Rediscovering Eden
Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name
Would care to feel my hurt
Who am I, that the bright and morning Star
Would choose to light the way
For my ever wandering heart
Not because of who I am
But because of what You've done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who You are
I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
A vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I'm calling
Lord, You catch me when I'm falling
And You've told me who I am
I am Yours, I am Yours
Who Am I, that the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love
and watch me rise again
Who Am I, that the voice that calmed the sea
Would call out through the rain
And calm the storm in me
Whom shall I fear
Whom shall I fear
I am Yours
dailies
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Backlog!
-7:42 PM
Actually now I’m in the Hematology Dept although the previous blog entry says that I should be in Rheumatology. SO:
Rheumatology Dept(31/8/09-13/9/09):
Patients that come in here come for diseases related to Rheumatology(风湿病）e.g. Osteoarthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Gout, Sjögren’s Syndrome, Polymalgia Rheumatica, Anklosing Spondylitis etc etc. Why am I learning all these when I’m suppose to learn TCM is because we work in a hospital which combines with the Western and Chinese Medicine. I learned how to read X-rays,CTscans, MRIs, blood/urine/enzymes tests, we even do chromosome screenings and some other technique I learned in Immunology in NTU. And we learn to give the Western diagnosis as well as the TCM diagnosis. We give western medication (and I though memorising all the medicine names for Pharmacology then was tough…well I don’t know if its worse in Mandarin) as well as TCM herbs and other treatment.
I used to think that we shouldn’t combine the usage of Western medicine and TCM cos we never know what effect those two can have on our body. But over here, we learn that although the patients take both types of medicine, they take it at 2 different time, always at least half an hour apart and it works, in fact, the prognosis and the recovery of the patient is A LOT better than either world on their own! Don’t know why each world is trying to out-do the other, cos they should work together.
Recently, my Head of Dept went on a healthcare programme on TV and showed how the doctors used this thing called 雷火灸 to aid in the recovery of patients with weak joints which would be painful whenever the temperature drops. This 雷火灸 is a thicker and longer and bigger version of the normal 艾条 we use for Moxibustion. For the patients staying in hospital, the nurses would light the 雷火灸 and bring it near the painful joint, moving in circles around that joint so that the hot air generated will ease the pain while rubbing the joint every 3-5 minutes. The whole process takes 20 minutes and each 雷火灸 can be used for ~4days. And so because of the show, we had patients coming in from everywhere in China, even one from INDONESIA(I didnt know they screen CCTV over there) and so many phonecalls everyday, we were like a taperecorder explaining that we are running out of stock and would you like to leave your name and contact no.& we had to educate people on it whenever people asked. Most people thought that it was a wonder treatment and that all would be cured but no, its only an aid in the whole treatment. THe patient the TV crew interviewed became well cos she was under this whole series of treatment which included western medicine, chinese herbs to drink, chinese herbs to soak in, some paste paste medicine,雷火灸 etc. In any case 雷火灸 is only good to relieve pain and pain which comes about when its cold..if the joint is warm,its not advisable to use it.
We saw this 针刀treatment as well. This is a minor surgery which is an invention stemming from the usage of acupuncture needles. For this treatment, a fat needle with its end shaped into a small blade is inserted in areas where there is too much fibronectin and other stuff restricting movement in that area. So inject anaesthesia into the area and poke in as if holding an acupuncture needle. When the needle is in, cut the fibres at certain areas beneath the skin, then pull the needle out and cover the wound and allow Infra Red to penetrate that area. Patients came in a wheelchair and walked out of the theatre on their own! but again, this only relieves the symptoms which is better than nothing because diseases in this dept requires life-long usage of drugs.
***
It was Teacher’s Day on the 10th of September!
So That morning, I hurried to 方庄to buy flowers for the teacher. YC met me there after a while. We bought roses for the teachers in the Rheumatology dept and a bouquet of flowers for our fav teacher-our acupuncture teacher!
This it the bouquet for our dearest Qin Lao Shi! She liked it and we tried to make it pink without over-doing it. The roses and sunflowers were pretty. It was quite nice honestly and would have been better if the florist didnt sprinkle the silver glitter all onto the flowers.HA. Another customer grabbed our bouquet and asked if the florist could do an identical one for her. Grins*. It cost 32RMB. The roses each cost 2RMB.
Our guy teacher was quite shy to receive a yellow rose from us. Haha,he didnt know how to react. My friend was saying we shouldn’t give roses to males cos their wives will react negatively upon seeing the flowers. Our guy teacher put his flower in a pot in the office. haha. And one of our other roses for another teacher was taken by the Rheumatology Dept!!! We were searching all over for that flower when we looked up and saw it in a pot by the window sill.-.-.THey took it as their own and so YC went back to Fang ZHuang to get more.
When was the last time I gave something to a teacher on Teacher’s day? In JC. :P.
***
Back to work in the Rheumatology Dept:
Every Monday we’ll have to do our rounds with the Registrars reporting to the Attending their patient’s conditions and its tiring honestly..haha,cos we have 30patients and we stand the whole morning. I have weak knees too but I like doing rounds! I like working in a hospital.
On Tuesday, we have the choice of following 孟老师, a reputable TCM physician but none of us had a chance to follow her..I was the closest but she chased us out in the end;朱老师, the HOD who does a lot of Western Med stuff，男张老师(haha, you’ll know later why I have to say ‘男’)who is patient and thinks through every herb he gives. I really wanted to follow t孟老师 and she allowed me too the first time but I got too ambitious and decided to be more proactive and stood up to see when I couldn’t see anything. A patient took the seat and I was OK standing but she didnt like it and send me off. I tried my best to stay and even tried again in the afternoon but she asked me to join another teacher. Aman tried to follow her the next time but got chased out too. oh wells.
There was one day I was following the HOD and suddenly she started asking TCM stuff and I could answer them while her students couldnt!HOnestly, honestly, I was quite happy I could answer cos the doctors have always thought badly of us with our not-so-good chinese and our crash course in TCM. SHe praised me,said that the Singaporean students were more hardworking than the local students because of the short duration in China. She then told her students to go read up more,I was really thankful and encouraged.
On Wednesday, we normally follow 何老师,who is also in charge of Student Admin in the hospital. He is really good and while treating his patients, he explains to us the reason for using the herbs and explains to us TCM theories. His expertise is in Rhematology as well as diseases relating to the kidneys. We realise that he is also good at treating…PIMPLES,blackheads and acne! Many women forward to be treated.
On Thursday, we can choose to follow 朱老师 or 男张老师.
On Friday, we follow 女张老师 instead.
***
My fav patient in the dept. She was the only one with Anklosing Spondylitis and I took interest in that and started chatting with her to understand more about the disease. Her eyes were affected first and they thought it was just the eyes and upon further checks, they realise that the eyes were just symptoms of the real disease which affects the spine. Never will I treat the eyes as just the eyes. She is a smart, pretty and tall auntie for her age and always runs off to Fang Zhuang nearby cos she says she is bored in the hospital. She then brings back tons of vcds to watch in her mini-player and food which she shares with me too! It was fun talking to her and she would even tell me about relationships, well, advising me NOT to marry and have kids but to have relationships but stay unmarried since Im educated and can support myself. Not sure if I agree with that but yup, I really got to know her better, I even know that she dances at Discotheques and loves all sorts of dancing and singing. She even invited me to her house. I hope she gets well though her disease has been on for 20over years. I like her attitude though-she tries her best to do what the doctor says and remains optimistic though she knows that it can never be totally cured with current Medicine.
I made that card for her! Its a picture that I’ve taken at a park in Beijing. Its one of my fave photos cos its flowers+black and white with a splash of colour (thats why I love Canon:P). I added her name in yellow at the top and developed the photo before writing a message to her at the back. I even wrote the song ‘有一位神’ and 耶稣爱你,the exact same Christian message I wrote for my patient in Acupuncture. For this pretty auntie, I just felt that she needed God in her life..somehow,somewhere. YC commented that I really put effort for all these art and craft and talking to patients stuff but I really enjoy it although it takes energy, time, money-I thank God for the opportunity.
:)
