What's Wong?

Study Hard...

2011-06-29T18:39:00.002-06:00

Everyday I'm studying...

With Hope

2011-05-25T23:06:00.003-06:00

Miss you dad. No more sickness, no more sorrow, no more pain - just endless worship, surrounded by the majesty and glory of Jesus Christ. No goodbyes, just see you later...

"Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him." 1 Thes 4:13-14

Living By Prayer

2011-03-31T06:39:00.002-06:00

"O God of the open ear,

Teach me to live by prayer
as well as by providence,
for myself, soul, body, children, family, church;

Give me a heart frameable to thy will;
so might I live in prayer,
and honour thee,
being kept from evil, known and unknown.
Help me to see the sin that accompanies all I do,
and the good I can distil from everything.

Let me know that the work of prayer is to bring my will to thine,
and that without this t is folly to pray;
When I try to bring thy will to mine it is to command Christ,
to be above him, and wiser than he: this is my sin and pride.

I can only succeed when I pray
according to thy precept and promise,
and to be done with as it pleases thee,
according to thy sovereign will.

When thou commandest me to pray
for pardon, peace, brokenness,
it is because thou wilt give me the thing promised,
for thy glory,
as well as for my good.

Help me not only to desire small things
but with holy boldness to desire great things
for thy people, for myself,
that they and I might live to show thy glory.

Teach me
that it is wisdom for me to pray for all I have,
out of love, willingly, not of necessity;
that I may come to thee at any time,
to lay open my needs acceptably to thee;
that my great sin lies in my not keeping
the savour of thy ways;
that the remembrance of this truth is one way
to the sense of thy presence;
that there is no wrath like the wrath of being
governed by my own lusts for my own ends."

- from the Valley of Vision

Love Came Down

2010-09-07T19:18:00.001-06:00

"I remind myself of all that you've done
and the life I have because of your Son..."

Chemo

2010-09-03T20:29:00.000-06:00

Major chemo side-effects GO!

IFOS - hemorrhagic cystitis, SIADH, peripheral neuropathy
ETOP - postural hypotension, anaphylaxis, N/V/D, stomatitis
CPM - hemorrhagic cystitis, N/V, alopecia, SIADH
VCR - jaw pain, constipation, peripheral neuropathy
Doxo - cardiotoxic, mucositis, N/V, hyperpigmentation
Irinotecan - N/V/D, myelosuppression
Dact - skin photosensitivity, hyperpigmentation, hepatotoxic, cardiotoxic
Cisplatin - hypomagnesemia, ototoxic, nephrotoxic
Ara-C - high fevers, anaphylaxis, myelosuppression

The Butterfly Circus

2010-09-01T05:01:00.005-06:00

A beautiful short film on hope

BP Spills Coffee

2010-06-11T17:18:00.003-06:00

Lols. Thanks for the Friday afternoon laughs Wob Tsang.

TACE

2010-06-02T23:54:00.007-06:00

I've been sitting here reading through articles on benign soft-tissue neoplasms with hopes that I can add one of them to my differential of rhabdomyosarcoma for this boy that just came in yesterday with a completely asymptomatic lump. His biopsy is tomorrow and PET/CT is next week so we'll know by then what he's got...

TACE stands for transcatheter arterial chemoembolization. I'm looking after another young boy with a hepatoblastoma who received a portion of his chemotherapy via TACE. It is most often used in adults for hepatocellular carcinoma but we're hoping that it will have similar success in a pediatric population to allow for surgical resection. Combined with adjuvant chemotherapy, the survival rates following complete resection are as high as 89%.

I was talking to a friend of mine and he asked me if I found all this cancer stuff interesting. I told him that I did. He said he found it absolutely terrible hearing about all these kids suffering. It got me thinking. So far I've been absolutely fascinated by all the new things I'm learning in oncology that I haven't stopped to think how some people think this is all terrible while I'm finding it...terribly interesting? Have I become some sick, heartless robot?

I don't know why I watched this next video. It was the top hit when I typed 'hepatoblastoma' into YouTube. I think this girl resembles almost all of the kids that are seen on the oncology ward. They're all cute, they're all beautiful and they've all got cancer. I realize I'm not a robot and I just try really really hard not to think about what will happen to this boy if the TACE doesn't work.

Ctrl+C?

2010-05-29T22:59:00.012-06:00

Song writing is an art. Some people are better at it than others. How does one decide if a song is better than another? Does the beauty lie in the ears of the beholder?

Anyway, I was listening to some John Butler Trio the other day because a friend mentioned him to me. Then I was listening to some Dave Matthews Band, one of my favorite groups because of their diverse technical playing (although I'm not really a big fan of his vocals). Love the mix of guitar/drums/bass/sax and their drummer, Carter Beauford, is insanely talented. Anyway, I came across two of their songs that sound very similar. 'Big Eyed Fish' by DCB and 'What You Want' by John Butler Trio. Yes, I know they're not exactly the same...

And yes, I know you can find thousands of similar sounding songs out there that use the same riffs...just look at most of the songs we sing in church - not exactly the most diverse assortment of music available out there. I wonder if it's purposely done to avoid the music becoming a distraction and taking away the focus from God? I often find myself turning to secular bands or artists for my everyday listening because of the paucity of music diversity in praise & worship music. Is this a bad thing? Shouldn't everything we do be aimed to give glory to God?

Hmm...

Wan-Goh-Wah

2010-05-22T14:46:00.007-06:00

My Cantonese is about to improve immensely over the next few months - at least the verbal comprehension part of it - as I live with an older Chinese couple. They can understand my English but sometimes they just speak Cantonese to me and I pretend that I understand what they're saying. I would rate my Cantonese speech and language development at a 3 year old level. In situations like these I'm glad I have my charades skills to fall back on. Wikipedia states that 52% of people here in Wan-Goh-Wah are ESL which puts me in a minority group for language.

The second leg of my flight was unremarkable. I sat next to an old guy who slept most of the flight and snored loudly. At least he didn't have that "old person" smell. Combined with the rattling of the plane (I thought the wing was going to break off mid-flight with the amount of noise that was coming from it) and the two very unhappy babies that happened to be in my section, it was a pretty noisy 11 hrs. Lucky for me I can sleep through a hurricane if I'm tired enough. I watched Shutter Island and only managed to get through 60% of Invictus before passing out. Probably the most disappointing part of the flight was when the flight attendant gave me the Asian breakfast despite me saying, "I'll have the omelette please" in my perfect Canadian English. I still ate it but I would much rather have had the eggs/hash brown/muffin over the watery congee/pork-floss/salty 'n spicy-cabbage-salad-thing/hard boiled salty egg.

I must have looked real suss in the airport because I was approached on 3 separate occasions by the customs/police officers. It's probably because I was traveling alone and hauling 50+ kg of stuff into the country. None of them knew what abalone was.

I've pretty much unpacked and settled in. Met up with "Ocho" Ang for lunch that included sweet potato fries. I think I might go with him and visit the Evangelical Chinese Bible Church in Burnaby tomorrow morning. I had a look at their 'Statement of Doctrine' and it appears to be okay. I'll probably hitch a ride tomorrow. Not sure how easy it is to get to by bus so that may influence my decision of whether to continue attending.

Hoping things warm up here because it's a lot colder than Brisbane despite it being close to summer here... I'm really starting to love Brisbane's year-round-shorts weather.

The More Random the Better

2010-05-21T07:15:00.007-06:00

So I've got 2 hrs to kill in the Taipei Int'l airport and I thought I'd share the latest story of randomness...

I'm usually a pretty keep-to-myself traveler. I don't go chatting up random strangers on the plane or in the airport. I'm either reading a book, listening to music, watching the in-flight movies, or sleeping. Anyway, before this flight I was thinking about how often I waste so many opportunities to share the gospel with people around me and how a plane ride is an awesome chance to do just that.

So I'm sitting in my aisle seat and there's a Chinese lady sitting in the window seat next to me. I'm reading my book and as the plane takes off and gets under way I decide to say hello to her and tell her that I plan to snooze off and on during the flight and not to hesitate to wake me up if she needed to get out (my last flight I'm pretty sure the girl was afraid to wake me up so everytime I woke up she asked to get past me and looked like she was busting...). I wasn't sure how good her English was going to be and it turned out to be pretty good. We made some small talk and found out a little bit about each other.

A bit later, I excused myself to use the toilet and while I was gone I just felt a huge burden to share the gospel with her. It's just the two of us sitting together, she speaks English on a flight where most of the people don't look like their English is great, she's friendly, we've already broken the ice...what am I waiting for? Deep down I knew if I didn't say anything the whole flight I would have ignored the Holy Spirit's voice.

When I got back to my seat I decided to talk about church to try to lead into a discussion about God. When I mentioned church, she lit up and said, "Are you a Christian?!?! Praise God!" It turns out that she is a disciple of Christ as well and just an amazing woman of God and the whole plane ride she had been praying for courage and good enough English to be able to share the gospel with me!

We shared about what God was doing in our lives, we prayed together and we just enjoyed a really good time of fellowship on the flight - something that I never would have expected! I told her about my unknown future and she prayed for me and reminded me how God never fails and how He always has a plan for us. She told me about the visions she's had from the Lord and how God has just answered her prayers in so many miraculous ways over the years. God definitely answered my prayer and I can't wait for more opportunities to encourage/be encouraged by other Christians as well as to share the gospel over the next couple months

Even more random - it turns out that she might be the godmother of this guy I met just yesterday for the first time. Small world.

Mishandled

2010-05-18T08:23:00.003-06:00

Hopefully I'll have better luck this time...

iWorship

2010-05-10T04:53:00.002-06:00

Almost makes me want to get an iPhone...almost

Be A Man - Do The Right Thing

2010-05-02T21:52:00.003-06:00

Men.

Soldiers of the faith.

We are in the middle of a massive battle over something more important than land, territory, physical rights or freedom. For millennia, a spiritual battle unseen by many has been raging on - a battle for the salvation of souls for all eternity. A battle for the glory of God in heaven. On our own strength, we are no match for our enemy - he is powerful, cunning, relentless, and will stop at nothing to destroy us. But with God's strength, all things are possible and victory is ensured.

I look around and find myself in a house of young men, taking a "break from life" to play video games to ridiculous hours of the evening. Don't get me wrong, we need to rest and the Sabbath is a great time to do so. But are we neglecting other important responsibilities? Are we losing the eternal battle by doing so? Are we guilty of laziness, complacency and being lukewarm - people that make our God and commander-in-chief so sick that He wants to vomit.

So often we play war-related video games and we don't even realize that the battle for our souls is being lost at the very same time. An evangelistic evening approaches and yet, not a single young man turned up to church to pray for the event a week prior.

Should we be praying on our own? YES!
Should we also unite together in corporate prayer? YES!

What does this say about our resolve? Do we think that we stand a chance on our own??? I hope not. Victory is only possible by the grace of our LORD in heaven. We can only win if we depend 100% on the power of the Holy Spirit to fight the good fight - to fight long, to fight hard, to never give up until the mission is over. And our mission - to love God, to love our neighbours, to preach the gospel, to make disciples, to act justly, to love mercy, and walk humbly before the sovereign CREATOR of the UNIVERSE - is not complete.

In wartime, deserters are SHOT for abandoning their duties...

I do not speak down from my high horse but instead plead with my brothers in arms - I've been struck down so many times after giving into the temptations of the flesh. We cannot do this alone. We need to be united in this fight. When someone falls, we pick them up. When someone surges forward, we provide cover and support and follow in after them. Nobody gets left behind.

If we have time to play then we have time to pray.
Because if we don't play, we may miss out on a few hours of self-indulgence and enjoyment. But if we don't pray and get help from God, we may be defeated in the battle for our souls for all eternity...AND not just us, but we will allow countless other souls to be lost as well...

Time to MAN UP

Absolutely

2010-04-16T21:27:00.001-06:00

Sometimes songs do a pretty good job at describing how you're going at the moment =)

Child's Play

2010-03-30T22:20:00.002-06:00

Today was great! Our day was broken up nicely with an hour in the morning spent at the child care center at the hospital where we got to play with the kids in an attempt to observe and learn about various stages of child development. I enjoyed a Play-Dough session with a 3.5 yr-old boy named T.

Me: What are you making?
T: I'm makin' a crocodile
Me: Oh wow! That sounds scary!
T: I'm not scared of crocodiles
(T begins to stretch out the play dough)
Me: Now what are you doing?
T: I'm making the crocodile long.
Me: That looks like a pretty long crocodile
T: The longer he is, the more he can eat
Me: What do crocodiles eat?
T: (pause) I don't know
Me: Which side is the head?
T: (pointing to the bigger side) This one. I'm going to make a big mouth
Me: So he can eat lots?
T: (nodding head) Yup!

Then I saw another 3 yr old boy named L rolling little green bits of play dough

Me: Hi L, what are you making?
L: Sea cucumbers
Me: (laughing) Wow, you are making a lot of sea cucumbers
L: I'm making a whole family!
Me: (pointing at the biggest one) Is that the daddy?
L: (ignoring my question, starts to pound the sea cucumbers with his fist onto the table)
Me: Oh no! What are you doing to the sea cucumbers?
L: I'm making pancakes!
Me: Oh, I see.
L: (making all sorts of noises as he flattens them all out) bam bam bam bam!
L: (then he picks them up and rolls them back into balls)
Me: What are you making now?
L: I'm making rocks
Me: Wow, I've never seen rocks that green before
L: They are from the moon
Me: How did you get them from the moon?
L: I found them
Me: How did bring them here from the moon?
L: I flew in a rocket
Me: Oh wow, that sounds like fun
L: (starts smashing the moon rocks into the table)
Me: Uh oh, the moon rocks are flat
L: I'm making pancakes!

DCB Rockumentaries

2010-03-27T00:34:00.002-06:00

Wouldn't it be nice to just make music and movies like this all day every day? The life of a band...

Intercession

2010-03-19T23:26:00.002-06:00

"Intercession leaves you neither time nor inclination to pray for your own 'sad sweet self.' The thought of yourself is not kept out, because it is not there to keep out; you are completely and entirely identified with God's interests in other lives." - Oswald Chambers

"Intercession is not petition. Intercession is position. It is not something we do - it is something we are. It is not an exercise we engage in at a certain time of the day - it is a life that we live." - Ronald Dunn

Yet...

2010-03-19T23:15:00.003-06:00

"...I might have to wait

I'll never give up

I guess it's half timing

And the other half's luck

Wherever you are

Whenever it's right

You'll come out of nowhere and into my life..."

Oh Lord, You're Beautiful

2010-02-23T04:54:00.007-07:00

"No Compromise is what the whole Gospel of Jesus is all about... 'For I tell you...no man can serve two masters...' (Matt. 6:24). In a day when believers seem to be trying to please both the world and the Lord (which is an impossible thing), when people are far more concerned about offending their friends than offending God, there is only one answer...Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him!" — Keith Green, No Compromise album, 1978.

Wow, I can't believe that this song by Keith Green is now 30 years old. I came across this Jesus Culture cover of it and the words of the bridge just really stuck with me and became one of my prayers of late.

"I want to take Your word and shine it all around

But first help me just to live it Lord

And when I'm doing well

Help me to never seek a crown

For my reward is bringing glory to You."

- Keith Green (1953-1982)

God's Will

2010-02-11T18:59:00.010-07:00

I borrowed a book from a friend called "Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding Gods Will" by Kevin DeYoung. It's a tiny book with about 124 pages and is an easy-read. This year I'm faced with a lot of big decisions and quite a few options open before me. What way or ways are good? There are a lot of friendships, academic experiences, ministry experiences and family factors that make things a bit more complicated than I'd like. A part of me wants to be lazy and just take the easy way out (which is probably the wrong way according to Kevin DeYoung in his book). Anyway, thought I'd toss up a few quotes from the book:

"Obsessing over the future is not how God wants us to live, because showing us the future is not God's way. His way is to speak to us in the Scriptures and transform us by the renewing of our minds. His way is not a crystal ball. His way is wisdom. We should stop looking for God to reveal the future to us and remove all risk from our lives. We should start looking to God - His character and His promises - and thereby have confidence to take risks for His name's sake."

"If God opens the door for you to do something you know is good or necessary, be thankful for the opportunity. But other than that, don't assume that the relative ease or difficulty of a new situation is God's way of telling you to do one thing or the other. Remember, God's will for your life is your sanctification, and God tends to use discomfort and trials more than comfort and ease to make us holy."

"In general, He guides and directs his people by affording them, in answer to prayer, the light of his Holy Spirit, which enables them to understand and to love the Scriptures. The Word of God is not to bve used as a lottery; nor is it designed to instruct us by shreds and scraps, which, detached from their proper places, have no determinative import; but it is to furnish us with just principles, right apprehensions to regulate our judgments and affections, and thereby to influence and direct our conduct." - John Newton (1725-1807)

"Wisdom is what we need to live a godly life...Wisdom is understanding the fear of the Lord and finding the knowledge of God...Wisdom is always moral...Wisdom is knowing God and doing as He commands...For the follower of Christ, wisdom is more precious than silver or gold."

"Pray! Pray for open minds so we can understand the Scriptures and apply them to our lives. Pray for wisdom. Pray for things that we already know are God's will (good motives in decision making; an attitude of trust, faith and obedience; humility and teachability; spread of the gospel)."

In the end, I realized that it doesn't matter if i'm making life or death decisions or just an everyday choice. Our conduct should be the same...

"Live for God. Obey the Scriptures. Think of others before yourself. Be holy. Love Jesus. And as you do these things, do whatever else you like, with whomever you like, wherever you like, and you'll be walking in the will of God."

Ain't Nobody Worryin'?

2010-01-21T03:33:00.005-07:00

Seeing photos of all these kids in Haiti breaks my heart. The Joint Council on International Children's Services estimates that there will be over one million children who will have lost one parent or both as the death toll rises to about 200,000. What boggles my mind is that even in the midst of this disaster, there are criminals that are taking advantage of the situation to steal from people as police and peacekeepers are too busy with the relief effort. Twice, an orphanage called Maison des Enfants de Dieu (House of the Children of God) had armed bandits break in and then leave empty handed because there was nothing there for them to steal. When I reflect on my own life and the lives of those around me, it seems like many of us don't really care and there ain't nobody worryin' about what's happening to our "neighbours" in the Caribbean - people in dire need.

I don't know why God, in His goodness and sovereignty, would allow something like this to happen, but I know that He cares for mankind because He sent His son to die on a cross for our sake - probably the greatest demonstration of love we can know. It may not feel like it or seem like it at times but I can look at the truth of the gospel and confidently know that God is immutable, merciful, good and love. And I should care for those around me in need, not because they deserve it or I owe it to them, but because God loves them just as He loves me. And I know that in the midst of trials and tribulation, we must cling to the living hope that begins at the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ - a hope that God will be a father to the fatherless and will make true His promises to love and care for us, trusting that we won't be consumed by these trials and suffering but instead, be strengthened in our faith and character.

"I believe like a child that suffering will be healed and made up for, that all the humiliating absurdity of human contradictions will vanish like a pitiful mirage, like the despicable fabrication of the impotent and infinitely small Euclidean mind of man, that in the world's finale, at the moment of eternal harmony, something so precious will come to pass that it will suffice for all hearts, for the comforting of all resentments, for the atonement of all the crimes of humanity, for all the blood that they've shed; that it will make it not only possible to forgive but to justify all that has happened." - Fyodor Dostoevsky

This Is It

2010-01-18T06:38:00.013-07:00

This is it. Year 4. Eight years of university hopefully coming to a finish at the end of 2010. I've only been back in Brisbane for 5 days but I feel like it's going to be such an awesome year as long as I keep remembering and acknowledging how great and good God is. I don't know where I'm going to end up after this year - Australia, Canada, the US, somewhere else? It's going to be a wild ride into the unknown.

Feeling at home with my new "family" has been easy because they are so warm, loving and hospitable. I'm so thankful for such a great place to call home. This is what they'd look like if they were magically turned into a bunch of cute, stuffed toys (mama bear in the middle).

It's nice to get a visit by a few of my new canine flatmates once in a while too!

Revelation Song

2010-01-15T15:51:00.013-07:00

"At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne were 24 other thrones, and seated on them were 24 elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightening, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal."

"In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying:"

"Holy, holy, holy

is the Lord God Almighty

who was, and is, and is to come."

"Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the 24 elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:"

"You are worthy, our Lord and God,

to receive glory and honor and power,

for you created all things,

and by your will they were created

and have their being."

"Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, 'Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?' But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. Then one of the elders said to me, 'Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.'"

"Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song:"

"You are worthy to take the scroll

and to open its seals,

because you were slain,

and with your blood you purchased men for God

from every tribe and language and people and nation.

You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,

and they will reign on the earth."

"Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throng and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang:"

"Worthy is the lamb, who was slain,

to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength

and honor and glory and praise!"

"Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them saying:"

"To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb

be praise and honor and glory and power,

for ever and ever!"

"The four living creatures said, 'Amen,' and the elders fell down and worshiped."

(taken from Revelation 4 and 5)

Replay

2010-01-07T03:08:00.004-07:00

Some people are just so talented it's not fair...

And just because this is the cutest video I've seen this break, I had to post this even though it's well after Christmas.

Holiday Music

2010-01-05T13:55:00.011-07:00

I was listening to the electro-pop song called "Fireflies" by Owl City. Based on the vocals, I thought maybe this was some solo project by Ben Gibbard from Death Cab or Matt Thiessen from Relient K...but the techno-pop doesn't really seem to fit their style. Anyway, I went to check out Owl City's Myspace and found out that it is Matt Thiessen who does some vocals on the song and also helped to co-produce the album. It's got a catchy beat but I'm not sure if I understand the lyrics which he claims to be a product of many sleepless nights. What I found interesting was that on his MySpace, he has:

"I follow Jesus Christ wholeheartedly. He is my life, my strength, my all."

I hope he can use his growing fame to proclaim God's fame to the world.

I've listened through "Battle Studies" by John Mayer and I must say I'm disappointed. I would consider myself a pretty big fan of his music - I think I have all of his albums and have attempted to learn how to play through most of them at one point or another. Perhaps it's my high expectations of Mayer but all the songs sounded pretty bland. Memorable riffs that you can find in songs like Neon, Why Georgia, Belief, The Heart of Life, Something's Missing...and pretty much everything by John Mayer Trio...aren't as prominent. The lyrics aren't very impressive either - loving a girl with half your heart while you look around for someone better; moping, heartache and self-pity. I wouldn't mind so much if it was accompanied by some blues-rock like that found in "Try!" I could maybe see myself busting out this album and listening to it after a bad breakup. I'm definitely not feeling any desire to grab my guitar to learn any of these new songs. Sorry John, but this is a FAIL.

Another album I've been listening to is "The Element of Freedom" by the gorgeous Alicia Keys. Why am I listening to all these heartbreak/heartache tunes? Anyway, it's not bad. I'm not sure if I like how she uses classical piano riffs in her songs. I have a feeling Claude Debussy would be rolling in his grave if he heard Like the Sea. But, I still love her voice and that makes this album alright.

I do want to get my hands on Jay-Z's latest at some point (I know I'm like 5 months behind here but with my current budget for music, it's tough! The search for fresh, memorable, biblically sound, congregationally appropriate music takes priority these days).

He Knows My Name

2010-01-04T23:44:00.002-07:00

This is one of my favorite songs and the guy singing it has skills. Awesome voice.

The "Universal Office" of Believers

2009-12-18T23:20:00.003-07:00

"Every believer is a prophet, a priest, and a king. We are all prophets (Joel 2:28-29; Acts 2:14ff). Every believer is to exhort (Heb 3:13), counsel (Rom. 15:14), evangelize (Acts 8:4), and teach (Col 3:16) with the word "dwelling richly" within. You must speak!

As a priest (1 Peter 2:9), you have access to the presence of God, as did the priests of old (Matt 27:51; Heb 4:14-16). You have the responsibility to offer spiritual sacrifices and deeds of mercy (Rom 12:1-2; Heb 13:12, 16). You must serve!

As a king (Rev 1:5-6), you have authority over the world (1 John 5:4), the flesh (Rom 6:14ff), and the Devil (Luke 10:19). We all have divine weapons to demolish strongholds and obstacles to the kingdom of Christ (2 Cor 10:4-5). You must take charge!

Nobody outranks an 'ordinary' Christian and every layperson has the responsibility to initiate, plan, guide and manage ministries of both word and deed. They must not be passive!"

(taken from pg 157 in Timothy Keller's Ministries of Mercy: The Call of the Jericho Road which cites RB Kuiper's "The Glorious Body of Christ")

Home

2009-12-15T23:03:00.006-07:00

The last few days in Sisley were a bit depressing. With most of our furniture moved/sold, it looked vaguely similar to the home we first moved into almost 2 years ago...

Sleeping on the floor isn't much fun =(

I’m really thankful to be back home in Calgary. My trips to and from Australia in 2009 have been rife with delays, missed flights and unexpected overnight stays in a hotel, a friend’s couch and the airport. Still haven’t experienced lost luggage, a plane crash or a DVT so I can be grateful for small mercies. I feel extremely lucky for the opportunity to fly home for Christmas each year to be with family and that’s something to keep in mind – delays or no delays.

This time around, I arrived at the airport at around 9:45am alongside my friend Jamesy. We decided to grab brekkie and, since I had a bit of time ‘til my 12:05pm departure, we decided to do so at the airport. We got to the check-in counter and discovered that my flight was going to be 12 hrs delayed. The 747-400 for my flight had just left Los Angeles on route to Brisbane and would not arrive for another 14 hrs or so. Apparently they had some sort of mechanical problems that needed to be fixed. I printed off my itinerary that morning but I didn’t check the flight status online (I think some passengers did check and it wasn’t updated).

It turned out okay though. I stuck with James, got to see a few guys in the arvo, and then made my way back to the airport in the evening. Finally left Brisbane at around 0035 on Dec 10th and arrived in Los Angeles at around 1930, Dec 10th after an uneventful flight. I watched the ‘Time Traveler’s Wife’ and some really terrible war-related movie called ‘Hurt Box’. The rest of the time I slept. I had the aisle seat in a row of three and a girl named Devon (sp?) occupied the window seat. Luckily, the middle seat remained empty and we took advantage of the extra space. I made a bit of small talk with her, found out she was studying at JCU in Townsville on exchange from Northern Arizona University for a semester. She had managed to hit up New Zealand and even Indonesia/Bali and planned to return to Australia to see everything else in the future. I did not envy her travel situation as she had spent the last 60 hrs going from Indonesia to Sydney; then up to Townsville to grab the rest of her things; then down to Brisbane for the delayed flight to Los Angeles; and she still needed to grab a flight home to Phoenix. In hindsight, I should have told her not to hesitate to wake me up if she needed to get up at any point during the flight. I would wake up for meals, watch a movie and then fall right back to sleep. Each time I woke up she appeared to be busting to get to the toilet.

Thankfully, Qantas put many of us up at the Hilton for the evening which included meal vouchers. I was able to enjoy a nice sleep in a massive queen/king sized bed that sure beat sleeping on the floor during our last night at Sisley St.

I've caught up on HEAPS of sleep. I think that's what I've been doing mostly. Had a chance to play some floor hockey on Sunday which was awesome! I have a feeling this break is going to fly by really fast...

My dad in front of the Real Canadian Superstore. You can see my mom running off in the distance trying to get inside because it's -25ºC and she didn't want to stand there for a photo.

Regular Kraft Dinner that's not the microwavable kind...

Dad and bub getting ready to head out for an evening walk so that mom can get a bit of sleep

Emily is 3 weeks old.

Dad says that he misses sleep but they've decided that she's a keeper =)

Who's that strange looking fellow?!?

This is what driving on the right side of the road looks like for all those Aussies. So far, no incidents of driving on the wrong side...

Blast from the Past

2009-12-07T07:16:00.005-07:00

"Yesterday is history, tomorrow's a mystery and today is a gift - that's why it's called the present." - unknown

So after a massive cleaning and moving job in Brisbane, what do I find myself doing back in Calgary? CLEANING! YAY! I arrived back home realized that I have no room in my closet or dresser for my suitcases of stuff.

Conclusion: I have way too much junk and I should start by
a) refraining from buying more stuff
b) getting rid of old stuff that I don't need or can't use anymore

I'm cleaning out some of my binders and came across some rather amusing self-quotes from my grade school days...

"I want to be an ophthalmologist (can't believe I got the spelling right...) because I enjoy science and medicine. I also am interested in surgery and the eye. I want to be an ophthalmologist because I have bad eyesight and I want to find a better treatment than laser eye surgery."

"Your talent is God's gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God." - unknown

"People are like stained-glass windows
They sparkle and shine when the sun is out
But when the darkness sets in
Their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within." - Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

"There are 3 kinds of people in this world - those who can count and those who can't." - unknown

Wintertime!

2009-12-04T01:22:00.004-07:00

Saw this weather warning for Calgary. Oh how I miss Calgary weather and the snow. Good times ahead.

Chuckles

2009-11-28T07:10:00.005-07:00

Here are a few things that made me laugh recently...

I'd totally buy this for my office too Ocho...

Stumbled across this on a friend's facebook wall =)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE GROUND!!

Patients Always Lie?

2009-11-23T17:49:00.008-07:00

If you watch House, you know that you always have to take the history details with a grain of salt because patients often don't provide you with the full truth...

66 yo man presented to hospital with a piece of wire protruding from his anus claiming that some friends stuck a bottle up his ass and that he was trying to fish it out with a coat hanger.

Turns out he wasn't lying about the bottle part but he was about the friends. An abdominal X-ray revealed that this was a solo effort. There's no way he could have looped the coat hanger around the bottle after insertion.

Apparently 3 months post-laparoscopic surgery, he did the same again with 8x33cm butternut pumpkin and unsuccessfully tried to remove it with a fork. He was rewarded with a colostomy. Should have given the bottle back to him...

350,000

2009-11-21T20:54:00.009-07:00

The economy changes all the time and, depending on where you are, the cost of things are a bit different. I remember when gas/petrol prices were $0.40 a litre. I grabbed a slurpee the other day from 7-Eleven cuz it was stinkin hot and it set me back $3.40. The same slurpee would have cost me $1.20 in Canada (and no, it's not because it's -400º and nobody buys them). That was my first and last slurpee of the year - not paying that much for iced-sugar again.

So what does $350,000 get you these days? Apparently, it's just enough to get yourself a left-hand, sequined white glove that Michael Jackson wore during a 25th anniversary TV special moonwalk. It also happens to be enough to:

- provide clean water to 194,444 people in Ethiopia
- provide 4069 orphaned children in Malawi with day care for a year
- provide 116,666 children in Bangladesh with reading and writing lessons
- provide 10,000 people living with HIV/AIDS lifesaving antiretroviral treatment for one month (or a year's worth of treatment for 833 people)
- provide roughly 951 people in a developing country, who suffer from non-resistant tuberculosis, with 12 months of curative, drug therapy (4000 people die from tuberculosis each day and, with exception to multi-drug resistant strains that are especially high in places like the Ivory Coast, Abkhazia, Thailand and Uzbekistan, we have the cure for it)

I'm just spitting out ballpark figures and not writing some research paper - feel free to look up the exact costs yourself and please resist your hedonistic temptations and invest your $350,000 in something more than a white glove.

And why does it have to be $350,000? What about how we spend $1000? Or $10? Not trying to get legalistic here but it's something we don't stop and consider often enough. At the very least, it's something I need to think about more.

PS - maybe the Hard Rock Cafe plans to use the money to buy 20,000 bibles to be distributed all over the world. If that's the case, then good on them and forget what I said about the glove.

Ready

2009-11-17T22:07:00.007-07:00

Regretful rebellion revealed,
Remorseful, repentant, reprieved

Rescued, reconciled, redeemed
Refreshing renewal received

Rejoicing, recommitting, recruiting
Re: resurrection remedy

Signs

2009-11-16T03:15:00.008-07:00

Flatmate showed me this today. I liked it. It was a bit slow at first but, as with most good things, you gotta wait for it...

Road Trip?

2009-11-14T07:37:00.013-07:00

3,874 km from my home in Calgary to the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia where the Passion 2010 conference is being held in January. Google maps estimates it to be a 38 hour drive.

David Crowder, Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin, Louis Giglio, John Piper, Charlie Hall, Hillsong United, Andy Stanley, Francis Chan and many others will be there this year.

I know a road trip from Calgary to Juarez, Mexico is possible. That was about a 3,081 km drive in a 15 seat passenger van with 11 other people and 3 drivers rotating around. I do remember us staying overnight somewhere in New Mexico though so we didn't drive the entire way in one go (but came pretty close).

Hmm...road trip anyone?

PS - I have DCB's newest album Church Music in my car CD player and I think I've gone through the album about 10 times. I really enjoy listening to it. Not sure how many songs would be suited for congregational use but I know my favorite is definitely "How He Loves".

How He Loves - David Crowder Band

PPS - Okay, I just realized that it is originally written by John Mark McMillan and is covered by DCB. I seem to like a lot of DCB covers...

6 weeks

2009-11-12T02:01:00.014-07:00

Surgical ward rounds with the colorectal team have not been exciting or fruitful. Unlike my brief stint with the breast/endocrine team where the fellow would ask me questions as we walked from bed to bed, all I do is stand there and look good (more standing and less looking good on days when I haven't gotten much sleep). Breasts: 1, Ass: 0

Today we saw a man with advanced stage liver cancer with multiple organ metastases. The palliative care team had told him he had maybe 6 weeks left to live (I always get a bit sad when I see the palliative care stickers in charts). He had developed a bit of bowel obstruction and we were consulted with the possibility of resecting a portion of his large intestine, removing the obstruction, and giving him a stoma to collect his feces. I was surprised at how little he understood about his condition. Nobody had fully explained to him why he should have this bowel surgery when he thought the cancer was in his liver. Shouldn't we be operating on his liver to take out the cancer?

Although I was tired of standing and looking good all morning, I was really glad that my registrar paused the round, sat down, listened to the patient, and answered all of his questions. "We can't operate on your liver cancer because it's spread too much. The bowel surgery won't cure you but will hopefully make it so that you can eat solid food again. There are significant risks of this bowel surgery and, in your current weakened state, all of them are increased dramatically." In the end the decision will be up to him.

If I was told I had only 6 weeks left to live right now, what would I do? Would I finish off my last two weeks of surgery, studying hard to pass the last set of exams for the year or would I just quit immediately? Would I fly around the world doing things that I've always wanted to do before my time expires? Like...go meet Brooke Fraser (and get her to autograph my never-to-be-washed-again arm? hey, it'd only be for 6 weeks); see Lincoln Brewster and John Mayer live in concert (get them to sign my guitar); skydiving; bungee-jumping; spend a weekend riding roller-coasters in Cedar Point, Ohio; go snowboarding in the alps from a helicopter? Probably not. In and of themselves, they would all be pretty pointless I think (and supremely selfish) - utterly meaningless and a chasing of the wind once I breathe my last breath and my heart beats it's last beat. But perhaps it wouldn't be meaningless to those around me? What if I spent as much time as I could with my family or met up with as many friends as I could or called up all the friends that I've neglected to keep in touch with over the years?

Who knows, maybe I actually only have one day left. Maybe I need to just live such that nothing much in my life would change because I'm already maximizing every single moment I have investing in things that last forever...something that moth and rust can't destroy and that thieves can't steal.

"I tell you the truth,
unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies,
it remains only a single seed.
But if it dies,
it produces many seeds.

The man who loves his life will lose it,
while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

Whoever serves me must follow me;
and where I am, my servant also will be.
My Father will honor the one who serves me."
- Jesus Christ

Musical Trends

2009-11-10T00:28:00.011-07:00

There has been a growing clutter of papers lying all over my bedroom floor. It's finally reach the point of ridiculousness and I decided to clean some of it up.

I had a lot of guitar tab/chord sheets lying around and so I decided to organize all of them alphabetically so that I can find the correct song and not waste paper by printing off new chord sheets. It's interesting to see some of the musical trends over the past 1.5 years (at least for song's I've had to learn). I used to like to keep track of what songs were sung in church each week to be aware of what the congregation is familiar with and what has been sung to death and shouldn't be repeated for a while. Based on my fleeting memory, I've organized them into what has been sung in church, what has been sung in YF (uni/young adult fellowship) and some randoms (personal favorites or from Hope Church). It's also interesting to see what kind of song writers/artists are popular as well.

Church Songs:

1 Corinthians 13 - Rob Smith
Worthy of All Praise - Rob Smith (we sing this one a lot...)
Because He Lives - William J. Gaither
Before the Throne of God Above - Charitie L. Bancroft; music by Vikki Cook (I really like the Shane + Shane cover ...they're vocally so talented)
Blessed Be Your Name - Matt Redman
Christ Alone - Bryson Smith and Philip Percival (not to be confused with 'In Christ Alone' as I found the hard way at 8:30am on a Sunday morning)
Forever - Jesse Reeves, Chris Tomlin (sung LOTS)
Grace Like Rain - Todd Agnew
Highest Place - Mark Peterson (it's lyrically very sound but it's one of the most awkward congregational songs to sing that I've ever come across)
How Deep the Father's Love For Us - Stuart Townend
How Great Is Our God - Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves, Ed Cash
Indescribable - Laura Story, Jesse Reeves (Chris Tomlin did NOT write this song...FYI)
Let Your Kingdom Come - Bob Kauflin (sung heaps but a great song - my favorite Sovereign Grace song)
Lord Reign in Me - Brenton Brown (sung to death...)
My Chains Are Gone (Amazing Grace) - Chris Tomlin
Psalm 103 - Mark Peterson (lyrics are of course sound since it's taken pretty much right from scripture but again, Peterson has awkward-ish melodies. Nothing against him 'cuz I know how hard it is to write a good song)
Refiner's Fire - Brian Doerksen
Teach Me Your Ways - Chris Griffiths
This is My Desire - Reuben Morgan
This Is Your House - Graham Kendrick
Voice of the Lord - Michael Morrow (Emu have a few I like)
We Are His People - Philip Percival (this one gets sung a LOT)
We Belong to the Day - Michael Morrow (sung a LOT)
Your Grace Is Enough - Matt Maher and Chris Tomlin (we sang this for an entire month and never sang it again...)

YF Songs:

Above All - Penny LeBlanc & Paul Baloche (we sung this once, I don't think anyone knew it)
Amazing Grace (Grace Flows Down) - David Bell, Louie Giglio and Rod Pageant
Before the Throne of God Above - Charitie L. Bancroft; music by Vikki Cook (I really like the Shane & Shane cover...they're vocally so talented)
Blessed Be Your Name - Matt Redman
Create In Me a Clean Heart - John Carter
Enough - Chris Tomlin (I don't think we've sang this on Sunday but I could be wrong)
Everyday - Joel Houston (I'm pretty sure we've only sang it once or twice max
Forever - Jesse Reeves, Chris Tomlin (sung very often)
From the Inside Out - Joel Houston (YF camp)
Grace Like Rain - Todd Agnew
Hosanna - Brooke Fraser (I don't actually think we've sang this...maybe once?)
How Can I Keep From Singing - Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin, Ed Cash (sang it twice. As with most Tomlin songs you have to transpose it 3-4 semitones lower)
How Great Thou Art - Carl Gustav Boberg; translated by Stuart K. Hine (we sang this once, I picked it because I liked a Paul Baloche cover)
I Could Sing of Your Love Forever - Martin Smith
I Offer My Life - Claire Cloninger, Don Moen
Indescribable - Laura Story, Jesse Reeves (Chris Tomlin did NOT write this song...FYI)
It Is Well With My Soul - Horatio Spafford (probably my most favoritest hymn...the story behind the song just absolutely blows me away)
Let Your Kingdom Come - Bob Kauflin (this was sung a LOT)
Lord Over All - Sonicflood
Lord Reign in Me - Brenton Brown (we sung this to DEATH)
Majesty (Here I Am) - Martin Smith (very little Delirious? in the mix)
One Way - Hillsong United (sung to death...)
Refiner's Fire - Brian Doerksen
This Is My Desire - Reuben Morgan
Unashamed - Jon Neufeld, Tim Neufeld, Doug McKelvey (go Starfield!)
Voice of the Lord - Michael Morrow (Emu music has a few that I like)
We Fall Down - Chris Tomlin
Who Am I - Casting Crowns (I don't think we've sung this much in YF. Used for RICE Rally and CiA teens fellowship once)
Worthy of All Praise - Rob Smith
You Are My All In All - Dennis Jernigan (another great story behind the writing of this song)
You Loved Me - Trevor Hodge

Random:

Friend of God - Michael Gungor (RICE Big Day Out)
Hear Our Praises - Reuben Morgan (one of my all time favorites)
He Is Exalted - Twila Paris (I really like this Shane & Shane version. I remember Sunny introduced to me to this awesome cover. Check it!)

King - Tree63 (dodgy theology? Was going to be a RICE song)
Leaving 99 - Audio Adrenaline (RICE Big Day Out song)
None But Jesus - Brooke Fraser (I'm a huge Brooke fan)
Nothing But the Blood - Peter King (used part of it for RICE Rally; there's actually a Matt Redman cover of the hymn that I like better...)
The Time Has Come - Joel Houston (I don't foresee this one being sung anytime soon)
Today Is The Day - Lincoln Brewster, Paul Baloche (RICE Big Day Out)
Wonderful God - Ned Davies (I don't recognize this one but it's Hillsong so probably pre-CCCB)
You Are Good - Israel Houghton

Psalm 23

2009-10-31T07:21:00.002-06:00

I was recently introduced to a song called Psalm 23. It's based on, you guessed it, psalm 23. I remember hearing a missionary preach on Psalm 23 a few years back and I posted about it. Every time I listen to this song I can't help but stop what I'm doing, close my eyes and soak in the melody.

T-Pain Obama Auto-Tune

2009-10-07T05:03:00.002-06:00

Thanks to my flatmate for sharing this with me and making me laugh today =)

Paul Washer and Surgical Banter

2009-09-02T06:03:00.010-06:00

So I'm still on the bible study group mailing list with South Gate Alliance, my church back in Canada. There was this e-mail that caught my eye about a few sermons by a guy named Paul Washer. I hadn't heard of Paul Washer before so I looked him up and downloaded some of his stuff off the HeartCry Missionary Society. I've only had a chance to listen to a couple of his sermons on courtship and I'm still digesting some of things he said. But so far, I'm really finding myself quite challenged by his preaching.

Finally finished the USMLE Step 1. The day actually went by pretty quickly. Although I didn't run out of time in any of the blocks, my brain started to shut down by about the 6th and 7th set of questions. I started writing my exam at around 0945 (they had some issues connecting to Prometric) and by 1700 I was ready for it to all be over. For the most part, it felt like I was just making educated guesses and there were quite a few questions that I had no idea how to answer. But, I gave it my best and there's nothing more I can do.

Aside from watching some really crap TV in my hotel (Entourage, Monday Night Football/Rugby, some cop chase show, and lawn bowls...they actually show professional lawn bowls on TV and try to make it look like the World Series of Poker), I haven't really had a break. Yesterday was a pretty busy day. Checked out of my hotel in Sydney at 0730, left Sydney by 0900, landed in Townsville at 1130, drove back to Ayr by 1300, and then was helping out with an appendectomy by 1500. We were part-way through the procedure and I had just been drilled with all sorts of anatomy questions as we sliced through his abdominal wall...

Doc: "So why have I drawn an X here?" (as he points to a black X drawn on the boy's abdomen)
Me: "Uhm, is that where we're going to cut?"
Doc: "Yes, but why here?"
Me: "Uhm, well, this is an appendectomy right? Is that McBurney's point?"
Doc: "Wrong. It's a trick question. This is the point where the patient claims the pain is worst. You find out where the pain is worst and that's where you go in."

So we made an incision maybe 4 cm long all the way into his peritoneal cavity and he starts pulling out the kid's small intestine through the small opening.

Doc: "So where's the appendix?"
Me: "Uh, at the cecum?"
Doc: "Yes, so how do we find the cecum?"
Me: "At the end of his small intestine."
Doc: Holding out some of the small intestine "So which way to do we go to find the cecum?"
Me: "Uhm...I don't know."
Doc: "You can't know. You can either follow along the 6 m of bowel until you hit it or you just have to feel around and find the long, hard stringy thing that will be his inflamed appendix."

So for the next 10 minutes he stuffs his fingers into the boy's abdominal cavity and begins to feel around for the appendix. During this time, we share some jokes. One of the nurses told one about how the animals on the Ark couldn't play cards because Noah was standing on the deck. Then they got talking about the Shroud of Turin. And then the doc in charge went on some rant about how Christianity is a load of crap and that the shroud is a fake because Jesus Christ never actually died on the cross. How come he died so quickly while most other people who were crucified took days to die? His conclusion was that Jesus Christ never raised from the dead because he never died in the first place - there is no evidence that he was dead, no death certificate, and that they just assumed he was dead. And even if it all did happen, his friends probably took him off the cross while he was still alive and then nursed him back to health afterward claiming he had risen from the dead.

In the meantime, we had cut off the appendix and were sewing the boy back up. My mind was racing, should I say anything? I felt that if I remained silent it would mean that I agreed with him - which I didn't at all. One of the nurses said, "Why are we talking about this anyway?" and we realized it was a tangent from someone's comment on the Shroud of Turin. I'll give him credit, he knew exactly how to discredit Christianity - refuting the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But how should I respond? If I challenged his views, would he kick me out of surgery? Would he lose all respect for me or would he have more respect because I had the balls to speak up?

I didn't say anything. I'm pretty sure everyone in the room had an opinion but felt that it wasn't appropriate to comment. Yes, I know religion and politics are largely taboo subjects in the workplace. But a part of me felt ashamed to not say something because I was either not confident/comfortable to go into the reliability and validity of scriptures in order to prove Christ's death and resurrection to be true and/or because I was afraid of the negative impression I'd make..."Oh that med student is an idiot because he believes in that fairytales and Jewish sect rubbish." It's a hard decision to make in the heat of the moment and I have a feeling there will be many more similar situations in the future. Hoping for some God-given wisdom to deal with them as they come.

Religion in the Workplace

2009-08-25T07:13:00.004-06:00

Came across this in my studying...

You are caring for a 75 year-old male in the cardiac ICU who was admitted with chest pain. His troponins were elevated and the interventional cardiologist plans to take him for an emergency cardiac catheterization. While you're discussing the diagnosis and planned treatment with the patient, he states that he is afraid of dying during the procedure and asks you to pray for him. Which of the following is the most appropriate reply?

A. "I'd be happy to call a chaplain for you, sir."
B. "I am not religious, but if you are then prayer could be helpful."
C. "I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers."
D. "We are not of the same faith, so my prayers may not help you."
E. "Praying is fine, but it has not been scientifically shown to be efficacious in your situation."

The USMLE answer appears to be C. There's nothing wrong with referring them to a chaplain but in an acute setting like this, physicians should recognize and respect the belief systems of their patients regardless of their own beliefs. The topic of religion should not taint the treatment of a patient in any way and religion should only be discussed if brought up by the patient. Their religious beliefs are to be used to help ease their burden and should never be disagreed on by the physician. In the interests of non-maleficence, the physician should at least agree in a generic sense to keep the patient in their prayers.

Toilet Technique

2009-08-18T05:23:00.005-06:00

Living at the staff nursing quarters here in Ayr means that I've had to use a lot of shared facilities such as kitchen, showers and toilets. Kitchen isn't that big of a problem. It's a bit annoying to have to label all of our food with 80% of the fridge space being ours. The couple nurses that have been living here off and on with us are very clean. It also helps that one of them doesn't appear to ever cook and the only thing he has is a freezer full of Camembert cheese. Looks like he's stocking up for a war or something.

The showers are a bit more iffy but still not too bad. A very brief inspection didn't seem to turn up any mould. Can't see anything without my glasses anyway - ignorance is indeed bliss here. If there was a bit more traffic in the showers I'd probably keep my thongs on to avoid picking up some HPV.

Now comes toilets. I can't stand using public toilets and will go to extreme lengths to avoid a #2 or #3 in a public washroom (1 + 2 = 3 :D). #1 is less of a problem. But being here I've had to face the inevitable task of using public-ish toilets once or twice daily. Here are some public toilet strategies I've picked up:

1. Toilet paper seat cover
- so apparently many female toilets have toilet paper seat covers provided. Guy toilets don't (I've never seen one with them anyway). Three pieces carefully placed posterior and laterally does the trick. Probably psychological comfort more than anything since you can't really catch an STI from a toilet seat. Pubic lice jumps but unless your toilet seat is made of hair, the risk is almost nil.

2. No pants
- have you ever walked into a toilet where the floors are soaking wet and you're wondering what combination of bodily secretions and other substances are floating in it? How do you do your business without getting the bottoms of your pant legs dirty? If you wear skinny jeans then you probably don't have to worry. But for me, having your pant leg drag on the ground is a worry. If there's a hook on the inside of the bathroom door I'll often take my pants right off, hang them up, and put them back on afterwards.

3. Shorts over one leg
- so I just recently came upon this strategy. It's a form of the no-pants method and works best with shorts and thongs. What you do is you take one leg out of your shorts and swing it over one of your legs before you sit down. With the "shorts-over-one-leg" style, you maintain maximum range-of-motion with your legs AND avoid having your shorts touch the floor. Too easy!

4. Use the paper wisely
- always use paper to touch things without your hands when possible! Examples include lifting the toilet seat to stand and pee; flushing (as I've already mentioned); and opening doors on your way out. This is sometimes hard with the increasing numbers of hand dryers so sometimes I have to sacrifice my pinky.

Always on the lookout for more toilet tips.

Asian Food Store!

2009-08-15T04:09:00.006-06:00

One week down, five to go. Things have been going pretty well here in Ayr. I feel like I've finally settled into a bit of a rhythm and I'm excited to see what will happen next. It doesn't feel like a "home" though...I carry my towel, soap and shampoo to the showers every morning; I have to close my door and take keys whenever I need to pee; I have to wear shoes whenever I leave my room; and my butt is killing me cuz all they've got here are these plastic chairs. But, all in all I can't complain because I have running water, electricity and a bed to sleep in at night. It could definitely be a lot worse.

I snapped a few quick photos of the hospital. It's much bigger than what I expected, which was essentially a beefed up general practice. It has 30 beds in a general ward with 24 hr nursing staff, an emergency ward with four beds, four outpatient consultation rooms, a couple minor procedure rooms, and some other consultation rooms used for visiting specialist clinics (eg. pediatricians, psychiatrists). There's a devoted mental health ward located just below our nursing staff quarters where they run clinics Mon-Fri from 8-5pm.

Also, to my surprise, they have a surgical ward with two operating theatres and everything to support them. On Tuesday we were able to observe and assist in a few procedures including a few excisional biopsies, a breast biopsy, surgical decompression for carpel tunnel and a vasectomy. One of the doctors here has diplomas in Obs/Gyne and Anesthesiology and that allows them to perform procedures requiring general anesthetics. They often have visiting surgeons come in to do scopes and other procedures the other days of the week. So far, I'm liking the feel of rural medicine. It's a mixed bag of medicine, surgery and general practice topped with a bit of trauma and emergency medicine. Our preceptor is a certified ultrasonographer so does heaps of stuff by himself. He'll perform all of the antenatal scans himself, do echocardiograms, and will even take people from emergency presenting with abdominal pain for scans to rule out anything sinister. I'm really quite impressed with how versatile they are.

We just went to grab a few groceries from Coles before it closed (not much is open on Sundays here) and we spotted this tiny Asian food store. We had asked a bunch of asians we bumped into at Coles if there was an asian food store in town and they said we'd have to go to Townsville. So when we saw this place, I was thinking "they lied to us!" We went in and found out that it had just opened up 3 days ago. In fact, it was so new that they didn't even have everything priced. It was great though, we picked up some curry paste and chili paste to spice up our food and grabbed a box of instant noodles. Finding the only asian food store in town was the highlight of my day lol.

We usually use this korean brand chili paste in a red tub but this will have to do for the next 5 weeks. =)

Church Hunting Again

2009-08-08T05:26:00.006-06:00

After spending the entire day doing some practice questions for Step 1, I'm feeling extremely unprepared for this exam. I pretty much haven't gotten any decent studying in for the past 2-3 weeks and I've only got about 3 weeks to go. I was contemplating not bothering to find a new church tomorrow and just staying in a spending another full day studying.

A part of me thought, what if I just read my bible for a bit and spend some time in prayer? Would that be a sufficient replacement for driving around trying to find a building to sit in for a few hours? After all, church is really about a body of believers worshiping the one true God together in unity. So what if Albert and I just get together and study the bible and pray together? Maybe even sing a few a cappella songs? I know it sounds bad but I'm only here for 6 weeks and for the next 3 weeks I'm going to be spending every spare moment cramming. Is 6 weeks enough time to even join a small group and make it worth the effort?

After a bit of consideration, I think I will go find a church to attend tomorrow. Not that there's anything innately wrong with having a two-man church service with Albert. I already missed one last week because I was driving up to Rockhampton. It will be a great way to start my day and I really need to stop avoiding most social contact and meet some new people. Who knows? Maybe I'll meet some people who also work at the hospital. Maybe I'll make some friends for life. Maybe I'll even meet some super awesome bogan-ish girl...or maybe I'll just be able to spend some quality time with God.

I think I'll check out St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church. I had a look at the Presbyterian Church of Queensland website and their doctrine of faith looks pretty good. Another possibility is Burdekin Baptist Church but I can't find any info about them other than the address and 9:30am service time.

There's a Christian Outreach Centre (COC) here but having a look through what they believe, they have a big emphasis on speaking in "other tongues" through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and prophecy. Are these languages or self-edifying spiritual babbling? On a similar note, there's Burdekin Community Church which is part of the AoG Churches. I know this sounds bad but, since I know I'm visiting and will be attending a maximum of 6 services, I'm tempted to go to a COC or AoG church for their lively worship atmosphere. I know I should commit it to God when it comes to becoming an active part of the a church body. But what about when you're traveling? I know I'm probably not going to join a ministry in 6 weeks so can I be a bit more self-interested? Is it right for me to choose one that meets my spiritual needs whether it be good preaching or a certain style of music for worship?

In the end, I feel it probably wouldn't be good to attend a church when I'm already having reservations after reading their statement of faith. So I'll give the Presbyterian Church a shot and, if necessary, check out the Baptist church next week. Or maybe we'll go visit 6 different churches - a different one every week - and compare the experiences as a little experiment. Perhaps even go visit a Kingdom Hall and/or Stake House. I wonder if there are any opinions out there on whether a Christian should visit and participate in say a JW or Mormon worship service. Normally I wouldn't wag my own church service but in this case, I'm unable to attend my home church anyway. Is it possible to attend a JW or Mormon service, maintain respect for their practices as a "visitor" and also respect God by not engaging in idolatry? It seems like it would be an enlightening and educational experience (combined with a chance to exercise your apologetics during the post-service prosthelytizing). I'll have to give this some more thought...

Woop Woop

2009-08-07T06:42:00.013-06:00

"Woop Woop" (Australian slang)
Def'n: a collective description for any destination outside your local area (eg. a small town out in the middle of nowhere)

Alright, time to revive this blog with a long-ish post about what's been going down =)

Finally wrapped up my first week of my rural rotation. The days seemed to go by agonizingly slow as we pretty much sat through lectures and pracs from 0800-1700 each day - a painful reminder of what learning was like in the previous two years. Not all of it was bad. I feel a lot more comfortable with my cannulation and suturing technique after a skills workshop. We had a really great lecturer from Cairns come in to talk to us about bush bugs and a do a review of ECGs. We had a local snake expert come in and talk to us about, you guessed it, snakes. He gave us this guide if you get bitten by a snake:

Before you get to the hospital...

1. Do not wipe the wound
- many snakes are non-poisonous and the ones that are often won't inject venom for every single bite (unless you really piss the snake off)
- BUT, just in case, leave the wound as is so you don't facilitate the spread of the venom

2. Mark the bite location with a pen
- Depending on the snake, there may be two inconspicuous puncture markings or there may be a huge bruise the size of an orange (I think he said pythons are known to have very large bite marks because they latch on and chew on you...but the ones here in Australia are non-poisonous).

3. Do not try to catch/kill the snake
- Most bites occur when the snake is startled and feels it has nowhere to run
- With the exception of adders, most snakes will try to run away first. Adders will freeze like a deer in headlights thinking that if it doesn't move we can't see them. They'll only bite you if you aggravate them or corner them so that they have nowhere to go.
- Taipans are super fast and can bite you 4-5 times as they speed past your leg.
- Brown snakes are the leading cause of snake bite deaths in Australia
- Sea snake venom is the most potent but they will rarely attack unless you make them really angry. Apparently you can swim along with them and they will ignore you (but I wouldn't encourage it)
- Having said that, you'd have to get pretty close to identify the snake so probably best to just avoid.

After you get to a hospital...

4. Apply compression and immobilize the bite site
- most bites are about 1 cm deep (shallow envenomation) and venom will move through the lymphatic system. Therefore, compress and limit muscular contraction to limit the lymphatic spread.

5. Investigate with venom detection kits, urinalysis, and bloods (especially INR since the venom often contain pro-coagulation factors)
- I think here in Australia they have venom detection kits for every single type of venomous snake out there.

6. Treatment includes IV anti-venoms
- Because of available anti-venom agents for all the poisonous snakes in Australia, the mortality rate from snake bites is very low for those who are treated promptly.

**For more detail on how to manage snake envenomation, read here.

We also watched an interesting video on a remote Indigenous community in the Northern Territory. Seeing condition of the community made me think about some of the Native American communities in Canada and just how they are often neglected by the government and the rest of the country. Here people were living in 3rd world conditions and had life expectancies of 45 yrs. It just reminded me that you don't have to travel very far to find people in need - they're living right in your city - and you probably don't have to even leave your province or state to find people trying to survive without the basic necessities like clean water/food/shelter. I find I often talk about how it would be nice to travel to Africa on a medical mission but is it necessary to fly around the world? Instead of flying 12 hrs across the globe I could drive 12 hrs and probably find people in an equally unfavorable condition and in need of aid (at a fraction of the cost). I suspect that the same holds true for spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ...

Speaking of the gospel, I was so happy to have the privilege of serving in RICE Brisbane 2009 with heaps of others in an inter-church, non-denominational teen outreach movement. In only it's second year since inception (inspired by a similar movement in Sydney), I was very impressed with the unified efforts of so many who have a passion for serving, a passion for teenagers and most of all a passion for Jesus Christ. The theme was "A Tale of Two Kingdoms" and everyone was challenged to live in a way that reflects God's eternal kingdom right here, right now. During the event, I spent a lot of time backstage with the rest of the music team so I can't wait to watch the video of the entire evening. The games were awesome and I could hear everyone having a great time with them. The skit team did an amazing job, especially with the hand mime to Casting Crown's "Who Am I?" In fact, there were so many people working/meeting behind the scenes for many months prior and also during the evening to make it all possible. They deserve a lot of credit for going through all the planning and overseeing everything. The tech team was unbelievably slick throughout the evening and Eugene Hor delivered a powerful message that I know has helped changed at least 17 lives forever. Soli deo gloria!

I grabbed a few photos of the music team off Facebook (which might be copyright infringement) 'cuz I wasn't able to take any during the evening. If I'm not allowed to do this someone let me know and I'll pull them off.

I probably should have split up this post into multiple smaller posts. Oh well...
We arrived in Ayr at around 1620 on Friday and, with the help of Ping's GPS (thanks Ping!), made it to the hospital without any dramas. We met some of the nursing staff there and they seemed really nice! They showed us to our rooms in the nursing staff quarters right behind the hospital where we will be staying for the next 6 weeks. I'm so glad I'm not traveling alone 'cuz this place is FREAKY. As we were hauling some groceries back in the dark, it was like a scene straight out of a horror flick. Dark, narrow hallways with a few flickering lights (most of them don't work). None of the clocks are working and the whole place smells like nobody has lived here in ages. My room door shuts really tightly (you pretty much have to slam it to get it closed) and is so hard to pull open that a few times I've started to panic thinking I was trapped in my room (I should NOT have watched "Room 1408"). There were birds outside making strange, crying noises throughout the night. There's also some random old nurse named Philip living in one of the rooms next to us who we met last night. It was after 11pm and we were getting ready to sleep. We were standing in the dark hallway outside our rooms talking about what we should do the following day when we saw this guy emerge from the stairs at the end of the hall and start walking to us. I probably would have crapped myself if I was alone. I locked my door overnight and considered leaving my lights on. I'm going to have to fluid restrict myself after 8pm 'cuz there's no way I'm waking up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom.

Luckily, I'm not in room 13 (Albert is). The well-lit room interior is actually not too bad. It was nice to finally unpack my stuff from my suitcase. I have a lot of ironing to do this weekend >_<

More stories from the crypts of the Ayr nursing quarters to follow...

Beautiful MJ Medley

2009-07-22T00:35:00.008-06:00

I've become a fan of Cathy Nguyen and a few of her associates on YouTube. A bunch of them have killer voices (Gabe Bondoc, Andrew Garcia). I like Gabe's guitarwork and some of his covers. Taking voice lessons has always been on my list of things to do at some point in my life.

A Snapshot of Matt's Lifelong To Do List:

1234. Take some voice lessons (fully aware that they might not do anything to help :P)
1235. Eat turducken
1236. Visit China
1237. Write a book
1238. Learn how to backflip

I Want You Back --> ABC --> Man in the Mirror --> I'll Be There

Something to Celebrate

2009-07-05T04:29:00.011-06:00

It's nice when you have something to celebrate and people to celebrate it with.

This evening was a great example of this. Young and old from my church gathered together for a surprise celebration of our Pastor's 60th birthday. It was really great to see so many people turn up, so many getting involved with food preparations, people organizing games and just lots of people around smiling and wishing him well on this milestone of an occasion. Watching the older aunties and uncles playing charades was gold. It was really great to take this chance to acknowledge how important he is to all of us and how much we value his care and service as a spiritual leader and friend. I pray that God will continue to sustain him for many more years of ministry and that we can encourage and support him every step of the way.

One of the patients that I'm looking after has his birthday coming up tomorrow. He will be turning 73. No, I don't make a habit of memorizing the birthdays of everyone in hospital but his stuck in my mind because I admitted him over the weekend. I actually considered getting him a card but had second thoughts because I thought it might be "professionally inappropriate"...which seems ridiculous when you think about it. I know there are ethical rules against accepting gifts from patients and/or drug representatives (surrounded of course by a lot of grey - a card or homemade cookies would probably be fine but bottles of scotch or plasma TVs would probably not be fine) but what about giving something to patients? This guy has never been married, has no kids, and doesn't have much in terms of supports at all. I'm not sure if anyone outside the hospital even knows he's here. He will likely spend his birthday in hospital, alone, getting a full-body-CT-scan dose of radiation while we look for cancer. We may even have to break the bad news to him later on in the afternoon once we see the CT results. Happy birthday.

I'll probably run the card idea by my consultant tomorrow morning and see what happens...

Photos of Old and New

2009-06-29T03:22:00.009-06:00

Photography is not one of my hobbies. I was never a big fan of photos and I always avoid the camera because I think I look stupid in the majority of my pictures. But I do realize that they're invaluable for capturing a moment in the past to be remembered forever. Sometimes it's also more efficient than writing 1000 words. Close to 3 months have passed since I've last cleared photos off my SD card...

April fools 2009. I actually didn't bother to do anything to my housemates this year. I woke up and found Albert's room barricaded shut with our couches. Last year, I cling-wrapped Laura's car before I left for uni in the morning. I think she still managed to make it to her lecture on time.

Chopping onions is serious business - no crying allowed.
Arthur does some serious onion chopping.

mmm...pork ribs. I followed some recipe that didn't call for boiling the ribs prior to baking them in the oven. I now know that regardless of the recipe, it's probably best to boil them beforehand (they cook faster too). Now I know for next time...

A lot of couples have been getting engaged and married over the last little while. It has been super exciting and provide for great opportunities to help them celebrate. Hands down, Alex and Bec had the most baller engagement party I've ever been to. More impressive than their love for one another is their love for God and that's what really makes them stand out in my mind. May God bless them as they embark on this journey together!

And because of my lack of photo-initiative, I didn't have any photos with Sunny until this final airport shot before she left on a jet plane. Shame on me...but I don't think I really need too many photos to remember all those bright (bright), bright (bright) Sun Shiny days. I know I've said a few times that I'm going to miss her but I'm really really going to miss her. She did such a great job at just reflecting Christ in her life and I'm going to miss seeing that reflection every week. A rare model of how we should be putting others before ourselves - and one that I can definitely learn from. True friends are forever and I look forward to the next time I can get a little Sunshine in my life =)

Best Part of My Day

2009-06-18T03:08:00.005-06:00

Had a great rheumatology tute and picked up some good techniques for examining lymph nodes. But probably the best part of my day today was a chance to play some tic-tac-toe with a patient while waiting for new admissions. The way he laughed and smiled after he beat me a bunch of times was priceless...

One of our patients did mini-drawings of us while we visited him during ward rounds =)

Goodbye Bak Bak

2009-05-08T07:08:00.007-06:00

When people ask me if I speak Chinese I tell them no because for all intents and purposes, I don't. One thing I do know is that there are specific titles for older relatives in Chinese culture. Everyone has a very specific title that tells you if they're maternal or paternal for example.

My great-grandmother, whom I call "bak bak", passed away earlier this week at the age of 99. Not many people could say they would be seeing their great-grandmother in the near future - and prior to this week I was very proud to be one of those lucky few. Ninety-nine! The more I think about it, the more incredible it seems. Just even thinking about the history she would have witnessed first-hand: both world wars, the great depression, the rise of communism in China, the start and finish of the Cold War, and the emergence of Facebook! (No, she wasn't on facebook but it would have been cool to have my great-grandma on my friends list...)

The last time I saw her was at her 99th birthday dinner back in January '09 before I left to head back to Australia. Every year, my mom's entire extended family including children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren (and this past year a great-great-grandchild!) would meet on Saturday morning/afternoon to have dim sum. It was traditionally my bak-bak's treat to take everyone out for tea and she would always come around to each table and encourage us to eat more... "You're a growing boy! Eat more shrimp dumplings!" (in Chinese of course) Then later in the evening, we would all reconvene at the same restaurant for a massive 12-course banquet style dinner. It was a pretty huge gathering of extended family with something like 5 or 6 large tables at one of the larger Chinese restaurants in Calgary. Just having so much of my extended family from my mom's side all living pretty much in Calgary is pretty cool. I think I've always taken that fact for granted over the years and being in Australia makes me realize how much I'd miss all my family if I were to settle down somewhere far from home.

I wish I could be back home to pay my respects at her funeral this weekend. I still remember the first funeral I went to. It was for my bak-gung (great-grandfather) back in 1990. I would have been six years old at the time and I remember it was the only time I've seen my poh-poh cry. If my memory is correct, it was held down at the current Chinese Pentecostal Church down in Chinatown right behind my bak-bak's apartment (which she still lived in by herself up until she passed away)...

Thanks for all the great memories bak-bak. You spoiled us great-grandkids every opportunity you had. Even when you weren't feeling well and were in hospital, you would give us candy and lay-see when we came to visit you. You will always be remembered and I'll miss you.

David Crowder + Guitar Hero Guitar

2009-04-28T08:00:00.004-06:00

So one of my favorite bands is David Crowder Band. They're talented, innovative, and most importantly, they use their music to give glory to God. I found this amusing clip of him playing "Neverending" at a concert using a guitar hero guitar.

Pests, Possums, Potatoes and Potential Postponing?

2009-04-24T20:30:00.011-06:00

I haven't blogged in a while so I'm going to spew out some random things that have been going on lately...

First off...BUGS!

Back home in Calgary we used to have the odd mouse problem. I remember my dad used to use peanut butter to bait traps and we caught a few mice in our kitchen with those. Here in Australia, there are bugs and animals EVERYWHERE. It could be due to the hot weather. Or it could be due to the fact that there are so many holes in our house where things can crawl in.

Since the beginning of the year, we've had tons of little ants crawling all over our common-area and kitchen. I don't know what the problem is because we never leave food lying around and we've scrubbed our entire kitchen down with bleach and other cleaning agents. I've discovered that they like to come out at night when we're all asleep (I've gone to get some water to drink in the middle of the night to find our kitchen crawling with ants...accidentally stepped on a bunch while walking to the fridge...so gross). We taped up a few holes that we think are points of entry. We've tried ant traps, poisons and sprays. Our property manager won't do anything about it because she claims that "everyone in Queensland has ant problems". She pretty much politely told me to suck it up and stop whinging because she's not going to help us. So far, my record for number of ants killed running along our walls from a single swing of a rolled up magazine is 10.

Spiders. One of my flatmates hates spiders. Last year was so gross when hundreds of baby spiders hatched and were running all over our ceiling. We sucked them all up with a vacuum cleaner but it looked like a scene out of some horror movie. *shiver* Anyway, call me crazy but I think the spiders are actually attacking and eating the ants? There's a spider living in the corner of our house where our dining room table is. It's spun a nice sized web and I've watched it capture some of our ants. Since it seems to be helping us control our ant problem, we haven't killed it. Here are some photos of our spider hard at work...

We've just had two animal experts confirm that we have possums and rats that co-inhabit our house. We thought we found some rat poop near our TV but it turned out to be gecko poop according to some rat lady (apparently geckos are good because they eat mosquitos and other bugs? So we like to keep them around). Then we had a rat guy come to our house and look in our attic. Sure enough, there was heaps of rat poop up there. So he tossed some rat poison (probably some form of warfarin) in there and told us that it should do the trick. Next, we had a possum guy come and confirm that we indeed have a possum or family of possums that are getting into our garage and into the ceiling of our first floor (under our upstairs floor). We also took a look in our attic and found some old underwear and a bong. Somebody had been sneaking up into the attic to get high... The possum guy said that the rat guy was an idiot and that you can't just throw a handful of poisoned bait into the attic and call it a job done. You gotta set traps and catch the little critters. Otherwise, how do you confirm that you've actually killed them? They could grab the poison, run off, bury it somewhere, etc. and still be at large.

My mom is an awesome cook. I've been using her scalloped potatoes recipe for a while and it's awesome! Here in Australia I peel and chop up washed potatoes for the recipe. This last Christmas I planned to make it for a potluck dinner and I asked my family about grabbing some white, washed potatoes for me. They laughed at me and didn't know what I was talking about. Apparently there's no such thing as washed potatoes in Canada. I didn't make it up! See... Coles Washed Potatoes

Mrs. Wong's Awesome Scalloped Potatoes
- peel and wash enough potatoes to fill a pan
- cut potatoes into thin slices
- mix in a bit of salt and pepper
- add some milk; it makes the potatoes soft
(I used 2 cups for our super massive pyrex pan)
- put some cheese on top; slices or shredded both work
- bake at 190ºC for 1 hr
(keep an eye on the cheese cuz it will burn if you have the temp too high)

In the last few months I've really been vamping up my USMLE Step 1 studying. I do feel things starting to sink in and stick. But after running through almost a full practice exam on Thursday, I was very discouraged with the amount of things that I didn't know. I've only got a month left until my projected exam date and I'm seriously considering pushing the test back another 3 months. Delaying it is the last thing I want to do...right now my whole life is church commitments, class/clinic, consume food, crash the library 'til midnight, collapse in bed, repeat. Can I do this for another 4 months? Ugh... there's no point in getting a mediocre score on the exam either. My next rotation is medicine and I'll probably have to study pretty hardcore for that and put USMLE on hold for a bit. There's no way I'll be able to study almost 3 full days a week for the USMLE like I'm doing right now. I'm still sitting on the fence but I'm thinking long and hard about reorganizing my flights and test dates for an end of August - which means that I'll have to fly down to Melbourne or Sydney from my rural posting in Ayr to write the exam.

I think through it all, I'm avoiding burnout by just constantly trying to focus on God. It might sound like I'm complaining on here but I actually don't mind being busy. God's really given me a sense of peace about it all. He sustains me and hopefully the fruits of my labor will be able to serve Him in the end and not myself. With the day and hour of Christ's return unknown, I often struggle with how to best balance short-term gains and long-term gains? What concerns me is that I'm missing out on opportunities to spread the gospel RIGHT NOW by being so busy working towards THE FUTURE. Because if this is the case, then I need to seriously re-evaluate whether I have my priorities straight. I hope that hard work and spreading the gospel need not be mutually exclusive and that somehow both can be achieved.

"Since, then, you have been raise with Christ,
set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is your life, appears,
then you also will appear with him in glory."
-Colossians 3:1-4

Back to Wearing Ties

2009-04-01T07:18:00.005-06:00

Tomorrow I'll be going to the West End to see my GP for the first time. I hope he's a nice guy who lets me do lots of things. Probably going to have to get used to wearing ties again. Mental health was great for dress code. None of the psychiatrists bothered with ties. I'm sure one excuse is that some homicidal, psychotic patient could choke you to death with a neck-tie. A better one would be that ties cramp the chill style of psychiatry (at least in the private hospital setting).

Thought I'd do a bit of evaluation on my goal setting...

1. Exercise
- I have gone a few times but not quite 3 per week...with my current workload I don't know what's realistically sustainable for the next couple months.

2. Leisure Reading
- I only read leisurely when I ate lunch or brekkie at home last week. I can eat really fast when I'm alone and nobody is there to comment on my table manners. Time is too precious to be wasted on chewing so I usually just inhale my food and get back to whatever needs to be done. In the 5 minute meal times, I managed to get through maybe the first 5 or 6 chapters of "Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal" by Christopher Moore. This guy has definitely done his research as there are countless biblical references throughout. It is amusing and I often wonder if I should be laughing or appalled. Some things just shouldn't be joked about and are done so inappropriately. Is this one of those? I'll have to finish to book before making any further judgments...

3. Studying
- finished my microbiology notes. Now I have to commit them to memory!! x_x
- finished going through BRS Physiology (but not until today so I technically didn't finish it during the break)
- have not reviewed my clinical skills. My GP is going to think I'm an idiot tomorrow which will be good for motivating me to do some revision. My stethoscope has literally been collecting dust in my room...

4. Clean Bathroom
- scrubbed the tub and my flatmate did the rest

5. Chat with Family Back Home
- check

6. Squeeze in a Jam Session
- this was accomplished but I wonder how purposeful it was. On one hand it was "just a jam session" where a bunch of us who enjoy music got together and made music. On the other hand, what was the purpose of it? Again, if it was just an opportunity for people to practice playing together and potentially learn a few new songs then yes, mission accomplished. But I sort of went in with the purpose of really just connecting with God through music and just being refreshed by lifting our voices and songs to Him. And to be honest, that didn't really happen for me - I didn't leave feeling very refreshed... I dunno, I think I got way to caught up with the little things like the sound (couldn't hear people sing or couldn't hear other instruments) or not playing totally together. I thought we could incorporate some prayer and sharing but with the lack of preparation, that wasn't done so well. Maybe it's just me...

7. Being more Thankful
- this has started to become very hard. After listing off all the obvious things it's tough not to just repeat myself. I'm now just thinking back to the previous day and trying to think of specifics from that day.

Living According to God's Will

2009-03-30T18:57:00.003-06:00

This weekend for YF, we will be continuing through Colossians with the fourth study in our book "The Complete Christian". The study focuses on the life of a continuing Christian - to continue in faith, stable & steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel. Another big theme is knowing God's will. More than just whether we should choose A or B when faced with big decisions, following God's will is living a life in tune with God by knowing how to please God. It's living a life worthy of all that He is and all that He has done for us, bearing fruit through good works, regardless of our situations.

Here are the three songs we will be singing:

YF Songs 04-04-09

Goals

2009-03-24T07:44:00.003-06:00

I prefer scoring goals over setting them. The usual pattern for me is to make goals, not achieve most of them, and then get discouraged by my lack of achievement to the point where I can't be bothered to set any more goals. Here goes nothing...

For my week off (which effectively ends Sunday, March 29 at 11:59pm):

1. Exercise
As Sean so astutely pointed out, it's pretty hypocritical to be sitting on your ass doing nothing while telling other people to live a healthy, active lifestyle. Going to aim to run 3 times a week.

2. Leisure reading
I've got 3 books sitting on my shelf that I want to read. Goal is to have one of them read before the start of my GP rotation.

3. Studying
Finish microbiology notes
Review physical examination details so I can mask my ignorance starting next week...
Go through BRS Physiology

4. Clean the bathroom
Our bathtub needs a good scrubbin...

5. Chat with my family back home
Been a while since we've talked...

6. Squeeze in a jam session
I'm cheating here because there's one sort of lined up already... =)

7. Start writing down 5 things that I'm thankful for every morning (unique ones)
Got this idea from Jamesy. I think I need to be more thankful everyday other than right before I eat something. With all God's provisioning, you'd think this shouldn't be too hard? Guess I'll see soon enough...

Before the Throne of God Above

2009-03-15T21:10:00.006-06:00

We sang this song in church on Sunday and I absolutely love it. I've been listening to this version of it by Shane & Shane throughout the entire week and the powerful lyrics of this hymn just blow me away (and their vocals are pretty impressive too). It's off of their 2007 album Pages. Have a listen to it below!

Before The Throne of God Above - Shane & Shane

To avoid any copyright violations, go check out the lyrics HERE.

I Was Lonely...

2009-03-13T19:06:00.002-06:00

I've been practicing my assessment of a person's cognition using a Folstein or Mini-Mental Status Exam (MMSE). It consists of a series of questions and tasks that assess a person's orientation, memory and spatial ability. Over the past few months I've been doing an MMSE on anyone I've spoken to over 65 years old.

I completed the last admission for my mental health rotation yesterday. I spoke with a pleasant 71 year-old mother of 2 and grandmother of 2 who's been living by herself in a small cottage home in a small rural Queensland town ever since her husband passed away 12 years ago. She had come in for a recurrence of her depression for which she had been treated intermittently over the last 40 years...

At the end of the interview I ran through a quick MMSE. I tested her reading ability by writing "CLOSE YOUR EYES" on a piece of paper and asking her to do what it says. She completed this perfectly. I also tested her spatial ability by asking her to copy a diagram of intersecting pentagons. She didn't do so well with this test. Another test involved asking her to write down any complete sentence. This is what she wrote. =(

Mental health was a good choice for a first rotation - fairly relaxed and good way to ease into 3rd year. I saw a lot of patients depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder. A few with psychosis here and there and not many with eating disorders. I feel like I didn't really contribute much to the patient care the entire time. It was more like everyone (staff and patients) was doing me a favor by inconveniencing themselves in order to teach me or speak to me.

Couple of exams next week, a week off for some hardcore USMLE study that has been taking the backburner, and then off to the West End for my GP rotation!

Triskaidecophobia

2009-03-13T02:50:00.004-06:00

Was reading up on phobic disorders and came across this one...

Triskaidecophobia
- an irrational, intense, persistent fear of the number 13.

I think friggatriskaidekaphobia is specific for Friday the 13th?

Ayr

2009-03-12T20:12:00.005-06:00

Just found out that I will be heading to Ayr from Aug 3 to Sept 25 for my rural rotation. It think it's pronounced "air" but who knows? The Aussies call Cairns "Cans", Mackay "Macai", and Melbourne "Melbin". Last year in my preference form I had put down a town called Mossman that is located even further north up by Cairns. The plan was to visit Cairns and the surrounding area on the weekends. My flatmate and I both landed the same rural placement so we'll most definitely still be doing some sight-seeing from Ayr. We're both pretty happy about being somewhere north and also being in a town that's near the coast. I definitely do not envy whoever has to go to Mt. Isa or some other town in the middle of the continent.

We'll have to decide how we're going to get there. I believe there will be a week of orientation in Rockhampton prior to the start of our rotation. I was thinking of maybe making a road trip? Would take a lot longer (only about a 16 hr drive from Brisbane) but I could probably bring more stuff with me.

A is for Ayr!

Quiche Lorraine

2009-03-03T07:40:00.006-07:00

Crust:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup cold butter, cubed
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vinegar
ice water

Filling:
6 slices of bacon
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup 6% cream
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
3/4 cup cheese

Being home all afternoon on a self-appointed study day allowed me to take some breaks here and there to make some quiche! I love quiche but the problem is that it takes a bit of prep time to make the pie-like crust with an hour or so of storing the dough in the fridge. Well worth it though! In order to fill this huge pyrex pan that we had, I had to triple this recipe (both the crust and filling).

Making the Crust:
- mix flour and salt together in large bowl
- cut butter into small little cubes and mix it into the flour/salt
- mix egg yolk and vinegar; add ice water to make 1/3 cup volume (1 cup if you triple the recipe)
- drizzle over dry ingredients and stir briskly with fork until it clumps together
- press it into a big disc; wrap disc in cling wrap; stick in fridge for 30 min
- take out of fridge, roll it out to a thickness of 5 mm and fit into your pan of choice (probably a quiche pan of you have one); stick in fridge for another 30 min
- the line the pie shell with foil and fill with pie weights (if you don't have pie weights you can use dried beans or rice); bake at 400ºF/200ºC for about 20 min until the rim is light golden

Adding the Filling:
- mix eggs, milk, cream, pepper, and salt together in a large bowl
- fry bacon and place on some paper towel to absorb some of the grease; when it has cooled, chop it up and add it to the egg mix
- fry onions and add it to egg mix
- brush mustard over the base of the pastry shell once it is done cooking
- sprinkle cheese over the base
- pour in egg mixture
- bake at 375ºF/190ºC for 40 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

YF Has Begun!

2009-03-01T19:55:00.008-07:00

Last Saturday, YF had it's kickoff for 2009 with it's launch party that included a free BBQ, a brief gospel message delivered by an ex-YFer, and some games. We had a really great turnout of people with lots of newcomers and I think it's safe to assume that everyone had an enjoyable evening.

For anyone back in Canada who actually reads this, YF stands for "Youth Fellowship" and comprises a group of university/working aged young adults that meet every Satuday evening to worship God through prayer, studying the bible, singing songs, and just having fun! The YF motto for 2009 consists of three Ps: "Prayer, Proclamation, People". To encourage prayer, some brilliant YF team members have produced a fantastic prayer calendar for Feb 2009-Feb 2010. Each week has a country that everyone is encouraged to remember specifically in prayer for that week. It has added much colour to my very boring, white bedroom walls and will act as a constant reminder every time I'm sitting at my desk that I should be praying continually.

"Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." - Romans 10:17 (NIV)

The gospel message must be spoken in order for people to hear it. It's the sort of headline news that you'd be a fool to keep to yourself because it applies to everyone and is available for all! God used words to create the heavens and the earth. His words recorded in the bible are powerful; sharper than any double-edged sword; dividing soul and spirit; judging the thoughts and attitudes of the heart; able to change lives. We hope this year to be able to proclaim this to those around us at various outreach events, to follow Jesus' example for both public and personal evangelism, and to allow the Holy Spirit to work.

The third P, people, is going to be challenging but is absolutely essential. YF is all about people and God - introducing people to God, growing people to be more like Jesus, and developing healthy relationships between people to reflect God. I've been very impressed with the emphasis on developing mentoring relationships in YF and I'm hoping to explore this more. In the past I would say I've benefited mainly from peer relationships where we've grown together, in parallel, learning from each other and learning together. Now it's time to pass on what I've learned over the years and to find someone ahead of me to learn from. One of the big themes of 2009 for myself is mentorship and I think I may have found some people to connect with academically and spiritually. That's been a huge encouragement for me.

Next week we're kicking things off with an 8-part interactive bible study of Colossians. You can visit the YF blog to find out more!

Learning to Listen

2009-02-13T03:32:00.014-07:00

I've spent the last three weeks at Toowong Private Hospital (TPH) where I've been introduced to the wonderful world of private health care and mental health. It's a small, 54-bed facility devoted entirely to dealing with mental health issues. Most students at my clinical school are based out of the Mental Health Centre at the Royal Brisbane hospital and I would count myself fortunate to be able to experience acute mental health care in a private hospital setting.

Pros of being at TPH:

1. FREE FOOD!
It's listed first because it's the most important. As a student, free food is a big deal - scones/muffins/fruit/etc for morning tea and a choice of cafeteria-style lunch (usually some sort of chicken/steak/pork/lamb with rice/potatoes and veggies). It's definitely not gourmet but it's free and edible. So far, I don't think any other hospital offers free food to this extent for the students. My consultant also has a nice espresso machine and he made us all flat whites following ward rounds this past week.

2. Close to home.
It takes me less than 10 minutes to get to and from the hospital. Out of all the options for hospitals placements this is by far the most convenient to reach for me.

3. Free Parking.
Parking is always an issue and I'm cheap so I'll usually park pretty far away from RBH that requires a 5-10 minute walk. At TPH, I can park on the street right outside the hospital all day for free.

4. Registrars and consultants keen on teaching.
I figure I should throw in some medically-positive reasons for being at TPH. I have been satisfied with the teaching offered to us by the staff. They're available for questions, easy-going, and even take time during rounds to specifically teach us.

Cons of TPH:

1. More contact hours
You'd think this would be a good thing but when you're spending your free time studying for an 8 hour exam covering everything you've learned in the last two years of medicine (or in my case, should have learned), the last thing you'd want is more hospital contact hours. People told me that mental health is pretty slack and that some registrars only want to see their students once a week. My registrar, on the other hand, seems pretty intent on us being there all the time unless we have workshops or lectures to attend. Great for learning mental health but brutal for USMLE studying!

That's actually the only bad thing I can think of. Being at Toowong has been great.

Probably the biggest thing I've been taking home each day is how to be a good listener. On one hand I'm sitting there thinking about specific questions I need to ask based on what they tell me. They just mentioned thinking about killing themselves...okay, gotta make sure I assess their suicide risk, means, plans, intent, etc. Or they just mentioned that they've been drinking a bit more in the last few months...okay, gotta ask them about their alcohol consumption, and then probably double that amount because people tend to lie about how much they drink. It's hard not to turn into a robot that takes down info and spits out questions based on what keywords pop up. I mean, if that's all I'm doing then why don't we just have robot counseling?

On the other hand, being a good listener means showing that you care and taking interest in what they're saying. I have a long way to go in learning how to appropriate respond to what people say or do in front of me. What do you do when a grown man breaks down in tears in front of you? Probably involves some varied combination of: handing him a tissue, offering words of comfort, being annoyed, crying myself, feeling awkward, being silent, being awkwardly silent, asking them to tell me more about it, regretting it after 10 minutes of hearing more + more tears, awkwardly changing the subject after a while for time's sake. I'd like to think I genuinely care about the people I meet. I still get angry when staff so openly disrespect and slander patients behind their backs. I guess humorous trivializations of people's lives and struggles at their expense is one way of dealing with it.

When I think about the gravity of what they're disclosing to me - being sexually abused by their father and uncle at the age of 7, being so badly beaten by their drunken father that they couldn't go to school the next day, or being raped by multiple men and having nobody believe your story (not even your family) because a of a history of psychosis - I feel overwhelmed with emotions. Sometimes I want to charge in on my white horse and save them from their awful situations. That could involve being a friend to someone who has nobody for social support. Or maybe it could involve hunting down and castrating a serial child rapist, locking them up, throwing away the key and leaving them there to rot (I'd be super tempted to physically pummel a person like that within an inch of their life prior to cutting off their balls). Sometimes I feel depressed myself. I can't believe that I complained about my parents growing up. I know comparisons are bad but you just can't help it sometimes - we all do it subconsciously to some degree. Sometimes I feel frustrated and angry with them because I find out afterwards that they lied to me about a ton of things. I'm learning to develop my internal lie detector. Gregory House is right - everybody lies.

What's interesting is that mental health is the only area where we ask patients about religion. 99% of the time it's of no relevance to their management but here it is vital when exploring things like religious delusions or coping strategies. I usually word it like, "Do you consider yourself spiritual?" and then ask them to elaborate if they say "yes". I know it would be inappropriate for me to turn the interview into a prosthelytizing session and I know that for most, religion is felt to be a private matter, not to be imposed on others. I've been thinking a lot about this issue and how I should live and act in the workplace. I sort of feel that I am prepared to give a truthful, honest answer when asked...but should I say anything if not asked specifically? I know I can definitely pray for them...

Week 4 begins tomorrow with observing some electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) sessions first thing in the morning and then in the evening, helping out in the psychiatric emergency centre (PEC) at the Royal Brisbane Hospital. Yay.

The Joys of Traveling

2009-01-23T21:14:00.007-07:00

95. That's how many hours it took me to get from my home in Calgary to my home in Brisbane...

I'm sitting down at this "Traditional Taiwanis Snack & Drink Bar" in the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport. I just ate a bowl of spicy beef noodle soup that was good until I found a hair in it. I still finished it off because I doubt it will cause me any physical harm and even if I complained they probably wouldn't understand me.

My journey began on 20-Jan-09 at around 1815 local time in Calgary. My family gave me a ride to the airport and we chatted just outside Tim Horton's until around 1945 when I proceeded to head through to wait at my gate for my flight to Vancouver with Air Canada. It was supposed to leave at 2030 and arrive in Vancouver at 2103. I picked this flight because originally my international flight with China Airlines was scheduled to leave at 0135 in the middle of the night and I figured 4.5 hrs was plenty of buffer. They had since then bumped up that flight to 0005 but I wasn't too concerned because that still left me 3 hrs to make the connection. How much delay could there be between Calgary and Vancouver?

Well, after I got to my gate in Calgary I saw that my flight was delayed for some unknown reason (I found out later that there were mechanical issues and switching planes for our flight was the reason for the delay). I watched as the time was pushed to 2100, then 2140, and eventually 2240. I found someone from Air Canada and voiced my concern about missing my connecting flight in Vancouver. If we left at 2240 and arrived at 2300, that would only give me 1 hr to collect my bags and then check-in for my China Airlines flight. Not much time at all. The lady dismissed my concerns and told me everything would be fine (I think she thought that my connection was all on one ticket).

On the plane, it was after 2300 when we finally took off. The pilot apologized for the delays and said that they would try to get us there in 1 hr instead of the 1.5 hrs normally (if the plane can fly that fast, why isn't the flight always done in an hr?). One of the flight attendants announced that there were 10 passengers who were needing to catch a connecting Air Canada flight to Sydney at 2345. He kindly asked everyone else to please stay seated and allow these passengers to exit the plane first. I spoke to the flight attendant and explained my situation to him.

Me: "I'm concerned that I'm going to miss my connecting flight in Vancouver. It's scheduled to leave at 0005 and I need to collect my bags and everything. Is there anything I can do to get them to wait for me? Is there a way I can notify them that I'm on my way but will be late?"
Air Canada person: "Is your connection with the Star Alliance?"
Me: "No"
Air Canada person: "Then no."
Me: "What do you mean no?"
Air Canada person: "There's nothing we can do"
Me: "You can't contact someone in Vancouver on my behalf?"
Air Canada person: "Nope"

Later I saw that they had arranged for a cart to shuttle the 10 passengers to the their connecting flight. So clearly, they must have been in contact with Vancouver to notify them of the latecoming passengers. What a jerk. "No" shouldn't even be in his vocabulary.

Long story short, I ended up sprinting to the check-in counter and was told at 2330 that it was too late to get onto the flight (I hadn't even picked up my bags yet). I was given a 1-800 number for China Airlines' customer service and told to call them to see what could be done. I go to call them and I'm told that the office is closed and that business hours are 0600 to 1800. Great.

So I ended up spending the night in the airport trying to figure out all my options. I knew a classmate of mine was flying from LAX to Taipei at 1350 on 21-Jan-09. We were supposed to catch the same flight from Taipei to Brisbane. So I thought maybe I could grab a flight from Vancouver to Los Angeles...thanks to the free internet I was able to look up flight information online and I saw that there were a couple at 0630 and 0715.

I called Air Canada, explained my situation, and asked if they could give me a deal on one of their flights to Los Angeles that morning. I was told no and that any complaints would have to be made to their post-flight complaints department. I entertained the thought of just spending all night at a phone calling 1-888-247-2262 (Air Canada's reservations line) and yelling at them for being such a lousy airline. I would have complained to someone in person if everything wasn't closed at the airport for the night.

I also looked into one-way tickets from Vancouver to Brisbane but most of them were over $2000. I finally got a hold of China Airlines at 0600 and they told me that they could put me on the next flight to Taipei and Brisbane but it wasn't leaving until Friday. Also, the Taipei to Brisbane leg of the journey was currently full so I was waitlisted with the possibility of being stuck in Taipei for another undetermined length of time.

Why am I writing this all out? Well, I've had a lot of time to spare in the last few days hahaha. But also, this whole ordeal turned out to be a bit of a blessing in disguise. I was able to get in touch with a guy i knew from church who had recently moved to Vancouver. He went out of his way, picked me up from the airport, let me stay overnight on Wednesday at his place, and drove me back to the airport the following day. It was a great time to just catchup with him - something that I probably would never have had a chance to do had my flights not been screwed up. For an opportunity to see Richie, I'm almost glad that I missed my flight (almost being the keyword).

It was also a humbling lesson to wait and trust in God. I remember in the midst of anxiety and uncertainty, God gave me peace through my frantic prayers and told me to just wait it out and not to act impulsively. I ended up getting a seat on the next set of flights and was back in Brisbane about 50 hrs later than expected. China Airlines didn't charge me any extra fees even though it was totally my fault and I had no travel insurance.

There's been a lot of changes in the past couple months and I'm really looking forward to a fresh start in 2009. I'm eager for new clinical experiences, re-connecting with old friends, making new friends, trying out my Route 66 with my Blackheart little giant, and opportunities to be salt and light. Ready, steady, GO!

Tax Free Savings

2009-01-16T13:57:00.004-07:00

Sometimes the government does something that actually is useful for us as the average Canadian. Like lowering GST to 5%. This year, as a gift to all of us for 2009, the Harper government has decided to make available these new Tax Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs).

What's so great about these TFSAs? Well they're for anyone over 18 and allows us to contribute up to $5000 annually to be invested tax-free. It can be in the form of cash, GICs, bonds, shares...and there are no fees for deposits, withdrawals or transfers. Also, the TFSAs are on top of the existing RRSPs and RESPs so they compliment each other.

Anyway, if you're Canadian, go open your own account right now!

Winter Jam Session

2009-01-01T14:25:00.016-07:00

Got a chance to cap off 2008 with a jam session with my brother and some old friends from church. It brought back some great memories of when we used to work together on various worship teams. These guys (and gal ^_^) are so gifted and it was a privilege to be able to take a few hours, rock up, and have fun praising God together.

I thought I'd put that 16GB SDHC card to use and I setup my dad's tiny little camera to capture a few of the many songs we tried. Took about three batteries worth of video. Next time we'll have to turn up the mics a bit more to have the vocals cut through but here are a few that I liked.

"Hungry" by Kathryn Scott

"Still" by Reuben Morgan

"I Could Sing of Your Love Forever" by Martin Smith (Delirious?)

I actually really liked this version. Rob had this idea to use a different chord progression (Emaj7 Bm7 Amaj7 F#m7 B) and it actually sounded okay. I think I'm going to fiddle around with this idea more...

Zune

2008-12-30T17:58:00.007-07:00

So I finally caved and purchased a new mp3 player on boxing day. I noticed that Best Buy had dropped the price of the Zune 16GB flash players $70, did a bit of research, and found that it was pretty comparable to the 16GB iPod Nano. Being a bit anti-Apple and not being a fan of the iTunes software, this seemed like a good option for me.

My first digital mp3 player was the iRiver H320. Waaaaay better than the original iPod with built-in features like a microphone, multiple headphone outputs, and FM tuner. The best features are the customizeable EQ settings and the fact that I don't need special software to load my music. It plugs in like a portable harddrive and I just click and drag whatever music files I want onto the player. The customizeable EQ settings were great and I could get some pretty phat, rumbling bass with a decent set of headphones. I liked my H320 so much that when the battery life had dropped down to <1 hr after years of use, I bought a 2200mAh 2nd generation iPod battery online and swapped out the old one. Voila, good as new with 130% battery life as it originally had with the 1700 mAh battery.

The Zune has got some nice features that put it on top of the nano IMO (including being $70 cheaper). I like the click pad a bit better than the iPod wheel - a matter of preference. It also has WiFi capability so I can sync it with my PC wirelessly. In the US there are hotspots at some McDonald's and Wal-Mart locations that you can connect to and update your music on the go. It allows you to send music/pictures/video to other Zune players in the same way people can send stuff phone-to-phone via Bluetooth. It does not approach the useability of the iTouch when it comes to WiFi but the iTouch is really in a league of it's own (and costs almost 3x as much). It does come built-in with an FM tuner but I don't really listen to the radio much so this isn't a big deal.

There were a couple of disappointments, the biggest being that it has no EQ settings or presets. I was playing around with my brother's iPod classic and the EQ presets don't really do anything (he is using the mediocre Apple earbuds that come with the player). I looooooooooove my bass and I usually crank it up. But on the Zune, I can hardly pick out the low frequency sounds...even with a good set of headphones. So much for tabbing out a bass line listening to my Zune. Also, the Zune Marketplace (the equivalent to iTunes) is only available in the United States. No dice for Canada or Australia.

If they added in a 5 band user EQ control to the player, this would be the perfect mp3 player for me. But because I can't get the same thumping bass that I can with my iRiver, I will be holding onto the big black brick and bringing it with me whenever portability isn't that important. Still, the Zune is a great alternative to the iPod and I hope to see them continue to improve their product and take away some of that market share that Apple hoards so well.

SD and SDHC Cards

2008-12-30T17:38:00.004-07:00

So this year marked the second time I accompanied some of my more tech-savvy buddies in the 5am lineups outside Future Shop and Best Buy to take advantage of the door crasher sales. There wasn't much that I was after and definitely nothing big ticket. The best part of the morning was probably sitting down at McD's for an Egg McMuffin and hashbrown while engaging in some good conversation with the guys. My parents were thinking about getting an all-in-one printer with wireless networking capabilities and possibly a Blu-ray player. They had some really cheap Brother printers but my dad had insisted on being a brand-name snob and told me to look for an HP. I learned that if I was after a decent Blu-ray player that could download updates, I might as well get a Playstation 3.

They had these 16GB SDHC cards for $18 so I grabbed one of those. Little did I know, SDHC cards are NOT the same as SD cards (I figured this out after my laptop and camera couldn't read it). They look exactly the same but I guess you need a special type of firmware to be able to read it and my stuff can't. How disappointing. I was looking forward to going from a 2GB card to 16GB. What's even more frustrating is that my dad has almost the exact same camera - a Canon Powershot SD750 compared to my SD630. His is about a year newer than mine and guess what? It can read the SDHC cards! Argh...

All Creation Sing

2008-12-22T23:08:00.003-07:00

I love free stuff! Found this version of Joy To the World by Steve Fee free to download from www.worshiptogether.com

Enjoy!

Let Your Glory Shine

2008-12-18T17:07:00.005-07:00

I wanted to get my hands on Lincoln Brewster's latest album, Today Is The Day, so I thought I'd head down to the local Christian bookstore that's about 5 minutes away from my house and check it out. Unfortunately, I didn't know (or had forgotten) that Christian Publications went out of business in Calgary earlier in the year. I was very disappointed because now if I want music or a book I'll have to blindly order it online without the benefits of browsing through it first. I guess they just can't compete against the giants named Chapter/Indigo or Amazon when it comes to pricing and one-stop shopping for everything.

Anyway, I've been listening to tracks off the CD online and I just love this one song called "Let Your Glory Shine". At the beginning of the song, Lincoln erupts into this Van Halen-like intro and launches into a really great sounding song that would be great to use to end off a worship set. It's got a catchy riff with a nice bluesy-rock feel to it. Go to his MySpace page to listen to the full album version of the song or watch a live version of it below:

I enjoy reading the thoughts that Bob Kauflin of Sovereign Grace Ministries shares on his blog. I've learned a lot from him about the role of music in worshiping God and the important things to keep in mind when involved in the music ministry. One statement that he made with regards to being "lead worshipers" (and applies to everyone) is that our goal should be to magnify the worth of God and the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. That is the purpose of the music ministry in a nutshell.

When I attend a service on Sundays, one of the aspects of worship that I love is the music. Songs are a very powerful way for us to connect with God for many different reasons and shouldn't be reserved for just Sundays either. There's no reason why singing can't be a part of our own personal worship at home, in the car (great place to just belt it out), in the shower, or walking to work/school.

Have you ever found it easier to remember the lyrics to a song rather than simple prose in the absence of music? I know it's tough for me to memorize a whole passage of scripture. I was so encouraged when I found out that the Sunday morning adults bible study class was combining scripture memory with their study of the sermon on the mount. I joined them just as they were finishing the beatitudes in Matt 5 and they hope to have chapters 5-7 completely memorized by the end of it all! I'm surprised at how many songs I can sing along to on the radio or how many worship songs I know the lyrics to by heart. That's because combining words with music helps us to remember better. So one of the keys to singing is that it helps us remember God's word.

Bob also pointed out that singing should be a response to God's grace. We should be thankful and grateful for all that God has done for us. Especially this Christmas season, we celebrate and thank God for sending his son Jesus through the singing of various Christmas songs.

"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." - Col 3:15-17 (NIV)

Finally, we sing to reflect God's glory. Paul tells the Ephesians to be filled with the Spirit. And how can they do that? By speaking to one another with psalms, hymn and spiritual songs. He encourages them to sing and make music in their hearts to the Lord, to always give thanks, and always in the name of Jesus Christ.

In Your Atmosphere

2008-12-15T21:20:00.003-07:00

So today I got sick of studying and thought take a break and test the acoustics in the bathroom. Everything echos a bit more and has a natural reverb in there but I don't think it really makes a difference with my built-in laptop mic. One of my favorite songs off John Mayer's live recorded album "Where The Light Is" is an acoustic song called In Your Atmosphere. According to this tab I found, it uses a funky tuning of eBF#EBE (I don't even know what this tuning would be called). Also, I think the lyrics to the 3rd verse are wrong on that site. They should be:

"I don't think I'm gonna go there anymore
I get lost on the boulevard at nite
Without your voice to tell me
'I love you, take a right'
The ten and the two is a lonely sight."

It makes more sense for it to be "take a right" because his ex would have given him directions so he wouldn't get lost in LA. "The ten and the two" are probably referring to his hand positions on the steering wheel that remind him of her when he drives around in LA without her. Anyway...i fiddled around with the tab and sorta came up with my own version. Another great song musically and lyrically by John Mayer.

Summer Hols Thru the Eye of a Lens

2008-12-12T16:23:00.004-07:00

Studying for the USMLE Step 1 with the help of Kaplan DVDs. I enjoy the video lectures and they explain things very well but it's taking a LONG time to go through them while making my own notes.

I like 'em a bit thicker and heavier. My newest procrastination tool. When my family is home and I can't go nuts on the set, I use an old textbook as a drum pad. Good times.

My current setup. I pulled out a chorus and just recently added in Visual Sound's Route 66 overdrive and compression. I would stick the delay in the effects loop but that means two extra cables and it just gets messy. Been fiddling around with lotsa different settings and stuff but my amp has been giving me problems. It's NOISY even when I go directly from guitar --> amp, which isn't a good sign. I found out on my flight back to Calgary that you can take guitar pedals in your carry-on luggage!

Banana blueberry cake. I found a recipe my mom had that uses oil instead of butter so that my brother can eat it with his dairy allergy. Been cooking a bit here and there since I spend a significant amount of time at home studying.

Hockey! Oh how I've missed hockey throughout the year. Yes, the Avs are doing terrible and Sakic is out for a month or so after sticking his hand in a snow blower. If you make $6 million a year, why don't you hire someone to shovel your snow? The team needs their captain!

Been to two Flames games: one against the Avs and the other against the Canucks. I think the Flames win every single time I'm at the Saddledome even though more than half the time I'm not cheering for them. Been playing floor hockey whenever I have a chance and played shinny indoors once. Hoping to play outside a bit more in the near future.

And now it's off to shovel snow! It's been coming down heavy all day today and my guess is that the roads are going to be a mess with hundreds of car accidents tomorrow if they don't get them cleared. My brother phoned about an hour ago on his way home from school saying that his bus was stuck in traffic...we'll see how long it takes for him to get home.

Free Fallin'

2008-12-11T16:29:00.005-07:00

Coming back home has been both rewarding and challenging. I am so thankful for the many people back in Calgary that make home what it is. I've realized that home isn't necessarily about the where but it's about the who - and this past year I was really blessed to have people in my life that made home both in Australia and back here in Canada.

These past three weeks have been hard emotionally and in some ways I feel like I've jumped out of a plane that, at the time being, seemed fine. From the outside it looked fine: it wasn't on fire, the engines were running okay, it was cruising at a regular altitude and there was still fuel left in the tank. The in-flight entertainment was tops along with great food, movies, and conversation - nothing to complain about. It felt nice to stay on autopilot, ignore the radar, and continue to enjoy the moment cruising along.

I love rollercoasters and those rides where you drop really fast and it feels like your stomach is up in your throat. The adrenaline rush is amazing. But this free fall is totally different. There's no rush of adrenaline, no desire to try it again, and no desire to get on a plane again for fear that it might explode in mid-air and send me falling again. This free fall seems to be going in slow motion and instead of my stomach being up in my throat it feels like my chest has been crushed along with my heart inside.

But as I fall I realize that in the end I'm not going to hit the ground with a splat. Someone is going to catch me. Once I've fallen far enough I know a hand will reach out and catch me and lift me up. When turn from my selfish ways and put my trust and hope in Him, my Creator and Redeemer, He will give me peace.

"He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
They will run and not grow weary,
They will walk and not be faint."
- Isaiah 40:29-31 (NIV)

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

2008-12-07T23:41:00.003-07:00

In just a few hours time I will have been home for 3 weeks! That leaves me with just over 6 weeks of holidays left!! Ahhhhhhhhh

A lot has happened since coming home and perhaps I'll take some time later on this week to write about it more. It snowed the first day I came back but it had all melted away within a few days. This morning, however, it started coming down like crazy. I think we got at least 3-4 inches of snow in some parts of the city and it took me about an hour to shovel the snow off our driveway. It was the really wet, dense kind too that is HEAVY to push around. Great for making snowballs and snowmen but a pain to move off your driveway.

Before...

About 30 min later...

And...done x_x

Homeward Bound...again

2008-11-15T08:03:00.003-07:00

Well, I'm in the final stages of packing and I've got about 6 hrs before I plan to head off to the airport. China Airlines was fine last year and I'm hoping that it will be fine again this time around. Brisbane --> Taipei --> Vancouver --> Calgary is the route I'll be taking. I've got some pretty long flights ahead of me and I plan to do a mixture of sleeping, reading and thinking. As strange as it sounds, I can't wait to just sit and think (not sit and stink...although that's what I do once or twice a day).

I don't know what's wrong with me but I've felt pretty terrible ever since my exams. Just tired, a tension headache and running around getting things in order. I kind of just want to have a day or two to just do NOTHING. I think I'm going to take a week off when I get back before hitting the books again for USMLE studying.

This is bad, I'm already feeling anxious about forgetting to pack something important and it's not even time to leave yet. That feeling doesn't usually hit me until after I've at least sat down in the terminal to wait for the boarding call...

USA + Obama = ?

2008-11-06T19:48:00.006-07:00

Congrats to Obama for pulling off a victory earlier this week. I have to say that I wasn't really shocked by the results. I don't think Palin was a wise choice for McCain and in my opinion, that's where things went downhill for the Republicans. I agree with those who say that anyone who would want to take over as president right now would be crazy given all of the things that need fixing. But a bigger mess means that Obama will have no problem finding things to fix and will look good if he can do even a couple things right. Very impressive speech too.

Been listening to my assortment of elevator-ish music while studying and there's this guy that I just gotta plug - Norm Stockton. He's a Christian artist and a sick bassist for Lincoln Brewster, an extremely talented worship leader and guitarist. Here he is playing the Star Spangled Banner. Man, I wanna play bass after watching him =)

And just 'cuz I love Lincoln so much, here's a clip of him going crazy before going into his own version of Jeff Buckley's cover of "Hallelujah"...

Truth

2008-10-30T09:10:00.013-06:00

What are the questions that fill people's minds?
I wonder if they are the same as mine?
I wonder if they are searching for truth

What is the meaning of life? Forty-two?
What purpose does my life serve here on earth?
People devote their lives to many things...
Science and research - looking for that cure
Philanthropists, pacifists - doing "good"
Hedonism or asceticism?
Heaps for the former, few for the latter
Success and fame...how many know your name?

What if choices were simply black or white
And replaced all of the grey around us?
Like who would I vote for? Who can I trust?
Why does it matter? What really matters?
Who should I believe? Who's telling the truth?
Can I base my opinion on the news;
Second-, third- or tenth-hand information?
Dig deep and you'll find dirt on anyone
Everyone is flawed and everyone lies
So how can we possibly find the truth?

I find myself looking for guarantees
Money-back, satisfaction or lifetime
A guarantee for love, relationships
Happiness and a family of my own
A guarantee of work, food and shelter
Simply the basic needs for survival
But these are not guarantees we all have
Some of us are luckier than others
Death seems to be the only guarantee
Even taxes are evaded by some

When my understanding is incomplete
I have nowhere to turn but towards faith
Faith that my car will start in the morning
Faith that the plane won't crash when I fly home
Faith that justice and mercy will prevail
One day, for all those who suffer right now
In an imperfect, unjust, unfair world
A faith that there is more than meets the eye
Faith I hope grows into mustard seed size
A rational faith that is based on truth

The truth is that people matter a lot
I wish I made more time for those I know
Family, friends, and people who are in need
To share about life, to explore the truth
To help because I'm called to and I can
Would having thirty hours a day help?
Probably not - I’m great with excuses
Historically, that seems to be true
Maybe I should just make my wish come true

I guess I want to uncover the truth
Because where there is truth, there is freedom
Doesn’t everybody want to be free?

John 14:6 (NIV)
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

John 3:1-21 (NIV)
"Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him."

In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."

"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"

Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

"How can this be?" Nicodemus asked.

"You are Israel's teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not understand these things? I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."

Voice of Truth - Casting Crowns

Neuro Mnemonics

2008-10-23T00:22:00.011-06:00

Hurray for mnemonics! Here are some of the good ones I've come across recently during my neuro revision...

Differential Diagnosis: VITAMIN C & D

V - vascular
I - infectious/inflammatory
T - trauma
A - autoimmune
M - metabolic/toxic
I - inherited/iatrogenic
N - neoplastic
C - congenital
& - other/unknown/idiopathic
D - degenerative

Coma Etiology: AEIOU TIPS

A - acidosis/alcohol
E - electrolytes/endocrine
I - infection
O - overdosed drugs
U - uremia
T - trauma to head/toxins
I - insulin (too little or too much)
P - psychotic episode
S - stroke/shock/space occupying lesion/subarachnoid hemorrhage/seizure

Seizure Differential: SICK DRIFTER

S - substrates (sugar, O2)
I - isoniazid (overdose)
C - cations (Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+)
K - kids (ecclampsia)
D - drugs: CRAP (Cocaine, Rum/EtOH, Amphetamines, PCP)
R - rum (alcohol withdrawal)
I - illnesses (chronic seizure disorder, other chronic disorder)
F - fever (meningitis, encephalitis, abscess)
T - trauma (epidural/subdural/intraparynchymal hemorrhage)
E - extras: toxocologic (TAIL = Theophylline, Acetylsalicylic acid, Isoniazid, Lithium) and the 3 Anti's (Antihistamine overdose, Antidepressant overdose, Anticonvulsants [too much dilantin, too much tegretol, benzo withdrawal])
R - rat poison (organophosphate poisoning)

Differential Diagnosis for Headache: "MM...IT ACHES!"

M - migraine
M - meningitis
I - increased intracranial pressure
T - tension headache/temporal arteritis
A - AV malformations
C - cluster headache
H - hypertension
E - eye disorders (refractory errors, glaucoma)
S - sinusitis, subarachnoid hemorrhage, systemic illness

Headache Red Flags: SNOOPS

S - systemic symptoms (fever, weight loss)
N - neuro symptoms (confusion, altered level of consciousness)
O - onset (sudden, abrupt or split second)
O - older patient (new onset or progressive, especially if >50 yrs)
P - previous history of headaches (1st headache? New or different? Change in attack frequency, severity or clinical features?)
S - secondary risk factors (HIV, systemic cancer)

Diagnostic Questions for Migraines: is it POUNDing?

P - pulsatile quality
O - over 4-72 hours
U - unilateral
N - nausea/vomiting
D - disabling intensity

Migraine Diagnosis: SULTANS

Need 2 or more of following...
S - severe
U - uni
L - lateral
T - throbbing
A - activity provokes

Need 1 of following...
N - nausea
S - sensitivity to light/sound/smell

Etiology of Delirium: I WATCH DEATH

I - infectious (encephalitis, meningitis, UTI, pneumonia)
W - withdrawal (EtOH, barbiturates, benzodiazepines)
A - acute metabolic disorders (electrolytes, hepatic/renal failure)
T - trauma (head injury, postoperative)
C - CNS pathology (stroke, hemorrhage, tumor, seizure disorder, Parkinson's)
H - hypoxia (anemia, cardiac failure, pulmonary embolus)
D - deficiencies (vitamin B12, folic acid, thiamine)
E - endocrinopathies (thyroid, glucose, parathyroid, adrenal)
A - acute vascular shock (shock, vasculitis, hypertensive encephalopathy)
T - toxins (substance use, EtOH or EtOH withdrawal, sedatives or sedative withdrawal, narcotics like morphine, anesthetics, anticholinergics, anticonvulsants, dopaminergic agnets, steroids, insulin, glyburide, antibiotics like quinolones, NSAIDs)
H - heavy metals (arsenic, lead, mercury)

Differential Diagnosis for Dementia: VITAMIN D VEST

V - vitamin deficiency (B1, B9, B12)
I - intracranial tumor
T - trauma (head injury)
A - anoxia
M - metabolic (diabetes)
I - infection (postencephalitis, HIV)
N - normal pressure hydrocephalus
D - degenerative (Alzheimer's, Huntington's, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease)
V - vascular (multi-infarct dementia)
E - endocrine (hypothyroid)
S - space occupying lesion (chronic subdural hematoma)
T - toxic (EtOH)

Some extracranial causes of acute confusion: HIT ME

H - hypoxia (respiratory failure, heart failure, carbon monoxide, poisoning)
I - infectious (septicemia, pneumonia, UTI)
T - toxins/meds (EtOH, benzos, BB, anticholinergics)
M - metabolic (hepatic/renal failure, electrolyte imbalance, B12 deficiency)
E - endocrine (hyper/hypothyroidism, hyper/hypoglycemia, hyper/hypocorticism)

Things to ask in Hx for dementia: DEATH SHAFT

Ask about basic activities of daily living (ADLs):
D - dressing
E - eating
A - ambulating
T - toileting
H - hygiene

Ask about instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs):
S - shopping
H - housekeeping
A - accounting
F - food preparation
T - transportation

Signs and Symptoms of Parkinson's: TRAP DGEMMS

Major:
T- tremor (classic "pill-rolling")
R - rigidity (cogwheeling/ratcheting, smooth/lead pipe)
A - akinesia/bradykinesia (slow, difficulty initiating)
P - postural instability

Minor:
D - dysphasia, dysphagia
G - gait abnormalities (slow shuffling, short stride, less arm swing)
E - eye abnormalities (wide eyes)
M - micrographia
M - mask-like facies
S - subcoritcal dementia

Discipleship Revolution

2008-10-19T00:28:00.012-06:00

I thought today's sermon was great. There was a guest pastor by the name of Paul Butler and he spoke about his passion - helping to bring about a discipleship revolution.

Pastor Paul used three three-word mnemonics to help us join in on this discipleship revolution. He spoke from 1 Thessalonians 1:2-10 and reminded us all that we should be living as disciples of Christ, not merely believers; we should live in a way inspired by Jesus Christ with our works coming by faith, our labor prompted by the love of our God (who sent His one and only son to die on the cross for our sins), and have endurance inspired by the hope of eternal life. Faith, love and hope.

One truth that Pastor Paul brought up was that it is the Holy Spirit's work that leads people to repentance and ultimately salvation. Too often I think that the words that I use, the well-contrived arguments and my rational thinking can sway people when it comes to the truth - the truth about life, love and what purpose we serve being here on earth. Wrong. We do our best but it's by God's grace and by the Holy Spirit that people are saved. The apostle Paul makes it very clear that the power of the gospel lies not in the words that we use to present it. It comes through power, deep conviction and joy given to us by the Holy Spirit. Power, conviction and joy.

I don't like being wrong about anything - nobody does. This is especially true when it comes to worldviews. When I claim to be a follower of Christ, what does that mean I think about all the other religions out there? Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." So basically, this means that if God indeed exists and Jesus turns out to be God (as he claimed to be), then any other worldview that claims to have an alternate way to heaven/God/enlightenment/nirvana/whatever is wrong. I didn't make up the rules, God did - the author of life and truth. Unfortunately, this comes across as exclusivism and rubs a lot of people the wrong way. We can and should do our best to plant the seeds and water them but ultimately it's up to God and the Holy Spirit to soften hearts...

The last bit of the sermon today was focused on how to kick-start the discipleship revolution. He spoke of Jamie Oliver and how he has taken his passion for food and cooking and written a book on the "Ministry of Food". Basically, Jamie has started this "pass it on campaign" to teach people how to cook that follows a discipleship method. You learn how to make something like spaghetti bolognaise, you invite a couple of your mates over for dinner, and using the book you talk both of them through the recipe. Once they've got it down, they can each go and teach two of their mates the same recipe and the result is a powerful, exponential explosion of people who can now make this dish.

The way Jamie Oliver is spreading the joys of cooking and food to countless people is the same way that we as Christians should be spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ - through a mentorship/discipleship scheme. In fact, we should be probably be telling more than just two people because the gospel message will determine how we spend all of eternity. Food is great and everything but most of us can't even remember what we cooked or ate a few days ago. It is such a temporary and fleeting experience and within hours (or minutes for some of us) we are hungry yet again. How must more desperate should we be to teach others about the truth of Jesus Christ so that the church can grow exponentially and fulfill the great commission? Pastor Paul told us to remember three words for discipleship (which I forgot and had to be reminded of after church LoL) from a mentorship perspective:

Intentional - it needs to be proactive; we must initiate the process or it won't happen
Investment - commit to meeting once a week with someone to talk about one thing that Jesus teaches us in the bible and how to apply it to our lives today.
Imitation - we should imitate the example set by the apostle Paul and, in doing so, imitate Christ

We need to develop a passion for people through...
Faith Love Hope
Power Conviction Joy
Intentional Investment Imitation

Was just listening to a song I really like called "Revolution Cry". I believe it was originally written by Jason Wade of Lifehouse while he was with a band called Blyss. Steve Fee did a cover of it on the Passion Worship Band album "Sacred Revolution". Have a listen below =)

Revolution Cry - Steve Fee

Next Stop: RBWH

2008-10-13T03:48:00.004-06:00

Dear student

The numbers for each Clinical School for Year 3 2009 are now fixed. If you wish to change Clinical Schools you may only do so by finding someone to directly change places with you. Students will have to organise this exchange themselves and must inform both Clinical Schools in writing. No exchanges will be accepted after 31st October 2008.

Congratulations you have been allocated to: RBWH Clinical School

This is great news as it means I will not be forced to find a new place to live (as I have done each year so far here in Australia). Now all I have to do is pass... x_x

Contraception Effectiveness

2008-10-10T20:23:00.008-06:00

Some methods of contraception are pretty good and some just suck. Here's a list of a few from worst to best...
(stats taken from Toronto Notes 2008. For more details about each method, go here)

Chance
- nothing used...just flying by the seat of your pants and rolling a 10-sided dice every time = 10.0%

Female condom = 75.0%
Withdrawal method/coitus interruptus = 77.0%
Rhythm method/calendar/mucous/symptothermal = 76.0%
Spermicide along = 82.0%
Diaphragm w/ spermicide = 90.0%
Condom alone = 90.0% (assuming proper use which often doesn't happen)
Condom w/ spermicide = 95.0%
NuvaRing (once-a-month hormonal contraceptive) = 98%
Depo-Provera = 99%
Hormonal skin patch > 99%
Oral Contraceptive Pill = 98.0-99.5% (depends on compliance)
Tubal ligation = 99.6%
Vasectomy = 99.8%
Abstinence = 100.0%

What I don't understand is how the surgical methods (tubal ligation and vasectomy) aren't 100%? If you tie off the tubes and do a little snip-snip, how can the sperm still get there and induce a pregnancy 0.2-0.4% of the time? Another category I didn't include are the emergency postcoital contraceptive (EPC) methods, also referred to as the "morning-after pill". By taking a large bolus of progestin or combo estrogen/progestin after the fact within 24 hrs, they will terminate any potential pregnancy 98% of the time (you can take it up to 72 hrs after I think). I wouldn't say they prevent a pregnancy because technically fertilization may have taken place in the uterine tubes at that point - they just do a very good job at making sure it doesn't progress any further. I think there are some serious ethical implications of EPC methods that separate it from the other classes of contraception.

If you don't want to be starting a family anytime soon, maybe it's time to consider how effective your chosen method of contraception is and make changes as necessary...

Halfway

2008-10-10T05:41:00.005-06:00

50% completed or 50% left to go? Time 'til freedom or time left to study? There should actually be another 11.5 hrs added to the timer because I won't be done until 11.30am on Wednesday. AND, there will be only be pseudo-freedom (or short-lived at the very best) after my exams because I'm going to be busting my balls to try to prep for the USMLE Step 1. x_x

Created by OnePlusYou

Goodbye My Friend

2008-10-03T01:42:00.025-06:00

Dear Ronnie/Pomaron/Ronstars,

It's been a while since we've had time to catch up. I still remember what a pleasant surprise it was to see you at S.N.O.W. last Christmas. Ever since you left for Edmonton to do pharmacy, it's been tough to keep in touch. I wish I could have met up with you before I had to jet off to Australia again. You've got me in this deer-caught-in-headlights shock man and I don't know what to do. I don't know what to write or what to say but I can't help but remember our time spent together...

Much of my time yesterday afternoon and evening was spent looking through some old photos that Nathan had uploaded from the good 'ole days at Evangel Alliance Church. We were the 'Evangel Boyz'. What a memory explosion and how thankful I am that Nathan was so good at diligently photographing everything throughout the years. I don't know how I would have survived all those years without you there. Not officially, but you were the leader of that small handful of us that made up the EAC youth; and not just by default either but deservedly.

You were so cool and mature. As a teen I thought you were so lucky to live with your sister and have your level of independence. I remember getting into Gran Turismo 2 because of you and giving the Final Fantasy games a shot (never really caught on to the FF series). Remember that choreographed Matrix-style fight scene you had with Gabe at EAC's 10th Anniversary celebration? I wish I knew karate or kung-fu or some form of I-can-kick-your-ass-art like you.

There weren't many people I looked up to but you were one of them. You were the closest thing to a goh-goh or "older brother" that I had. It was awesome having you a couple years ahead of me to light the path ahead of me in many ways. Asking you about school stuff like whether I should take IB in high school. Bugging you about university and eventually choosing to major in biochemistry - just as you did - and then realizing how freaking hard it was to memorize all that crap and spend all that time in labs (I didn't realize that because you were so stinkin' smart and chill playing foosball throughout uni - you made it look so easy). I still have your chem 201/203 and bio 231/233 labs and notes in my room back in Calgary. Wouldn't have gotten A's in those classes without your help.

I remember how we were the first of the next generation to get baptized at EAC. I wish I had a copy of your testimony saved somewhere.

But by far the best memory I have is how we both started really getting into worship music. Neither of us were satisfied with the simple piano accompaniment our church had been using for years and years and we wanted more...we wanted to start a revolution that would introduce guitars, drums and just a modern sound into our church music. And so we set off to learn the instruments ourselves...starting with the guitar. I still remember how nice your guitar was (a Simon & Patrick) compared to mine (my uncle's old Yamaha SJ-180 that I was borrowing - no offense uncle!!). We set out to teach ourselves chords and for the purpose of playing in church. You were the sifu and I was the todai trying to learn whatever I could from you.

Do you remember the first song we led together on the guitar? I remember this set that we led back in June of 2001. I was playing keys and you were on the guitar. I'm pretty sure we did "Open The Eyes of My Heart" and "Every Move I Make" among others. I remember Every Move because we were trying to teach people the part that goes "La la la la la la la la la la la..." and when we got there nobody knew how to time the 'las' and nobody could sing it LOL. At that point I had managed to learn the chords for "Lord Most High" and that was the one song we both played the guitar for - you leading and I struggling along with you trying to keep up.

It was so cool to see you this past winter and to see that you were still passionate about worshiping God through music (and through the rest of your life). I'm still playing the guitar now and I thought I'd play that first song we learned together. It sounds a bit empty without one of us singing the echo parts or maybe doing a bit of harmonizing during the chorus. But that's okay as long as God gets the glory. If I close my eyes I can almost hear your voice singing in the background...

You were a true friend and I count myself blessed to have known you. I'm going to miss you heaps. Your selfless, caring attitude will never be forgotten. I look forward to seeing you again when my time here is finished. Rest in peace.

Your brother in Christ,
Matt

The Future of Worship Music?

2008-09-27T01:33:00.016-06:00

This post is inspired from a post made earlier by the Worship Guitar Guy on the same topic. He makes one important point about the definition of worship (borrowed from Louie Giglio) that it is our whole life response to God for who He is and what He's done (and continues to do) in us - waaaaaaaaay much more than music and song. Then he poses a bunch of questions to his readers and asks them to comment...

1. How will songwriting change (for you writers out there?) One criticism of some worship music is that it seems very “me-centered.” Should songwriting be more community focused and how can writers be more open to that thought?

I'm not sure if we will see any significant change in song-writing in the immediate future. I think it would be cool to see more lyrics of "we" and "us" in congregational worship. I think it's cool to be singing as one body and united as once voice and I would support a more community focused lyrical movement. I know that there are songs out there that you could sing to your girlfriend/boyfriend if only you replaced Jesus with their name (not very profound). However, it's tough and maybe unfair to criticize someone's songwriting inspiration because it could have come from a very personal and touching moment between the writer and God. For example, one song that comes to mind is "You Are My All in All" written by Dennis Jernigan. I remember reading that his inspiration for writing the song came from how God helped him through his struggles with homosexuality and helped him to find purpose, love and reassurance through Jesus Christ. I think it's very fitting that the song be personally centered on that intimate relationship between the believer and God and that there should continue to be a place for these "God-and-I centered" types of songs as well - maybe like a personal prayer to God.

2. Also, another issue suggested is that songwriting has been very simplistic in its thoughts and lyrical content. Do you see songwriters embracing much more “vivid imagery” in writing? Can you see more complexity in lyrical content or should lyrical content remain simple?

I have mixed feelings about the balance between simplicity and more complex "vivid imagery" in songs. I'm not sure more imagery is the solution. The words need to be simple enough for a congregation to catch onto quickly, remember and sing with ease (here i'm assuming that these are praise and/or worship songs that are written specifically for congregational use). If you have too many syllables crammed into each line and words that you need a dictionary to understand, people aren't going to connect with God during the singing. Getting the words flow easily with music is the trickiest part. You can have the best lyrics possible (pull a Psalm directly from the bible) but if you don't set it to a singable, catchy melody then it can be impossible to use effectively in corporate worship. Ultimately, you can't separate the words from the song and the music has to fit. I find Hillsong United songs are some of the easiest to learn, love and sing along to.

Recently, I've been listening to Valley of Visions by Sovereign Grace Music and the lyrics are pretty solid in all of the songs. Some songs are easier to sing along to and some are just...well...awkward. For example, I liked "In the Valley" and "Let Your Kingdom Come"; I did not like "I Come Running", "It Was Your Grace", "Heavenly Father, Beautiful Son", "It Was Love"...actually most of rest were pretty tough to catch onto (nevermind lead in church). I think if I need to listen to song more than 5 times before I can figure out how to sing it, it's too complicated. That means the song will have to be introduced and sung at least 5 times in service before the average person with a bit of musical background can sing the song comfortably without struggling through. Maybe it would work if everyone listened to the songs at home and/or to and from school/work throughout the week so that they were familiar with them come church service time. I love it when I can close my eyes, sing a song, and really focus on God because the melody and words are familiar.

This is where the really gifted songwriters stand out. Chris Tomlin, Paul Baloche, Matt Redman, Reuben Morgan - all have written many great, fairly simple, memorable, singable songs that are used in churches all over the world.

3. How will the role of singers and instrumentalists change? Are there additional ways we can begin to “decrease” so that the confessions of the songs and the focus on God “increases?”

Hmm...I think variety is good and that having a huge band/choir is not necessarily the best way to go all the time. Sometimes simple is good. One idea that I remember reading about was to remove the stage-presence of the music team, put them in a pit or maybe off to the side/back, and just stick a big cross at the front. That way people aren't potentially distracted by the singers or instrumentalists (what they're wearing, what they're doing, what kind of guitar they're using, wow that riff was neat how did he just play that <watch his fingers>...) and can instead focus on God. But I guess this has it's problems too because the leader needs to be seen to lead...

4. Bono is quoted as saying “Gospel tells us where we’re going, but the blues tell us where we are.” 2/3rds of the Psalms deal with issues of darkness and despair (obviously) faced by the psalmist. Is there a place for darker more introspective worship in a church setting? Can “the blues” (not necessarily the genre, but the thoughts behind it) become a greater part of corporate confession?

I remember hearing Tim Hughes speak at Breakforth 2006 about laments and how there are very few modern laments written. Reason? Well, it's probably cuz they're sad and depressing and people don't go to church to be sad and depressed...or do they? I've been pretty upset and depressed in church before and sang songs that didn't truly express how I was feeling at the time...I remember crying in the middle of a sermon once and having to leave to recompose myself because I felt that there was something wrong with being upset or showing negative emotions. My guess is that when we sing songs like "Oh Happy Day" there are heaps of people in the congregation that may not be feeling so happy at that moment. Why not give these people an opportunity to cry out to God in their struggles and sorrows? I would like to see a place and context for laments and songs that may not be all happy happy joy joy in corporate worship - a "holy blues" perhaps?

One thing is for sure, there sure won't be any shortage of fresh and new material coming forth. I am confident that we will continue to "Sing to Him a new song" as the psalmist writes...

My humble rig down under: G&L Legacy --> Ts9 --> Echo Park --> Blackheart 5W Class A tube head + 1x12 Eminence speaker cab

The House of God

2008-09-25T05:11:00.006-06:00

Despite having "God" in the title, this book has absolutely nothing to do with God (well, maybe not absolutely nothing but pretty close to nothing...the book itself does highlight in my mind a need for God in our lives with all the crap that can and often does fly through the air at us). Yes, you read correctly, I'm talking about a book that I read that isn't a textbook. Now although I've never considered reading to be an interest of mine, I find that I do enjoy reading if I can settle myself down to read (I have the attention span of a six-year old) and not fall asleep immediately.

So two of my flatmates had read 'The House of God' and, since I heard that it's a must read for anyone considering/beginning a career path in medicine, decided to give it a go. Throughout the book I often found myself unimpressed with the sexual references and had to periodically remind myself of the satirical nature of the book when I hit those super dark and ugly portions. In hindsight I do not regret reading the book (it had many funny and clever moments) but there were a couple of times early on that I considered putting it down and not continuing due to Dr. Basch's dark cynicism and objectification of women.

Will I be able to handle living the rest of my life working with sick, old and/or dying people? The very fact that I'll be seeing them means that something's wrong with them. Only time will tell but I hope that knowing God's purpose for my life will keep me on track...and if not then hopefully I'll have a support group of people around to hold me together through the rough patches.

Laws of the House of God: (courtesy of the fat man)

1. Gomers don't die
2. Gomers go to ground
3. At a cardiac arrest, the first procedure is to take your own pulse
4. The patient is the one with the disease
5. Placement comes first
6. There is no body cavity that cannot be reached with a #14 needle and a good 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 (best medical student from the best medical school) who only triples my work and I will kiss his feet
12. If the radiology resident and the medical student both see a lesion on the chest x-ray, there can be no lesion there
13. The delivery of good medical care is to do as much nothing as possible

Perhaps I will start posting more about what I read. I have gone through a really small book called 'Nothing in My Hand I Bring' by Ray Galea that compares the differences between Roman Catholic and Protestant beliefs. A very quick and easy read and I would recommend it for anyone who isn't sure of what the differences are. I think next on my list is free book I got by Dr. KP Yohannan called 'Revolution in World Missions'. Until then, it's off to read all about rheumatology... x_x

Cry Holy

2008-09-21T22:24:00.002-06:00

One of my favorite Christian bands is Sonicflood and one of my favorite songs of theirs is "Cry Holy." I've always thought that it would be a great song for a call to worship.

Sarah Palin & Hillary Clinton

2008-09-16T10:03:00.001-06:00

Hahahaha, Tina Fey does a great job as Sarah Palin on SNL...

Bridge to Brisbane 2008

2008-09-15T03:25:00.004-06:00

This picture was taken right before I crossed the finish line at 51:31 which is under my original goal to do the 10km in under 60 min. I think I can do a bit better though - maybe I will try to beat it in 2009 =)

I <3 Baptisms

2008-09-14T08:21:00.006-06:00

I love witnessing baptisms and hearing testimonies. Today I had a chance to see how baptisms are done by Chinese Christian Church Brisbane as four brothers and one sister took that step of obedience and were baptized in front of many family and friends this afternoon. It was really cool to hear how God revealed Himself to these people, how God changed their lives, what they had to go through in order to reach where they are today and to see that they have decided to follow Jesus all the days of their life! We were all there to celebrate and hopefully we can all help them to continue to run the race to win the prize and keep them on track! Congratz to all!

I was happy to see that CCCB encourages water baptism by immersion. Of the various forms that I've come across (sprinkling and pouring come to mind), immersion definitely seems symbolically more significant and I would recommend it. I remember talking to a pastor back home about the various forms and he was okay with other methods and gave me some biblical support for sprinkling and pouring from the old testament. He talked a bit about the meaning of the Greek "baptizo":

1) to dip repeatedly, to immerse, to submerge (of vessels sunk)
2) to cleanse by dipping or submerging, to wash, to make clean with water, to wash one's self, bathe
3) to overwhelm

This past year my church did a baptismal ceremony at a community wave pool. We booked out pool at like 6:30am on a Sunday morning before it opened up to the public and did it there. Seeing a few girls from the young adult fellowship group get baptized in the ocean at camp was also awesome.

Is immersion necessary? I've come across a few churches that insist on water baptism by immersion and will often require people to be re-baptized if another method was previously used. I personally think immersion is best but not absolutely necessary. What if the person is confined to a wheelchair? Or what if they have a medical condition where they can't be place into water? Like perhaps if they are bedridden and immunocompromised and want to be baptized? I think using sprinkling or pouring in those cases are okay. Baptism itself is not a determinant of salvation (and baptism without true repentance is meaningless). It's supposed to symbolize doing away with, or washing away, our old sinful lives and having our new lives in Christ. Whether a person is baptized with a sprinkle of water, a swimming pool full of water, or dunked into an ocean does not change the fact that they are included into God's family. I think that this relational aspect is key and that methodology of baptism should not be a divisive or exclusion factor within the church!

Birds, Cats and Kids

2008-09-10T01:29:00.011-06:00

Oh the press is a funny entity indeed. So the Globe posts this article about how an oil spill from a conventional out-of-service oil well has killed 500 birds somewhere in Alberta and everyone is outraged at the evil oil and gas industry and it's senseless destruction of the environment. It's funny to hear about how people are so outraged about the death of 500 birds from this accident when oil and gas extraction rank 9th on the list of bird killers in the United States. I don't know how accurate this source is but according to Curry & Kerlinger, the best way to kill a bird is to use a glass window (of course spotlessly cleaned with Windex or some other comparable product).

#1. Glass Windows - 100-900+ million/yr
#2. House Cats - 100 million/yr (7 million/yr in Wisconsin alone - man those Wisconsin cats are vicious!)
#3. Automobiles/Trucks - 50-100 million/yr.
#4. Electric Transmission Line Collisions - up to 174 million/yr
#5. Agriculture - 67 million/yr
#6. Land Development - unknown (from destruction of bird habitat)
#7. Communication Towers - 4-10 million/yr
#8. Stock Tank Drowning - unknown, but sources say that a fair number of birds drown in livestock water tanks...natural selection in action
#9. Oil and Gas Extraction - 1-2 million/yr (as reported by the US Fish and Wildlife Service from birds landing in oil pits to bathe/drink. No estimates for deaths caused by spills and transporting oil and gas.

I walked past a dead bird on the side of the street just the other day AND I ate chicken curry last night for dinner. Add another 2 birds to the list for this year.

What's not funny and just really sad is that 2,880 African children die from malaria every day (one every 30 seconds) and we don't read about that very often in the news. Now I'm not saying a "lesser evil" is not evil, but let's rethink the priority of our concerns here. We get upset at how un-environmentally friendly the oil and gas industry is (when we all use plastic products, vehicles, or electricity) and call 500 birds dying a catastrophe. I wonder what millions of children dying from malnutrition each year is called? I guess awareness is a start but where do we go from here? How can we actually do something about it? How can I act to make a difference? I mean, it's not like these are incurable conditions like HIV/AIDS or cancer. WE HAVE THE CURE!! It's food and resources to get food to people! It's primaquine/mefloquine/chloroquine/doxycycline/mosquito nets/bug spray/etc! What's the hold up?!? ARGH!!!!

The book of Proverbs has some words of wisdom about looking after those in need. I really pray that these words won't fall on my deaf ears and that I will be able to live out my life in such a way that listens to the cries of the poor and defenseless and does something about it.

"He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God." - Prov 14:31 (NIV)
"If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered." - Prov 21:13 (NIV)
"The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern." - Prov 29:7 (NIV)
"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy." - Prov 31:8-9 (NIV)

The Final Judgment (Matt 25:31-46, NLT)

“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’

“Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’

“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

“Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’

“Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’

“And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’

“And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”

One Issue Politics...

2008-09-07T02:06:00.004-06:00

I was recently pointed to this article written by John Piper on the challenge of deciding who to vote for when there are some issues for each candidate that you disagree with and some that you agree with. Especially when it comes down to moral issues. Should I vote for a candidate who seems best fit to run the country even though I might have some serious disagreements with their stance on various moral issues (Roe vs. Wade or stem cell research for example)? It's a tough choice and one that I have not found a simple answer to.

Basically, Piper talks about how there is no single issue that, if supported by a politician, automatically makes them the best choice. However, he states that there may be single qualities that, if held by a politician, would immediately disqualify them from any chance of being elected. He gave one example of being racist against African-Americans. Automatic zero chance of being elected. He draws a comparison with marriage and how there isn't really anything that automatically qualifies a man or woman to be the perfect soul mate. But, everyone has their list of qualities that they would not tolerate. Smoking would be an example for me. Nothing against smokers but I would not date someone who smoked. Interesting food for thought...

A Time to Vote?

2008-09-05T05:38:00.008-06:00

Aussie spring is just around the corner, the school year is wrapping up, and elections are in the air. No, I'm not talking about the American November 4th election that will place either McCain/Palin or Obama/Biden in charge. I'm referring to what could be an early Canadian federal election - as soon as Oct 14 if Harper gets the governor general to dissolve parliament this weekend.

I've been trying to read-up on the happenings at the Democratic and Republican conventions and it's just so much more interesting than what goes on in Canadian politics. I probably know a whole heck of a lot more about Sarah Palin than I do about Stephane Dion. I don't know if I can say 10 interesting things about the Liberal leader...born in Paris, ex-poli sci prof, environmentally friendly, Liberal leader for not quite 2 yrs, uhh...ya, that's about it. For Ms. Palin she's a hockey mom, has 5 kids (the youngest of whom has Downs who was diagnosed in utero), has a daughter who is pregnant and unmarried (okay, no more about her family - Obama says it's "off-limits"), lifetime NRA member, 1st term governor, 2nd place in a Miss Alaska pageant, baptized Roman Catholic as a child --> re-baptized at an Assemblies of God church --> now attends a non-denominational church, pro-life (supports abortion if mother's life is seriously threatened), pro-capital punishment, against same-sex marriage, huge supporter of oil and gas development in Alaska, and has virtually nothing on foreign policy. Yes, I know this is just cuz there's so much more news about her since the Republican National Convention and there is basically nothing very stimulating about reading up on Canadian politics and politicians.

Now I don't know much when it comes to politics. I try to make an informed vote when it comes to election time but honestly, I don't really keep track of what goes on at Parliament Hill. I know GST went down to 5% at the beginning of 2008 (which is the only tax we pay in Alberta...yeehaw!) but I can honestly not think of much else the government has done lately. But in the end, how important is the person that we elect to be head of state? I mean, they sure aren't going to be making decisions by themselves. They get stuck out in the spotlight to be cheer or jeered when in the end, they are nothing but puppets of the larger political party. You would hope that the party leader would be a good reflection of the party itself but part of me feels that if I identify myself with say republican ideals (like less gov't involvement and more personal liberty), then I vote for the party and not necessarily that one person. I guess in the American system that is much different with the power of the executive branch...

I find this Sarah Palin decision very puzzling (surprise surprise). I don't find this to be a very wise move by the Republicans...yes, I agree that it's good to get some fresh faces into the government - faces that don't just resort to doing some political masquerade to stay in office. But when I see pictures of Dick Cheney representing the US by talking to Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko and Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, I wonder if Palin, this 44 yo small town politician who has yet to travel outside of the United States, is up to the challenges of her potential vice-president role? Then again, Obama doesn't have much foreign policy experience either (especially compared to McCain) and he's running for President. Definitely a bold move by the Repulicans and I can't wait to see how America responds.

I won't be back in Canada for an October election but I should still be able to vote from Australia. Elections Canada has a place where I should be able to go and fill out the necessary information to exercise my democratic right to vote!

Knee - Special Tests

2008-09-03T09:16:00.002-06:00

I was shown how to do the anterior/posterior drawer tests and to test the MCL and LCL. Here are a few more that I had to learn from Dr. Mark Hutchinson =)

1. Lachman's test (anterior cruciate)

2. McMuray's test (medial/lateral meniscal tear)
- looking for a click and pop associated w/ pain

3. Apley's grinding test (meniscal damage)
- pretty much the same as McMurray's except done prone instead of supine

4. Patella tap (large effusions) and Bulge test (small effusions)
- he does the bulge test first and then the tap

The Shoulder Examination

2008-09-03T07:31:00.002-06:00

I am making yet another attempt at "teach yourself medicine" as I try to figure out all these special MSK tests that I have not actually been shown how to do by anyone and yet am responsible for knowing how to do them. Thanks for the help YouTube!

1. Apprehension Test

Can this be performed while standing? It looks so much easier lying supine...

2. Hawkins Test

3. Empty Can Test

For this one, the video shows it done at 90º shoulder flexion but my notes say at 90º shoulder abduction... =(

Well said...

2008-08-21T22:40:00.003-06:00

"Success is knowing your purpose in life, sowing seeds that benefit others, and growing to your maximum potential."
- John C. Maxwell

"The tremendous revelation of Christianity is not the fatherhood of God, but the babyhood of God - God became the weakest thing in His own creation, and in flesh and blood He levered it back to where it was intended to be. No one helped Him; it was done absolutely by God manifest in human flesh. God has undertaken not only to repair the damage, but in Jesus Christ the human race is put in a better condition than when it was originally designed. It is necessary to understand these things if you are to be able to battle for your faith."
- Oswald Chambers

Bridge to Brisbane Training

2008-08-12T07:12:00.006-06:00

So my shoulder is probably about 90% better with still some limitation to my range of motion (any movement involving external rotation can hurt if I'm not careful) and I've been doing some more running to get into somewhat decent shape for this Bridge to Brisbane run coming up on September 7th. Now I'm not a fan of running but I have found that it really energizes me and that I feel more alert rather than tired afterwards. Plus, running with my flatmate Albert really helps to make the time pass by quicker because can we can chat and motivate each other to push through. I finally got proper running shoes and they make a world of difference. Now my feet aren't swollen after running and it almost feels like I've got a bit of bounce in my step.

This is a 6km run that we aim to do in just over 30 minutes that includes two fairly big hills right at the end on Carmody Road. The first hill is about 200m long at maybe a 35 degree incline and the second is about 240m long at maybe 30 degrees? I probably have mis-estimated the steepness but it's pretty close to walking up a set of stairs...

The second run is a 10.9km run to the city and back. It has a hill at the very start and some hilly bits right at the end. The latest time for this one was 1 hr 1 min 30 sec. It would be nice to shave this down to under an hour.

Haven't really figured out a training plan yet...right now if I can get out to run 2-3 times a week I'm happy. I've heard that it's better to run farther at first than to run faster. Still trying to find a good pace because there have been a couple times where I head out way too fast and I'm completely pooped by the half-way point.

Urachal Fistula

2008-08-12T06:02:00.003-06:00

Onwards to a very brief, three week renal block. Just read about how you can pee through your belly button if you have a urachal fistula. Basically, it's a direct connection that forms between your bladder and the umbilicus (belly button). Would be cool to head to the urinal, lift up your shirt, and relieve yourself. Problem is that this fistula would probably be proximal to your external urethral sphincter and you wouldn't have any voluntary control over when you pee...so you'd really just end up with a constant wet spot all over the front of your shirt and pants.

Use It Or Lose It

2008-08-01T22:03:00.005-06:00

That's what the physiotherapist told me about my shoulder over the next few weeks/months. If I don't make diligent use of the painless range of motion that I have right now, it will seize up and rehabilitation of a frozen shoulder will not be fun at all. I was talking to a friend here who had a cortisol injection into her suprapatellar bursa and she said that it wasn't bad at all. Made a huge difference for her pain. If in a couple weeks I'm not seeing significant improvement I might explore getting an ultrasound guided injection for my shoulder...

This morning I was just finishing up my shower and I twisted my shoulder really funny while trying to dry my back. Probably an 9/10 on the pain scale. I thought I felt the tendon/muscle tearing apart just a bit when I did it. You just don't realize how important something is until you lose it. I was just thinking about all the things I can't do without at least some pain or super awkwardly:

- Wash my hair
- Scratch my back
- Brush my teeth (I've realized that it's really awkward to brush my teeth with my non-dominant hand)
- Putting on any pull over shirt/jumper/jacket. If i wore really small t-shirts I would not be able to get my arm in...
- Sleeping on my right side or my stomach. I love sleeping on my stomach so I've had to get used to sleeping either only on my back or on my left side.
- Reaching forward for anything including shaking people's hands, hitting the signal light while driving, grabbing the steering wheel, opening my car door to get out...actually I've noticed my disability the most when I'm driving because there's so much that involves reaching forward and I can't reach!!!
- Pretty much any physical activity that involves my R arm. Can't even do push-ups on my knees...
- Playing the guitar while sitting (because my R arm sits at a weird angle). Thankfully I can still play if I stand up so...I'd be sooooooooooooo depressed right now if I couldn't even do that.

Is this a sign that I'm gettin' old? I remember the days when I would just do things with little to no regard for my body - and I'd be sore afterwards but I'd always bounce back soon after. ARGH!

Toothbrush

2008-07-31T07:47:00.001-06:00

Note to self: Always check to see if you have a new toothbrush before you throw away your old, used one... x_x