- During my attachment at the Oncology Unit as a Medical Officer, I saw a lady in clinic who came for her yearly follow-up. She told me that during her last visit she was seen by another doctor who looks like me. As I examined her, she gave a description of that doctor. I was smiling all the while, as I was the one who saw her the year before.
- Another patient, at the end of my consultation with her, said that she wanted to ask just one more question before leaving. Preparing myself mentally for her high-tech and scientific question (or so I thought), I was really surprised to hear what she had to ask: “Can you call my son? This is his phone number. He is still single,” she said, as she handed me a piece of paper.
- It was also at the Oncology Clinic where I saw an Indonesian lady who came all the way from Pontianak, Indonesia for her follow-up. She had previously completed treatment for cervical cancer and was in remission. It took her eight hours of bus ride to get to our General Hospital from Pontianak. When I instructed her to remove her underpants so that I could do a vaginal and speculum examination, I noticed that she had removed one panty after another. I was so curious that I had to ask her why. The nurse assisting me at the time was also very keen to hear her explanation. We managed not to laugh until the patient had left. We thought her reason did not make sense: “It is a long journey from Pontianak and there is no toilet in the bus, so I have to prepare myself just in case I need to pass urine.”
- It is a routine for patients in the Male Cancer Ward, where I worked, (situated on the second floor of the unit) to be called over the intercom to go for radiotherapy treatment in the ground floor. Everyone was amused, however, when three particular patients were called one afternoon: “Jus, Mangga, Redy, sila turun ke bawah.”
- As medical staff, we often use certain terms to describe colours, like jaundice for yellow, anaemic for anything which looks pale and cyanosis for blue. If someone says that a pen is anaemic, it means that the ink is faint. The nurses at the Male Cancer Ward found it rather amusing when one of the doctors who worked there before, wanted to borrow a red pen one day. She had asked, “Anyone has a blood pen?”
- A patient in the Male Cancer Ward was required to go for a chest x-ray one day and was informed by the staff nurse about it. “Pak cik kena pergi tangkap gambar,” said the nurse. Upon hearing that, the patient asked to be given a few minutes- so that he could go comb his hair first!
- During one of my night duties, everyone became “awake” at 3 o’clock in the morning when a young and sexy Indonesian pub singer, clad in an “ultra-mini” skirt, with leather jacket and knee-length leather boots, walked in to the A&E (Accident and Emergency) complaining of abdominal pain. As she took a seat opposite a 70-year-old uncle who was having nebuliser for his asthma, one of the nurses said, “We better keep an eye on the uncle, just in case he develops a heart attack."
- A psychiatric patient was brought in to the A&E one day when my colleague Khaira (a non-turban wearing Punjabi) was on duty. Her family members complained that she was being verbally and physically aggressive at home. Before Khaira could interview the patient, she took one look at him and asked, “Awak Shah Rukh Khan atau Rahul?” Khaira tried to ignore her question, but then she asked again (this time in a much louder voice), “Awak Shah Rukh Khan atau Rahul? Cakap!” When my colleague said he was Shah Rukh Khan, the patient promptly got up from the examination bed and started singing a Hindi song.
No comments:
Post a Comment