Hace frio

Brrr... it's cold isn't it?!

The pictures are of when it snowed heavily in London for a week (around the first of December), you can see; the train station a few minutes away from my house; my road, and my garden. See how thick the snow is on the trampoline? My friends and I jumped on it... 'twas epic!

I'm in Madrid at the moment. It's 11 degrees max and raining. Out of the three times I've been here, this is the first time I've seen it pour down. (Well, I saw it dribble whilst in the car up the mountain but that doesn't count!) The thing is, it doesn't suit Spain to be cold and miserable.

I remember hovering over Madrid airport last week, the beautiful sun shining on my face through the tiny window and thinking "Sun... woop!". It was my first time travelling to another country unsupervised and unaccompanied - I'm a big girl now! The funniest part of my journey was security at Gatwick airport. When queueing (I had to look the spelling up), I was like "I'm a pro at this!": I took my laptop out of my bag ready to put in a seperate tray; put my make up, perfume and cream in a transparent plastic packet; even took my boots off. I walked through the metal detector and... beep beep beep! It was my black denim jacket which had metal buckles on either side that made it go off, imagine that! I also caused a small delay whilst there, but can't be bothered to go into that. It was utter brilliance... end of.

The plane journey was also something different! I sat in between an Italian Tv freelancer who thought almost everything and everyone was crazy ( she had a few good points though) and a Spanish chap with tattoos all over his body (we could only see his arm, but he told us he had it on his leg and back). We just sat on the plane for 2 hours once we had boarded, while they were trying to get hold of the de-icer and then de-icing the wings. Seriously, you would expect them to be a little more organised! The wait wasn't too bad though. I had a few debates with the girl about religion, life and other less important things. As for the chico, he asked me about a book I was reading "The man who mistook his wife for a hat" by Oliver Sacks, he had read it a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. I asked him about his tattos and we had a "discussion" about the health aspects of that (pain, skin cancer etc). His reply was interesting: "we may find in a few years that we can't reproduce as well because of the radiation from our phones being in our pockets."

I watched a film on the tele the other night called "Unkown" or "Mentes en blanco" from 2006. It gripped me from beginning 'til end. The story line was brilliant; 5 men trapped in a warehouse with their minds erased by a leaking toxic gas. With no memory of who they are or anything what so ever, and a few blurred flashbacks of the event that brought them together, it is up to them to help each other escape, even though a few amongst them are dangerous kidnappers. I definitely recommend watching it with a friend and a mug of hot chocolate!

I'm meant to be flying back tomorrow morning. Not sure how well that's going to turn out with it snowing heavily in England again. Of course, I don't mind staying in Spain a little longer.

Project and Paediatrics

Sorry for my long absence! Tonight's post is dedicated to one of my blogging friends - Amy (http://summersunblog.blogspot.com/) - as she prompted me to write something. =)

I'll tell you what I've been upto then...

Since starting second year of Med school in October, I've been busy with my SSC, that is my Student Selected Component, for this semester (I think I've mentioned this in a previous post).

I chose the topic "The Value of Vestibular Testing in Patients Presenting with Dizziness", now that's a mouth-full! The anatomical picture of the ear to your left is therefore very relevant - if you were wondering what it was doing there. I volunteered to do a presentation in front of five others doing the same topic and our two SSC tutors (audiology Docs). I covered the anatomy and physiology of the inner ear - concentrating on the Vestibular system which is responsible for our sense of balance and the orientation of our head - and also covered Vestibular disorders, Vestibular Examination and Testing. It took me two half hour sessions and I was pleased with the positive feedback I received.

In a nutshell, I will have to gather a group of 20-30 healthy volunteers from the Med School and make them take a Stepping test (Fukuda/Unterberger Test) in different conditions. The test involves them marching on the spot with their eyes closed, and measuring the angle of deviation (left or right) compared to their original orientation. In a patient presenting with dizziness due to a vestibular disorder, the side that they digress to would be the side of the lesion. So essentially, by doing the test on "normal" individuals, I'm evaluating the deviation range within that group.

I'm currently on my Paediatrics attachment until Friday and will be on Geriatrics (health care of the elderly) starting Monday for another week. What can I say...? I'm loving it! I'm learning so much in the clinical environment and love being able to talk to the patients and their families.

I'll tell you one of the cases anonymously (or else I'd be breaching confidentiality). Patient X is a 10 year old male, a few months ago he presented with fatigue (to the extent of falling asleep in class), extreme thirst and constant passing of urine. He was diagnosed with Diabetes Insipidus, a condition resulting in large amounts of diluted urine.

Well, after doing an MRI scan it turns out that patient X has a tumour in his pituitary gland, leading to Hypopituitarism - the pituitary gland (which sits in the brain) not secreting particular hormones. His story or "History" I should say, truly touched me emotionally, as my brother is only three years older than he is. After speaking to his mum, I understood that he was yet to learn about his diagnosis. She was trying to find a way - with the help of experts - of telling her son that he had the "C" word. How do you explain to a child that they have cancer?

I have come across many more interesting cases in the three days that I've been on my attachment, which I'm sure you're very eager to read about. However, I'll leave them for another time.

Lily Waddington's Journal

I thought I would put this picture up to get you into the mood for today's post. This photo is of the Bank of England in 1890 take by George Washington Wilson (source: bbc.co.uk).

My dad and I were going through some of his old collections, when we found a journal dated back to 1890 belonging to Lily Waddington. She was my dad's great aunt, born in 1868 on the 10th of July in Dullwich. Lily died of Bronchopneumonia and Hypertension at the age of 80 in 1948, on the 12th 0f November in Camberwell. The journal is a compilation of various poems, messages, and pieces of art written and drawn by her talented friends and of course Lily herself.

Reading the journal for the first time that night, with my family at the dining table was a truly magical experience. I could imagine them scribbling the messages so many years ago, with their calligraphic handwriting, each so unique and beautiful in their own way. The poems and messages have so much emotion and meaning, that we can relate to even today. The journal, over a 120 years old, has pressed flowers neatly stuck in it, still in perfect condition. I even found a tiny squashed fly that was sandwiched between two of the pages over a century ago!

I've kept the treasure somewhere safe... so safe that I seem to have forgotten where! But I will definitely hunt it down and put up a few pieces for you to read.

I was also thinking of getting it published... if you know any publishers who might be interested please drop me a message!

Until next time... keep =) -ing.

Just changes...

It's been oh so very long since I've written, so I thought I'd quickly make a post tonight. Well, a lot of things have been happening in a very short period of time. Big changes happening to a small person like me - but that's life, eh!? It's all for the best, so I don't really mind.

Can't tell you about the big change, but what I can tell you is that I'm going to Madrid on holiday again! Yeepee! The last visit was great, but as it was during Ramadhan and I was fasting, I found myself too tired to properly enjoy our outings. So, I'm going again for seven days this time, to get a better glimpse of the sunny & lovable country.

I start Uni in October and am very excited. Can't wait to see my friends and get into a regular routine again. I'm not quite sure about the workload though. No doubt second year of medicine will bring a load of deadlines, especially with the two SSCs (Student Selected Components) - for which I'm doing something about the Ear and patients with dizziness, we'll have more indepth lectures and will be learning lots of new material too. For sure anatomy and physiology will be much harder.

Last year went by so quickly. I didn't believe the Junior Doctors when they said, they remembered first year as if it was yesterday. 6 years, how could that go like a breeze? With all the stress, long hours and terrifying exams.

It's getting late now. I'd better get ready for bed, besides I've got work tomorrow.

Until next time... be good!

The Emperor's Seed

I'm reading a very inspirational book called "The key strategies that can make anyone a successful leader" by Zohra Sarwari, it is a collection of wonderful stories and poems and has chapters written by motivational and experienced writers. There is a beautiful story in here which I really want to share with all of you. We can all learn a lesson from this story. So here's what I'm going to do: I'm going to type up the whole thing (even the moral at the end) so you guys and gals can read it. Here goes:

The Emperor's Seed - Anonymous

An Emperor in the Far East was growing old and knew it was time to choose his successor. Instead of choosing one of his assistants or his children, he decided to do something different. He called young people in the kingdom together one day. He said, "It is time for me to step down and choose the next emperor. I have decided to choose one of you." The kids were shocked! But the Emperor continued. "I am going to give each one of you a seed today; one very special seed. I want you to plant the seed, water it and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from this one seed. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I will choose will be the next emperor!" One boy named Ling was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly told his mother the story. She helped him get a pot and planting soil, and he planted the seed and watered it carefully. Every day he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about 3 weeks, some of the other youths began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Ling kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. 3 weeks, 4 weeks, 5 weeks went by; still nothing! By now, others were talking about their plants but Ling didn't have a plant, and he felt like a failure. 6 months went by; still nothing in Ling's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Ling didn't say anything to his friends; he just kept waiting for his seed to grow. A year finally went by and all the youths of the kingdom brought their plants to the Emperor for inspection. Ling told his mother that he wasn't going to take an empty pot, but his mother said he must be honest about what happened. Ling felt sick to his stomach, but he know his mother was right. He took his empty pot to the palace. When Ling arrived, he was amazed by the variety of plants grown by the other youths. They were beautiful; in all shapes and sizes. Ling put his empty pot on the floor and many of the other kids laughed at him. A few felt sorry for him and just said, "Hey, nice try." When the Emperor arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted the young people. Ling just tried to hide in the back. "My, what great plants, trees and flowers you have grown," said the Emperor. "Today, one of you will be appointed as the next emperor!" All of sudden, the Emperor spotted Ling at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered his gaurds to bring him to the front. Ling was terrified, "The Emperor knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me killed!" When Ling got to the front, the emperor asked his name. "My name is Ling," he replied. All the kids were laughing and making fun of him. The Emperor asked everyone to quiet down. He looked at Ling, and then announced to the crowd, "Behold your new emperor! His name is Ling!" Ling couldn't believe it. Ling couldn't even grow his seed; how could he ever be the new emperor? Then the Emperor said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone here a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds, which would not grow. all of you except Ling, have brought me trees, plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Ling was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new emperor!"

If you plant honesty, you will reap trust.
If you plant goodness, you will reap friends.
If you plant humility, you will reap greatness.
If you plant perserverance, you will reap victory.
If you plant consideration, you will reap harmony.
If you plant hard work, you will reap success.
If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation.
If you plant openness, you will reap intimicy.
if you plant patience, you will reap improvements.
If you plant faith, you will reap miracles.

But:

If you plant dishonesty, you will reap distrust.
If you plant selfishness, you will reap loneliness.
If you plant pride, you will reap destruction.
If you plant envy, you will reap trouble.
If you plant laziness, you will reap stagnation.
If you plant bitterness, you will reap isolation.
If you plant greed, you will reap loss.
If you plant gossip, you will reap enemies.
If you plant worries, you will reap wrinkles.
If you plant sin, you will reap guilt.

So be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you reap tomorrow. The seeds you scatter now will make life worse, or better your life or the ones who will come after. Yes, someday, you will enjoy the fruits, or you will pay for the choices you plant today.

I enjoyed typing that. =) My neck's starting to hurt a little though (from moving it side to side like a pigeon!)... but it was worth it.

A few pictures of my Spanish Vacaciones

I was fortunate enough to visit Spain with family for thirteen days, here are a few pics...

Our house is in El Molar (which means "the molar/tooth" - just one of the many humourous names given to places in Spain), just outside the city centre of Madrid.

Madrid is beautiful, with its breathtaking mountainous scenery and small pretty cottages... a

definite heartthrob!

We managed to drive up about 2000 metres above sea level. Felt a little light headed as the pressure began to drop minutely (had great flash backs of physiology lectures). The view from above was immensely spectacular! Driving up to high altitude reminded my brother and I of one of the best episodes of the Top Gear series.

Hollywood look-alike-much!

Thought it looked cool so took a picture while we drove past it on our way to Madrid!

A bull! These boards aren't put up any more, but the ones that are left are monuments now.

Wonderful... he even smiled for the camera! =D

SEGOVIA here I come!!

Segovia is a historical place located in the community of Castilla y Leon - meaning "Castle and lion" kinda like our Elephant & Castle huh!

Be-u-ti-ful... a Spanish aqua-duct. Here's a better pic of the tremendous beast...

Next up, the Cathedral and MY (;-]) castle... nah, it's actually the castle of Isabela La Catholica:

The head in the bottom right corner is my little bro's!

I don't know much about the history of Segovia (maybe I should do a bit of research, hmm... nah!), but I do know that the architecture is exquisite. Walking down the old streets were brilliant (including the oh-so-good shopping facilities), the walls of the buildings were decorated with tiles of geometric patterns greatly influenced by Islamic art. I'll see if I can find a few photos for my next post.

I've got so much to talk about - I'm actually bursting! Until next time... Adios & hasta pronto!

Sizzling Summer Sun...

I've decided to be really organised this summer and so am keeping a diary.

I've been working at my Uncle's retail store - Lebas - on Upper Tooting Road. I love working there, meeting new people or seeing familiar faces. I work from 10am to 7.30pm and trust me when I say it's tiring! However, hard work pays off at the end!

Plus, I've got to write about five scripts - for now any way. I work as a presenter for Islam Channel and will be filming for Ramadhan Bites this summer. We have already filmed some material for one of the episodes. Now I've got to sort out some dates with my Producer.

Then there's Spain!!! My family and I are planning to go to Madrid for a week or two. But I've sent my passport off for renewal, so have to wait for that to come back before we can book our tickets.

What else is there?

Oh, I'm planning on opening up a blogspot to help people who would like to get into Medicine and other related courses. It'll have interview questions, advice, and perhaps online tuition on Maths, Chemistry and Biology. If you guys have any other ideas for the blog, please let me know. =)

Of course, I mustn't forget to chill-ax. I've got a few summer reads lined up... it's out with the text books and in with the novels! You might think it's sad, but I've started reading Stephanie Meyer's "The Host". All I can say for the moment is... it's different.

I've got a few other things going on too... you know the usual: weddings, babies being born, meeting up with old friends.

I'm going to get ready to go out in a bit. I've been asked to speak to some Year 12 students about Medicine at my old Secondary School. It's the least I can do for the teacher's who have helped me.

Overall though, I'm looking forward to a jam-packed summer, filled with laughs and good times!