Today is my last work day in Macau. Early in the morning after a sleepless night I got out of my bed on the wrong side, when a friend asked me to fetch him at the customs office which was really unwelcome. I told him that I was busy today and perhaps hadn’t time to dine with him, as I was on-call and Monday is always the busiest day in a hospital. He seemed unhappy about my inhospitality, but I had no choice. As time was up, I went to work without having breakfast and arrived at my office just in time. I really wanted to arrive a bit earlier than usual to make a better impression on my colleagues, but it doesn’t matter as we all have lots of things to deal with. Within half an hour in work, the surgeon called me three times for a case which I had made my point very clear the first time I answered him. I knew I would be unlucky today as that surgeon was not qualified in his job except being an expert in evading duties. After discussing with other colleagues of our team, I firmly refused his outlandish idea of performing endoscopy for a perforated patient. He gave in and again requested whether we should be able to perform a colonoscopy for his patient. Ridiculous as he was, I tried to cajole him into being rational by consenting to perform a rectosigmoidoscopy for him which he gladly accepted. He was happy that his face was saved.

  In the afternoon I excused myself from work to wind up my errands with the Electricity and Tap Water Company. It took me a whole afternoon to finish the job, after which I hurried back into hospital as I had several appointments today. Ms. Z was a friend of mine,  who was also from Shandong province. Knowing that I am leaving soon, she asked me to arrange the follow up for her as it is very difficult to see a specialist in CHCSJ, which I agreed to and made an appointment with her at 6 o’clock. In the morning Mr. Zhang asked me to perform an endoscopy for him as we are both alumni and friends, so I had made an appointment with him at 7 o’clock. When I arrived at the office the secretary told me that there were several pathology reports for me to review and there was a case in the ER which needed my consultation. At 8 o’clock I finished all the assignments and went to the canteen to have supper, where I met Dr. Ng, who asked me whether I knew that my alumna, Ms. F, suddenly had a stroke in the morning and now was being hospitalized. It was the saddest news today.

  Ms. F is 44 years old and has worked here for over ten years. She has a very nice family: her husband is a successful banker, and her only son a college student in USA. She is the kindest and most generous woman I met in Macau. She treats every colleague from Beijing as her guest. We have all enjoyed her hospitality. For over two years she has invited me to dine a dozen times, along with other colleagues, each time her paying the bill. She was just like an elder sister to me and we had a lot to say to each other. Last month when her mother was found suffering skin cancer, she felt very upset and had been busy preparing a new home to fetch her mother here to receive treatment. The house was almost finished and her mother was ready coming, and out of the blue, she was struck by the terrible stroke.

I immediately went to the ward and saw her lying in  bed talking with a nurse. Her face lighted up at me and told me that it was not that serious this time but she was really worried about what might happen if a second blow came. In order to comfort her I told her to calm down and exchanged my opinions with her about cerebral infarction. In the old times strokes were targeting mainly the old, but now the trend has changed as more and more middle aged people succumbed to this debilitating and sometimes deadly disorder. Reading the statistics figure is one thing, but to see somebody close or familiar to you getting hurt is really depressing. As she was agitated and had no appetite, I went to the supermarket to buy some juice for her. She was pleased at this and asked me to have a rest as she could still take care of herself well. I promised her I should stay in the hospital as late as possible, and as true as my word, I sat before my computer writing down what were my true feelings. For the young and healthy, it is still a long shot to philosophize with them to cherish what one has now, but for me the lesson is real. I shall not push too hard on me and on anyone else: being healthy and happy is top priority.  I am praying to God to help my sister to recover as quickly as possible. Amen!