Sunday... boredom.

Just feeling bored not exactly knowing what to do. Ithought I might just take a look at pictures of foods I've made over the semesters. So I took those foods which I thought stood out most in the folder. So the top four are those in the picture below.



Oh well, meant to do some work but I simply couldn't think and have the urge to force myself forward.

The dates for my clinical exams have been put up on the student board via the internet. Scary? well perhaps some other words could describe better.

So I have to master all the skills especially on manipulation for musculoskeletal assessment, neurological assessments and of course, for vascular assessments. These basically looking at the bones and joint structures, locating their position and knowing their functions, looking at senses and reflexes and looking at the blood circulation and pulses respectively.

What do I need to do those? Of course my brains, my hands, my eyes, and my nose... I guess. But I also need equipment and instruments that are necessary. Which I'm thinking of buying next time. They're bloody expensive.

• The doppler which is more reliable to assess blood circulation. Alternatively I could use electronic stethoscope or normal stethoscope to get Ankle Brachial Pulse Index.
• Tuning fork - to detect vibration sesations
• Neuropen which comes with a neurotip - to assess pressure point whether a patient has protective mechanism on their sole of the feet and differentiate whether it's sharp or blunt and specify where exactly they feel it.
• Patella hammer - to see reflexes in the join as a mean to assess any motor neuron diseases, or any discrepancies in action reaction.

Basically that's it... hehehe

Bye!

The colours of April.

G'day everyone. Let's start with the highlights that took place in April.

1. To start with, I carried my work forward. At this point, work progress was around 10%.
2. Easter holidays began.
3. Cathy arrived in London.
4. Spent 5 days in London.
5. Spent 3 days in Eastbourne, Portsmouth and Brighton.
6. Spent 3 days in Rome, Italy.
7. Spent 3 days in Paris, France.
8. Grand Finale - London.
9. Back to uni and saying hello again to work.
10. Abang's birthday and Mama's birthday.
    
11. Bond/Mel's Birthday at Hyde Park London cum 1st Bruneian outing in the UK.

As of today, I've got few pieces of work out of the way, leaving me around 12, 000 words more to type, a video assessment (almost done), and viva oral to prepare. All and all, will looking forward to Mama's arrival here to the UK and my summer holidays.

London for Easter holidays.

That was my first time going to Heathrow to pick up someone. Cathy's flight was scheduled to arrive at 6.20am. I rushed to the airport in the cold early English spring from East London early at 5.30am. Heathrow was looking no different at all to any other times, it's always pack and full of people. Like a zombie as I was, looking around if RBA flight had landed. The flight was delayed to another 10mins, then 20, then a total of 1 hour. I couldn't hold myself any longer from boredom. Ran to Terminal 3's departure area, walking through obstacles of packed people just to get myself a good cuppa coffee. Thinking starbucks was there to replenish my caramel macchiato deprivation, it was to my disappointment to no avail. It was transformed to that ugly Costa. What choice did I have? Ordered a large cuppa Costa's Mocha. It took me ages to shove that bitter coffee down my throat. But thanks, for keeping my zombied eyes wide opened.

20mins later...

Phone beeped. Cathy knocking for my home address. I know it's necessary to have a contact person and complete details of people in the UK which I presumed Cathy had it inder her belt. That text made me more anxious. Previously, Rafie was detained in Heathrow for 2 hours albeit the comprehensive information he had given to the officers.

At almost 8am, came a stinky awaited friend (cos ia inda mandi)... hahaha. She was looking around for me and I snapped this picture!


She was carrying a full load of mommy's "kiriman" - foods! She was lucky to escape. HHEhehe. Then, she refreshed herself and summoned Rafie and Ms Dessert to meet up at Bayswater.



We were so clueless to what we wanted to do at Bayswater. Then on a crucial moment, a brilliant idea popped up, we headed towards London Eye since the weather was good. There were massive crowds of people at Lon Eye. Had this camel race which I won without knowing!! I won tons of coupons.. ehhe. Had quick snack at McD and we were so obsessed with this winning stickers at McD. We "won" an ipod, but apparently we lost one of the stickers. Rafie and I had to search every single coupon laying on the floor regardless how filthy the floor was. It was a good day outing to start with. Night time, we roam every single aisle of Leicester Square and Soho. Then we ended that night with late Chinese dinner at Bayswater.



The next day, the weather was perfect. It was April 1st. The sun was shining so bright and perfect for a picnic. Had bread breakfast at Waterloo. That was a good fulfilling basket of fresh warm bread. From there we went to St.Jame's park and walked from Trafalgar square up to Buckingham Palace before meeting up with Rafie and Ms D at London Eye. From there we decided to go to Camden Market for a good outing. Camden town was superb. It's so young and so vibrant with loads of stuff to find. From range of varieties of clothings and fashion wear to even drugs!?! That's where I got my cool jazzy hat!!




The following day, we thought of going to Lakeside. It's a huge shopping mall at outer London. It took us about 10mins train ride from Barking tube station to Chaufford Hundred then Lakeside. It's basically a huge superstore with all those typical names you could find in London like Riverisland, GAP, FCUK and such but in bigger scale. We ended up feeding our rumble belly with loads of foods from BBQ, Krispy Kreme and good malay foods too. From there we went to the "nearby" IKEA for a quick look around. Oh well, it was geographically near as the sign was clearly visible. We follow the track, crossing dangerous highways and roundabouts like mad mad people. The 4 of us were running here and there and at many times the cars just went honking their horns! ahah That was fun indeed! The three of them swore they will never ever go back to IKEA in that situation again...

Next day, which we decided to have a picnic since the weather was terrific-ly sunny and warm for the past week. Too bad, it went opposite on the day we wanted to have a picnic at St Jame's park. We ended up having a picnic in the cold cold weather. We even had tremors and shivers just to get a piece of sandwich to our hungry mouths! Then before saying goodbye to both the couple, we had a chill out time at Ms D's crib enjoying bites of K.Kreme.

Just see how ugly the weather was when we had the picnic. We ended up feeding most of the foods to the ducks instead.





WELCOME TO EASTBOURNE

Had a wonderful time in Eastbourne from times at the Pier and of course at the must visit Beachy Head. Magnificent views of Eastbourne from the top of the cliff and walking through the hills of Beachy Head. That took us good whole day of walking.





Portsmouth

Started off walking back to memory lane, places where I stepped foot for my first visit to the UK when Kachu was studying there. We started from Guildhall to Kachu's old halls of residence before walking back to the Spinnaker tower. Had a quick look around, shopping and went up to the Spinnaker tower. Before heading back to the train station, we had a quick stop in town. Following the smell of good aroma of Dinky Donuts, we finally stepped foot at the stall with loads of fresh fried donuts. Bought a bag and finished it in a snap. That was my biggest thing for Portsmouth. It was a craving that I had to endure for 10 years!

Too bad I can't show ny pictures cos my itchy hands managed to delete all the pictures taken. (pix attached were taken on a different occasion)





Rome

Off to Gatwick early midday to catch the 5pm flight to Rome. Arrived Rome safely and we had a personal driver waiting at the airport. Another driver then took us for Rome day tour on the same car. That afternoon, we met Lilac at Trevi fountain. That was my first time meeting Lilac since September where we happened to be on the same flight.

Rome was excellent. Loads of stories to learn and appreciate from the remainings of ancient Roman buildings. The churches and historic places of interests were just amazing to see how sculptures and painting were created into a very perfect minor details. Complemented by Easter, Vatican was just filled by millions of people. Although the weather was quite hot, it was still not as hot as back home. Certainly gonna come back and will spend longer time next time.

Rome, I will certainly miss your inner beauty and historic stories plus the croissants and good coffee. Of course, nothing beats Italian Gelato!




Paris

It's not a trip to Paris if you had not visited Eurodisney and Eiffel Tower. And yes we did. We started off with Notre Dame where we had a good munch of good French Crepes. Watched Eiffel tower from far until sunset. The next day promised us with more joy and excitement, Eurodisney.

Went there minutes before the gate was opened. We had a fast pass ticket where took us inside in just a blitz. Language certainly was a barrier but not a problem at all. Like a Bruneian saying.. "gasak saja tia~~"

Had my first "head upside down" ride on that space mountain ride. It's basically a roller coaster ride that resembles a ride to space. You could actually feel the G-force and as if you were floating in space with the light effects and all. Hard to describe, certainly worth the try. But not for the faint hearted. I almost puke on my way out!!

Bad Paris: I hate the transport system! It took us minutes most of the time to figure if it was the right place and time!





Eastbourne and Brighton

Had a good time spent in Brighton at Churchill Square. Didn't get to explore the inside out of Brighton really. Meant to visit the famous landmarks like The Brighton Dome, The Pavillion etc. Too bad, we were enjoying the sun that so much time was spent at the Pier. Whilst being at the Pier we were just watching people enjoying the day, kids enjoying their mini fun rides whilst I just enjoying the sun and the fresh seafoods!!

Oh by the way, what's unique with the beach at Eastbourne and Brighton (Sussex) is that, they're pebble beaches. heheh






London and Bye to Cathy

That was the time when it was not a good time to be in London! The transport system just went mad. Loads of service closure and signal failure. People were just being silly to add salt to the wound! They dare to pull emergency alarms in several occasions and one of which happened on our train!

To cut story short, Cathy arrived at the airport 30 mins to boarding time!! The check in counter was closed but the RBA rep managed to get the counter open again as our reason(s) were kinda valid. On the way, we had to go through loads of obstacles, casualty, system failure, etc. Imagine the Rat Rate... that was how it was or rather Amazing race for some of you! Oh, that was not the end, another race then had begun. My train back to Eastbourne was really a pain in the arse. It took me 4 hours instead the usual 1.5 hours to Eastbourne from Victoria. Had to take the train to Three bridges, then from there took that awful 2 hour old double decker bus ride to Lewes through a long and winding road, then taking another train to Eastbourne. *sigh*

All and all, it was a good Easter break however.




Bondy's Birthday

Went to London again the following week to meet up some good Bruneian friends for a Hyde Park birthday picnic. I was reluctant to go but the host called me up the night before. I felt obliged then. It turned out to be a good outing. Had a frenly footie match. Gila ganas... macam tangkap ayam! ahahahha those were the saying. Had my body ached all over for few days. Bruised my left eye from Lilac's elbow hitting on my eye bony area. We ended the day with a good plate of Chicken rice at Bayswater!!

Before going home at the train station, we bumped into a lady who was in a state of epileptic shock. The rest of the gang were like.. "go sani..." and I said.. "don't you guys dare to identify me as a nurse!.. I so dont wanna get involved" ahahahaha.... it's all about ethical and legal practices here in the UK. Besides I ain't a registered nurse here plus I ain't practicing. I'm a total "newbie" in a way being student podiatrist now.







Oh on this day as well, there were people outside Harrods demonstrating and shouting "Boycott Harrods". This was carried out by, I presumed Animal rights people expressing their protest against the use of animal furr as fashion clothing which can be found at Harrods.

It was indeed something new whilst enjoying my Banana Muffin and my macchiato from the starbucks across.

Towards the end of March - London (Rafie) and Portsmouth.

I just finished my research paper print out. 22pages altogether. Reminds me of printing out my dissertation. But that was horrible. Anyhow, I still have 8000 words of portfolio to finish!!! Yites.

1. 8000 words portfolio
2. Interprofessional Poster and Presentation
3. A video remake on Communication and Psychology (making DVD) ---- caya?!?!?!
   
4. Viva Voce - carries 70% mark. A one to one oral exam with lecturer and argue with research findings based on a scenario given. (Hardest amongst all I presume)
   
5. Clinical charts and clinical rotations
6. Human Biomechanics and Gait Essay

All those in just 2 mths?!?!? Either this uni of mine is crazy or the course is just... eerk!

Time flies very fast since September. I couldn't believe myself how far have I ventured since. From having superficial understanding to better understanding on anatomy and physiology or rather I have mastered it. Before "hallucis" and "digitorum" might be foreign to me, but now they're my daily vocabulary.

Work have been piling up. There is no one day that I can call myself having a proper relaxing time. Although I escaped few moments. But hey, I'm just human. All work with no play makes Sani miserable and dangerous! ahaha.

Last two weeks, Rafie called cos he's in London at the moment. He asked when I might be seeing him in London. As my work have been piling up, and my research had to be submitted around the corner. I thought of going the following Sunday. Too bad, tickets were damn expensive. It was due to the railworks maintenance. So I decided to go on a Wednesday. Just before the following Sunday came, he texted me. Cut short, I decided to go London on the Saturday which was the following day.

Waited for him at the station like what? An hour? aahha. Met Tristan on the train. He was heading towards Clapham whilst I was heading Victoria. At least we had a good 2 hours chat and kept us awake from the early morning wake up.

Whilst waiting for Rafie to turn up, had a good supply of S'bucks. I've been asked for money by scary people with threats twice!!! Well, Alhamdulillah, I manage to overcome them. Luckily I didn't show my money in the open, nor I had cash with me. All I had was just plastics. I hate London!!

Then met Rafie and his Gf Cit. Very nice petite gal... (nice catch ruff!!) easy goin and very cool indeed. We had lunch at Nando's before heading to Cg Sendi's. Lepaked for a bit and Rafie asked, "dude.. what time your train?". "Ah... kul 5.17pm..." I answered. *toing*... the time was already 6.15pm!! Whahaha. So I decided to catch the 7pm... yet we were not moving at all!!!! Finally, we made a move around 8 and took the 9.47pm train full of drunks. I had to go back to Eastbourne regardless cos I've got a coach to Portsmouth to catch the next day. I arrived home almost midnight.



Isle of Wight and Portsmouth.

It was 10 years since the last time I was in Portsmouth. HUGE changes. I couldn't recgnise anything other than the train station and the guildhall. Others were just brilliant. Huge shopping malls etc. The pier was totally unrecognised by me.

Had delays on the ferry cos someone died in the ferry!!! But in the end we managed to cross the channel over to Isle of Wight. Nice scenaries and good bus trip with stories being told along the way. Too bad weather was a disaster! It rained and gales.

Definitely gonna come back to Portsmouth for the shopping bit.

The one with the group studying outdoor.

Heya!

Busy busy busy... that's what my days and weeks like. I've had several migraine attacks already. Anyhow, the weather in Eastbourne is getting brilliant day by day. I was out today only in long sleeve but rolled up. Although it was breezy cold, the sun was just so brilliant. Suit to waht it's called.. "Eastbourne, the sunshine coast"

Today we had another series of interprofessional issues talk. We finally agreed on a topic for the poster.

During breakout seminar group, the facilitator brought up a good idea that she will conduct the class outside. Evryone agreed. So we all moved outside at the open area near the bike shed. That's where we had group discussion and all what a normal lecture would be like. Everyone was on their shades and lying down in style whilst discussing individual matters in group before making feedback. I thought that was the best class so far, and that was a dream how I want my uni environment going to be.

The last time I had lecture outside classroom was with Miss Fui back during my nursing years. I had my presentation on a huge replica of cornetto ice cream advert stand. Hahahahaa. That was fun, and that was at the canteen open area.

I wish I took picture today to depict how fun it was... but anyways, I managed to grab some pictures off from other sites of University of Brighton which resembles to what we had today..

Double Hey!! (Results)

Heya peeps!

Anyways, just a quick one. *catching breaths*

I just got back from Falmer Campus at Brighton. I had to do a mini presentation as my first task as student ambassador for University of Brighton. Basically I am now employed by University of Brighton.... not only that I got my first pay slip!! yay.... who would give an easy money of £8 an hour just touring campus, attend talks, represent uni, go on tour in and out of UK promoting the uni. hehehe. good one ey?

That's just a tiny pinch of the cake, the biggest cake on the dessert menu is that I got my first results in. Alhamdulillah, it went well. Not as good but just alhamdulillah. Many had to resit in my class and I must admit that it was not easy at all, not even closer to that.

We had to do a portfolio of 6000 words and collection of clinical reflections for our clinical exam.
For anatomy we had 3 components to that, the written essay on exercise, practical exams on cadaver (Dead Human Body) and of course written exam which I wrote about 15 pages full of words which I couldn't recall. It talked about from the outer structure than the human naked eye could see like skin, up until the micro bits in the cells like ATP and the filaments (micro minute tiny cells).... I know!! ahahah. Then comes the other bit which was research, which I'm glad I've done it before as a nursing student. That helped a lot. Last but not least was on physiology where I had an essay on the relationship and communications between nervous system and endocrine system!!

Once again, there's no one I should thank but Allah who has given me all these. Overall, I gathered merely 3 points to a first class!!!! yes... merely 3 points!!!! It was all that clinical portfolio (6000 words). I blame myself as I didnt do it properly. I had it done in the last minute to be honest!!! Cos I was juggling with exams, coming back from Brunei and the rest of the writen essays.

But again, yay.. I'm glad!!

Cheers!!

A weekend : Boulogne - Northern France.

Heya folks!!

Last weekend was a great break for us pod students. 7 of us (Myself, Megan, Dan, Matt, Tristan, Cat and Rosie) went off to Boulogne, Northern France.

We set off to Hilbrow meeting up with Tristan and Megan before Dan came to pick us up. It was very good timing. Everyone came on the spot at the exact same time. Except for Tristan who had to suffer shivering in the cold for about 20mins!! ahhaa

At 7am, we got onto the coach and we set off to Eurotunnel before we got into France at Folkstone. It was a smooth ride with magnificient sceneries.

Soon as we arrived at the mall called Auchan, we went to a pub for lunch. Blessed to have Megan who speaks French with us who translated almost everything for the 6 of us. That was great!!

The city was nice and small, went bar hopping from a place to another whilst appreciating the nice sunny weather and old architecture around. Crepe was inevitably very good!!!!!! I'm craving for more now. Heheh.

We arrived Eastbourne at around before 10pm. Rosie invited us to go to her backyard to watch the lunar eclipse. But I was so tired and sleepy that I decided to head home and sleep. I didnt get to say goodbye to them. Overall, it was a good day off. They plan Paris next? ahaha

They bought tons of booze. It was damn cheap! I could do loads of shopping if I had that ample time.

Ok I will leave you with pictures. I better get back swimming in workloads!

Oh, I have started making insoles and probably I could make my own flipflops! whaha. I love being a podstudent!

Cheers
Sani

Terrible Beginning - Good Ending (Prank to Perfect Weekend)

Last week was a hell lot of experience. Lemme run this through steps, shall we?

Friday:
I had my research data gathering early that morning with my group. All 5 had to run through the Harvard Steps Test which took us good 2 hours gathering all the data. After we had done that, we made a move to Leaf where we had our clinical sessions. As I was meant to go to London that evening, I thought I wouldn't want to waste time going back to halls picking up my stuff. So, I carried with me. Wendy decided to take me and drop me off at the train station. Cool.

After we had clinical session, we had separate times. AD had to meet with his landlord the one I introduced him to. I decided to go with him as well since I want to see that place as I'm planning to stay there. So asked for a key from Wendy to get my suitcase with AD in the car.

Evil minds took over our minds and we were out of control. AD and I decided to hide Wendy's car. It all came about when I was telling AD how in Brunei people do sorts of silly things including my car being hidden somewhere by my mates etc. So we decided to do that to Wendy. The car was parked at the side of steep hill. After months of not driving, especially manual (years), getting the car out of the spot was damn difficult, but I managed to. Looking at the way people park here in the UK, giving only centimetres gap of space to next car, getting that tiny yellow car parked on the new spot was no easy task. I was so nerve wrecked and asked if AD could drive which he replied yes. So he took over.

Damn, he didn't even know how to get the car move!! I decided to give up and surrender over to Wendy. Needless to call, she was making her way to the car with anger. But that wasn't long. However, only then we realised how much bad and disrespect we have shown to her. We apologised and she forgave us. Thanks to Wendy as there'll never be a second to that. (btw.. today, she teased us "boys... let me show you how to reverse the damn car!" hahahahah LOL

From that event, so many things could have happened to us:
1. Legal actions - we could be charged of stealing her car as we were driving her car without consent. Worse, if a police were to question us on the spot!
2. If she couldn't find her car, she could have accused us for stealing or her car was stolen. In the end, our fingerprints would have been detected.
3. Consequences - apart from the British law, as professionals we could also face sort of misconduct.
4. The Health Professions Council could have barred us from registration upon graduation, meaning we won't have licensed to practice!
5. I could be deported back to Brunei for misconduct behaviour.
6. I would then have criminal record, and again will disallow me for registration.

Apparently, a year three student in the health course before is now facing a misconduct charge. He was playing prank to a friend with water balloon. That friend made a complain, and he "succumbed" to the consequences.

That's the biggest responsibility we have to maintain throughout our entire LIFE as health and medical professionals! Not just at work, but outside work. Nasty isn't it?! We were once told, if someone were to be found walking naked in town, as simple as that, he or she would be automatically strike off from registrant!!!

Enough of that leson learning etc! Good bits happened later.

London

At 7.30pm that day, took the train to Victoria station. Had my first dose of starbucks! Bless!

At 10.35pm sharp, yay. I saw Eda and Rahey for the first time in the UK eversince we arrived. Made our way directly to our accommodation. Settled in nicely, we headed Bayswater scavenging for foods. Found an Arab kebab restaurant where we had tons of laughs laughing at out "Ju-On" ahha. Gosh, it was a good time catching preliminary session!

Next day, woke up very early and got ready for the so called London experience. Went to London Dungeon. There had multiple doses of starbucks again whilst on the queue. That was fun really. All those shouting and those scary frenzy moments in there. Lots of changes since 10years ago? Night time? We spent our night lepak and dinner at Nando's then I thought, why not go somewhere thrilling as night was still young. Eda was concerned with the tube. I reckoned, who cares, there are three of us, what is there to be afraid of. I asked the tube manager and what time is the last trip. The one we took was the last trip but apprently London buses run 24hours a day. Thanks to Oyster!!!!! It made our journey ENDLESS!!!! Just swipe and next thing you know is WOW. Went to Soho until it was way late past midnight. We blent into the night scene with all drunk clubbers and pub crawlers. We didnt get to go to any basically cos it was all full. The rain didn't help at all. It was fun though walking and dancing in the rain like lunatics!! We finally ran for or Bus 34. which took us back to Bayswater. Thanx to my clear conscience and minds. Otherwise, will take us ages trying to fin where the hell does bus 34 stop?!

The next day, Madamme Tussauds it was. Before hand, we headed within zone 1 from trafalgar to tower bridge, then harrods to king's cross just to get that platform 9 and 3/4 (Harry Potter) then of course, starbucks in between to replenish us. More experience there and certainly great time.

I leave you with pictures and compilation of pictures into movie format. Enjoy!!




Anyways, enjoy and I'm off to France tomorrow with my mates... well crazy mates!!!!! Bonjour~~~

I don't know where the hell we got our time... ahah albeit the TONS of workload pending. Submission dates are all coming!! 8000 words and research submission. Never been crazy as this before! haaha.

The week : the one with Music and Lyrics plus reading week.

A week has just started after the 2nd semester reading week "break". It was terribly dreadful having not doing anything during the break. But I had the chance of getting myself back into work last week, finally!

Tuesday (reading week), went to meet up Ka Fizah for a movie catching up. We watched Music & Lyrics. It was her call and she paid my ticket. In return I just share my LARGE popcorn. I didn't know the large one was that L A R G E. Imagine the mall popcorn.. 3 times more than that. Little did I know, Fizah doesn't really eat popcorn. GREAT! awahaha. Neither do I. But impressively, walaupun inda nyaman, managed to finish up around 90% of it. Kenyang kembung perut makan popcorn.

Last week - We have just started our inter-professional issues. The unique thing about this is that it's a new approach as to create awareness what each profession does and nurturing multidisciplinary teamwork. It comprises of Podiatrists, Physiotherapists, Nurses, Midwives and some other health care professionals working in a team of smaller group. My group consists of a pod (myself), 2 nurses and 2 other physios one of which I already know before hand.

The challenge is really on how good we can communicate things diplomatically across the professions, and how effective care can be delivered to a patient. We will also see the overlapping of interventions and will be anticipating more other challenges as well. At the beginning, the nurses in my team were more of a follower than being a contributor. I dont know why. They looked kind of intimidated but I was just assuming. It reminds me of my batch and I when we were nursing students back then. So I initiated many things during a discussion.

We had to bring up some idea on presentation which our assessment will be based on. The assessment should show the interdisciplinary approach. No one could come up with better idea since the physios are just looking things from their perspective, whilst the nurses they admit when I said "should be no problem for you guys cos nurses will be doing basically anything and everything." They just noded their heads to agree.

Looking at myself coming from 2 backgrounds and with some experience, I regurgitated my ideas. Those experience I had managed to make me seeing things in a bigger perspective. The nurses were thinking of doing something on legislation and ethics, whilst the physio were looking at infection control and MRSA since they had an assignment on that. Looking at those decisions, I thought, those are so overlapping and not much could be discussed to differentiate and relate between professions. I suggested, why not we integrate everything through a case study? Brilliant huh? ahahha

I thought of this
"... a diabetic patient who has necrotic lower limb who is non-ambulatory and confined to bed to several months in a ward. She is scheduled for below knee amputation."

Looking at that simple scenario, it involves many people. Still up to that point they were not quite clear. So I broke it down further for them to digest the bits.

Since patient is non-ambulant and confined to bed, she will developed scondary problems such as chest and lung accummulation of fluids etc. So one of the physios could be dealing with chest and respiratory therapy. Reaction: "oh yeah.. I didn't think of that!" says one of them.

Physio two would be dealing with the obvious physical rehabilitation following below knee amputation and regain back patient's normal activities of living, physiologically.

Nurses: obviously, the care giver in the ward delivering that holistic care approach, from medical regime, daily care, and other intervestion as necessary.

Yours truly the pod will obviously will deal the invasive surgery during below knee amputation surgery, the follow up care, and necessary podiatric treatment that should be carried out forsuch case.

Would be interesting if we had occupational therapist with us as well. Too bad we got none. Nevertheless, that was quick. Impressive! One of them aksed how I managed to come up with all those. So I had to say it out telling them I'm a Regitered Nurse. Both nurses looked at me and posed a huge smile!! Whaha. Then onwards they loosen up a little and we talked more knowing each other better. Finally she said "will look forward to work with you." HEHhehe. Great isn't it??


Clinical today:
--------------

Was a great day today. Had more independence in treating patient more thann ever. It's about time now lecturers are almost invisible for our sight. We work as independent as possible with guidance from a year 3. However, the lecturers were still around if needed, it's just the numbers were cut down. Before we had one lecturer in for every 4 students. Now we've had 2 lecturers for 18 students!! Plus a yr3 for every 4 or 6 students.

I had typical patient but who had macular degeneration causing her partially blind. Hence, the podiatric intervention.

I must say I'm getting good with my body posture, communication skills as well as confidence. I was not even nervous at all!!! I was in control!! Hahaha. That was super cool!! I carried out my own assessments, debridement and scalpel handling plus note writing. That was like 70% from my effort. Cool! Biggest bit was of course being so confident. I must say thanx to my almost 4 years nursing experience!!!!!

Comments:
Patient: you are so gentle that I couldnt even feel anything when you did all those. (her nerves were very good on assessment, that means she had a very good touch and feel sensory. Could easily feel any pain. But I was happily scrapping her debris and skin cells. I'm happy.
Lecturer: one of them asked a colleague of mine who wrote the notes. Colleague mentioned it was me. Why? She was quite impressed with it and she said it was very good. Oh well, to early to be happy. But I;m glad. We're all still learning!! hehe.

Regards!!


Plans:

• Start data collection for research.
• Start up on initial write up for Cardiovascular assessment.
• Look up on clinical portfolio see which bits can be started off soon.
• More reading!!!!! Especially on assessment and clinical diagnoses.
• Off to London in 2 days time... (meeting up Eda, Rahey and Hairol insya-Allah)
• Off to France with coursemates in March.
  

New Semester new Work Load.

As expected this semester will be more busy.

1. Field research on the effects of exercise to the cardiovascular system. My group has decided to carry out the effects of "Harvard Step Test" to the cardiovascular looking at effects on pulses, blood pressure and respiratory activities pre and post 2mins exercise on the steps.
2. A project write up which is a individual writing on the above research.
3. Clinical portfolio of 5000 - 6000 words on clinical activities. From physical assessment and clinical reflections. (more crtical thinking than the previous 6000 words portfolio we had before)
   
4. I will be doing more shadowing with Yr 2 and Yr 3 Clinical rota and I will have to critique their clinical skills in writing.
5. More to come!!!!!

Sometimes I do not know why have I committed myself to a more complicated and heavier subject! ahahha. But no regrets so far! I've committed and steered myself towards a better position Insya-Allah.

1. 
   
2. 
   

Blackout!

Last night we had a blackout for an hour. SO I just went to sleep. It was damn cold as the heather was cut off as well.

Oh btw! I found more asians shops around! Whahaha. I found udang karing for £3.50 a pack of 200gms! ahaha.

Cheers!

The day I got a hair cut and I cut my patient!

It's my first day of clinicals for the semester. (06th Feb 2007).

I was paired with another colleague of mine. This time we were already treating patients on our own and supervised from a far by lecturers. This is to get us to work autonomously from now onwards. Lemme share...

Disclaimer: the case study below has no mention of names of any particular person(s). I hope the information below will not be violated. It's part of my learning and reflection too. Thanks.

Case Load:

• 81 year old female referred by her GP for Diabetic Podiatric care at Leaf for many years now.
• Socially, an active lady who enjoys swimming at the university’s sports centre’s swimming pool.
• Had history of trauma due to motor vehicle accident and had surgery on the ankle of R/F done in Portugal. So far no complaints after surgery.
• Medical History Background:
• Diabetes Type II – NIDDM with diet and exercise control only.
• Hypertension treated with several anti-hypertensives including Aspirin. BP reading on the previous month was 130/80 mmHg (normal high reading for hypertensives).
• Allergic to Penicillin.
• Clinical Note:
• S – I cut and file my nails but with difficulty as it’s hard for me to bend down and reach my feet. I only file my foot soles to smoothen up the hard skin. I noticed my skin on both legs are dry which I applied some moisturises every now and then. I also use foot spray.
• O – O/E, skin integrity feels warm with pinkish colour and dry skin. Pulses (DP and PTP palpable). Feet are not symmetrical, R/F presents with hallux valgus with little discomfort when wearing appropriate footwear. On the plantar aspects of both feet, callouses mainly present at the head of 1^st and 5^th Met. head of B/F. Nails are short with evidence of poor cutting.
• A – Nails cut and filed with blacks file and diamond deb style files on B/F. Debris removed from sulci with help of Hydrogen Peroxide. L/F 5^th toe bled during cutting – patient informed. Wound cleaned with irrecleans spray and applied sterile melolin and tubigauze. Callous debrided on BF.
• P – Advised pt to keep dressing intact for 24 hours and to contact the hospital if problem arises. Advised to apply moisturiser for dry skins on both legs. To see again in 11-13/52.

Yes! I cut my patient. Well it's not really bad, cos everyone will actually experience. It's just like going to the dentist having your mouth for scaling. Surely your gums will bleed isn't it? Besides, my patient was comfortable and happy. She assured me it was alright. However, it was my first time and really got upset by that. I however did not show how panic I was. Thanx to my nursing experience by which I experienced more bad happenings than that. But it's just that legislation wise made me nervous, worse than I had experienced in Brunei!!

Oh well, it was a learning processs. But on a positive note, my scalpel handling and skills were excellent. The lecturer was pleased that the job done was even better than a Yr3 could do.

That ain't stop me from going forward!

Following that, I was feeling soo much in my chest that I had to do something. Headed town and I was soo irritated by my long hair looking so "gorilla-ish". Went to Buzz and made an appointment. An hour later got my hair cut! ehehe.

So tada! will intro you to the new me alright!

Aberdeen trip - The one with emergency landing.

Had a proper week break during the assessment forthnight. I decided to go to Aberdeen. Last minute decision but not regretted. It was after my final semester exams.

On the way to Aberdeen, it was an evening flight, days before the BA crews decided to carry out strike. Gatwick was empty than ever. Had a quick chat with this check in counter guy. He's a Palestinian and have been working in the UK for quite long. We had a chat about Brunei and he had a thorough reading on my passport. It was interesting to hear stories from people who works in the airline... ehhe. True enough, he predicted that the proposed week long strike was called off.

Flight to Aberdeen, first it was delayed. We were welcomed in the plane as usual but this time, a female captain. Fascinated and excited to experience a woman flying me from point A to B. She sounded so excited as well. A full flight and her announcement was long!! Yes, but more of like being in a concert show or sumthing! hehe.

20mins after taking off from Gatwick, another announcement came saying problem with the aircraft's wheel. So engineers at Gatwick summoned her to bring and land the aircraft back. We had fire engines, ambulance and police cars, sirens everywhere behind us soon as we landed. Good thing was that, I must applause the care taken by the crews that night. Especially the purser she made sure individually onboard was alright and not panicked.

Landed safely in Gatwick, disembarked and waited for half an hour. We got onto a new plane and flew off safely to Aberdeen. Suprisingly it was warm around 9deg on landing. Overall, it was about 2 hours delayed arrival.

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Aberdeen was great as ever before and even better. Josh is full of character now and balamory song is still tinggling in my ears! Hahhaa. I can see a bright future in that kid already. For a week in Aberdeen was a bliss and blessed. I had a good time with the family, good foods and good time cooking definitely. Meeting their friends as usual was never a boring one. We had karaoke night before I left.

I also got the chance to meet up with our x-neoghbour back in Brunei, Nicola. Was so pleasant to meet her again and the two kids. I didn get to touch any of them. I was so scared of the chickenpox (varicella zoster).

The highlight was of course tennis, golf etc on wii! ahaha. Will look forward I guess to a next wii game!

All and all, great one, really appreciated it and definitely needed it. Thanx!

Sumthing on Budget Air : Good one! (Courtesy of BB weekend)

You got some interesting news more than ever before. The one below os one of the many examples I found. but the one below simply won my heart and deserves a blogging. hahha. It's a true fact and the writer has a good sense of sarcasm! hahhaa. I remember blogging the comparison of no frills to the trolly dolly full board service airline. Hehhe. but a good one! *applause*

Anyways, I'm off to Aberdeen in a few hours. Oh just for info sake, I'm on British Airways flight haha.. with trolley grannies! ahahhaa Oh another thing, they're on strike for a week starting February. They'll be no flights! ahahaha

So now everyone can fly. However, cheap airfares and comfort do not go hand in hand.

Our flight landed one hour later than scheduled. If the airline delays the flight, no problem.

However, if you are the one who is running late, you will miss the flight and be penalised. When you reschedule your flight you are slapped with a hefty fine.

Cleaning of aircraft? That is a DIY (Do-It-Yourself) project. A fly in the fuselage? Just whack it.

"Buddy-A" is not for old people. There is a rush to grab the best seats. Athletic fliers run to the aircraft sitting on the tarmac.

First-come-first-serve; there are no seat numbers. The flight is ever full. Picture a crowded bus!

The airline has a good strategy of making profits from the poor passengers by promising them with low airfares.

It is stuffy inside with sweating youngsters, wailing children (no special treatment) and the grumbling elderly.

The air-conditioning will not be turned on until the plane is mobile. This is to save fuel! After some time, it is super cool and you soon have a case of 'Happy Feet'.

No magazines to browse, no newspapers to read. No music to soothe your longing ears or TV shows to watch. Enjoy aerial shopping for food and drinks with six per cent tax.

Hurried, unclear announcements make you wonder if you had heard it right the first time.

The flight gives you enough time to ponder. In fact this article was written on the way to Kuala Lumpur.

"Buddy-A" strengthens your spine and corrects your posture.

Without the supporting pillow your back is straight, shoulders squared and chins up. You can indeed relax, at least mentally!

Reaching your destination is another interesting adventure that awaits you. It was raining cats and dogs at the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) in Kuala Lumpur when I got there. There are no aero-bridges with sheltered passages.

As you look out the window, you can see your unlabelled luggage (only 15kg per head) being drenched in the rain.

You are provided with red umbrellas as you descend the ladder.

The lady in red says, 'Follow me', and you walk a mile to the immigration, which gives your tired legs some exercise.

The red colour of the budget airline is not a warning or a danger signal.

Instead, it makes you stop and ponder if travelling on a budget was worth it.

As the popularity of economy air travel soars, one day the sky will be completely painted red.

The day I was craving for baked rice.

I was craving for few days to eat this baked rice from Swensen's. So today, I had nothing to do and plus my craving was over the top.

Looked up my freezer, bone my chicken drumsticks and cut into edible portion. Tada!! I made my own perfect baked rice. Honestly and will all respect.. it's much nicer than Swensen's! hahahha



Cheers!

Will check-in online in a few hours. Im off to Aberdeen... yay!

The day I was an ambassador?

Oh well, on the day of portfolio submission a friend asked if I wanna join them taking new prospective students for a tour at the university and the hospital. Well I thought, why not since I wouldnt have anything to do in the afternoon.

We started off at the open day talk session which this friend and I didn't get to witness since we're miles away back home. She's Canadian.. it was fun nevertheless to see how things are. Next was to wander around uni... ahhah god knows where we were heading to! But definitely will end up at the cafeteria. I was already hungry but I didnt have any change or cash with me. I only had copper and BIG note. So I told my mate that I'm off to the nearest town to get some cash. That was around 10mins to go and come back. Withdrew 10quid and that's all I have then in the wallet. haha I dont keep large cash with me. Only in the card. Went to the shop got myself some bananas and sandwich. I changed my mind from buying the foods at the uni... it's that awful cod they had.

Arrived at the cafeteria and met Phil with his group as I was about to sit and settle. One of this students came and asked "do the cafeteria accepts card?" I replied "Nope, only cash, that's why I had to run to town to get some". So everyone was lost and suddenly said.. "oh.. i dont know what to do..." and just sat down and eat. I felt sorry for that kiddo. He came all the way from London since morning around 9 in bad winter weather, "no money" to buy food and he'll be long around until he reaches home. I thought, hey I could be him awhile ago. So without hesitation, I asked "will you be at the Leaf Hospital?" He nodded and said yes. I loan him my only 10quid and told him he could use that and pay me after his interviews.

Then at the table, one of the lecturers posed "hey you guys did a good job taking the tour, you should be the uni ambassadors, it's a paid job!" "we all in curiosity and agreed!" ahhaha. So basically .. we're ambassadors of the uni now! hwhaha.

Oh with the money, yeah he paid me on his way at the train station. 3 of my mates and him walked down to the station in the terribly cold windy day!

Oh at the hospital - I was doing a tour just for this guy and his dad! ahaha. The rest had to do whole bunch! whahaha.

So their feedback:
- excellent facilities, good library.
- hospital modern, in good shape and flawless.
- lecturers were excellent.

well when they asked about what is there about the uni that you dont like or wished it was ? Our reply were the same which was "nothing.. it's the best!"

Their thought were:
This university is impressive compared to those we went.
Most of them hated East London University. They only have 4 chairs whilst we have 21 plus the extras!!! ahaha.
The same to most of the uni.. and Uni of Brighton was the top. And it has been said as well in terms of Podiatry course, it's not easy to grant entry. Hehe.
I was relieved to hear and thinking that hey... I made the right choice!!
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With the above I learnt that actually I'm taking the risk of people taking things for granted and tend to be soo dependent. But I always have this idea, if you do good to others sincerely, good karma will serve you good too. Imagine yourself in the shoe being in trouble or hardship... You see, he's hungry and yet you'll be eating feasting infront of him, that's "cannibalistic" in my dictionary. But doing the above made me happy... besides it's helping another muslim brother. I know I shouldnt be talking about these in public, but it's sumthing we could ponder upon. Treat others the way you want others to treat you. besides all what we;ve got now is from HIM. It does not belong to us totally. Do it as long it does no harm to yourself. With good intention, God will always pay double (beloved Mom's quote)

The day my finger bled.

It was 23rd January 2007. I was taking my sweet time thinking I had everything done. Well it's not like that. I just had my exams over and thinking it's only one assignment left made me thinking that way. Was I worried already? Funny but no, I wasnt really bothered by it. I was happily taking it on my own pace.

At 6pm I was already panicked since the assignment had to be submitted the very next day. Started struggling to finish and came my other colleagues who were in the same boat. Hahha many were asking how have I been doing etc? They were suprised when I told them I havent got it done yet. Cos I'm well known for finishing things especially assignments early. Their respond were mostly "oh sani... that is soo not you!" ahhaha. Oh well I was too tired to think and couldnt write anymore.

I just typed the assignment without having any second thoughts. I hope it flowed clearly and logically. I just printed it off soon I had finished it. Then another 2 which were on reflections. For that I just wrote crap!

Time stroke 12midnight!! Guess what, I had not eaten anything besides the M&S Chocolate pudding and a full glass of hot chocolate for breakfast around noon. Well luckily that sugar contents managed to hold me through. Only after I finished all the assignments, printed and filed that I could my tummy begging for food!

At 1.30am I pulled myself to kitchen, cooked some rice and since I was craving for Jollibee's chicken, I made myself a deep fried crispy chicken. (Blame cathy for the craving!!). So I had to take some time defrosting the chicken from the freezer, cooked my rice in the microwave and cooked some vegetables. It's just me, if I wanna eat it has to be proper especially if I'm using too much energy. I was shaking all over my body. I could feel the effects of hypoglycaemia already! I couldnt think properly, my hand coordination were poor, dizzy etc. The winter weather outside didnt help but making it worse further! It was around -2 that night.

So there, was frying my chicken.. all in good condition. While transferring the large amount of hot oil to the glass bottle... suddenly. *KABOOM*. The glass jar broke into pieces do to the heat. I grabbed the nearest scourer and tried to wipe the oil before it spilled further. Wipe wipe *ouch.. panas!*... then the oil was cleared... took a kitchen towel... *SNAP*... I hit my finger to a small glass that could be seen by the naked eyes. I bled profusely!!!! Yes profusely!

Took some time to clear everything and 2 hours later... around 2 sumthing that I sat down and eat my dinner. Sad.. but what to do!!! Next day, woke up early just to catch the snow as entered before this entry.

Lesson learnt:
Health is important hence eating at right time etc.
Do not ignore symptoms esp if you cant control that hypoglycaemia!
It's fun however to feel that tremors! ahahah
Bleeding is soo not cool!
Snowy day is terribly cold.. ahahha
Hot oil causes glass jar to break.

Important lesson learnt:
Invaluable student life being independent!!! Such a bliss..

The day it was snowing!

Hehhe... pictures say more than a thousand words? Cliche' but yet... true enough! ahhaa

I'll leave you with pictures of snow below! hhHahha. it's predicted thicker tomorrow and around this week. It's terrible at the same time that transports are all interrupted. Whilst out in the snow play, we heard ambulance sires around. Freaky!





Hahha taken even before I had my shower. I was still in my scrubs which I used as pyjamas! HHaha.. awu berkarak alum mandi. Gosh.. I gotta run. I got assignments portfolio to submit and as a tour guide of the day at the university and hospital!

Cheers everyone!

Just random photo taking...

Oh well... that's it for today's entry. Just me being vain and prasan! whahaha





and I made this banner for myself as my sig at brustu. Haha

The day with the end semester exam.

Glad and relieved!

Alhamdulillah with just another submission of assessment paper on Wednesday, I can officially say hello to 2nd semester! As of today, I am just glad that the exams are over! *phew*

Having fears for the unknown is always scary!! That's what happened today. I only had a 2 hour sleep just before my exams. Not dreadful, but having enough sleep would be just a bliss. Woke up early around 5.40 and took some notes trying to memorise the ever so deadly lethal sliding filament theory. At 7.45am, I managed to get everything into my head! hhhahha.

Headed to uni at 8.50am and meet up the rest. Everyone just looked different! Soo exam mood! Some even had planned about supplementary exams already? Some even started questioning... "why am I doing this to myself?" hahaha. Oh well, at 15 mins before time we headed to exam hall and it was freaking cold. Standing at 3deg and falling I could feel the shiver in addition to that nervous tremors.

The moment of truth came. Flipped the paper "not happy but just relieved". Meant to start with essay plan. I doubt anyone had done it. There's just not much time for us to do that. 2hours for damn essay questions. Well, I just carried on writing.... an hour passed I finished writing about the blood vessels and nerves with the distribution and discussion. That was 9 pages!!! HAHAHAHHA Carried on with section two... with another 5 questions. Altogether that was 14 pages of A4 paper!!! All Im wishing now is to pass. Having a golden mark on it would be highly appreciated... *wink*

After exams? Headed town just to show AD what's a ring binder?! Hahah Went to Debenhams and looking for this tiny cute cutlery for Mr Josh.. eheh. Couldnt find it but apparently it's internet only special. So had to get them online. Sent it directly to Kachu's add tho.

After that, I thought I wanna hang around in town. It was freezing cold... so texted Norafizah if she wanted to hang out... She said yes and accompanied her for lunch. I had mine earlier at uni with that HUGE uncut broccolli pie! *eew* Someone posed and said "that reminds me of plantar aponeurosis!" whaha.. guys.. get over it! ahah

Angie was kind enough to call me whilst I was on my way to the hall. But I could hardly hold my phone properly. It was cold causing my hands to numb! Random chat about the post-exam stuff etc.

Overall: day was good! Now assignment! Better get it done!!!! HAHAHHA.

Exam Time!! --> Sliding Filament Theory.

Well like the title says, the assessment forthnight is just around the corner. I will be having my exam on the first day of the two week assessment forthnight. Structure and Function it is. Although I have only one exam but the credit for that exam is quite high!! *gulp* At the same time I have the clinical portfolio of 6000 words approximately to submit. Some of you probably might wonder why the hell am I blogging in between...? Oh well I thought I needed the break and to digest the stuff I just gulped in. I was reading on the sliding filament theory.

Let me run through that a little bit for you. We humans are able to move due to many factors, one of which is the presence of muscles. Have you ever wondered how these muscles were innervated down there to produce that slight tiny movement alone. As little as moving 1 degree of muscle movement takes a lot of work in the muscles. This can be explained by the sliding filament theory. (hahah don't worry.. I won't take the microscope now..)

The Sliding Filament Theory looks at the binding sites of itsy bitsy things like the tropomyosin and troponin being exposed or binded together with Calcium Ions.. with help of ATP... and other chemicals ... plus all the jargons! YES.. it's really a painful process just the way it hurts to put it into my brain! I'm just hoping I'll be able to regurgitate them insya-Allah during the exam, Amin.

That's not just it, I'm worried cos that's the hardest topic amongst all. The essay is divided into 2, one section ( 1 topic with no subdivisions carries 50%) whislt the other carries along 5 to 12% each. So there's no choice.... =S It's like involving yourself in gambling!!!!

My weakmess really is on Physiology rather than Anatomy. Anatomy requires articulation of understanding and good imaginative brains. Physiology? Alamak... the word physiology itself makes me wanna puke! It's mostly on human biochemistry and stuff.

The second bit I'm worried about which could potentially be in the 50% question is the Human Gait Cycle.... that mostly looking at human walking pattern and what reasons lie behind it. All those Physic's Laws and Biomechanics! I will play words like gravity and inertia tah ito! Sungguh benci! ahaha.. Dulu Physics class bermain, beibun di lab! Sekarang.. rasa in lo!

ENOUGH!!!!!!!

The weather has been terrible these past few days. It was terribly windy today and I could hardly walk. At one point, I wish I could just walk effortlessly with the wind and fly kalau dapat! aahha. At the beginning of the day, I was hoping to receive an email from the uni to say.. "dear students, due to the bad weather, class is cancelled..." With high anticipation... however, it never happened! hahhaa.

Anyways, will be looking forward for the "break" ahhaa.. mind the inverted commas! ahhaa. Break sendiri bui!!! ahha. Can't wait to bully Joshua ... whahaha! Josh I'm coming.. so be ready! Hehe

I leave you with two slides of pictures.... enjoy!