URTI, again.

I see a pattern emerging. Am reluctant to admit it 5 years ago, but I can no longer deny it anymore..
Every time a MAJOR exam is lurking around the corner e.g. SPM, STPM, Professional Exam,
and when I can no longer procrastinate, and just when I am about to start revising....
I will fall sick!!!!
Usually the illness last a week..Too bad my study week now is only 3 weeks, and SPM and STPM is about scoring/not scoring, not passing/failing...
Nonetheless, before SPM and STPM, it was self-induced because I was busy watching drama series and did not get enough sleep (even skipped school to finish the series.) I am innocent this time!!
The only thing I did was reading blogs and surfing internet, with adequate rest of 12 hours a day..
But then again, I may be taking imbalance diet+exposed to more virulent organisms..

Hope that this episode will go away soon, unlike the last URTI (about 2 months ago) which lasted 3 freaking long weeks..
But at the rate I contract URTI and my rate of recovery, I am not sure if I'm immunocompromised/the viruses here is too strong..

Totally unrelated to the above.. Examined a patient with terminal cancer few days ago, a day before he started treatment. He was a middle aged gentleman with his eldest son being 8 years old only. I was almost done examining him when he asked me to leave a pen behind with him, said he needed it to write his will just in case anything happen to him. Didn't know what he had initially but by the time I finished examining him, my clinical impression was it was a malignancy with a poor prognosis. He was recently told to have this terminal illness few days ago so he was not prepared for it. I didn't know what to say. I left the only pen I had with him and wished him all the best.

It struck me hard as a friend's father passed away few months ago because of the same illness. Used to be a close friend of mine since I was young. We used to tell each other everything and I think he was like an older brother to me then (My own elder brother was too childish so we fought all the time) Anyway, we kind of drifted apart as we grow up.. He told me about his father illness when we met last year, which was few months before his father passed way. When he was first diagnosed, the doctor told him he had few months to live but he made it through 5 years before finally succumbed to the disease.

I don't know what will happen to him but I pray that the patient will get better with treatment for his and his 5 year old son's sake. From his record, there are still treatment options available that will improve his survival chance.

Oncology is one difficult area of medicine.