My Sister Ruth is ENGAGED on 08/08/08!

OMG, what is happening, it must be the warm summer air! My sister's fiance Jimmy popped the question this past week. Here is the link to their beautiful engagment party: http://secure.smilebox.com/ecom/openTheBox?sendevent=4e4449334e544d304d4877334f4459354e6a49350d0a&sb=1

I am so bummed to have missed it as I am in AZ right now. I will poste some pictures of them when I get the chance.

CONGRATULATIONS :)

(*) Beijing Olympics 2008 and thoughts on DISCIPLINE

Did you watch the opening ceremony of the Olympics last night? Let me tell ya, it was amazing! I’ve seen a lot of opening Olympic ceremonies, I have got to tell you that this one rank on the top of my list. There are a few things I liked about the performance: the pyrotechnics, the immense masses of 1500 performers and Tai-Chi masters moving together in a circle, the visual effects of the Chinese paintings, the ‘globe’ and acrobatics, and the architecture of the ‘swallow’s nest’ stadium… But, do you know what got underneath my skin and gave me chills as I watch with excitement at the edge of my seat? It was the masses of Tai-Chi masters… It was DISCIPLINE that got my attention.

However, before I tell you about my thoughts on discipline, I have a few observations that I want to share. When comes to natural wonders, breath taking mountains and gorges and landscapes, the Golbi desert, the Wall of China, the unique species of animals, the capacity of having a fifth of the world’s population, and the oldest of world’s history and proverbs… no countries on earth can beat China. The “Middle Kingdom” as Chinese called themselves for the last 5,000 years is actually not a term of humility. Though humility is a character of the wise, “Middle” in Mandarin (the main language of the Chinese people) means either “in the middle of” not high, not low, not big, not small (sounds like a call for modesty isn’t it?) or “in the center of,” which means “we are IT.” In fact, “Middle Kingdom” has a connotation of the “Center of the Universe.” The name is one of ethnocentrism and egocentrism with a twang of ‘humble modesty.’

I am Chinese, I am from Taiwan, and I am American. I am very proud to be a Taiwanese-American. My ancestors are the ‘Han Chinese.’ I was born and raised in Taiwan, so I know what it is like to grow up and being indoctrinated in that culture. I know that China, the “Middle Kingdom” has a long and rich history. But, that history has been dramatically altered when the communists took over in 1949. When that transition happened, also many other important events happened. First, it started by the destruction of Chinese culture. How are the communists managing (yes, a progressive verb) that? By destroying ancient literature, exporting national art, and most important of all “CHANGING THE CHINESE CHARACTER.” Did you know that when the communists took over, the ‘Simplified Chinese writings’ started? So, if you are not aware of this, now there are 2 systems of how to write Chinese characters: Simplified and Traditional. Traditional characters are very complex, and many of the characters originally came from pictographs. It is the writings of the ancients with all the strokes intact. Each character stands alone by itself and has a full meaning of its own. One can change the connotations and context of these characters when they are placed in a sentence. Simplified version is created at the beginning of communist China in attempt to change Chinese history. By ‘removing’ various ‘strokes’ in Chinese character, they started destroying the history of the language and its origins. Later generations will not be able to discern the origin of their rich ornate culture, because their language no longer ‘appears as their originally intended.’

Two other issues bother me about the communist China. One, I believe that the show last night about PEACE and “Green China” is one to put positive spin on their reputation as being the LARGEST POLLUTER in the world and as a country of having many HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS. Why does the world complaint of the big SUV’s and pollutions of USA, while turn their faces away from China’s pollution? I mean, granted that China has 1.3 billion peole, fifth of the world’s population, no one on Earth can compare with the amount of waste generated by China, but, that also gives them responsibility to find ways to keep at least their people healthy. At least we don’t have to shut down half of our city everyday so we can hold an Olympic so that the athletes’ lungs are not burning from the heavy soup of airborne particulates! Then again the spectacular pyrotechnics didn't help either. Don't get me wrong. I really enjoyed the performance, but, I can’t help to think that most of the beauty and peace and how well choreographed everything had been were just “PROPAGANDA.”

Two, have you noticed that Taiwan didn’t exist as a country as it was represented in the Olympics? It was called “Chinese Taipei.” The Taiwanese Flag was not allowed to enter the competition. If you are aware of the long struggle for Taiwanese identity, you will understand what I mean. As a Taiwanese, my opposition isn’t really to the people of China, but to the government. I make myself distinct, as most of Chinese people from Taiwan, from the communists. It’s the obvious hypocrisy of communist China that angers me. So, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that the identity of Taiwan isn’t included in this competition, which is purposed to ‘unite’ the nations and to represent ‘peace.’

Ok… I am going to change topics and talk about my thoughts on ‘discipline.’ If you have seen any movies out of Hong Kong, such as Hero, The Warlord, Fearless, training of the Shaolin monks, 300, The Last Samurai, or any Olympic sporting events, you’d have seen the physical and mental discipline displayed. In fact, as I am thinking about this, I was reminded by several Biblical passages talking about having discipline as a soldier readying for war or athlete training for performance as allegories to walking the Christian journey. Having discipline means “considering our ways,” “take all of our thoughts captive,” “keep the thoughts of my mind and words of my tongue to be pleasing to God,” and to continue to “persevere during trials.” Once we turn from ways of anarchy (when we obey our body to do what we desire and our mouth to say whatever we want) into the way of discipline, we no longer walk as we used to walk and talk as we used to talk. We have to make a 180 degree switch in the direction we were going and behavior as we’ve gotten so used to. Growing in discipline is like a soldier training for battle. When you are untrained, you continuously get wounded by strikes and blows and arrows and with any little insult. However, to invest into training means that your ability to ward off the offenses becomes second-nature. Taking the athletic analogy, our muscles have to be trained to increase performance. A well-oiled joint is a joint that moves smoothly and without injuries. If our muscles are not well trained, we get hurt, we strain them and then we are disabled until it's healed.

So, drawing from analogies of nature and world wisdom, if we don’t become discipline we will not survive when we are called to stand up for ourselves. Without discipline our minds go weak and cannot stand for much insult, or to give grace to those who offend us. Without physical discipline we cannot stand to defend ourselves and preserve our lives or the lives of those we love and cherish. Also without physical discipline, we waste away in fatten, glutten, drunkenness, and become ‘RUSTY’ as we get hurt to do anything. However, as much as I think about the steep decline of physical and mental discipline of our time and our society, I think the SOLE root factor in declines of our physical and mental capacity is a dive in SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE. A dive in reverence for our Creator.

Mind you, it is not a physical warfare we are fighting, we are fighting a SPIRITUAL war! The KEY to killing our courage and failure in this war to “focus on self”! When our minds are convinced that we are ALONE in our experiences and struggles, the darkness have won! When we focus on our own struggles and how gigantic our road blocks are, we develop FEAR that incapacitates us from growth and continuing to walk toward what we know is good... When FEAR sets in we tend to abandon HOPE. So, George, how do we break this downward spiral of giving up, giving in, mental retardation, physical rustiness? OK, I’LL TELL YOU:

BE SPIRITUALLY DISCIPINE! What does that mean? Look at all those VERBS and promises!

Proverbs 2: 1-8

“My son, If you

accept my Words, and

store up my command within you,

turning your ear to wisdom and

applying your heart to understanding, and if you

call out for insight and

cry aloud for understanding, and if you

look for it as for silver and

search for it as for hidden treasure, then

you will understand the fear of the LORD and

find the knowledge of God.

For the LORD

gives wisdom and from his mouth

come knowledge and understanding. He

holds victory in store for the upright, He

is a shield to those whose walk is blameless. For He

guards the course of the just and

protects the way of His faithful ones.”

Proverbs 3:5-8

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and

lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways

acknowledge him, and

he will make your paths straight.

Do not be wise in your own eyes;

fear the LORD and

shun evil.

This will bring health to your body and nourishment o your bones.”

These are promises from the LORD, in fact, Spiritual disciplines many times start with mental and physical disciplines. The truth is that, if you have no physical and mental discipline, then you will not be spiritually disciplined; and if you are not willing to adhere to the words in these proverbs, then you will not achieve discipline. You know, the cost of giving up discipline is grave! Look at the trend of our society? Gluttony, increase in morbid diseases, decrease in morality, people whine with desperation, people torture and abuse and destroy one another in defiance to God… what are the alternative to having no Spiritual discipline!

Your Choice!

Elias Joshua Simpson is born!

It has been a very rewarding day. I just got home, it's 1:15 AM. I started surgery this morning at about 7 AM and finished with the last surgery at about 12:20 AM. We had several emergency surgeries today. However, the reason for my post is not about me...

It's about a new baby boy, Elias, born to my dear friends Kavi and Taylor! CONGRATULATIONS guys! I can't wait to meet him. So, if you are interested, here is Elias' blog :) http://eliasjoshuasimpson.blogspot.com/

Welcome to Earth, Elias :) Happy Birthday!

Ok, I am off to bed. Nite nite.

My Readership

Hi everyone, I guess this is my first monthly report to all of you. This is a picture of where all of you are accessing and reading my blog within the last month. I just want to thank you for reading a piece of my thoughts :) You know, one of my love in life is to travel. I have visited and backpacked for several months over western Europe a few years ago. I lived in France for a few month and another few month in England. I also lived many years in a small island country in Asia... One day I would like to visit other places in the world. I have a long traveling list!

Some of my favorites about traveling are: FOOD! Learning a new language; immerse into a different culture; interact with people of different backgrounds (I really love different people in my travels, I think GOD created so many beautiful people with beautiful hearts around this world in which we live); taking photos of animals and living things and natural wonders; sight seeing; and, Getting LOST... yes, that's right, one of my favorite things to do in a new city is to get lost! I think that is the best way to experience the true sense of how people live away from all the tourism.

I know there are so many passions to pursue in life, but, life is really too short! I think we should realize our purpose and our passions, then set a goal to make it happen. "The best way to be spontaneous is to plan for it." - George ... yes, you can quote me on that.

Seeing all of you popping up on this map really puts the excitement in me. If you truly enjoy and love my thoughts, I wish I could come to your country and have a meal with you while we converse about the thoughts in our mental universe. Perhaps it will happen one day. Blessings to you. If you have a thought of encouragement, please feel free to leave it in the comment section by clicking on the underlined 'comments' at the end of the blog post. I always need some sweet encouragements :)

My brother is ENGAGED!

Yup, he popped the big question today!!! I am so excited for him and his fiance. I am so excited!

Guess what?! Da Vinci Surgical Robot!

So, I'm half way through my general surgery rotation. I have been doing a lot of exciting surgeries so far. Being the only student working with a group of 4 surgeons, I am treated as an surgical intern. I have to pre-round on all the patients and present them to the surgeons. I also have to do surgical consults in the hospital, the ICU, and the ER. So far, I have been first assist for all the surgeries and also being on call whenever the surgeons are on call. I'm also expected to research and know all the procedures, complications, treatments, managements, and pathophysiologies of all the cases we see and operate on. So, needless to say, I haven't got much free time. Daily we evaluate abdominal pain, obstructions, perforations, and we do surgeries when we need to. I've assisted in removal of cancers, stitching the bowels when they get perforated from ulcers, taking out appendix and gall bladders when they get inflammed, draining fluid out of every infected orfices and wounds, saving people's lives when they get critical, and assisting doctors of other specialties (such as OB/GYN) with surgical needs. I have gotten to do a lot and starting to get a feel of what internship is like and what being a doctor is like. I've got to admit that many times I do feel like I can't ever learn enough. The more I ask questions, the more I've been asked questions, the more I realize that I don't know enough. At times I do get satisfaction to be able to answer questions that are asked, but I still struggle to find ways to retain what I've learned and to keep learning more.

So, today, I met Da Vinci! I can't describe to you how excited I was. Da Vinci is a robotic system that allows doctors to do 'minimally invasive surgeries.' What that means is that this robot allows complicated surgeries to be done with the smallest possible incision sites. The robot has four arms that inserts instruments into the belly. It also has 2 cameras that goes into the belly and projects the images to a screen. The 2 camera system gives the surgeon a 3 dimensional view so they can do abdomenal surgeries with the highest degree of accuracy, also minimize risks and complications. Right now, we routinely do laproscopic abdomenal surgeries with instruments and cameras, but this robot take surgery to the next level. The surgeon is doing surgery in a console. The potential is that you can literally do operations on someone half way across from the globe. How about doing surgeries in the field on wounded soldiers or astronauts in space? The draw back is that the machine is several million dollars to purchase and costs more than $10,000 per month to maintain. I guess for the time being, the art of surgery still involves human touch.

Seriously, the surgeon let me sit in the console and see through the 3D camera... it was so cool! If you want to experience and see what it does, click on this site:

http://www.intuitivesurgical.com/products/da_vinci_video_overview.aspx

I am thoroughly impressed! I want one. I want one NOW!!!

Be a surgeon!

Hey guys, I'm exhausted! I am pretty busy working at the hospital with several surgeons. My typical day consists of doing surgeries all day, assessing patients in the ER, talking to patients before and after the operations, and having to read up on surgical techniques and anatomy. I am studying hard, but very much enjoying myself. A surgeon is the El Capitan of the ship! An operating theatre functions as a well-oiled machine. The parts of this machine consist of an anesthesiologist, a scrub tech, an OR nurse, pre-op and post-op care team, and of course the surgeon and the asistant. The anesthesiologist give the magic cocktail that gives the patient a deep sweet dream; the scrub tech hands the surgeon all the instruments and keeps count on everything that is used; the OR nurse takes care of all the processes of the operation and gets necessary materials during the surgery and also record the timing of all the process; the surgeon and the assistant do the operation. When you enter the operating theatre, the surgeon is the 'chief.' It is quite a rush to be treated as one. A tyical operation for a general surgeon include taking out gall bladders and appendix, fixing all sorts of different hernias, taking out cancer from the breast/thyroid/bowel/skin, doing endoscopies .....

So, the surgical operative procedure has evolved to having to master the 'sterile technique.' Everything from 'scrub' (a special way of scrubing and washing hands from finger nail to 2 inches above the elbow), to putting on gown and gloves, and keeping the operative fields sterile. We owe much of the low rates of post-op infections to this obsessive/compulsive technique.

The surgical patient often is acutely ill. To be able to think and act on your toes makes a well trained surgeon stand out from the other medical specialists. What is unique about being a surgeon is that, when a ill person presents with a surgical problem, a surgeon is often the only one to offer a curative solution.

I have found myself to be extremely fascinated by this field, even though my eyes are constantly red from keeping them open all the time (don't want to miss anything), and my legs are stiff from having to stand hours on end. It is amazing that when we are so focused on something, we can actually ignore our regular bodily functions. I often have to remind myself to move my legs and blink my eyes... I'm glad God made us 'automatic' in many ways, otherwise, I wouldn't be talking with you right now. Ok, it's bed time for me. Talk to you soon.

"Better" by Atul Gawande MD, a general surgeon's notes on Performance

This book is the second book written by a general surgeon, Atul Gawande MD, from Harvard. The theme of this book is about performance in medicine. “As a doctor, you go into this work thinking it is all a matter of canny diagnosis, technical prowess, and some ability to empathize with people. But it is not, you soon find out. In medicine, as in any profession, we must grapple with systems, resources, circumstances, people, and our own shortcomings, as well. We face obstacles of seemingly unending variety. Yet somehow we must advance, we must refine, we must improve.” The picture to the left is from http://www.amazon.com/ you can also buy the book there.

In medicine, there are three core requirements for success: Diligence, Doing Right, and Ingenuity.

• Diligence is “the necessity of giving sufficient attention to detail to avoid error and prevail against obstacles. It is central to performance and fiendishly hard.”
• Doing Right is dealing with and puzzling “over how we know when we should keep fighting for a sick patient and when we should stop.”
• Ingenuity is “thinking anew. It is often misunderstood. It is not a matter of superior intelligence but of character. It demands more than anything a willingness to recognize failure, to not paper over the cracks, and to change. It arises from deliberate, even obsessive, reflection on failure and a constant searching for new solutions.”

Betterment is a perpetual labor. Dr Gawande gave some illustrations in the book regarding each of these three principles. For Diligence, he gave stories of the “efforts to ensure doctors and nurses simple wash their hands; one about the care of the wounded soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan; and one about the Herculean effort to eradicate polio from the globe.” For Doing Right, he gave examples to address some uncomfortable questions about “how much should doctors get paid; what we owe patients when we make mistakes; and participation in executions of prisoners. For Ingenuity, he gave examples of people who have transformed everyday medicine by improving “the way babies are delivered; the way an incurable disease like cystic fibrosis is fought; and exam how much more of us can do the same.”

Those people who can successfully attempt and accomplish these three principles, Dr Gawande calls them the “Positive Deviant.” Here he gave 5 suggestions on how to become one:

1. Ask an unscripted question – our job is to talk to strangers, why not learn something about them?
2. Don’t complaint – “nothing in medicine is more dispiriting than hearing doctors complain. Medicine is a trying profession, but less because of the difficulties of disease than because of the difficulty of having to work with other human beigns under circumstances only partly in one’s control. Ours is a team sport, but with 2 key differences from the kinds with lighted scoreboards: the stakes are people’s lives and we have no coaches. Doctors are expected to coach themselves. We have no one but ourselves to lift us through the struggles. But, we are not good at it. Wherever doctors gather, the natural pull of conversational gravity is toward the litany of woes all around us. But, resist it. It’s boring, it doesn’t solve anything and it will get you down.”
3. Count Something – do a study of your success and failures, count how often mistakes happen of certain sort that interests you.
4. Write Something – put in words your experiences to add some small observation about your world. Don’t underestimate the effect of your contribution, however modest it may be.
5. Change – people respond to new ideas in one of three ways, “A few become early adopters, most become late adopters, and some remain persistent skeptics who never stop resisting. Make yourselves early adopters and look for opportunity to change. Be willing to recognize the inadequacies in what you do and to seek out solutions. The choices a doctor makes are necessarily imperfect but they alter people’s lives. Because of that reality, it often seems safest to do what everyone else is doing. But a doctor must not let that happen.”

Once you become a physician, the question is not whether you have to accept the responsibility. By doing your job well, you have accepted responsibility. Then the question becomes, “having already accepted responsibility, how does one do such work well.”

Ahhh...

Just an update from me. I am now done with both of Step 2s' of medical board exams. It feels so good. I am now packing up and getting ready to move to AZ for 6 weeks starting tommorrow. As I begin my fourth year in medical school, I am very excited again for another year of rotations (working/learning under specialist-physicians in different fields every 2 to 4 weeks). My year is starting off with General Surgery and will end with 6 weeks in foreign lands. I am going to be on the road most of the year... So, stay tuned in, I will try to bring you on all my adventures :)

(*) Have you ever wonder what life would be like without arms and legs?

Let me introduce you to a man name Nick Vujicic! He was a native of Australia and he was born without any extremities! Have you ever been angry at God? Have you ever wish that your life would be more complete? Have you ever bargain with God... "God if you just give me ____, I will _____ !" Well, Nick has an awesome testimony to share with you. Please watch the video by clicking on his name
--> NICK VUJICIC <-- Or, you can visit Highland Church's website and go to the 'Sermon' tab: http://www.highlandschurch.org/

I was very much encouraged by his story and also entertained... you'll see, he is a character! He also has a website that is the main resource of his ministry: http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org/

Why don't you pray for opportunities to tell your story?! If you think about it, we are all beautiful and unique. No one else is created like you, individually. The journey that we all walk is not an easy one. We all have different experiences and see things from different perspective. I think it is valuable for us to share with one another our triumphs and failures. Do not underestimate the power of God in your lives. As I was pondering about our frailty, I am reminded of God's Sovereignty. Have your heart every 'condemn' you for happenings of the past or shamefulness of present thoughts? Well, in 1 John 3:20 says, "Whenever our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything." Whenever you meet a challenge or discouragement in life, know that
GOD IS GREATER THAN ________.