Sunday 31 May 2009

Howth: Sunbathing!



'Sunbathing, a.k.a. menduyung merupakan antara aktiviti-aktiviti menarik yang boleh anda lakukan di musim panas. Aktiviti menduyung ini lebih menyeronokkan jika dilakukan bersama-sama teman-teman anda di kawasan yang mempunyai panaroma alam semulajadi yang indah dan mempersonakan di hujung minggu. Jika ingin merasai keseronokannya, cubalah sendiri! :)'

Macam skrip iklan lah pulak.

Alhamdulillah musim panas sudah tiba. Kesempatan hujung minggu kali ini saya manfaatkan bersama sahabat-sahabat sekelas-seperjuangan-sepermainan dengan rasa gembira (kerana dapat berkelah bersama-sama setelah dua bulan kami tidak berjumpa lantaran rotation di hospital-hospital yang berbeza) dan syukur kerana nikmat musim panas yang tiba.

Mudah-mudahan, picnic di Howth ini akan saling menguatkan semangat kami untuk sama-sama menghadapi peperiksaan yang bakal tiba dua minggu lagi, dan mengeratkan lagi ukhuwwah yang sedia ada.

Thanks korang! Good friends..good food..good wheather we had!...Thank you Allah.

Saturday 16 May 2009

End of The Mater's Rotation


Our last day with the Surgery-Urology team was...delicious! We were served with beautiful breakfast at the teaching room at Floor 6 (where we climbed all the way up from the far away ward) by Professor Fitzpatrick. As if a farewell party!

I am grateful that the last week was better, and more interactive than before. We ended our rotation happier now. I think it is just the nature of surgeons, that they do not talk as much as the medicals do, instead you need to initiate the conversation (most of the time). Oh, and I found them...cute and fun too, in their own sweet way :)

Tuesday 12 May 2009

Dinner Last Night



From left: Ezzah, Sis Lorraine, Sofia, Intan, Layla, Naeema, Nafisah, Khairiah, and me.
(Picture of April '08, at Sis Lorraine's house)

I had a dinner invitation at Sis Lorraine's house last night. There were Khairiah, the Scuffin twin sisters- Fiona (Aisya) and Caron (Amna), Sis Lorraine and myself. The gathering was meaningful to me. Each of them has their own stories. Discussion of motherhood, children, future, hope, marriage, and da'wah filled our night.

Sis Lorraine, Fiona, and Caron are Irish who just reverted into Islam. Yet they always amaze me with the iman they have, in facing all trials and tribulation in life. I totally agree with Fiona when she said, 'Chatting with Sis Lorraine will increase your iman'. And so do I feel with both of the Scuffin sisters. Caron is already married and has her cute little Ahmad, and Fiona is getting married next week in London. While Sis Lorraine raises her four daughters as Muslims since Layla was born twenty years ago, and had braught them all to the mosque ever since they were young, even though she only embraced Islam about six years ago. As for Khairiah, she has her own story too that we shared last night. After all, I am not intending to share them here.


'Do men imagine that they will be left (at ease), because they say, We believe, and not will be tested with affliction? Lo, We tested those who were before you, thus Allah knoweth those who are sincere, and knoweth those who feign.'

[Al-Ankabut: 2-3]


I take this as a tazkirah for my self, and for my beloved sisters. Amidst all things that come in as tribulation in our life, we as Muslim must never forget that we have Allah as our rabb, to whom we only ask, and seek help and guidance from. And only in His rememberance, we will find sakinah.

May Allah sends His endless blessings to my sisters, Amen.

Friday 8 May 2009

Surgery: Urology

Pembroke Road -> Baggot Street -> Grafton Street -> Trinity College -> O'Connell Street -> Dawson Street -> Eccless Street -> The Mater Mericordiae Hospital.

Setelah beberapa hari terpaksa berjalan kaki seawal jam 5.50 pagi, dari rumah di Jalan Pembroke, menuju ke hospital di kawasan North Circular Road, saya amat menghargai ketibaan hujung minggu ini. Bukan tidak suka, bukan pula tidak rela dengan keadaan terpaksa berjalan kaki tersebut. Cuma rasa penat yang menjengah menyebabkan saya ternanti-nanti waktunya untuk berehat.

Dublin Bus hanya memulakan perkhidmatan mereka sekitar jam 7 pagi. Jadi memang 'Good Bye' sahajalah untuk menaiki bas. Kalau pun ada, hanya Aircoach sahaja yang setia berkhidmat untuk penumpang-penumpang yang mahu ke airport.

Mujur juga sudah pertengahan musim bunga. Pancaran cahaya mentari yang menemani saya di awal pagi amat menenangkan jiwa, walaupun adakalanya hembusan garang sang bayu seolah-olah menepis setiap hayunan langkah ini, sehingga tersasar pula kadang-kadang. Namun saya percaya, jika niat dan caranya betul, insyaAllah pasti ada ganjaran untuk setiap langkahan.

Terkenang pula akan tuntutan agama yang menjadi motivasi yang tinggi untuk sekalian ulamak dan para ilmuan Islam dalam menuntut ilmu...

Imam Asy-Syafi’ie rahimahullah pemah mengatakan dalam syairnya,

'Saudaraku, engkau tidak akan mendapat ilmu, melainkan dengan enam perkara. Kukabarkan kepadamu perinciannya dengan jelas:

Kecerdasan, kemahuan yang keras, bersungguh-sungguh, bekal yang cukup, bimbingan ustaz (guru), dan waktunya yang lama
.'

_________________________________________________


Akibat keletihan dan tidak tahan mata menanti Isyak yang kian lewat, saya tidur seawal 10.15 malam selepas solat Maghrib dan bacaan Al-Mulk beserta tazkirah bersama housemates. Hanya mampu bangun seawal 3.00 untuk solat Isyak etc, dan terus menanti Subuh sekitar jam 4.00 pagi. Selepas solat dan membaca Al-Mathurat secara berjemaah, saya berusaha untuk tidak tidur- duduk di meja study dan membaca, kemudian bersiap-siap untuk ke hospital.

Rotation minggu ini adalah bersama team surgery-urology. Ward round bermula pada 6.50 pagi. Biasanya saya dan Muireann akan tiba di depan St. Anthony Ward pada 6.45 pagi. Tetapi pernah mereka memulakan ward round lebih awal daripada itu! Saya pernah terkilan di suatu pagi kerana tiada seorang pun daripada doktor-doktor yang sudah nampak kami menanti di hadapan wad, tetapi tidak memberitahu bahawa sebenarnya Consultant sudah pun tiba di dalam wad. Muireann apatah lagi. Sentiasa sahaja dia menzahirkan kebengangannya kepada saya.

'Oh Nur...I miss Tullamore...' keluh Muireann. Saya juga berasa begitu.

Sikap mereka yang senyap dan tidak peduli tentang kewujudan pelajar perubatan menyebabkan kami berasa 'tension'. Di dalam Operation Theatre (OT), jika kami senyap selama satu jam, maka selama itu pula mereka akan senyap, lalu menjadilah kami 'wall paper' yang menghiasi ruang bilik bedah...sehingga kami pernah tertidur di dalam OT.

Mengambil 'history' daripada patients adalah lebih seronok. Walaupun team kami tidak punya ramai pesakit, namun setakat dua orang pakcik yang saya ambil history daripada mereka, saya rasa berbaloi. Kebetulan pula, kedua-duanya adalah pesakit yang pekak, tetapi peramah. Jadi memang mencabar. Bukan sahaja saya terpaksa mengulang-ulang soalan, malahan terpaksa menjerit. Sehingga ada sekali, tatkala saya menarik tabir semula sesudah selesai berbual-bual, semua mata-mata pesakit lain di dalam wad yang sama memandang kepada saya! Huhu malu giler!

Seminggu lagi untuk rotation yang sama...dan saya akan pastikan ia lebih 'menggembirakan' berbanding minggu lepas! InsyaAllah.


Sunday 3 May 2009

Strawberry Cheese Cake





Teringin sejak di Tullamore lagi sebenarnya...

Tapi hujung minggu ni baru sempat. Semalam pergi city sekejap, singgah Dunnes Store untuk beli barang-barang nak buat strawberry cheese cake ni. Semua bahan ada, kecuali satu je...serbuk jeli yang halal tu. Memandangkan saya nak balik rumah cepat dan malas nak cari di kedai lain dah, maka tak cukup lah satu bahan tu i.e. jeli untuk nak pejalkan cheese nanti.

Lalu saya pun terfikir, 'Hmm...kat rumah ada agar-agar...'

Maka lewat malam tadi, terhasillah strawberry cheese cake ni...- struktur yang sama, rasa yang serupa, tetapi dengan sedikit rasa ke'agar-agar'an...haha!

Apa pun, Alhamdulillah...dapat juga makan beramai-ramai dengan housemates semua dengan puas setelah beberapa minggu teringin ^.^

Friday 1 May 2009

The ENT Week



The week passed pretty fast. We are done with our ENT rotation. Ward round started quarter past 7 in the morning. That means, I have to start walking at 6.20 in the morning to the Mater hospital in the northern side of Dublin's city centre, because around this time, no bus is running on the street yet. I only did it once because joining the ENT ward round is just an option, not a compulsary task.

Then the team would proceed with surgery at the operation theatre everyday, except on Wednesday, where they would straight away go to the ENT clinic. Otherwise, the clinic will start in the afternoon until 5 p.m.

Having nine people in the group, we have to split ourselves, because they could not entertain all in one time i.e. only two are allowed to be in the theatre at one time. So the rest...would do the rest i.e. chit-chatting outside the theatre (or in the eating room)! Going up to the ward again is another option, where we meet the patients, get their history, and present them to any doctors in our team.

We were lucky that we could see a 'face off' operation just now- a frontal sinus mucoceles case, where it causes proptosis to the patient. So they cut the upper frontal skin and pull it all the way down to the orbital area, then drilled the frontal bone etc. The doctors were also excited as most have never seen a case like such.

I enjoyed myself most during the clinic hours, because that was the time our senior registrar, Gwan would spend time teaching us with cases that were right in front of your eyes. Also with the fact that he is a Malaysian too, so we talked about our Malaysian foods (including the D24 Durian!), until my Irish friends know what Nasi Lemak is (and that they are so eager to try its taste now), because Gwan kept mentioning how he loves Nasi Lemak so much!

We enjoyed doing the ENT in the Mater because we had fun and attractive doctors, as my friend Muirean said it. And with our abundant appearance, one week is just not enough to know more of the ENT cases. Nevertheless, that was how we were arranged...and I look forward for next week's surgical rotation, still here in the Mater.