Open our eyes

Sometimes, for reasons I don't know myself, I would put my fingers around the neck to feel the carotid pulse, and check if I'm still alive. And at other times, I would try to feel the apex beat (in layterm it is the area where your heart beats strongest on the left side of the chest) to see if my heart is still thumping (and of course it does). Err..Ok probably this is the influence of too much CardioRespi block these past few weeks ;p

Well, try it. When I usually do it, I would then feel a sense of gratefulness to be alive. Because sometimes we take our living in this world for granted, and we forgot to thank Allah for giving us this great nikmat. To still be able to inhale and exhale, to still be able to look around and see the different colours of the world, to still be able to listen to our friends' chattering away and so much more.

But some people are not so fortunate. Not as lucky as us. They wake up to the sound of explosives, of bombs flying away, they may even wake up realizing that their mom/dad is not there anymore by their side. And we're talking small children here, babies even.

That's what happened, and is happening, and will still continue to happen in Palestine at the moment. The civilians are wounded, physically and emotionally and are faced with cruelty and atrocities and other unbelievable inhumane acts.

I went to a talk by Ismail Patel recently (he's the founder of Friends of Al Aqsa, and based in Leicester) and according to him 85% of Palestinians are living in poverty. Hundreds of them are unable to get the proper health service and help and is in danger of dying, and supply of important medications are not enough for these people.

And imagine, when the war hit Palestine, the phosphorus bomb was used, and the doctors didn't know how to treat the wounded ones at first, as never had they encountered those kind of wounds before. And when the Power Plant was destroyed too, schools were not able to function, hospitals with its operating theatres, incubators for babies (just to name a few) can't function too.

This is just a message to everyone- do not ever forget the Palestinians and their immense sufferings- in our prayers, and in everything that we do. They are there fighting in this war against the taghut, it's their jihad, and it is actually ours too. For we are brothers and sisters; their sufferings are ours too.

Let us make people aware of the situation in Palestine/Gaza. Open our eyes and hearts and spread the words~

The Day I first Saw Someone Died in Front Of my Eyes. Part 1

This is just something that I've jotted down a few months ago while I was in A & E in Burton Hospital. Found it, and thought of sharing.

The Day I first Saw Someone Died in Front Of my Eyes.

As I was coming to the A&E department that night, I was not really sure of what to expect, and what I was going to experience tonight. Being in the 3rd block in the Jr Rotation, we have not been actually exposed to A & E before, and probably not until next year in Senior Rotation. ( I was just being a curious cat that night and wanted to know what it's like in A & E). Oh, well, probably there'll be some interesting acute abdomen or musculoskeletal cases tonight that I can see, I thought.

"There's a resuscitation going on in there," a doctor soon told me.

Oh, wow, this would be something interesting, I thought.

"Can I go and see?" Probably a very stupid question from a (then) timid medical student. "Of course you can." Yeay!

I've not seen a resuscitation before, well, maybe I have, but those that are being done on a manequin, a lifeless body who cannot feel the pain- not the real thing. And, so the scene that greeted me as I entered the door was definitely new, and in a way, unexpected.

-to be continued-

End of IPE

I was telling myself a few weeks ago, that I would be actively writing in the blog (again for the upteenth time!) after the exams (IPE) has finished. So, yes, hopefully this new term resolution will stay with me. Well, we'll see.

Alhamdulillah, now I'm a free girl!! IPE has just finished...although I can't say I'm too happy about it. Thought I could have done better. It was quite tough to be honest, with lots of vague questions (or maybe it's just me huhu.) The OSCE especially was totally out of my head,hmm.. the medic school sure knows how to grill and drill us all! And I'm not sure if I'm going to even pass!

I could go on and on about the exams just now, but I don't think I will. It's not good for the future generation,,err I mean, the adik2 who will be sitting for their exams next year. Or, maybe I could do, you know, just to make sure everyone gets prepared mentally even from the beginning.

Oh well, whatever happens, whatever the results may be, as long as I know that I've put my best effort preparing for it, then I'm OK. Leave everything else in Allah's hands, He knows what is best for me, insyaAllah.. So, for now, keep on praying...Tawakal to Allah..

Anyway, a few days before the exams, an ukhti dearest to the heart, surprised us all with a very personalised Good Luck Card, one for each of us, and posted to our homes! It was definitely a pleasant surprise, she had our photos printed in front of the card, and her own (plus her 2 kids) photo inside with some beautiful and inspiring wishes/reminders. Thank u kak!I mean, all the extra effort, to find the words and photos, to print it off in some photo shop etc etc. It's just amazing how thoughtful some people are.

And it's great to have other friends and sisters who were very supportive in this exam period. (Thank u for all the good luck wishes, and oh yeah, to some ppl, thanks for cooking food for us! hehe). I am soooo blessed to be around these great people here in Leicester Alhamdulillah.

OK, enough about the exam.
On a more cheerful note, I'm having days off for the next 5 days. Heehee.. Haven't actually planned anything in particular, but probably would spend it catching up on life (or work! ;p) that I've missed when I was so busy preparing for the exams.

And next week, I need to go outblock again. To Northampton this time round for Elderly Care Block. Heard of many good things about it, so hopefully it will be good. Although can't say that I'm too happy about going out of Leicester again, for the 4th time.

That's all for today..take care!