The Dektos Year Ahead

the year threatened to end in a lousy way, but as always, things turn around. and despite nursing a secondary bacteria infection, mumbler managed to enjoy herself during the break - youth xmas bash, combined service, jc class gathering, dinner at timbre with close friends, the yearly walk down orchard road with family to see the lights...i might have certainly eaten and enjoyed myself more if not for the flu, but i'm not complaining. my top priority was to catch up on the hours of sleep lost during surgery posting - and i managed to that with the help of zyrtec and cough syrups. haha.

the new posting has started off on a good note - good tutors, and patients aplenty at the grand ol' dame. hope to get some proper grilling and practice this time round since the big exam is less than ten weeks away!

for now, a very happy new year to everyone! and yes, it'll be the dektos year (see here; dektos (gr) accepted, favoured) so get excited!

What Sweeter Music

yes, instead of preparing for her surgery end of posting test, mumbler is surfing youtube - and she found a video to her favourite (modern) christmas carol of all, what sweeter music, written by the amazing john rutter. listening to it brings back memories of choir, of hawaii, of carefree days long gone.



(based on the poem by robert herrick)

What sweeter music can we bring,
than a carol for to sing
The birth of this our heavenly King ?
Awake the voice! awake the string !

Dark and dull night, fly hence away
And give the honor to this day
That sees December turned to May.

Why does the chilling winter's morn
Smile like a field beset with corn ?
Or smell like to a meadow newly shorn
Thus, on the sudden ?

Come and see
The cause, why things thus fragrant be:
'Tis he is born, whose quickening birth
Gives life and luster, public mirth,
To heaven and the under-earth.

We see him come, and know him ours,
Who with his sunshine and his showers,
Turns all the patient ground to flowers.

The darling of the world is come,
And fit it is we find a room
To welcome him.

The nobler part
Of all the house here is the heart,

Which we will give him; and bequeath
This holly and this ivy wreath,
To do him honour; who's our King
And Lord of all this revelling.

Bushed

mumbler is hacking away from the silly cold that always comes with the northeast monsoon. stopped the post nasal drip with clarinase (since piriton will put me to sleep) and now trying to stop the cough with dextrometophan, which retails for $1.60 for 20 tabs at the neighbourhood pharmacy. ever since she learnt pharmacology in second year and found out how affordable (read:real cheap!) the drugs are at pharmacies, she's self-medicated, and saved a heck a lot of money and trouble. it's pretty ironic, but what can one do when gps are prescribing klacid for the common cold?!

the long hours at the hospital have not helped. and yes, mumbler has just reached home after a marathon day of lectures, with neurology in the morning, followed by ecgs, haematology and medicine osce lectures in the afternoon, held in two different places. the last time my brain throbbed like that was when i downed two maguaritas too rapidly last year. sigh. i need more hours to rest, but the days just pass so quickly. we're down to 80+ days to the big day now. argh!

but amidst all that, listening to the story of the patient presented at today's neurology lecture reminded me what medicine is all about. 50+ year old man with a 10 year history of parkinson's. initially presented with reduced arm swing, started on dopamine agonists, switched to l-dopa, and to date has 2 admissions for psychosis and attempted suicide and 1 for pneumonia requiring an icu stay. wife's a schoolteacher, and worries that he'll fall if he goes out. as our tutor said, in most cases the caregiver starts out wishing for complete recovery. but as the disease progresses, the caregiver ironically wishes for reduced control, so that the risks of injuries to the patient are less.

it's a sad state of things, which begs a discussion on the topic of euthanasia. lots of publicity especially since uk television has just aired a documentary showing a man die after receiving a lethal dose of medication. so much has been said about giving patients a dignified death, and even having seen the state some patients are in the hospital, i can't bring myself to believe that it's a doctor's duty to help a patient die. because doctors are meant to battle death and disease, not aid them. because terminal illnesses rob patients and their families of hope, which is the one thing that makes life meaningful, and doctors are meant to give hope. in short, because it's wrong. it'll be a sad day for singapore if we allow active euthanasia. i hope it never happens.

Blackbird/ I Will

i can't help it, it's just too beautiful a song. managed to find a filipino group singing it in rehearsal. a bit too fast for my liking and the conductor interrupts them at the end, but it's the same lovely 8-part arrangement i had the chance to perform last year. until i find a way to put up the original version, this has to do. heh.

Blackbird/I Will - arr Swingle Singers



Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take this broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

Who knows how long I've loved you
You know I love you still
Will I wait a lonely lifetime?
If you want me to I will

And if I ever saw you
I didn't catch your name
But it never really mattered
I will always feel the same

Love you forever and forever
Love you with all my heart
Love you whenever we're together
Love you when we're apart

When at least I find you
Your song would fill the air
Sing it loud so I can hear you
Make it easy to be near you
For the things you do endear you to me
You know I will

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take this broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take this sunken eyes and learn to see
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to be free

Blackbird fly, blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night

Time Out

it's mid way through the revision posting and it's cram cram cram non stop so far. so much to know, so much to read, and so much to practise. one senior staff sent chills down my spine when he said to the three groups at the western hospital now, "you mean you guys don't know this at all?" mumbler knows she's supposed to pull up her socks and carry on with the race, but currently she's trying to hold up her socks while running, so it isn't easy.

meanwhile, there's talk about grad trip (which mumbler still hasn't confirmed yet) and plans for the christmas holidays. get togethers with old friends and jc class, and hopefully some caroling as well. a quick breather before the madness starts again in medicine revision posting.

met up with two seniors after service yesterday, and how aptly so. much encouragement and strength was received - and a reminder on what being a receiver means. let me now leave you with the opening song from yesterday's praise and worship. it was nice to be back serving in the rock once again!

For All You've Done


the swingle singers version of blackbird/i will is my current earworm. too bad that youtube does not have a video of it. what i would give to be able to perform that song again!