It is strange to see young guys and girls in the hospital - but I saw a couple of them in a row on a Monday night while working in the Emergency Department. They had all come in suffering from terrible cold/flu symptoms in this rainy winter and swine flu scare.

Those poor souls all looked absolutely miserable, I have to say, but they had nothing to warrant admission into hospital. So I said sorry and sent them home.

I remember thinking to myself as I walked out of the ED consult rooms - that I better not get sick after being in close contact with them!

And who would have guessed, the next morning during the post-acute ward round, I sensed an itchy throat creeping up. That very night and the following two days, my nose was running like a tap, my eyes were watering like a poor lemon being repeatedly squished, and I was madly sneezing in spasms every couple of minutes. I was practically bed-bound in a dark room, constantly feeling like tearing my sinuses out. I haven't had a cold/flu as bad as this for years!

Oh boy, how am I able to be a front-line doctor, if seeing a few infectious patients knocks me down completely for a few days and renders me weak like a kitten for a few days more?

I am at least glad I am recovering, by God's grace. Strangely I now feel like a special survivor.

It is wonderful, too, to be able to walk around comfortably without being sick.