It is finished...

...on the last day of 2005. No more research and thesis-writing for the forseeable future.

Happy New Year!

Boxing Day

Photo from Google

Interesting link about the origins of Boxing Day. If I'm not wrong, Singapore is in the Commonwealth. So why aren't we given a day off for this?!

Whatever it is, happy holiday!

Merry Christmas

Photo from Google


Have a blessed Christmas!

"Go, and sin no more..."

Photo from King's College's website

He came down to earth from heaven,
who is God and Lord of all,
and his shelter was a stable,
and his cradle was a stall;
with the poor, the scorned, the lowly,
lived on earth our Savior holy

"Once in royal David's city"
Hymns for little children, 1848
Words: Cecil F. Alexander
Music: Henry J. Gauntlett

No where in the Bible does it mention the birth date of Jesus but that doesn't diminish the significance of His birth in a what was probably a crowded, smelly and dirty stable in Bethlehem. Ironically it is much easier to trace the date that He was crucified from scriptures. Maybe there's something to be said about differing priorities between God and man.

Anyway, beyond the fake snow and over-priced gifts, I wish everyone a safe weekend and for God Himself to shine His light upon each of us.

Let's hope that out of the grime of human existence, dignity will prevail.

zonked...

Past three o'clock
on a cold frosty morning...

Darn hymn keeps ringing in my head.

As it's turning out, just past 7 o'clock on a windy, rainy Christmas Eve morning here.

I'm experiencing a mental white-out.

5 hours of sleep over the last 48-hour period.

Brings back memories of prowling the hospital wards.

It's that darn thesis.

A "minor" revision turned into a massive 26-page addition.

Crash time...

on holiday...

Taking a short break to finish the darn thesis.

Will be back on Christmas weekend.

2 = 24 = 104 = 731

You will remember when this is blown over,
And everything's all by the way,
When I grow older,
I will be there at your side,
To remind how I still love you

From Love of my life by Queen

***

Most equations in life don't add up perfectly. But then again, life wasn't meant to be perfect although the sweetness and love that comes along makes it a whole lot easier to taste.

Two years. What a journey it has been. Here's to many, many more.

I love you, Geraldine!

of dignity and the human condition...

Photo from Kenny Sia's blog

News articles about Nguyen's hanging, taken from The Australian:

***

"The Vietnamese-Australian, born in a refugee camp in Malaysia, is understood to have fulfilled his last wish to walk voluntarily and without shackles from his cell to the gallows.

And in a display of the friendships he forged with some of the guards on death row, his final human contact was in a hug with the prison's superintendent."

Link

***

"Khoa was in Singapore this week for the execution of his brother. Van's lawyer, Lex Lasry QC, said yesterday Khoa had been distressed following the hanging but denied he was suicidal. 'He's in a most tragic situation but hopefully today for him is the start of the rest of his life,' he said.

"And what we want Khoa to do is take inspiration from his brother, not guilt, and move forward and carve out a life for himself in a way that his brother would want him to.' "

***

Being able to stare certain death in its face and retain one's dignity is perhaps the most courageous thing that a person can ever do. Terminal illnesses, tragic accidents, natural disasters and, in this case, human circumstances. This is perhaps the kind of brotherly love that my friend, ZT, was talking about when we met over a plate of braised duck along South Buona Vista Road.

Perhaps the remaining twin will truly lead a life that mirrors the kind of dignity and love his departed brother showed, both in trying to solve the former's debt problem and in facing the gallows. Perhaps some form of dignity and good will come out from this and other similar tragic episodes.

Perhaps love will indeed conquer all.


Technorati tags: Sadness, Dignity, Love

sian 1/2...

Image from Google

So i'm at home nursing a flu of the non-avian type and metaphorically running a 38.1 degrees fever while my friends are literally running the Stanchart Marathon. My feet should be pounding instead of my head!

nb! After all that preparation work...

I will be back next year, you hear!


Technorati tags: Personal, Health, Flu

thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (updated)

Image linked from mrbown

Sondra, aka la idler
RIP 30/11/05

It's never easy facing death and almost taboo to talk about it after it happens but facing up to unknowns and uncomfortable issues is one of the ways we overcome.

mrbrown has learnt that la idler died from an underlying condition that resulted in thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura or TTP.

Just what does that long medical term means? Essentially it describes a syndrome and not the underlying disease. A syndrome is a host of signs and/or symptoms, when taken together sometimes points to an underlying cause, sometimes we don't know what is happening. And when the medical establishment doesn't know what is the underlying cause, the prefix idiopathic is added to the term. Hence if a medical reports states that the patient had idiopathic TTP or idiopathic high blood pressure, it simply means we don't know what's causing the TTP or high BP respectively.

Thrombotic comes from the word thrombus, the latter meaning blood clot. As some may know, blood platelets is one of the important component involved in the complex process of clotting. Another name for platelet is thrombocyte.

Thrombocytopenic means a decreased concentration of platelets, making formation of blood clots difficult and sometimes a person who is thrombocytopenic will experience unexplained bleeding. And why would a normal person bleed? Well, what is not widely known is that cells in our bodies breakdown regularly and repairs are an ongoing process. So the cells in a normal person walking around are being continually replaced, ensuring that he/she runs around without problems.

But didn't I just mentioned that thrombosis means clotting? So isn't thrombotic thrombocytopenic an oxymoron, given that a person with low platelet count has problems getting the blood to clot? Well, it seems that the initial unexplained thrombosis uses up so much platelets that there isn't enough to go around to repair other places that need to clot. Therefore, in TTP the patient's blood clots and bleeds at inappropriate places.

Purpura simply means bruising.

Taken together, TTP means random, uncontrolled clotting with low platelet counts and bruising.

A person with TTP usually presents with fever, headache, malaise (general sense of feeling unwell) and diarrhoea. Brusing and small bleeds also occurs in the gums and nose. Investigations would reveal a low platelet count. These are also the usual signs/symptoms in dengue patients and it is only by testing for the presence of anti-dengue antibodies can we confirm that the patient has contracted dengue or not. I suspect that the initial management for suspected TTP is similar for dengue hemorraghic fever. TTP is a rare disorder, with about 1 in 1-3 million cases annually although women seemed to be affected more than men. TTP may result from an inherited condition or it may be acquired. The actual causes are possibly many.

See this link for a better explanation.

Whatever the case may be. Rest in peace, Sondra.


Update
For those with access to scientific papers here are some useful references...

Yarranton H, Machin SJ. 2003. CURRENT OPINION IN NEUROLOGY 16:367-373

Richards A, Goodship JA, Goodship THJ. 2002. CURRENT OPINION IN NEPHROLOGY AND HYPERTENSION 11:431-435

Tsai HM, Lian ECY. 1998. NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE 339:1585-1594

Egerman RS, Witlin AG, Friedman SA, Sibai BM. 1996. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY 175:950-956


Technorati tags: Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura, Medical, Blood Disorder

au revoir, la idler...

au revoir, la idler!
30th November 2005

for the marginalized...

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery


Famous people who battled the disease
Arthur Ashe (1943-1993)
Greg Louganis (1960- )
Magic Johnson (1959- )
Kevin Peter Hall (1955-1991)
Rock Hudson (1925-1985)
Freddie Mercury (1946-1991)
Rudolf Nureyev (1938-1993)
John Holmes (1944-1988)
Isaac Asimov (1920-1992)
Robert Mapplethorpe (1946-1989)

Let's hope the greater scourge of this disease - ignorance, prejudice and fear, gets wiped out soon. For it is only by overcoming ourselves that we conquer.


Technorati tags: AIDS, HIV