3rd Ampang Haematology Update

Palmdoc Updating the Crowd, originally uploaded by Haris Abdul Rahman.

As I mentioned, both Edmund and Habibah, plus my final year Medical Officers are away today. They were all attending the Haematology Update at Hospital Ampang. It is their third installment. I was involved in the last series but this current one. I guess they got proper speakers this time. However, my MacBook adaptor did make an appearance since one of the Mac-using speaker forgotten to bring hers.

I had to hold the fort, and Friday has traditionally been a busy day for the unit as we hold our big weekly clinic on the Friday mornings. We managed to cut down the number this time to 40 and I only had to spend a couple of hours down there. Myself, Gin Gin and 3 other MOs.

I planned to leave for Ampang right after Friday Prayers, but unfortunately it got delayed since I had to settle a few referrals. I finally managed to get to Ampang to hear the last lecture. It was by my sifu, @palmdoc. He gave a quick insight on the concept of Reduced-Intensity Stem Cell Transplant. The talk was attended by what seems like the majority being nurses rather than doctors. The topic this time around is rather specific, Stem Cell Transplantation. Therefore, those attending must have had some inclination or are involved in the subject matter because otherwise it becomes to specialised. As Ampang is near my home, I managed to escape back home and reach there by 5.

Idlan and Irfan has been waiting for me since the afternoon as the new souped-up Wii needs a bit of skill to load up. They were not able to load the Wii Sport Resort as it need some tinkering in the menu. It was also raining heavily by then, so we decided to skip the music school for today.

Wii is souped-up and fixed

Irfan couldn't care less about Sushi though, originally uploaded by Haris Abdul Rahman.

Yes! The Wii is back! Both the boys are still at it and it is way past their bedtimes. I went to pick the console up from Hartamas after work today, and oh boy! Idlan and Irfan have been at it since. Part of the upgrade is buying a new attachment to the controller. With this, we can play the new game, Wii Sports Resort. Certainly the new controller is more responsive and appears to register the directions and speed of swings more accurately. I have not had the chance of playing the new tennis game as yet. Maybe I'll try it after the boys gone asleep later.

For tomorrow, it seems that I will be alone in the ward as both Edmund and Habibah will be in Ampang for the BMT Update there. I may join them after the Friday Prayers. I'll do that unless there are more phonecalls asking for bed in the isolation ward. I can stand it if it is from a colleague asking for their patients. Unfortunately, I kept getting calls from long lost friends who suddenly appear from no where, asking if I can admit their third cousin from kampung because they just sneeze last evening. If there are more of those, I will personally check myself into the Ward 3 in UMMC. If you are familiar with UMMC, that's where the Psychiatric Ward is .....

Conundrum at home

Day Out at Hartamas 7, originally uploaded by Haris Abdul Rahman.

Idlan had another asthma attack this morning and everybody was rather hesitant about getting him back to school. We decided to miss today. Anita was worried that his classmates had been abroad during their 3 weeks off and may have contracted the flu. She wanted to 'quarantine' Idlan in the first week the school started. I thought that it was an overeaction, but after reading stories about how the young ones that contracted H1N1 being casualties, I can understand how Anita felt like that.

It seems that there is another U-turn in the government's effort to combat the virus. It seems that school closure is now back on the agenda. No throat swab for everybody unless they are really high risk needing hospital admission etc etc. Unfortunately the definitive and up to date information source is still lacking. This is an area that resources and effort needed to be put into.

To a certain extend, the damage has already been done with the clear panic amongst the general public. Even the health professionals are getting confused with which guidelines needed following. There are too many revision and it seems that the goal-post is being shifted on a day-to-day basis. For example, what is the government's stance on the use of PPE (personal protection equipment - facemask etc)? Is the normal surgical mask good enough. Do we need N95s? Are the mask needed at all? Everyone seems to think that the measly surgical masks are godsend and my local chemist is selling them for RM1 each! Easy money eh? I should just rid my ward cupboard and still a box of N95s .... easy bucks to be made there.

I can't stress this more, we need a portal for an accurate and consistent information. We are bracing ourselves for the second wave, and still I am waiting for the selsemababi.com.my to be launched!

Day Out at Hartamas

Day Out at Hartamas 8, originally uploaded by Haris Abdul Rahman. For the slideshow, click here and here.

Irfan was going on all week to get me to fix up his Wii. In his wisdom, he managed to navigate the file system and deleted the 'crack' program. We ended up only able to play the originals, and he missed out on his Wii Sport. We had to send it back to our 'dealer' in Hartamas and it will take another few days to get it back.

It has been a while since we visited the Hartamas Chopping Centre. The place was relatively new. We were more familiar with the adjoining Plaza Damas when we stumbled upon the place. It was around the time of Idlan's first birthday back in 2005. We were looking out for a party planner and from the 'net we heard about a shop in Plaza Damas. Unfortunately the shop was already closed, but they made us really cute goody bags for the party.

We had lunch at TGI Friday. I forgotten that kids eat free if you order a main adult meal. There was a Toy'r'us right opposite so while waiting for the order, I was literally dragged there. Lunch was nice although all the drinks tasted the same. Like bubble gum! The boys had chicken fingers and chips. I ordered some spicy prawn cocktail and roasted chicken for the main. Anita had sizzling chicken in cheese sauce ..... hmmmm! Hers tasted better I must admit!

Bulls eye!Irfan filling up the fountain! You can just about see the balls spewing out the top!Next stop, the indoor playground. I stayed behind with the boys while Anita went shopping. As their measure to combat H1N1, the proprietor of the playground checked the temperature of everyone passing through. We spend more than an hour in there and the main attraction were the cannons and the 'volcano' of course!

Idlan was so excited that he had an asthma attack later that night (last night). He is OK now, but I had to suffer the whole day due to lack of sleep and ManYoo losing to Chelski in the Charity Shield. I guess in the spirit of charity, we did the decent thing and let Chelski win! I had to wake up early though as I had a lecture to give at 8 am.

Pullman Day 3 - The Return Journey

Lunch at Marriott 2, originally uploaded by Haris Abdul Rahman.

All good thing must come to an end. So was this short break. The boys did not wake up until about 9.30, and check-out time was 12 noon. They just cleaned their faces and brushed their teeth before running down o the breakfast hall. We did not get back until just before 11 and we had only an hour or so to pack.

On the same weekend, the Putrajaya Flower Show was also going on. We decided to head there after check-out. Unfortunately the weather was too muggy and Idlan got restless. After a quick stroll to buy some fruits to take home, we left for lunch. We stopped for buffet at nearby Marriott Putrajaya. We used to frequent here quite a lot when the boys were younger. Both of them actually took their first steps at the huge flat lobby there. I was introduced to the place back in 2004 when the Malaysian Society of Haematology Scientific Meeting was held here. I was only a couple of month with UMMC then. Anita was heavily pregnant for Idlan, but that did not stop her from coming. There was a nice Italian restaurant at the terrace and we enjoyed a dinner we had there. We vowed that a year later we will return with our child, and we did.

The huge lobby has a little pond and water feature right in the middle. The high ceiling really made the whole place cool and cozy. Idlan took his first steps there when he started to walk. About 18 months later, it was Irfan's turn. Again the nice flat lobby helped. Since then. every now and then, we would drop by for the buffet lunch. The place has been upgraded since. There used to be a series of sofa in the cafeteria. This has since been moved to make way for more seats.

The main lobby. Look at the open space ...The food was still reasonable, so was the price. During weekends, there will be live music and a clown for the kids. As you can see, Irfan was really excited to see him.....

There is also a nice little cafe on the opposite side of the lobby with nice comfortable settee. However, we were getting tired and decided to skip coffee. We finally reached home about 4.30pm.

All in all, the best thing about the Pullman was the pool and 'The Village'. The price were however rather steep, and the service should be better. 'The Village' however offer the best service, and the waiter there treated us like patrons, rather than just a local person that they can mess about with.