Pablo Picasso

The beauty of femininity is compared with many things such as a beautiful, fragranced flower. As beautiful and luring as it is, one can never know whether the flower is poisonous or not. It is said that even the bravest warrior can still fall for the beauty of a woman, and the same goes for Spanish artist, Pablo Picasso.

“Nude, Green Leaves and Bust” is one of Picasso’s finest paintings, which is rarely witnessed in exhibitions as it has been strictly kept away for half a century. The painting was inspired by a woman named Marie-Thérèse Walter who Picasso met and fell in love with in Paris. At the time Picasso was married. Picasso and Marie-Thérèse Walter later began an affair and were exposed when Marie-Thérèse fell pregnant.

“Nude, Green Leaves and Bust” is well known for its delicate work and the history behind it. An image of a male head appears on a pillar above the bare feminine body which represents a man admiring a woman. There’s a plant springing out from the woman, representing the livelihood of the woman. If you look closely one of the leaves takes the shape of a heart, which may symbolise his affection for her. A black shadow appears to drape over the woman’s bare body which symbolises ownership or possession. There are also apples under the woman’s head which are known to be “the forbidden fruit”.

It is clear that this painting signifies sexual attractions between Picasso and Marie-Thérèse Walter, which is why this painting has become one of the highest priced pieces of art in history.

Until this day, the beauty of women is still highly cherished by men. But remember, true beauty should always come from the heart.

AAA -Abdominal aortic aneurysm (also known as AAA “triple-a”) is a localized ballooning of the abdominal artery, exceeding the normal diameter by more than 50 percent. It can be life-threatening if the artery expands more than 5cm for it may burst and cause internal bleeding, which can lead to death within minutes. I witnessed a case when a patient was rushed to an emergency room with a leak in the abdominal artery. There was a large amount of blood that we had to give over 10 bags of blood transfusion while operating. The patient was extremely fortunate to have made it through, considering his chance of survival was very slim.

A hospital consultant, who specialised in AAA, together with head of X-ray, inserted an artificial artery inside the swollen artery in order for blood to travel through. The needle was inserted in the upper thigh along with the artificial artery, the needle then lead to the AAA point where the artificial artery expanded to fit the real artery. This technique is similar to an Angiogram. However, this technique may not be suitable to all AAA cases.

Another case I witnessed was an AAA patient from the Philippines. This patient had a history of diabetes, kidneys and heart condition. The patient came to the hospital to check on the state of his AAA.

The first night the patient stayed in the hospital, doctor prescribed slow rate IV drops to help with his kidneys, but in the morning he was quickly moved to a critical ward. During the night the patient experienced difficulty breathing, the doctor found his lungs were filled with fluid (pulmonary oedema) and they were swollen. The IV was stopped immediately and the patient was injected with a drug that rid IV fluid from the blood. As a result, the doctors weren’t able to proceed with AAA test.

The doctors agreed that the patient’s condition would drop dramatically if they went ahead and did the AAA tests, so they suggested Dialysis treatment (primarily used to provide an artificial replacement for lost kidney function). The patient refused because he had a friend who had died from this treatment. However, if AAA remains untreated it may become fatal. The hospital hired an interpreter to explain clearly to the patient about Dialysis treatments and what the risks may be.

In end the decision couldn’t be made and the patient went home to think it over. Later when the patient returned to the hospital, the systems reoccurred and before the result came back, the hospital consultant transferred the patient to a different hospital.

All in all, I learned much about diabetes and the collaboration of heart and kidneys. I didn’t end up finding out what happened in the end. The patient’s family was very grateful of our help and wrote us a card to show their gratitude. It was very sweet.