That was nasty

My ward held its annual Nurses Day arty earlier today, but unfortunately, I was not able to enjoy it - that much. The sore throat, plus the myalgia was not conducive to celebration, but the food was as always, very nice indeed, lovingly prepared by the member of the nursing staffs. And, as usual, I contributed some cash as well as dessert. For today, Anita had to do the cake delivery as I was too tired to head out last night. Finally, we missed out on the Red Velvet - it would only be ready after midday. Anita grabbed some other cake, which unfortunately, I did not get too sample - it was gone in double-quick time. By the time I finished clinic, the party had already started, I enjoyed the laksa, prepared by one of my BMT nurse, and ended up having some salads as the spice from the laksa really hurt my throat.

Being pampered by my boys and Anita as sson as I arrived homeAs I was not very well in the afternoon, I tried to get home early - as I was being driven in, our driver came over to pick me up just after three - but unfortunately, I had a couple of referrals to see. Once those were sorted out, I reached home, my temperature just shot through the roof - peaking at just over 39 degrees. The myalgia got unbearable, and I ended up just lying in bed, after taking some brufen, paracetamol and antibiotics. Once that subsided, I had to endure the lecture from Anita about healthy eating, and she duly prepared my afternoon tea - salad! Then it was pasta for dinner! I wanted some soup but it was too spicy for my throat.

Anita lovingly prepared this salad bowl for me. And as a good husband, I gobbled them down!While I was at the clinic earlier, my patients kept on trying to give me tips on how to remedy my sore throat. It ranged from honey to raw starfruit, to lemon juice. If my sore throat stayed like this, I might have to resort to those then.

6TD Nurses Day Party

It has been a yearly event internationally - The Nurses Week. Once a year they had a party in the ward. The nurses did a collection, bought each other prezzies and had a jolly good time. This year was no exception but I must say that this year’s event was the biggest I remembered at least in my ward - Ward 6TD.

When everything was still civilisedYes! Haemato-Oncology is not exactly a rosy subject. The patients stay with us for long period of time, staying in for a good month during their chemotherapy. The nurses and doctors tend to get to know them pretty well. We go through a lot of ups and downs with them. After a while, the patients also get to know us, the nurses and doctors. Some of them were even my Facebook contacts, and that brought down a layer or two in terms of communications. Some of them regularly tweet me and the best way to contact me would be through email as I don’t give away my phone numbers that readily.

On the other side, leukaemia and lymphoma is not exactly conditions that were easy to treat, and sometimes these “friends” of ours never made it through. Ward 6TD can then be a sorrowful place. Things can get depressing. I learned from way back to not feel guilty when I eat in front of patients or have a do like this, behaving like normal human beings. But having a do inside the ward can be awkward still.

The event yesterday was a great one. It was a shame that I can only join late on after my clinic. I finally made it after Jumaat prayers after a few phone calls from the ward sister. Luckily they have saved some food for me. The satay were still aplenty, the soto was set aside for me, so were the dessert. All the food were prepared by the nurses themselves, insisting on me trying all of them. By the time I was done, I could hardly walk! To all the nurses reading this .... much appreciated and Happy Nurses Day.

Slideshow for the party can be found here.