *Sigh*

What do you do when people take you for granted?
Do you:

a) Just ignore the fact that they are doing so and continue being friends
b) Take then for granted to,since they took you for granted
c) wallow in the fact that they did/are doing such a thing and just be bitter
d) Tell them that they have been doing so, and that you are hurt
e) What the heck, I don't need them anyway!

Sometimes, people take things for granted, for example, the pleasures and comfort in life, when everything goes ok and has never been bad their entire life. When they take things like that for granted, it is up to them to eventually realize that they shouldn't do so and learn to appreciate life as it is.

BUT

When you take a HUMAN PERSON for granted, it's totally different. Emotions are at hand. If you would had read my blog long enough, you would already , clearly notice how particular I am with human emotions.
Taking one for granted might not be much of an issue to some people, that's because they are just content with exactly what they have and own (including friends). Little do they know that some day, the 'victim' will come to a realization that he/she was just another 'thing' in another person's life.
Question here is, why do people take other PEOPLE for granted? Is it just inherent? Do they not see what they are doing?
If there is one thing I learnt this year, it would have been that of not expecting anything for people. I learnt that it's not like the barter system where I give you care and hence you should give me care in return. It just isn't is. As cruel it may sound (and as hard as it hit me when I actually realized it)

Thing is here, I don't know where I'm heading with this post. All I can say is , one fine day , when you look back and you realize that that very same person isn't there when you need them the most, the very same person you took so much for granted, don't hate yourself fof it, don't be remorseful, because you should have thought about it earlier. Maybe all they wanted was a little time with you, a little walk with you , a little talk with you, but you dismissed them because it was not about you.

To you guys who are reading this:
- Try your best to not take anyone for granted, be it you friends, family (or lecturers!)
- Always remember that the person in front of you has the very same feeling as you do

Point is, just don't be hurtful :-)

Great balls

Of late, the CSS (Catholic Student Society) have been a little sporty. Just a week before the Nervous System assessment, we played basketball, with the juniors, sem1 and sem3. It is just so exhilarating to spend your Friday nights playing basketball!! Especially when you have a height you can brag about (the fact on whether it is of use or not will be neglected right here!)

Yesterday, we went for a game of futsal. to tell you the truth, I'm not a fan of football. the last time I really played football was probably when I was 7 or 8 with my cousins, well, I had to play, or I'll just be left to rot...so might as well...I still remember being so excited about this back-ball- kick that I did when I was playing then..cool. then, of course, the other time I played football was during PJ (Pendidikan Jasmani) in school, when, again, I had no choice but to play or else. But, I just used to be the defender, standing by the goal post doing nothing.

Anyway, so I thought I will give futsal a try. Nevermind the fact that I had a group of people from CSS who were ever ready to start teasing my ball kicking capabilities yesterday. to a point, it seemed they were so excited to go for the game just to see me make a fool out of myself while playing...Geesh....

I guess I had a good time playing (I'm surprise , my stamina is outrageous!). I was bad at scoring goals, but I sure did a good job defending and 'stealing' the ball. Of course, at times, my instincts made me grab the ball using my hands, which of course is not allowed.

The best part was probably when I was shooting, aiming at getting that.... one...goal....and I scored!!!! ONLY because Jeremy let the ball go in the goal post on purpose! Then everyone started cheering,like I really made it,but in actual fact they were just mocking me..... it was such an insult!!!! They were having so much fun mocking me! Arrrrrrgghhh!!!!
Then again, the game was really fun. It felt good running after the ball, strategy and all....Of course, later we had Bak Ku Teh and I was extremely tired. We even decided to go for a swim at 1am...but I didn't make it. I guess I must have been sleeping.

Mental note: Tackle and shoot people who mock me
Just to state that I am still not a fan of football, but I wouldn't say the same for futsal though! ;-)

Disclaimer: I am in no way angry or unhappy with any of my friends of whom I played futsal with. However I understand that they are from another world and I hence, have to forgive their unworldly behaviour....muahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah

Juniors, Juniors.....

The week that passed was pretty ok, having friends with me in the library where we studied together. CNS- they say it's the hardest system. I would probably say that it's just so much to understand, it's pretty complex, the brain, yeah, like duh! Anyways, now the System Courses are over. I have 6, yes, 6 weeks to the finals, that means choking on 9 systems + foundation into my thalamus for integration and storage. Sigh…. Hope I make the best out of these coming weeks.

This coming Monday will be the cutie little pies (yes, the juniors) first Summative. I see them studying day and night, complaining and whining over how they are gonna fail etc etc etc. Man, they study so much, it seems that they are the ones in SEMESTER 5! But these kids, this cutie little pies, they are just sooooooo adorable! The whole lot of them!

Reasons:

- They are full of enthusiasm

- They are just fun to be with

- Young and vibrant? nah....

- They are funny esp the 3 stooges (Chee liang, Gary, Teck Seng)

I’ve been hanging out with them (juniors) in the library, often have lunch with them, and all they can ever think about is their summative, summative, and summative. It got to a point where I just got sick of saying it’ll be ok, it’ll be fine! Thing is, I know these guys are going to do well, that’s why I don’t bug them about studying too much. However, I am worried about the ones who study so much, they run away from the scope of what they should know and then end up having trouble answering the simple basics during the exam. I’ve seen it happen. I always believed that if your BASICS are strong; it’ll all be fine. At least, here in IMU Phase 1. Then again, I am proud of these guys. I hope their ‘spirit’ and ‘determination’ doesn’t wane off just too soon, as this enthusiasm in studying (if it even is) will be of much help to them in the coming semesters. To all you cute little buddies, ALL THE BEST THIS MONDAY…. Attention to these specific people (in no particular order): Prasad, Chee Liang, Yee Sheong, Gary, Teck Seng, Hui Yin, Deborah, Paul, Ben, Kevin, Priya, Rasyidah, Sebastian, Jason, Joseph, Vincent…

I AM EXPECTING NOTHING LESS THAN AN A ;-)

Cos’ I’m sure you guys will (and the rest that I didn’t mention too!)

The 'Nerd' by Deborah

There is this girl, Deborah. She’s young, vibrant, has the tendency to be loud and unfailingly funny at times. Has a monotonous facial expression, this girl, and is a blast to be out with. She stepped into IMU, discovered that she is allergic to exams (so she claims), and the only way to counter that is to join the rest in their quest of war against the exams by becoming a normal flora of the library. This is her story…of how she tries, with all her effort, to stay in the library, and how, she metamorphed into… a…. nerd.

“ Nerd”
By Deborah

To dream at night I was forbidden
To chance upon a dream at dawn
The guilty pleasure I had been stealing
O dark night draw neigh
For thy glorious splendor I vie
For wisdom is gained in the pleasure of the night
And knowledge unfortold illuminates like light
Midday I chance upon the library so fair
And warm its chairs the pleasure I bear
To make for a meal I eat but a pear
For the library in secret shall be my lair
So jest as you might about me warming the chair
But knowledge I still pursue with enthusiasm and flair
For in this soul lies unrest and despair
If knowledge is not found, for its gains we all share
Yet for this gain I would trade my hair
For the glory of knowledge none can compare
So long as these nostrils breathe in fresh air
So long as these eyes function without impair
A nerd I shall be and with courage I declare
For the soul of nerd resides in me there….



My take on it? I can never understand nerds. One doesn’t have to be a bookworm or ‘nerd’ to be a good medical student/doctor. Perseverance, a little smart hard work, it’ll all be fine. Then again, I guess different people work differently.

Your Say

CHOICES OR EXPLOITATIONS?

What's eating James Parkinson (1817)

Remember times when we go for long road rides and stopped at the rest and treat areas for a rest? We would slot that RM1 into the massaging chair and let those tiny spicules (if I may say), massage our tired aching body.

Now imagine those 'spicules' in your muscles, tugging and pulling away with no control of your conscious mind.
Now, that's Parkinson's for you.

Eversince I watched the video on Parkinson's during lecture the other day, I felt terrible and close to tears thinking about what these patients go through in every day of their life. The video was an eye-opener. It revealed the life of patients afflicted with this degenerative disease and how they lived through it. This man, Richard, spoke about how he deals with it. There were instances when his body shook so much that it disrupted his posture. He cannot walk as fast and speak as fast, as all his movements are slower than usual. He has no facial expression, almost like a mask. He couldn’t enjoy his sandwich sitting on a bench, because before long the muscle tremors and violent shaking will move him off his seat, and he loses his ability in holding the sandwich. He goes for a walk down town feeling refreshed, but not until the muscles of his lower limbs goes into periods of rigidity and spasms at the same time causing him to have an unusual and frightening gait, at least to the people around him, so much so, they run away at his sight.

All this muscle over activity is not the only thing that bothers him. He cannot work, cannot drive, and cannot enjoy life to the fullest. He no longer has closed friends, his social life is a standstill, and as the disease progresses, he becomes incontinent and only has his wife to clean up after him. He can’t have a good night sleep, due to the overt neuronal activity in the brain. Before long, all he will be is a demented, depressed, bradykinetic piece of living zombie, waiting for the day when all the agony will come to an end.

To all my non-medical readers…

Parkinson’s is a debilitating degenerative disease of unknown cause some of the theories include:
-Genetic susceptibility
-Environmental toxins
-Oxidative stress
-Accelerated aging.

What actually occurs is a degeneration of a dopamine producing cells in the brain that causes all the symptoms, i.e.:
-Stiffness (rigidity)
-Tremors
-Akinesia (slowing of movement- bradykinesia)
-Postural changes
-Speech problems

As the disease progresses, the symptoms further intensify, they suffer from memory loss, and may become incontinent.

Parkinson’s patients have these tremors as long as they sit still, which is why they need to move often to relieve the symptoms a little.

Treatment?
Current first line treatments are drugs that replenish the dopamine in the brain (levodopa). Bu this drug only treats the symptoms. There is NO cure for the disease, although recent advances and research have some form of curative treatment. One fine example will be Pallidotomy, where electrodes are inserted into the brain at affected areas to improve the motor system. This is not a CURE per se, but it relieves the symptoms more effectively. US have been doing this for quite some time. It is a pretty risky procedure, but I am proud to say that there is a surgeon in Malaysia practicing this form of treatment, and success rate is high.

At the end of the day, despite all the treatment, what really is important is the patient’s emotional status. These patients suffer from insurmountable depression due to discrimination (to a certain extent) and also due to high dependence on their carers. They feel useless. Good thing is, there are many Parkinson’s Society and Groups, where these patients meet, share their problems and try to regain that little light in life that they have shinning through making friends and the like. With this, they are able to live a somewhat normal life again.

BUT, there is one thing missing in the whole picture of management and treatment of Parkinson’s disease, which I have never found in any medical books or journals.

THE CARERS.

Yes, the carer. When a Doctor treats a patient, the patient needs to be looked as a whole. This is where families come into the picture. These carers, who are more often than not family members, suffer the same EMOTIONAL turmoil as those of the patients, by virtue of being carers. They:

-Do not get sufficient sleep, as they need to keep watch and clean up after the mess of their loved one
-Get their social life into a nutshell as they need to be with their loved one most of the time
-Have an extra burden, in the sense that if the patient was the breadwinner of the family before the disease
-Lack of support from other family members (or even patients themselves)
-Inability to cope with the cognitive disability of patients (forgetfulness, etc)

The list may go on and on. What is vital here is not just the doctor’s role in educating the carers about Parkinsonism, but how to deal with the consequences of it that affects them. These carers also need to be seen as patients, and they need to be given the help that they need in ensuring the best for the Parkinson’s patient in their family.
At the end of this, it is not to say that Parkinson’s patients are troublesome, but we need to see this disease as a disease that not only affects an individual, but every single part that has a connection with this individual, first being the carers. One will only know the courage one needs to be a carer when they experience it them selves.

**Parkinson's was discovered by James Parkinson, in the year 1817 **

Bad Day

Where is the moment we need at the most
You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost
They tell me your blue skies fade to grey
They tell me your passion's gone away
And I don't need no carryin' on

You stand in the line just to hit a new low
You're faking a smile with the coffee to go
You tell me your life's been way off line
You're falling to pieces everytime
And I don't need no carryin' on

Cause you had a bad day
You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
The camera don't lie
You're coming back down and you really don't mind
You had a bad day
You had a bad day

Well you need a blue sky holiday
The point is they laugh at what you say
And I don't need no carryin' on

You had a bad day
You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
The camera don't lie
You're coming back down and you really don't mind
You had a bad day

(Oh.. Holiday..)

Sometimes the system goes on the blink
And the whole thing turns out wrong
You might not make it back and you know
That you could be well oh that strong
And I'm not wrong

So where is the passion when you need it the most
Oh you and I
You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost

Cause you had a bad day
You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
You've seen what you like
And how does it feel for one more time
You had a bad day
You had a bad day

Annoyed.

I have a very high threshold for people who annoy and irritate me. Now, I'm not a person who easily gets mad at people, neither am I the type who tells people off or get angry unnecessarily.

BUT now I am.Just a few seconds ago , I was not. So here.

When the IMU Art Competition came about, there were CLEAR rules and regulations stated in the form that all you participants filled up before submitting your pieces. It would have been good to have read them clearly before you signed to have agree with all that has been stated.So:

1) When you send the picture at wrong sizes, that's NOT my fault. it's yours, because you couldn't freaking read!

2) When you lose or get a consolation, that's not because the JUDGES were bad, that was because there were better paintings than yours! Don't be such a freaking sore loser.

Even after being stated that IMU has the right to KEEP all submission, some people fail to understand. NOW THIS IS WHERE I GET PISSED.

3)IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THE ADMINISTRATION, COME TO ME AND SPEAK TO ME! DON'T GO AROUND BITCHING. THAT WOULD NOT SOLVE ANYTHING!

I have clearly said WRITE a freaking letter if you want your pieces back. now, that is a simple rule!

Nevermind the fact that the organizing committee is spending huge amounts to have all the winning submissions framed and posted around IMU.

To those of you IN the committee who have a problem with me, be professional.

It's a shame, I am in a medical school where my peers should have the ability to behave and act professionally. Guess I was wrong. What's worst? Some of them are from Semester 5!

To all you people: I had enough of your rubbish. Have a problem? Face me. Don't be a freaking annoying brat! ********!

And1/2 of what is written here does not do justice to how angry i actually am right now!!

Life as it is

Breakfast with myself,
Lunch with debaters,
Tea with Jenny and Kenneth,
Dinner with others,
Midnights with Jo,
Weekends at Daphne's
The others are all dreams.
Now I know where all the studying goes....
Boo-hoo

On having a 'family dinner'..........

Yesterday was another night at Daphne’s place. It seems to be our common past time nowadays to hang out at Daphne’s. Due to my inability to study yesterday, Daphne suggested we have a cook out at night (one that we planned for quite some time already) provided the fact I study before hand. So I did.

At Daphne’s place there was not much to work with, as we didn’t want to go to carrefour at that time. But, Daphne had quite some good stuff at home. So Michelle, Amelia and our Filipino maid Daphne (ha ha) got to work helping me to prepare dinner that night. Of course, being the fussy pot that I am, I was scrutinizing every single thing they did right down to ensuring that Michelle ‘chopped’ the garlic well. Well, tough luck, I’m a fussy cook. Before long I started cooking, had Michelle help me out here and there while Daphne darling played songs on her laptop. It was fun. Jeremy was around, waiting eagerly till I finished cooking. So, after about an hour, the menu for dinner:

-Buttered Rice
-Spicy honey chicken
-Potato and beef ‘kicap’ (a.k.a Sweet momma potato & beef)
-Pak Choy with oyster sauce.
-Mango pudding with longan, for dessert.

Sounds good? It tastes even better!

So there we were, 5 of us around the already set dining table to have our dinner. It was so momentous. Living at vista, we hardly (or never) ever have a family –like dinner, and yesterday was once when we actually did. I felt so delighted just sitting there with my friends (whom I really love!!) having delicious home cooked food for dinner. The ambience was great. Aroma of the food, slow music playing on Daphne’s laptop…ahh..it couldn’t be better…Thanks guys!!

Sheena came along later, and to our surprise with her cooking for the day. She made macaroni and cheese (which is why she came later). We were all stuffed but couldn’t really resist the temptation the cheese held before us. And it was sumptuous!!
Later, we hung out in Daphne’s cozy little tribal room (like we always do), just chatting and living by the time…

It’s always great hanging out with you guys, Michelle, Amelia, Daphne, Sheena, Jeremy, and the times we spend together are priceless. All those sharing, praying, crap-talking and ‘general knowledge’ (the list just goes on and on and on) is so wonderful, I feel blessed to have spend my time with you guys..
Now, for the next cook out…he he he

Due to all the great time, some of us were suggesting that we should be housemates, to which responses:

Amelia & Vasan: We will never study
Daphne & Michelle: Yay!!!!!!
Jeremy: We will hate each other…. (me:…geesh…rolls eyes…)