Chow

I'm sure there are tons of websites like this out there but this is one that I bumped into. Pretty good stuff.

Some thing to recommend to your internet savvy patients?..

What's in a name...

Is change really that important to the human psyche? I can remember Cathay Pacific changed their logo some years ago, that was good. But I can't help thinking those timeless logo that never needed an image revamp, like lufthansa's and NHS's. The Auckland City Council changed their logo two times in less then a year lately..

And what's in a name? in my less then 10 years at Auckland. The city's hospital has gone thru 3 names: Auckland Public Hospital, Auckland Hospital and now, Auckland City Hospital.

What will never change, however, is the man who come to "the hospital" at the middle of the night with chest pain, mentally and physically exhausted from caring for his ailing wife. The 92 year old with dementia who was sent in the rest home can't take care of her anymore.

Yes, the bio-psycho-social aspect of illness. The modern hospital can really only deals with the "bio" bit with some success.

Extraordinary

"The riveting tableau, of a former president jetting into a diplomatic crisis while his wife was embarking on a tour of Africa in her role as the nation’s chief diplomat, underscored the unique and enduring role of the Clintons, even in the Obama era."

who can dance like the Clintons?

Priceless

So former President Clinton went to North Korea and returned with the 2 journalists who were otherwise sentensed to 12 years of hard labour.

Elsewhere in the USA, you have yet another gunman who open fired at a dance exercise class, killing three.

2 saved, 3 died.

Tako-Tsubo par excellence

Stress cardiomyopathy is an increasingly recognised differential diagnosis of an apparent acute coronary syndrome.

A 50 odd year old man with long history of addiction originally from Northland, in the city for 1 week waiting to check into alcohol rehab. He presented to Auckland City Hospital with few hours history of chest pain after giving a speech at the local AA meeting.

Arrival ECG showed some ST elevation in the II, III and aVF. Angiogram within one hour showed no culprit lesion but mid ventricle ballooning.

A few hours later, confined in a side room in CCU, he wanted a smoke. Nurse gave up convincing him and paged the registrar at 0630hrs instead (the feeling of course is if they are up working, so should the lazy registrar). After a few standard exchange the patient then poured his heart out saying he left Northland because his family literally kicked him out because of his addiction troubles, and for the first time this 50 year old man revealed a bit of his secrets which he blames as the cause of his addition at the AA meeting. What follow was of course his heart attack.

His emotional burden, the telling of his secrets, literally caused his heart to be broken.

"No matter what struggles have come along in what has been, I think, quite a turbulent life, I got up very early in the morning and did my job professionally. It was a matter of honour to me. No matter what was going on, I was there every night on the telly. I make no claims of heroism in telling you this. It was just the way I considered life to be. No matter what ghastly times marred my journey, the work had to be done, the show had to go on. You pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and smile, smile, smile. You smile though your heart is breaking, and all that".

Like him or not, what Paul Holmes says make sense. I always wondered whether it was the money that kept him going - waking up for his breakfast show on Newstalk ZB during week days for so many years. Alas, "it was just the way I considered life to be". And indeed, how one views life really depends on one's term of reference.

Just Married

After 5 weeks of annual leave we really didn't feel like working again.

Having worked for 12 days straight after coming back, the sunshine of Albufeira can't be any further away. We liked Lisbon best. We loved Heathrow airport and probably won't transit in Melbourne ever again.

Both of us get asked "How's married life" almost everyday (still). Well, it's bliss. Ok, it might not quite be that but we're getting there.

It was a little strange wearing the ring on my 4th finger for the inital few weeks, in fact I think I played with it so much that either my DIP joint got a bit swollen. I now wear the ring comfortably day and night.

Thank you for all the nice comments on our photos. The photographer was Amanda Wignell. Amanda Kwok helped with the photos in the evening. Of course, you were budding photographers on the day too. If you have any nice ones, do share it with us!

I can't thank our parents enough. Their hearts are bigger than anything I've known.

Thank you

Thank you to all those who have shown their support. It's been an amazingly long journey to this day, starting way back in 2005. Am I a better doctor today compared to yesterday? No. But am I better equipped now compared to in 2006? Yes.

Today I'm one happy man. It's not quite the end of life as I know it since that doesn't happen until next Saturday!

The RACP exam has reportedly destroy relationships - I'm glad it has done quite the opposite to mine - thank you dani.

Susan Boyle - simply stunning

Stunning

I dreamed a dream

Then I was young and unafraid,
And dreams were made and used and wasted.
There was no ransom to be paid,
No song unsung, no wine, untasted.

Yes.. if not for Susan Boyle I wouldn't have paid much attention to the lyrics of this beautiful song in Les Miserables.