The House Of God

The House of God by Samuel Shem.

4th year medical student. The year was 2007. The place was the operating room. It was a laparoscopic hemicolectomy case. The anaesthetist was in his 50s or maybe 60s. Sorry i could not recall his name. He had this unique way of setting cannula. He used a ‘butterfly’. The nurse pointed out he is the only doctor in Manchester Royal Infirmary who would use a ‘butterfly’ to set an IV cannula before surgery. The one and only. He is eccentric, intriguing, a joker as well. While we were in the middle of surgery, he suddenly asked “so Lydia, have you read The House Of God?”. And I said “no”. Suddenly a roar in the operating room. The surgeon, the registrar and the old anaesthetist looked at each other and laughed and talked about the book. He then said to me “You must read it!”.

It took me 4 years to find the book. It’s simply amazing, hilarious and i find some of it real and true. I’m glad i read it now, not 4 years ago. Having work as a doctor and appreciate what the job is all about make me understand what Samuel Shem is trying to convey…. Did i mention the book is first published in 1978? But reading it in 2011 and comparing my HO days with those interns in 1978 (intern in US = House Officer in UK/ Malaysia), i chuckled a bit. Nothing has changed.

Got it from Kino!

LAWS OF THE HOUSE OF GOD

1. Gomers don’t die

2. Gomers go to the ground

3. At cardiac arrest, the first procedure is to take your own pulse

4. The patient is the one with the disease

5. Placement come first

6. There is no body cavity that cannot be reached with a 14G needle and a strong arm

7. Age + BUN = Lasix dose

8. They can always hurt you more

9. The only good admission is a dead admission

10. If you don’t take a temperature, you can’t find a fever

11. Show me a BMS who only triples my work and i will kill his feet

12. If a radiology resident and the BMS both see a lesion on the chest X-ray, there can be no lesion there

13. The delivery of medical care is to do as much nothing as possible

Lost? Read the book. You won’t regret it. Especially if you’re a HOUSE OFFICER. This book is meant for us. Doctors.

P/s: Ever since i started reading the book, i secretly call my patient gomer and gomere whenever i saw them in the ward.. hahahahaha… and i luvvvv ‘Fat Man’

Happy Reading~

Tuesdays with Morrie: An old man, a young man and life’s greatest lesson

I watched this movie few years back on Hallmark Channel, not knowing it was an adaptation from a  true story by Mitch Albom. My fav sis told me how she loves Mitch Albom’s novel and from her stories, I knew I need to read his writings. I still remember searching for this particular book at Heathrow. But was disappointed to fly home empty handed. I finally read this book yesterday @ Kinokuniya, but stopped at the 9th Tuesday  when my brother said, “it’s time to go home”…. I was there for 1 1/2 hours and for a thin piece of book, I would have ample time to finish it normally. But not this time. I was astonished with his words and quotes  and I wondered at his questions and thoughts. I found myself reading some of the sentences over and over again and then copied those sentences at the back of a receipt that I found crumpled inside my bag… I strongly suggest this book for light reading to those who are interested or ‘lost’.

From the hard cover edition: Maybe it was a grandparent, or a teacher, or a colleague.  Someone older, patient and wise, who understood you when you were young and searching, helped you see the world as a more profound place, gave you sound advice to help you make your way through it. For Mitch Albom, that person was Morrie Schwartz, his college professor from nearly twenty years ago. Maybe, like Mitch, you lost track of this mentor as you made your way, and the insights faded, and the world seemed colder.  Wouldn’t you like to see that person again, ask the bigger questions that still haunt you, receive wisdom for your busy life today the way you once did when you were younger? Mitch Albom had that second chance.  He rediscovered Morrie in the last months of the older man’s life.  Knowing he was dying, Morrie visited with Mitch in his study every Tuesday, just as they used to back in college.  Their rekindled relationship turned into one final “class”: lessons in how to live. Tuesdays with Morrie is a magical chronicle of their time together, through which Mitch shares Morrie’s lasting gift with the world.

I regretted the fact that I did not buy the book. I should have. Now I don’t know how the story ends…

Michael Crichton : Airframe

I read this book yesterday just to kill time. I have had this book for ages, didn’t know where it come from though. It is called AIRFRAME by Michael Crichton. Who doesn’t know who Michael Crichton is? He wrote Jurassic Park and he is also a film director and the creator of award winning U.S hit television series ER. Having nothing to do after I had my dinner last night, I picked this book from the shelf and started reading. The storyline is about an investigation on a commercial air plane that requested en emergency landing at the Los Angeles Airport after facing a turbulence an hour before. 3 passengers are dead, 56 injured. The interior was virtually destroyed but the flight managed to land safely in its top condition. Not even one fault can be found in the preliminary investigation leaving the investigators to point fingers at either the pilot or the plane manufacturer. The first 50 pages were interesting, I learned new aviation terms, the names of parts of the aircraft and how investigation and analysis were done following a major plane incident or crash. The pressure and suspense building up as I turned the pages one after another. Then as I was midway through the book, I got bored. Something just did not feel right. Knowing me, I just fast forwarded few chapters until I reached the page where the mystery is unfold. Turn out, the captain let his son, who is also a pilot, but not yet qualified to fly a big commercial plane, flying the plane so he can enjoy a cup of coffee!!! Some problem arise, the captain’s son got panic, thus the trouble begins. Hahahaha..This book is a complete waste of time! I will not recommend it to anybody. The only thing that make my day were those few lines in the novel that caught my eyes. Sentences like:

“..engineers are all card-carrying members of the Screw The Pilot Club. They just hate the idea that somebody might actually fly them. It’s so untidy, to have a warm body in the seat. Make them crazy. And of course, if anything bad happens, it must be the pilot. Gotta be the pilot”

“..superb pilot..It’s more than quick reflexes and knowledge and experience. It’s more than skill. It’s a kind of instinct..”