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First day of Neurosurgery week!
The most fun/fulfillment/satisfaction I’ve had in a very long time. :)
Didn’t exactly get to do much, saw a glycerol injection for recurrent trigeminal neuralgia – not the answer to the title of this post, by the way. Haha. Saw a lumbar discectomy – rather – saw tools being handed between scrub nurse/surgeon and saw pieces of bone and soft tissue being extracted from a small window on the patient’s back. -_-
Ultimate moment of eurekaness was when consultant showed me and partner an MRI of a patient which showed a haematoma/haemorrhage in the cerebellum and this patient was mentioned earlier on in the ward presenting with gait problems and dysdiadochokinesis.
Two and two equals four! Finally! Only regrets were: aforementioned patient is not “mine”, and that I did not get the chance to examine the patient and come to a “diagnosis” before I saw the MRI.
A bit of very useful information imparted by one of the surgical nurses in the changing room on my way out:
“No, no, don’t say sorry! They’ll just hold it against you, next time just (go on doing what you were going to do)! Don’t say sorry!”
I guess it doesn’t just apply to surgery. Heh.
Staff in Ward 23 are extremely approachable/friendly/kind. That helps the scared fledgling clinical student in me I guess. HAHA.
Neurology is interesting. Very.
It does help having patient and eager-to-teach consultants with great senses of humour too. :D
I still sound blergh, don’t I?
Hello again people.
I am back. After a month and a 23 days.
This postsecret was the ultimate factor that made me want to blog here again (random – I know).
I haven’t written for so long.
Soooooooooooo. Let’s see what has been going on in my life since I last blogged.
Hmm.
I lost a best friend – that was the reason behind all this emodrama shit – but life goes on.
MeJeat came to visit and Jing&Jo came to visit and they did make it better – but it was already too late.
I came to realise what an amazing support system my friends made and am still marvelling at how awesome they are.
I went on a Eurotrip to Barcelona, Madrid, Paris and Rome – and missed taking pictures of the Spanish Steps because I was busy being depressed. I did not take pictures of the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa because I was moodless because I was depressed. I almost did not take pictures of the Trevi Fountain because I was depressed – but I did in the end because it was just so pretty and majestic. I made the rest of the people who were travelling with me (except for Merv) think I was psychotic at one point in Rome because I was depressed. But that’s not the point. HAHA. Europe was fun. I did and thought and learnt a lot.
(I should put some pictures up.)
I came back to Dundee and relaxed for a bit.
I STARTED FOURTH YEAR!!!!!!!
(Hahahaha. The enthusiasm is overdue because I am now going into my third week!!!!!!!!!!!)
Infectious Diseases was… interesting. It was made more interesting/exciting/adrenaline-filled with the prospect of Prof N looming (? – haha :P) upon me. Survived it! Did (way) better than I thought I would have, and now have a new-found intense like for this specialty. Also realised that IMU did a very good job in teaching us about microbes and parasites. :D
Oncology was… kinda depressing. But that’s a given, I suppose. I don’t think I could ever do it. But I think it helped spark my love for speaking to patients and brightening their day (questionable, HAHA. :P) again! It also made me realise that oncologists are super communicators and actually good communication skills aren’t that “unattainable” as we’ve been led to believe (with all the *slight* overemphasis on communication skills etc and how we’re treated like we are crappy and hopeless communicators – *eyeroll* – which might actually be true for a certain percentage of the medical student population, ahem – but I suppose that it boils down to us being humans as well and knowing what to say and when to say it is should be already inherent and part of our nature…?)
Neurology/neurosurgery next! Should be interesting… except for the fact that the nervous system and I have never been closely acquainted since I was introduced to it about a year ago. (I apologise for the lameness and formality, haha. I HAVE NOT BEEN BLOGGING FOR A RATHER LONG TIME.)
aaaaaaaaaand that’s about it for now I guess.
Oh – and yeah. Ben cooked salmon fish head curry and bak kut teh somewhere in between! :D
Watched Sepet and Gubra last night with Merv. It turned many question marks into full stops.
Currently reading Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli. It’s funny how much I can relate to a “children’s book”.
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New banner up! Inspired by Love, Stargirl and my new pair of Converses (harlequin; broken hearts – how poetic.)
Thanks Tammy for the bokeh inspiration.
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Here’s a picture of the Eiffel Tower:
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I guess that’s me for this entry, then.
Goodnight!
(…and Happy Birthday, Malaysia.)
