banana split

Well... today we have to eat bananas, so that we can suture them back into one piece....strange....

Last day in Shatin Hospital Geriatrics + Bus Stop Posters

Also has some photos to show today:




This is a very interesting, funny yet practical nursing aid I found in one of the geriatric wards in SH. It is a table with each patient's need and ability plotted on it, so that nursing staff all has an idea on how to provide the best care. There are small icons says "need help in dressing", "able to walk", "cannot swallow", etc.




This photo shows the 2 female memebers of my group, Shannon and Yin kei, sorry for the blurred image, all I wanted to show is that Ying Kei actually brought a suitcase to SH...crazy.





This photo shows a bus stop poster right outside SH, actually these posters has been all around Hong Kong since the SARS epidemic early last year. They were meant to provide some morale support for the healthcare workers during that period. For the benefits of those who cannot read Chinese, the photo actually shows a hospital porter resting on a bench wearing a mask. The message says: "He could have chosen to leave, but he stayed with the rest of the team to fight for HK". We must keep in mind that the porter actually earns much less than a doctor, and they do not have as much morale obligation to fight an epidemic as doctors and nurses (at least that is what I think). They have chosen to stay on their own accord. They are indeed very brave.




This is another bus stop poster from the SARS time. This one shows our former Dean of Faculty of Medicine CUHK, Prof Sydney Chung. (He has moved to Pupua New Guinea since October this year to pioneer endoscopy in that country) The Prinice of Wales of Hospital, our principle teaching hospital was striked fast and hard. Some of the students and teaching staff has also fallen sick. Prof Chung was working very hard to fight the epidemic, but due limied knowlege of SARS and various political and economical reasons, he was under tremendous pressure, yet he never yield. During one of the press conference, he sheded tears when he informed the press about the community spreading of the disease. He is really a modern hero, a superb doctor and the best teacher I ever met (he taught by being a role model for all of us to follow). BTW, the chinese reads: We were deeply touched and grateful to all the frontline medical workders.

Show and Tell

I have taken a lot of photos today.. so I just show them and tell the story behind..



This photo shows Shannon in an Old Age Home that we have visited today, it also shows a resident of that OAH.




This photo shows the interior of the same OAH from a different angle, Shannon and I were told to assest one of the resident's mobility and stability, becuase the doctor is hoping to upgrade her walking aid from a frame (with 4 legs, you hold it in front of you with 2 hands) to a stick (well... just a stick....I should have called it "down-grade") if she is able to walk properly. She did quite well, she might be able to use a stick and walk the stairs that were unsurmountable previously due to her walking frame (you cannot do stairs with frames.)That might help her to go out doors and do shopping on her own.





This photo shows the large balcony that the OAH has, it is a private OAH and it cost around HK$5000/mth to stay there, quite cheap. We visit the OAH as part of our geriatic medicine teaching. You can see 4 empty chairs on the balcony that were arranged in a semi-circle, we were sitting in those chairs and had a tutorial in the sunny balcony. My first ever tutorial out-door, quite cool. althought an old man came and accused us of using his chair...




Here you can see the back of Shannon, she had a acute attack of severe tummy ache..while we were waiting for a lunch time hospital audit meeting (dont ask me why medical students should attend such meeting). The tummy ache is most probably due to the heavy breakfast she ate in the morning before the OAH visit. But.... she ate even more during the lunch (maybe because the meeting-lunch is free?)




Here you can see a patient who is tetraplegic. He can only move his neck and face. He is wheelchair-bound. But, he never gave up and uses all his time in the Shatin hospital to work on his computer. It looks to me he is writing a book. He also has a very good demeaner and very polite towards us. We were having a tutorial in the room that he was using, he quickily apologised for the noise he made and hurried to finished his work to let us enjoy a quiet room.




This is a clock face drawn by a patient with a previous stroke. She had a stroke in the part of brain that controls vision, of the right side.(for the medic geek out there, A Right Occipital Ischaemic Stroke) So, she is unable to see things on her left side (Left Homonymous Hemianopia), that is why the clock has all the letter on the right side (where she can see).




(this image has been updated) This is Hermen, who had got his right lower wisdom tooth taken out today. He had a large swelling of his right cheek and unable to speak very well. He couldnt even interview the old lady who drew the clock face...poor thing.




Lastly, a desperate house officer looking for a Assistent Interm just before her holiday. She actually stuck this advertisment next to the elevator of our hostel...