Remember the British girl who wanted to be taller so that she can fulfill her dream of becoming an air stewardess? For anyone who wants to add some height after all your bones have fused i.e. stopped growing, other than wearing really high heels, the only other way is to saw your bones, keep the ends apart with a fixator, lengthen the gap by 1mm everyday, endure lots and lots of pain, spend tones of money, and wait for your bone to lengthen in 9 to 12 months.
According to my tutor (I'm currently doing orthopedics), he said that growth hormones won't make you taller once your bones have fused. It only makes your nose bigger, forehead protrusion, gives you pituitary tumour, diabetes and all sorts of other things. The only way to grow taller is using the ilizarov technique of bone lengthening.
A little bit of trivia. The method of such lengthening was discovered by Dr. Gavriil Abramovich Ilizarov in 1951. Not everybody who goes for such operations is for cosmesis sake. People who have non-union fractures, bones deformed by polio can go for ilizarov. Also people who are born with shorter stature like achondroplasia and Turner's, can lengthen their bones too.
And short people like me. My tutor actually told me (three times!) during his clinic that i should consider going for the operation. Yes, i know i'm not exactly the tallest person, but don't need to remind me right? I don't want to suffer the pain of the operation, that's why i'm investing my money in pretty heels and torturing my feet. I think that's why I have plantar fasciitis.
Sunday, July 17, 2005
Friday, July 08, 2005
Do you believe in the supernatural?
Some of my family members went to a chinese medium sometime this week to "call" on the spirits of my grandmother and grandfather. Quite an eye-opening experience. But of course, being the busy-bee me, I was unable to make it because of SCHOOL.
My aunts heard from their relatives that this particular medium from china was able to call on the spirit of one of their relative who passed away not so long ago. They claimed that they were able to communicate with him through the medium. My sister also has a friend whose friend went to call on the spirit of his father. And the medium was able to tell them that the pendant that the father was wearing was given to him by someone and the pendant had an evil spirit on it. Thus, he had a premature death because of it. Hmm...how much of that is belivable i don't know.
So, that bright and sunny morning, my sis and cousin and aunts went to look for the medium. In the fully lit room, with the windows widely open (so unlike the dark and dingy room that we all expect) they managed to summon a spirit.
First up, my beloved grandmother. Although it probably wasn’t her because she said that she has 9 children. So unless she had an illegitimate child that none of us knew, wrong spirit!
Next up, my grandfather. All was well until “my grandfather” said that he needed a watch as we didn’t burn him one when we cremated him. Sounds quite true and logical right? I don’t think so. While we were preparing his clothing for him, the caretaker asked us to remove his watch otherwise the battery in the watch will cause an explosion when we cremate him. (Remember Gerald Tan from urology telling us about the pacemaker causing an explosion?) So, unless the watch my grandpa was wearing was extra special, my guess is everyone who was cremated went without a watch. I don’t know how many people in Singapore are cremated compared to buried, but I think there’s at least a 50-50 chance of the medium getting it right.
Should people go for such stuff? Is it real? What if it's real? What if the spirit tells you that he is suffering in the netherworld, what can the living do? What if the spirit that you summoned is an evil spirit and follows you home?
I'm a skeptic on such stuff. Don't really believe it, but don't dare to don't believe it. That's why I hate scary movies and stories, what I don't know won't hurt me, I think...
My aunts heard from their relatives that this particular medium from china was able to call on the spirit of one of their relative who passed away not so long ago. They claimed that they were able to communicate with him through the medium. My sister also has a friend whose friend went to call on the spirit of his father. And the medium was able to tell them that the pendant that the father was wearing was given to him by someone and the pendant had an evil spirit on it. Thus, he had a premature death because of it. Hmm...how much of that is belivable i don't know.
So, that bright and sunny morning, my sis and cousin and aunts went to look for the medium. In the fully lit room, with the windows widely open (so unlike the dark and dingy room that we all expect) they managed to summon a spirit.
First up, my beloved grandmother. Although it probably wasn’t her because she said that she has 9 children. So unless she had an illegitimate child that none of us knew, wrong spirit!
Next up, my grandfather. All was well until “my grandfather” said that he needed a watch as we didn’t burn him one when we cremated him. Sounds quite true and logical right? I don’t think so. While we were preparing his clothing for him, the caretaker asked us to remove his watch otherwise the battery in the watch will cause an explosion when we cremate him. (Remember Gerald Tan from urology telling us about the pacemaker causing an explosion?) So, unless the watch my grandpa was wearing was extra special, my guess is everyone who was cremated went without a watch. I don’t know how many people in Singapore are cremated compared to buried, but I think there’s at least a 50-50 chance of the medium getting it right.
Should people go for such stuff? Is it real? What if it's real? What if the spirit tells you that he is suffering in the netherworld, what can the living do? What if the spirit that you summoned is an evil spirit and follows you home?
I'm a skeptic on such stuff. Don't really believe it, but don't dare to don't believe it. That's why I hate scary movies and stories, what I don't know won't hurt me, I think...
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
psychiatry
school has finally started. I'm currently doing a posting in psychiatry. Even though I'm quite sure I won't want a career in this field because i don't really understand all the abstract thinking like the the theory of the mind...I still think this field is a very important part of medicine.
Many lives are affected by psychiatric illness, not just patients themselves, but also their family and friends. It is very foolish of Tom Cruise to say that psychiatry is a pseudo science. What does he know about psychiatry anyway? Just by reading up stuff about the history of psychiatry doesn't make him an expert. What's up with him this year?
Many lives are affected by psychiatric illness, not just patients themselves, but also their family and friends. It is very foolish of Tom Cruise to say that psychiatry is a pseudo science. What does he know about psychiatry anyway? Just by reading up stuff about the history of psychiatry doesn't make him an expert. What's up with him this year?
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
the power of persuasion
wanted to post a picture but as usual, i can't log into hello. so irritating.
was shopping with my sis today and went into celia loe with the intention of browsing only. The sales lady was so enthusiastic and friendly that we ended up trying almost all the clothes in the store! She kept throwing clothes at us, then told us how to wear it properly so we look chic and cool. Spent more than an hour in that shop and of course, ended up spending lots of money. Argh! Feel so guilty. I'm spending my dad's money like there's no tomorrow and I'm not even working! Ok, my new resolution is...spend less time shopping, study hard and graduate. Earn some money so I don't have to sponge off my parents and give them money so they can spend it like how i'm spending theirs.
was shopping with my sis today and went into celia loe with the intention of browsing only. The sales lady was so enthusiastic and friendly that we ended up trying almost all the clothes in the store! She kept throwing clothes at us, then told us how to wear it properly so we look chic and cool. Spent more than an hour in that shop and of course, ended up spending lots of money. Argh! Feel so guilty. I'm spending my dad's money like there's no tomorrow and I'm not even working! Ok, my new resolution is...spend less time shopping, study hard and graduate. Earn some money so I don't have to sponge off my parents and give them money so they can spend it like how i'm spending theirs.
Friday, June 17, 2005
Mr Phua Chu Kang
Just came back from watching the story of pck - the musical. My favourite part was when the feng shui man played by Sheikh Haikel performed the catchy rap on Chu Kang's fate. The song and dance sections were nicely done too. However, i didn't really appreciate the jokes made during the show. Just like I don't really like the jokes in the tv show. But I also don't like Mr Bean so what do i know about humour anyway. There were people in the audience laughing at the jokes...so i guess it's just me. The story was going a little too slowly but now I finally know how old Singapore is. Happy 40th birthday singapore! Just like Mr Phua Chu Kang.
Mobil is having 26% discount on their petrol! Unbelievable! Was driving down east coast road when I saw the sign...plus the numerous cars waiting to get into the kiosk. After waiting quite a while for my turn, I finally managed to pump some oil into my car. Then whilst waiting to pay the bill, the entire system of the kiosk went haywire. The funniest thing of the night (probably funnier than the jokes in the musical) was the lady at the counter announcing via the microphone," Everyone stop pumping petrol! Sytem hang! System hang!" Or something to that extent...can't really remember it already. I was quite amazed that everybody was still waiting patiently and nobody lost their temper even though all of us were stuck at the kiosk. Couldn't pump, couldn't pay, couldn't leave. Maybe it's the night temperature...so cooling and shuang and with nothing else to do in the night. Maybe it was the amazing discount that made everyone happy.
By the time I reached home, my soya bean milk from geylang had curdled. The you teow had become cold. The soya bean curd was still delicious though.
Mobil is having 26% discount on their petrol! Unbelievable! Was driving down east coast road when I saw the sign...plus the numerous cars waiting to get into the kiosk. After waiting quite a while for my turn, I finally managed to pump some oil into my car. Then whilst waiting to pay the bill, the entire system of the kiosk went haywire. The funniest thing of the night (probably funnier than the jokes in the musical) was the lady at the counter announcing via the microphone," Everyone stop pumping petrol! Sytem hang! System hang!" Or something to that extent...can't really remember it already. I was quite amazed that everybody was still waiting patiently and nobody lost their temper even though all of us were stuck at the kiosk. Couldn't pump, couldn't pay, couldn't leave. Maybe it's the night temperature...so cooling and shuang and with nothing else to do in the night. Maybe it was the amazing discount that made everyone happy.
By the time I reached home, my soya bean milk from geylang had curdled. The you teow had become cold. The soya bean curd was still delicious though.
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