Of Ghost Stories

Walking back to my office on Menara Timur in UMMC following my evening rounds late on Tuesday, I came across a familiar sight above. That was the corridor along on the third to the fifth floor of Manara Timur. Those floors were where the labs were situated as well as the Psychiatric ward. The corridor leading up to there from Menara Utama along the Anaesthesia Department were be dark and isolated at night. From there, I had to take a narrow staircase to my office on the fifth floor.

Back in 2005, I remember vividly an encounter. It was still during the days when I had to stay on site while on call - now I do my calls from home. Late one evening, I was called to tend to a patient on Menara Timur. While walking along the third floor corridor, I saw a familiar silhouette of a patient on mine on the fourth floor. I thought nothing of it until I arrived at the ward. I asked one of the nurses what was the patient doing along the corridor that late at night. it soon dawned on me that patient actually passed away a couple of months prior at his hometown in Johor.

He was only in his late 20s at the time but his cancer proved difficult to treat. He also had some issues with his family, one of those stories where he left his hometown early to prove himself in KL. He did quite well, with an internet business, but unfortunately he was diagnosed with lymphoma a few weeks after his engagement. A few months later, during his chemotherapy, his fiancé left him. Devastated and heart-broken, he gave up hope. He was also not very close with his immediate family and me and my staffs were his confidant. He was very fond of us, and when it was very clear that his disease was not curable, we tried hard to convince him to return to his hometown for his family to look after him in his final weeks. He did so in the end, grudgingly.

News came back that he passed away a few days later. Family was actually glad that he returned home to them.

When I told the nurse about the encounter, it was apparent that I was not the only one who saw this 'apparition'. A few of the nurses and helpers did so as well. Some of them were convinced that he was not happy that he had to go home. The ward Sister once talked to him and heard him say that he wanted to die in the ward, because we were his 'family' as far as he was concerned. A bit later, we had a collection to have a prayer at the hospital surau for a Yasin recital, and since then, we hoped he had found peace as there were no more sightings of him.

Earlier this year, we had a death of a young Malay gentleman, again with lymphoma. He was also very fond of us, and said that he wanted to die in the ward. Sadly, he got his wish. Even though we try to convince patients to spend their dying days at home, they sometimes prefer to pass on in the hospital, where they probably felt safer. After all, most of them had had spent sometimes a couple of years having treatment with our unit, and they do feel a sense of closeness, especially those who were younger.

A Mini Renovation

Before we return from the UK, we decided to invest on some properties back home and as a result now own a house not far from where we live with the in-laws now. There had been plan to move out, but since our parents were not really well, and Anita's brother was currently working in Turkmenistan, we decided to stay put. It was good for our boys as well. But the downside was, the house were empty. The unit next to our house was bought by the Anita's brother who working abroad, so from time to time, we do spent a weekend there.

A couple of weeks back, there was a break-in at our brother's place. We used to have an alarm installed, but due to regular lightning storms in the area, a short circuit actually damaged the system, so decided to do without them. Unfortunately, the burglars probably knew about that as well, and entered the unit. Our house was a bit more secure and the grill prevented easy access. Not so for the other unit.

Part of the renovation includes redoing the retaining wallLandscaping will be laterYes! It was Anita who picked the colour.Clearing up last year's door decorLastly Anita making sure everything was spick and spanThey managed to get in, and almost emptied the kitchen and the main bedroom. We decided after that to renovate both units to make them more secure, although we conceded that the best way to make the unit safe would be to actually live there and sort put the alarm.

As pa of the renovation, we also decided to paint the main gate as well as rebuilt one of the retaining wall - the house was built by a hill slope. The main garden were also being landscaped again. The whole thing would take another couple of weeks to be completed. Then we shall sort out the alarm. Will we move there soon? Very unlikely.

Welcome to the Department

It was June and every year at this point we welcome the new batch of MMed students to our Faculty. This afternoon, the candidates for our Department came over. I was asked to give a quick presentation of our Department, the structure of the MMed program, the exam format, as well as the rather confusing on call roster we employ at the Department. All together, we had a total of more than 30, but only 10 would be staying on for the next couple of years as in campus candidates.

Both the Head of Department and the Course Coordinator were away on this School Holiday week. So we had a couple of Professors as well as one of our SLAB Masters student to give a lowdown on the on calls and the running of the Department. That was about it for the Department but I heard that they had a full three days of form filling, registration as well as orientation. Most of the work was done at both the Faculty and Chancellory level. We just had a few hours with them for the time being.

Walking around the Faculty, welcoming the new students seemed to be a big thing. I said this judging from the number of banners we had about the place. They were practically everywhere. I hope they recycle them for the next years as I was sure it would have cost the Faculty a bomb printing them new.

The signs were everywhereSo, for the new MMed students, both in Internal Medicine and to other Departments, a warm come to all of you to the Faculty. The next four years or so would be a busy time for you lot. A lot of new things to learn, as well as a whole new culture we have here in UMMC. See you guys around!

Ming Palace

This was a favorite Chinese restaurant of Anita's family since she was young. As far as she can remember, this has been the spot. Anita's father was an army officer and they as a family used to live at MinDef nearby. The restaurant users to be the flagship of Ming Court Hotel. For the past 10 years or so, the hotel was taken over by the Corus Group and has been renamed accordingly. However, they still retained a couple of famous eatery there - The Ming Palace where we ate last night, and Kimuro, a Japanese restaurant who served a mean tappenyaki - shamed that I did not like tappenyaki, even thought I love Japanese food in general. I just probably prefer them raw maybe.

Last Monday was Idlan's seventh birthday, while Thursday was Mum-in-laws. It was her idea to have Chinese and the choice was obvious. Ming Palace it was.

The food there has been consistent for the last few years. The Peking Duck was excellent although we did not have it last night. The steam cod was heavenly, although expensive. The buttered prawn was not too bad either. In fact, the food were reasonable across the menu. We had soup to start things off, and for the last 10 years, I have been against shark fin soup, so I had some corn and crabmeat soup, which was a firm favourite. We ordered seven items amongst us last night, a variety of beef, chicken, prawns, vegetables and fish. The Kung pow beef was excellent, a new find for us.. Lemon chicken was good as well. The disappointment was the vegetables. The asparagus was rather overcooked. I did not taste the fish as we ordered steamed Latin last night, and I got this thing with fresh-water fish!

We had an excellent time. My brother-in-law was also present. We we're really too full to order any desserts. From what I know, the main attraction of the place was the excellent din sum lunch they offer. I have sampled them on a couple of occasions and the service was quick and friendly. In fact, the waiters and waitresses the knew Irfan and Idlan by now. In fact a few of them watched them grew up over the years, and remembered how t prepare their favourite Chinese Fried Rice.

I must confess that it was not the cheapest joint in town. In fact, do be careful if you were ordering for fish and you may be caught staring at the bill ........ Certainly for the business types, the private rooms offered privacy.

Corus Hotel is located along Jalan Ampang, opposite KLCC and right next to the now oh-so-quiet Avenue K. Ming Palace was located on the first floor of the hotel. The parking can be a pain as they charge you RM 10 per entry!

Neck Ache

It all started on Monday morning. It was not I was looking forward to another Monday, but life went on I supposed. I woke up in an awkward position in bed. Realised soon after that I had pulled a muscle on my left upper back and left side of the neck. I thought some stretching exercise while getting on with things might improve matter.

Unfortunately, by Monday afternoon, I can hardly turned my head, but painkiller helped. I did not go straight back home as I needed to drop by the bank that afternoon. My back seized up again as soon I reached home. Luckily Anita gave me a back rub, and again after some anti-inflammatory, it settled right down.

It however came back with a vengeance on Tuesday morning. Dragged myself to work, and being on call yesterday, I spend the day walking like a robot, having to turn with my whole body to look left and right. Quite funny actually, at the time. This morning, it stiffened up again when I woke up, so off I went on the painkiller again. It helped. Had another massage on reaching home this afternoon. It was so good that I felt asleep through Maghrib! Just woke up, on painkiller again! Let's hope it gets a bit better by tomorrow. I don't want the neck to be stiff when I travel to London next week.

Update on Thursday, June 2, 2011 at 4:32PM by Haris Abdul Rahman

The neck is much better today, although it ache a bit towards the end of the day. Time for some more massage I think ..... :)