Farah

Thursday, July 10, 2008

And So...

The BIG day is coming soon, closer than i can imagine. I was informed by my dearest friends that our scholarships are finally APPROVED! Meaning I'm flying off soon, studying and living in foreign land, for the FIRST time in my life. I have been dreaming about this since I was small, little did I know what it means and implies and how it could impact my life and my future. We were asked to go to MOE tomorrow, to deal with our visas and other scholarship stuffs. Honestly, I haven't got a single clue of what we're gonna do tomorrow. One thing for sure, I am excited to see my friends tomorrow!

One friend of ours is leaving this July, next are the St.Georges peeps followed by the Soton peeps and then Me and my Glasgow-ian peeps. Time does flies.

If you asked me, I have no idea really on what to prepare. I am not prepared in terms of what stuffs to bring and so on, but I am excited to venture the world out there, so I am mentally prepared in that sense. But I'm not sure about the studies. I know its gonna be SUPER tough this time around but I pray and hope that I'll survive. I just have to make full use of my time there and carry on fighting my way through the medical schools, exams and studies.

I still can't sleep. Darn. And i thought posting this will make me :(

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

She dimples ...

Actually, i should have done this a while back. But its not too late right? Anyway, i wanna dedicate this post for my families.

Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm

What's aneurysm?

It's a stretching of a weakened artery (blood vessel) that balloons out rather like a worn motorcar tyre and when this occur, there's a risk that the artery may burst.
Most common artery affected is the aorta, which is in the tummy (abdomen) and hence the name AAA

Who are at risk?

those who have family members who has had aneurysm
smokers
high blood pressure or hypertensive patients
those who have arterial problems like angina (chest pain), hardening of arteries (due to high cholestrol level)

Symptoms?

Tummy ache and back pain especially when the aneurysm stretches
Some don't or rarely develop symptoms until investigations were done.

Surgery?

Not all aneurysm need an operation.
Size of aneurysm more than 55mm carry higher risk of rupture and thus the need for an operation.
Risk of rupture disappears once repaired.
Chances of survival are not good if AAA ruptures.
Most AAA are treated by an operation on the tummy in which aneurysm is replaced with an artificial artery made of very strong plastic material called Dacron. This should last for the rest of your life and is unlikely that it will need to be replaced.
Some aneurysm may also be suitable for treatment by a method in which a graft is threaded up into the aortic aneurysm through a small incision in each groin (Endovascular Stenting).

Is surgery successful?

if succesfully repaired, there is very high likelihood that patient will return to a normal life and it takes btwn 3-6 months to fully recover depending on patient's age.

Source:

Adapted from The Circulation Foundation.

To my dearest families,

I manage to find the simplest websites on nini's conditions for u all. So, please click to the links if you guys want info about

Ayt, hope u guys find these useful, otherwise u can always google for others more. Just a tip, look for patient web-friendly for u so u don't have to face those medical alien jargons.

See u all soon :D

My not so - Pocketful of Sunshine- life

Ok..i know i haven't been posting anything up lately, manakan, everytime kn buka window kn post something, ada tia mcm2 dugaan atu: ada org nagur msn tia, ada tia gtal hati a2 kn main photoshop, mlas tia kn menaip, kena panggil melipat kain tia, mcm2 la pkoknya. Ani pun, i hve to wait till midnight when almost everyone's asleep (almost sal im still chatting to my dear bffff tersayang) and everything's aman damai, then i can find the time to type and post something panjang2.

Korea Vacation

Anywho...gmbar2 korea, sila rujuk disini :D (Korea)

Actually, im a bit lazy to write all about Korea. So, feel free to nudge and ask me arh msn instead. Heee.

Well, wats new in Farah's not so - "pocketful of sunshine" - life?

Nini still in ICU, just underwent another surgery, tracheostomy. Docs told us they need to surgically intubate her through her throat (made a hole in her breathing tube at the neck) as she can't breath on her own. They can't keep the tube for more than 2 weeks otherwise her trachea will get constricted and damaged. She survived, eventho' the infection persists. Its really heartbreaking to see nini everytime. But yea, im trying to keep optimistic and positive on her condition and i pray that she'll get a speedy recovery like she did last time on her previous surgery on AAA (Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm - a bulge that develops on the aorta blood vessel). They say knowing too much sometime can hurt you, i totally understand how that feels. It has not been easy for the family but we are all there to give moral support for each other and continue to lift nini's morale to recover.

wheeled to OT

Nini's battle through her 3rd surgery

Apart from going to RIPAS to visit nini, I managed to complete all my Glasgow docs and forms and gone through all the vaccinations and medical fitness and appointments. Yea! I'll give myself a pat on the back on that. What a relief, now i can enjoy my holiday and patiently wait for the MOE call.

Last Sat

I went out with some of my former MPPs friends for a BBQ gathering. It has been a while since i met them and it's great because its been a while since i had that much fun. Like usual, lots of eating, laughing, joking, bullying, guitar-ing, karaoke-ing and towards the end, few of us stayed to watch P.S.I Love You. I went back home waaaaaaaaay late. Ahaks. (With permission of course ;p). Basically, the gathering is for those who just successfully passed their exams and soon to graduate as well as for those who just got new jobs after their long hunt and search for descent ones. We're grateful.

Today

This afternoon, the girls (Nad, Z8y and Nina) hangout at Nad's home to watch horror movies. We watched 2 in a row and had pizza hut's pastas :D I have to thank 8ah for this because i was feeling shitty the night before and she insisted that i should go meet the girls. And i'm glad that i did coz they made my day! (thanks babes). Actually, 8ah did well cheering me up last night coz she was going out with her KB gangs plus Karthik and she called to check up on me, but wat make me feel aww was the fact that the others were taking turns to talk to me, treating me like as if I'm already 1000 miles away..ahahah. It was quite sweet actually. Thanks all.

Wat am i up to now? Well, at the mo,

i'm into photoshopping and blog-modifying
less MSN-ing
so-so on FB-ing
still visiting nini
waiting for MOE Scholarship Call
searching for movie-watching and exercising companion/s
anticipating my scooter ride
trying to think of other adventurous activities to do
wants to enjoy holiday as much as possible

I guess i've done with this post now. Lalah ku nyamu...Bah, Tata~

Friday, July 04, 2008

Anyeon Haseyo~~~

Kekeke...waah, sudah lama i ngak post apa2, baik jua inda betagar blog ani. LOL. Anyway, was back from Korea/KL 4 days ago, and during tat 4 days i've been busy helping out mum, who was short a daughter for a week to lipat2 kain :p, going to RIPAS to visit our dear nini and not to forget, settling all the medical check-ups, filling in all those Glasgow forms, getting poked@vaccinated and so on. And last but not least, catching up the gossips and drama with my baby 8ah..ahaks.

I'm thinking now...wat shuld i update: The Korea trip or The 4 days post-trip? Hmm...

Bah bah, ill do the korea trip.

SOON.

just a bit of sneak peak :D

Thursday, June 19, 2008

ICU-ed

Mantoux Test

Last week Thursday, i went to RIPAS to do my medical check in preparation for my oversea studies. I made a date with 8ah tat we're gonna do it together. I've done this before actually, twice in fact, once was when i applied Japanese Scholarship ( i have no idea what i was thinking...studying medicine in Japan? lol) and one other time was when i applied Government scholarship to UK. So, this is my third time.

Btw, im doing this post because i have nothing better to do while waiting for my dental check-up...(namanya blogging kan..haha..lame i know)

So that day, i was exposed with radiation (X-Ray), treated like a kindergarden child and asked to read letters using the "pirate-like" eye mask thing (Snellen Chart for Visual Acuity Test). Also, i was poked 3 times: (1) poked in the ear (ear check-up), poked in the arm with 3 tubes of blood extracted from me (LR photo), poked on the forearm to check if i have TB (Mantaux test). The Mantoux test result was out on Sat. Funny thing is when i was poked on Thurs, the poke wasn't that big (1st photo UL, but on second day it got bigger (2nd photo UR) and it becomes itchy, swollen and reddish on consequent day and purplish a week later (LL photo). It was worrying and i thought i got infected from patients while i was waiting for my grandma @ the SICU. Scaryy...but when the attendant/nurse measure, i was relieved because it was 0.5mm, meaning i'm totally TB-free (more than 10mm, i shuld be scared)..Phew~ But it does annoy me, coz it's still itchy and purplish and swollen. I guess i'm a bit sensitive to the test (handal kali ah immune system ku ah- again lame..lol).