a year in status

Food poisoning

Was struck by a severe case of food poisoning 2 days ago. Am unsure what exactly caused it but I have my suspicions.

I was literally throwing up every time I took anything via mouth. I couldn't even keep down water. As a result, I was dehydrated. As a physician, I knew what I needed to do, rest and drink lots of fluids.

Unfortunately, as the day went on, I realised 2 problems; firstly, I hadn't pass urine since 8 am in the morning, and secondly, I was tachycardic (high heart rate) at 137, which meant that I was not only dehydrated, but severely so.

So, at around 7 pm, I put on my winter coat, gloves and boots, and walked the 100 m to the emergency room of the hospital that I worked. I felt mildly embarrassed to be there as I was working in the emergency room a few days ago, so I saw a few familiar faces.

Despite being a resident at the hospital and being severely dehydrated, I waited a loooong 2 hours in the waiting room. I know I shouldn't complain and people are seen in order of acuity. So I guess I wasn't considered acutely ill enough.

But I just needed an IV line and a bag of normal saline to hydrate myself. Heck, I can probably even put in the IV line myself!

Patience is a virtue, patience is a virtue....

Finally, I was seen by an ER colleague of mine whom I had work with recently. He was very nice and asked me what I wanted, to which I replied, Give me IV fluids until I start to pass urine.

So, for the first time in my life, I had an IV line inserted, a 20G pink line. And 1 litre of normal saline was started. I didn't want to spend a long time in the ER, so I asked for a pressure bag to speed up the infusion. (Pressure bags are normally used when a patient is severely hypotensive, ie low blood pressure, to speed up the rate of infusion.) I wasn't hypotensive (yet!) but I just wanted it to go faster.

At the end, I actually required 2 litres of normal saline and an injection of anti-emetic medication before I had the urge to pass urine. My pulse had come down to a normal 87 and I was free to go. No longer feeling nauseous, my housemate walked to McDonalds (yes, I have both KFC and McDonalds just 50 metres from my house AND the hospital!) and bought me McNuggets. And luckily, I managed to keep it down and went to bed.

Unfortunately, the next day, I was in the second phase of gastroenteritis. Severe diarrhea.

At least this time, I was able to keep my fluids down.....

Beauty and the Beast

Went down to Minneapolis with a friend to watch Beauty and the Beast The Musical. If I recall correctly, the Disney cartoon came out in 1991, which means it has been 18 years since then, and I can still recall the lyrics to all the songs. It really brought back old memories to me.

One particular memory that came to mind was when I was in standard 4, when a group of us danced to, 'Be Our Guest' for a school concert. We were all dressed up in top hats, suits and walking sticks, dancing away. Wished I had photos of that, as honestly, I cannot recall if that was a figment of my imagination or that it was such a horrible experience that I have suppressed it deep in my mind.

It was a nice get-away and I got to know my fellow colleague much better. She will be moving to a different program next year to be closer to her finance. Will surely miss her.....

Blizzard warning

A snow blizzard is coming our way.

It will be interesting to see how we cope tomorrow morning, with expected 7 to 11 inches of snow on the ground. Every now and then, the radio weatherman has been reminding people not to travel tonight and tomorrow unless absolutely necessary due to the predicted snow blizzard. Am I expected to ski in to work tomorrow morning? Or hike through 1 foot of snow?

When I came home earlier, there was already about 2-3 inches of snow on the ground. Enough snow to cause the UK to come to a standstill, but this is the mid-west where people are used to such extreme weathers.

I asked a colleague of mine earlier what happens during a blizzard. How do people get to work? How do people cope with everyday life? I was told of the power of snow plough (?!) and the daily grind never stops just because of the weather. Life just goes on around here.......

Sin City - day 2

Woke up really early again today for a bus tour to the Grand Canyon. It takes about 5-6 hours each way, which explains the really early pick-up time at 6 am.

Stopped at Hoover Dam for a short 10 minutes.


I paid a little more (okay, a lot more) for a 30 minute experience on a helicopter that provided a closer and in-depth view of the Grand Canyon.

View from the air

Then, it was off to other stops, Bright Angel Lodge and Mather Point for more photo-opportunities. Enjoy...





And then it was another long 5 hours journey back to Las Vegas.

Sin city - day 1

Woke up at 4 am after going to bed at 1 am to catch my early morning flight to Las Vegas - the infamous Sin City! This means that in the last 60 hours, I have only had 8 hours of sleep. I am officially sleep-deprived. Will need a holiday to recover from this holiday....

Arrived in Las Vegas around 9 am, and was pleased to be able to check-in early at Planet Hollywood hotel. Well, it is apparently low season so they could do so. I checked out the casino, but wasn't very impressed. Interestingly, the casinos here do not have those body scanner machines or even guards to check your age, unlike the casinos in Genting Highlands and in Macau. Pretty casual to the point that anyone can walk in and out.


First stop, shopping! Am so deprived of shopping that my first stop was the Premium Outlet Shopping. Why pay full price when you can get it 60% off? Annoyingly, it took an hour via public transport to get there. It's probably only 5 miles out from the Strip. Ah well.....

And man, I did sooo much shopping that I had to literally stop shopping because I was unable to physically carry my bags anymore. At times like this, a boyfriend would definitely have been very handy. Or a maid will do as well. Hehe....

Came back, grab a quick dinner and was off to watch America's Got Talent Live, hosted by Jerry Springer. It was good entertainment, but I think Britain's Got Better Talent. Hhehehe...

The Texas Tenors and Terry Fator

Oh, and the winner of Season 2 America's Got Talent, Terry Fator, was in the audience as he is now performing his own show at the Mirage. If you have never watched him perform, I suggest you youtube him now. He is a ventriloquist, comedian, impressionist and singer; all in one package! I managed to catch a DVD of him performing and he is excellent. Totally blew my mind watching him sing.

After the show, I went to walk along the Strip.

A break finally

After 5 long months of working, I finally have a week of holiday. A very precious week as we only have 3 weeks of holiday per academic year. Am saving my remaining 2 weeks for a trip back to Malaysia in April 2010.

I was on-call the day before my holiday started, which meant I was post-call the day after. Had a busy call night, in which I was only able to take a short 1 hour nap sometime at 3-4 am. Luckily, I managed to leave work around 10.30 am, and came home immediately to shower and finish packing.

Took a shuttle to Minneapolis Airport, hop onto my airport hotel shuttle and checked into my hotel. Watched X-men on TV and loved it! Then, waited for my friend to pick me up to Minneapolis for *expensive* Japanese food. Came up to 66 USD per person. *faints* But I have to admit, it was extremely fresh Japanese sushi.

Then, it was off to relish some high school memories by watching Cranberries live in concert. They were extremely popular when I was 13-14 years of age, I think. Zombie was the 'in' song then, with everyone trying to copy Dolores O'Riordan style of singing. They faded out eventually, as all good music bands do. I believe the lead singer went on to have kids, and now she was doing a world tour, and I couldn't resist the chance to see them live.

And it was amazing! She sounded as brilliant as before, her energy and enthusiasm were outstanding. It was great listening to all her hit singles, Animal Instinct, Zombie, Ode to my Family, and of course, Zombie!


Was still buzzing with energy after the concert, but turned down my friends' invitation for supper as I needed sleep! Also was going to be up early tomorrow to catch an early morning flight.

Ode to Joy

Attended a classical concert at the Civic Center with a few friends. It was aptly titled, 'Ode to Joy' and the music was pretty good. I have to admit, it was the smallest concert hall I have ever been in. Compared to the previous concert halls I have been, this one pales in comparison. I guess I shouldn't be comparing, considering my current location.

Interestingly, I only found out that Ode to Joy was originally written as a poem by a German poet to celebrate the ideal of unity and brotherhood among mankind. It is sung to the music by Beethoven, in the final movement of his Ninth Symphony.

Shostakovich: Festive Overture

Ives: Double Fugue on American Hymns

Bernstein: Candide Overture

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9

ACP Minnesota

I presented my first poster presentation at the American College of Physician Minnesota meeting today. Although I didn't make it past the first round, it was a good experience learning how to present my case. Here is to more poster presentations to come!

My poster (authors' and institution's names have been removed due to confidentiality)

Pumpkin carving

Apparently, the house that we are currently renting, is known infamously to the Malaysian-Singaporean community here as the venue for the annual pumpkin-carving for Halloween. This tradition has been performed in our humble abode for the past 6 years, hosted by previous Mal-Sing occupants, and we were expected to continue the tradition.

We graciously opened our doors, (not as if we had a choice), and welcomed everyone to carved pumpkins in our living room. Luckily, not much mess was made as everyone was very conscientiously trying to clean up after themselves.

I didn't buy a pumpkin this year, but shared it with my housemate and together, we carved our first pumpkin, as can be seen below.

Our carved pumpkin (without candles)

Our carved pumpkin (with candles in the dark)

Joshua Radin in concert

Ever since hearing Joshua Radin's music on Grey's Anatomy and Scrubs, I have enjoyed his music tremendously. I had actually bought tickets to see him perform live in London on March 19 this year, but I was at the BES conference in Harrogate, and was unable to watch him perform.






Fortunately, he performed in Minneapolis and I wasn't going to forgo it this time round. And he was definitely worth it!

Renaissance Fair

Visited the Minnesota Renaissance Fair this weekend, which is supposedly the largest Renaissance Festival in the United States with an annual attendance of 275,000. It amazes me, it really does, a Renaissance Fair here in Minnesota!

As you enter the festival gates, one is welcomed by roaming street characters with a gracious “Good day my lord and lady”, and slowly immersed with the sounds, smells and sights of an authentic 16th century village.

Greetings galore my fair lady

Fencing - the aim is to burst the balloons on the ears!

As usual, the main attractions are the numerous food available to sample, quite similar to the State Fair actually. And pricey too, which explains the photo below. =)

Lady Visa and Master Card are always welcomed!

U2 in concert!

Am back in Chicago to attend U2 in concert!


Honestly, it was very extravagant of me to fly to Chicago just to attend a concert. However, this is U2! I have always wanted to watch them live when I was back in UK but work always got in the way. I am disappointed to say that I have never set foot in Wembley Arena where all the top artists and musicians perform.

When I heard U2 was performing in Chicago, and during a weekend when I was not working, I couldn't resist. As with all U2 concerts, the tickets were all sold out, thus I had to resort to a third party website. At first, I was initially worried how genuine the website would be and also how high the ticket price would be marketed, since everyone is out to make a profit. Luckily for me, I found a decent seller who sold his USD250 ticket to me for only USD200. I guess because it was a single ticket, he couldn't mark it higher.

And the concert was amazing!

The 36o degree stage

Snow Patrol opening act

Bono!

Electrifying stage!

Cloud Gate at Millenium Park - nicknamed The Bean, a sculpture by Anish Kapoor that reflects and distorts the city's skyline

Trip to Amish and State Fair

Am in Ambulatory Clinic rotation this month, which means I have all my weekends free! I had taken my weekends for granted until I started working here in the US, where the concept of weekends is non-existent. Every day is a working day with a day-off every 6-7 days.

Went to an Amish farm auction. I had heard about the Amish community prior but never knew much about them. A bit of Googling informed me that the Amish community do not permit electricity or telephones in their home, with the aim to keep modern world from intruding into their home lifes. They still live and work much as their forefathers did!

Some of the items on auction - a wagon anyone?

Amish-grown vegetables for sale

After the Amish farm, we went to the Minnesota State Fair, which has been reported to be the largest state fair in the whole US of A. This year, a grand total of 1,790497 people attended, according to their website.

Too many Minnesotans

During the state fair, people come to be entertained, to exhibit their best livestock, to show off their abilities in a variety of fields including singing and dancing (think Miss Minnesota Fair!) and most importantly, to enjoy the many different types of food (some weird and wonderful!) - mostly on a stick!

Deep fried alligator on a stick

Cheesecakes on a stick

And the people's favorite - cheese curds!

Trip to Chicago

Am back from a short 3 days trip to Chicago. And I had a great time!

Chicago skyline

I had purchased a Go Chicago card, which gave me free access to most (if, not all!) of the attractions in Chicago. I went to the Shedd Aquarium, Museum of Science and Industry, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Field Museum, the Hancock Observatory, the Sears Tower and many more. Not only was the card value for money, it was good value for time too, as it allows you to bypass the queue for tickets. Especially important for some attractions which had a very, very long queue!

Sue at the Field Museum

Attractions at Navy Pier

Went sailing on Tall Ship Windy at Navy Pier

Lonely lighthouse

Looks like two ordinary buildings

On closer inspection, it's a car park. According to the tour guide, only valet parking is allowed to prevent people from reversing into the river directly below. And yes, it has happened before!

106 cast iron figures created by Magdalena Abakanowicz

View from the Sears Towers Skydeck

Standing on the Ledge, at the Sears Towers Skydeck, from the 103rd floor, separated by an inch of glass, with unobstructed views straight down

View from the Hancock Observatory

Chicago was indeed fun! And I am coming back again in 2 weeks time to attend U2 in concert!