the Tale of Two Extractions

Part 1: Easy tooth, Difficult patient.

9.30am.
it was a granny in her 60s. the wisdom tooth was very mobile, like a yacht bobbling up and down the waves in the sea. only problem is her daughter translates for her, and u can tell just half way through history and examination that the daughter is already rather fed up, wad more to ask daughter to keep asking mummy again and again if mummy's numb once i test her after the anaesthetic injection.

mummy's not easy to deal with too, but who's gona blame her when her tooth has been aching for days. put 1 finger in and touch abit, she go 'ahhhhh', how to put both hands in her mouth to give her the injection.. it felt forever when she go 'ahhhhhh ahhhhhhhhhh ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh' ..

unfortunately the injection didnt work, which i guessed more from her facial gestures than wad daughter translates. its frustrating to be unable to communicate with the patient, she doesnt even look at me but at her daughter and talk complain talk.. i had to keep asking the daughter 'what did she say? does it hurt? what was that she said? ' daughter also lazy to talk. geez, isnt it important i know what the patient is saying or feeling???

fine. 2nd injection, and half way through the catridge mummy suddenly gets up and spit out into the basin on her left. Pls Note: Do NOT suddenly get up when i have a needle nearly 2 inches deep into ur jaw. Not funny.

again daughter say sometimes painful sometimes not. i was unsure, rather fed up as well. then daughter said 'she's like that, touch abit, say painful' with her rolled eyes. trusting her words, i moved on assuming that mummy is being fussy, but her facial twitchings got the better of me. that's it, i need professional help.

the tutor handled it so easily, with just 1 question he knew mummy wasn't numb and gave her the 3rd jab. mummy was more compliant, as expected, no jerks or 'ahhhh'. and i got the tooth out in no time.

during assessment, the tutor discussed with me on why my local anaesthetics didn't work :( but he was quick to add that i had a difficult patient :) i explained everything, even on how daughter was behaving. instead of marking me down on my failed injection, he complimented me 'Good call, u didnt resume to extract the tooth, the daughter wouldn't care if u ripped the tooth out of mum's mouth. Good reaction.' and he gave me a merit! :) :) Good thing i asked the tutor for help!!

lesson of the day: don't trust translators. if u don't speak the same language, read the body language.

Part 2: Easy patient, Difficult tooth.

2.00pm.
the Afro-Carribean lady was nice. i had to extract her lower infected molar.

i had to administer the exact same injection as this morning. ok, i got this wrong before, surely now can get it right? nope, it still doesnt seem to go in right that i even had to ask the tutor for help. he saw the lady with big square jaws and say 'just inject if u feel its right, it's just different anatomy, her jaw is more flaired'.

then it was the beginning of the 2-hours tug-of-war. the tooth practically refused to budge (mostly due to her ethnicity, she's got superstrong jaw bones that hold onto her tooth for dear life) and it doesnt help that i cant get her proper numb after 2..3..4.. injections..

i was defeated again. i showed that pasrah look and the tutor saw me and came over. he tried to tug at it but it was sore so he had to inject again. he told me to just put moreeeee force coz its really strong, even if it means breaking the tooth. worst come to worst, drill it into little bits.

then it was alternating between tug-abit, inject-abit, tug-abit, inject-abit. this is too much effort, i need energy to study tonight. i just went up to the tutor and say 'could u take it out?' he injected her more and he tried tugging Hardddd (well, he is a guy,much taller and stronger) .. u can see her face squirmmm and she said STILL sore coz of So Much Force!

then he said, 'Set up the handpiece. We are gonna drill it into bits'.

drilllllllllllllllllllllllllll.. the tooth was into pieces, but the 2 roots were still embedded inside. 'ok now, u take them out, just make them mobile.'

sounds easy. but even the broken roots are so Tough! i just keep putting more n more force and she go 'ouchhhh '.. wah.. after 4 catridges (normally need 1 nia) she's still in such great pain. i load up the injection again when the tutor saw me and came over... he injected her more and start tugging the roots.. she was Stillllll in pain but it reached the state that she was willing to bear with it, the tutor got all the bits out after some time.

one of the head nurse asked if i managed to get the tooth out and i just said 'well, he (the tutor) got it out..' but she encouraged me saying 'well u help get it out as well..' honestly i didnt know what i did right besides getting her partially numb. Once again, good thing i asked the tutor to help, he also needed to keep injecting since he can't get her proper numb and ended up drilling the tooth instead of pulling it out, if i rely on just my energy to keep pulling and pulling, it might take till tomorrow..

lesson of the day: if u are afro-carribean or u drink lots of milk/high Calcium stuffs for Strong Bones and Teeth, please please take care of ur teeth.. if not, go find a guy dentist to extract ur teeth..

super sloth mode

honestly, don't try to get me out of my room for the next 2 weeks approaching the exams.. the only places i am willing to travel to is the 2.6meter stretch to my kitchen, 3.5m to the toilet and 6.93m to the shower. i do occasionally visit the clinics as well. but other than that, i will be within my 4walls, or more specifically, in bed. so half of the time i might not even be online.

due to extreme laziness, my student dad who wanted to treat me McD for my birthday ended up having to take away 2meals and picnic on my room floor instead.. hehe i skipped clinics that time to study but alas, McD was more interesting.. thx~

and i was suppose to go over to peikee's for dinner as well but had to take away as well, and once again, picnic on my room floor..

why am i blogging about this?
Firstly, sorry if i am online but don't reply, or i reject any invitations to step out of my comfort zone whether it is for my own good like lectures, clinics, food or exercise.
Secondly, do occasionally check on me, you can never know what will happen to someone living in isolation. don't worry, i wont kill myself, but JUstttt in case the mountain-high stacks of exam notes Or exam stress will..

of Dreams and Nightmares

the last thing i remembered on Monday night was having take-away dinner at 10.30pm, then wasted time instead of studying until i dozed off before 12am. little did i know i would wake up with alot of stuff in my head..

the first 'sweet' dream was not unexpected, but very wrong like an unspeakable sin.. the forbidden fruit.. it's freaky coz it felt so real, especially the part of Being Caught, when u could feel ur heart froze or dropped.. as if u r caught by ur dad while stealing money from his wallet, or caught by ur bf while kissing another guy, perhaps caught by ur lecturer while cheating in a major examination.. u can see the disbelief in those eyes as the trust shatters into dust, replaced by tears..

i could remember the overwhelming guilt and the endless pleas but the next scene left me crawling helplessly in a dusty barren land exactly like a quarry with construction workers walking around totally ignoring my presence..
after crawling for ages i knew that i must be dreaming so i pinched my self hard.. only to be 'reversed' back into time to where i was before i started crawling, then back to when i was caught, then back to before i was caught.. then back in my bed..

i took a while to register what happened, to rasionalize if it really happened, register my familliar surroundings and then slowly sinking in that it was all a dream.. (of coz if u ask me Now, its totally impossible, wad was i thinking??) what a relief..

the second dream was better, i was back in my dad's hometown with other relatives.. and my paternal grandmother offered me chinese cakes/treats (kuih-muih) and also packed alot for me to bring overseas cause i remember carrying them all and boarding the plane, watching her wave goodbye..

and when i was awake i was a little disappointed because immediately i knew i don't have any cakes with me since she had passed some time ago while i was in London..

the 3rd dream was definitely the best.. i was sitting behind someone on a paper plane big enough to fit us both and our legs would go through the bottom, standing on the ground. it was like a magical plane coz it can fly.. we just need to run down the runaway holding onto the body of the plane and then it will fly, and i still remember vividly the beautiful views below, its definitely not planet Earth.. probably Narnia or Terabithia coz there's lucious green forests with fairytale-characters like fairies, gnomes and unicorns below us.. so magical~

i wasn't the best person to fly with cause i fidgeted alot or i pulled onto the wings, coz i remember we landed unexpectedly several times, but we just have to find a empty road, run down as fast as we could and we're in the air again.. somehow the creatures didn't bother us, they were all busy doing minding their own business, there's this one time the busy road had fairy-tale vehicles but we just cut between the vehicles with our plane and they just stopped while waiting for us to take off..

then i woke up for the 3rd time this morning, at 10am. body aching. mind blown. tired. but this time around, happy. i wished i was flying again coz there's this satisfaction u get when u Know u can fly, and look down at the breathtaking sceneries below u..

oh well.. so much for dreaming, now to get back to real life. and i felt like i didn't even get any sleep.

my Special 23rd birthday

Looks like having final examinations in 2 weeks time didnt stop this new member of the 23-club from having a good time this weekend.

Saturday night started at piccadilly circus in an asian noodle bar..
atmosphere like a more kopitiam-version of Wagamama's, same owner apparently..
the food Ok Ok la, decent, not worth if its £7 la..

but since its ALL £3.50, Not bad, just order Everything laaa ..
yes, every dish Really is £3.50..

after tummy nearly bursting, i headed home and started washing my face around 12.05 am when i was expectedly surprised-ly ambushed with a superyummy birthday cake!

cutting my requested birthday cake.. haha.. thanks ash, its really superrrrrrrrrrr~

Quote from my baker's blog:

"anyway, the birthday girl was quite demanding with her birthday cake this time. kasi itu gambar lah, ini gambar lah. mau macam ini lah, macam itu lah. iskh3 :P nevertheless, i had fun "assembling" her ice-cream cake. it was marble cheesecake with triple choc+B&J caramel chew chew ice cream. covered with loads of cream and final-touch with fruits. i hope it fulfilled your request, ma'am ;))"

U certainly did!!~

My birthday present from ash and fatiha!

have to arrange back the pieces to make the complete pic.. i KNOw that pic coz i blogged about it before here but i forgot the position liao.. was always lousy at this game anyway, tension trying to solve it although so simple..
alamak, i din kno who's hand belong to who and who's feet belong to who, the rest keeeeep laughing at how i mismatched menaka's hand or yinhui's feet.. (somemore cut me Out of the pic and put me on the top left corner >_<)

after tensioning so much, finally solved the greatest puzzle in my life =p now can sleep in peace...

Sunday! but Not so Sunny. looks like have to exchange the sun for the Extra Hour.. oh well, it didnt stop us from going to The Narrow at Limehouse, another of Gordon Ramsay's chains

the food is nice, the view is nicer.. and the company, best of all (menaka, where are u? not harmonious liao) pity the 2 malay girls, got alcohol or beer here and there in the sauces etc..

~all smiles, nice sunday lunch by river thames~

line up according to height! macam naik staircase..

u see us wear so nice, the view also so nice.. of coz have to camwhore abit abit la.. (notice the theme of attire: funky dress tights!)

somehow we ended up at Starbucks in Canary Wharf.. yinhui and her coffee, my mango and passionfruit smoothie. i still don understand how she can eat half a fish only cause too full but finish that big cup of coffee.. perhaps the coffee enter bloodstream/interstitial tissues..

dinner (1.5hours later!) was indian food at peikee's and his singaporean housemates & cuzzie..

unexpected to have another birthday 'cake', banoffee pie!
5 candles.. means 5 years old?

and of coz.. a birthday isnt complete without pressies!! (sounds so materialistic huh?)
photo from ash n fatiha, snowcap from yinhui, necklace from pei2 and Weight deco from menaka (oh, so Thats y i cant lose weight..) my best galbuddies..
and Owh.. also received a furry dice with my name, a dentist cup and a sweeeet 2-paged poem as well. (i wanted to type it all out here but too long la, maybe in another blog =p)

Here's a special thanks to everyone out there who made this special day Special to me, whether it's a call from so near or so far away,an msn/facebook/sms.. short wish, a cake, a meal, a card, a present, a warm smile..

or a little bit of love..

~Th@nK YoU~

-special sweet memories always stay as footprints in our lives regardless of the seasons that passed-

23 today

i turned 23 today. so OLD! compensation is thanks to daylight savings changing back to Greenwich Time, i get a 25-hours birthday. and jpa will give me a huge angpow as well, not only for me but for everyone else. i bet other ppl look forward to my bday more than i do in that sense (n_n') anyway, thx for the wishes~

Wonders of Make Up and Photoshop!!

pretty or not?

pretty kua....

not pretty? look again!!!

not bad wad... rub ur eyes and check again!

.pretty, right??!!! told ya so!

same person meh??, u asked. same la..

But Apparently.. Not surgery.. Just Make Up...

Sure or not??? Like that anyone also can do???

faster helen! teach us how to get from here.. an average jane..

to here.. super stunning..

smile enough and you'll be a celebrity! (like certain ppl i blogged before..)

ok. here's what you need:
MAC's eyeshadow, liquid foundation and face powder
Anna Sui's Liquid eyeliner
L'Oreal's mascara
Lip gloss
Fake eyelashes
double eyelid glue

PS from website: the author said she didn't use any PhotoShop skills on her pix..but she must had done sth to make her chin look so pointy..or maybe it was just the lighting~

helen's PS: scammmmm...

1. Circle Lens + double eyelid glue

Instant difference!!

2. apply the toner

3. apply the liquid foundation

4. glue on the fake eyelashes along and apply the mascara along with the fake eyelashes

5. You do not need to draw your upper eyelid with an eyeliner because you already have the fake eyelashes on. So you'll only need to draw the lower eyelide with a black eyeliner.

6. Now you need to apply the eyeshadow. Brighten up the entire eyelid (between the eyebrow and the eyelashes line) using the white shadow. Then apply the black shadow as seen in the pic.







7. put on some lip gloss

pretty le... told ya so...

and best of all.. achievable since they 'claim' its Just Make Up..Still think make up can't do the trick? Photoshop la.. even Cheaper with even Better results!!

i can still believe all these photosss were photoshoppeddd.. but the 1st girl rely on Make Up ONLY? for that sharp chin especially?? i have my doubts.. must be one hell of a make up artist..

natural beauty? mezmerizing looks once u just got out of the bed? no such thing. why should i complain about being Not pretty knowing they are all average janes as well??

perhaps its no point being born pretty. its not an asset u have, it's actually a skill u learn, a survival tip for girls to be noticed around here, to get around, to get things ur way.

make up is ur fastest and non-surgical way to instant beauty u weren't born with and its definitely gonna stay.. why fight it?