A rather boring but necessary catch-up!

Wow, it’s really been a while. The Boy was saying the other day that it’s been ages since I blogged, but it’s not because I don’t have anything to say, it’s just that I’ve been doing a lot of living recently and blogging falls by the wayside!

I’ve survived six months in surgery, and I’ve now moved from Big Teaching Hospital to Smaller District General which is a bit further away and where the pace of life is considerably slower! I’ve only been there a week, but it’s really not bad. The shifts are not very evenly distributed – I am on call every evening for 3 weeks (excluding weekends), and after one week of post-take shifts, I am back on call again. I had to fight a bit to get time off for the wedding (unbelievably!)  -  the rota authorities were true to their word and gave me the week off, but they also gave me a night shift the night before the wedding, and the weekend after it, when we were supposed to be on honeymoon! After some begging and a lot of swaps, I am now off from the tuesday morning before the wedding (after a night shift) to the monday after we get back from the honeymoon. Success!

Wedding wise, there’s only 5 weeks to go! We are very excited, it’s all coming together very well, we both have something to wear, lots of people are coming, and we’ve rented a flat on the north of the city which is costing a stupid amount of money considering neither of us is living there at the moment but was too good to let slip. It’s got all the things we/I wanted in a flat – 2 bedrooms, wooden floors, cornicing, a big fireplace, bay windows, brilliant!

So this is all very boring, to fill in the Massive Gap of No Blogging, and for that I apologise. I have been having thoughts, honestly, and I’ll try and get some of them down here. Until then, here is a thing I nicked off Elaine, who nicked it off Rachel…

Four jobs I’ve had in my life:
1. Piano teacher
2. Usher in a concert hall
3. Waitress
4. Paperwork and needles skivvy aka Junior Doctor

Four movies I would watch over and over:
1. Garden State
2. Clueless
3. Amelie
4. The Shawshank Redemption

Four places I have lived
1. Bristol
2. Leicester
3. Dundee
4. Edinburgh

Four T.V. shows I watch
1. Skins
2. Location, Location, Location
3. Scrubs
4. Top Gear

Four places I have been:
1. Israel
2. South Korea
3. Egypt
4. Russia

Four of my favourite foods:
1. Risotto (made by my mum)
2. Coffee Log Dessert (made by my mum)
3. Curry (made by my very gorgeous Almost-Husband)
4. Casserole (made by my mum!)

Four things I am looking forward to this year:
1. Marrying Andy!!!!!!!!!!!
2. Honeymoon
3. New home
4. My trip to GP Land in December!

Off to the Almost-In-Laws for dinner, yum. My Almost-Mother-In-Law is a very good cook!

Thanks for tuning in, sorry it’s been so long, more soon I promise

Til Death Do Us Part!

So I’m holiday in Sunland with The Boy, visiting The Parents once more! It’s really nice here, not to gloat to the people back home but it’s warm and sunny and pretty darned good.

Anyway, we’ve had some good chats with my parents, exchanged (but not opened) Christmas presents, and eaten some good food. And we’ve only been here a couple of days!

But best of all, yesterday we went to a wee village in the hills called Lefkara, where they make lace and silver, and after pottering about for a bit, sat down outside the church where you can see out across the island, all the way to the sea.

And there, The Boy, this gorgeous, amazing man whom I love with all my heart, got down on one knee, held out a glitteringly awesome ring, and asked me to marry him.

What do you mean, did I say yes?! Of course I did!

So tonight we are going out for dinner on the seafront, my fiance and I, to eat good food, be very slushy, and talk about our wedding and the awesome life we will have together.

I think it’s safe to say I’ve never been so happy in all my born days!

Something for the weekend

Last weekend was awesome. Not only was it my first day off in 12 days (we don’t count the 3 days when I was off sick because I couldn’t talk AT ALL, and it’s very difficult to clerk in A&E if you have completely lost your voice and feel like crap) but it was a nice day too, all cold and crisp and clear, just how I like it.

Andy had a band thing in the morning at a studio in Stockbridge which, although it meant getting up early to drop him off with his various drummer-man paraphernalia, was a good thing because it meant I got to have a proper day off. Beware, medical students, of sleeping through all your days off, which is very easily done but is kind of a shame, because you don’t get that many days off and it’s always nice to see daylight and have fresh air.

So while Andy was drumming his wee heart out, I wandered around the shops in Stockbridge and browsed the property. No, we cannot afford to live in Stockbridge (at least not unless we rent) and yes, I am aware of this fact, so don’t worry, but it’s always nice to look. I bought a lovely necklace and matching earrings which I may wear with a certain dress sometime in the future, and I bought Andy a wallet since his has holes in. Then I sat in a coffee shop and read the Saturday Times. Gosh, am I civilised or what?!

We went for lunch in the Grassmarket, in a wee restaurant where I used to work one summer when I was back from uni, and which has awesome sweet potato wedges among other things. After lunch we went to Andy’s house where his sister + husband + toddler son and his parents were waiting for me to play the piano for them to learn a few songs for a choir they were in for church the next day – Andy’s mum has, um, fully embraced the fact that there’s finally someone who can play their (very flat but in tune with itself) piano and has all but arranged a carol singing night for the whole family, Little Women-style. I’m dreading it! Must practice more.

In the evening we went to a birthday party (a nursery rhyme-themed fancy-dress 30th, no less) for one of Andy’s friends. We were Little Red Ridinghood and the Big Bad Wolf. No, I was not the wolf. Some people went all out, it was a really good party, everyone enjoyed it.

And that’s one of my best days ever, right there.

No medicine, just life. Aaaah, life. Enjoy it.

[The weeked got a little worse when someone drove into the back of my car on sunday evening, but apparently whiplash gets you a couple more days off work so I'm not complaining too much. I do like my job, honest!]

A Letter

Dear Faithful Readers,

I know you are probably few, and you are probably very bored of checking back here and realising that, yet again, I have not updated my blog, and so I thought I would make an effort!

Let’s see, what’s been going on in my life…

Work is alright. I have moved to the surgical admissions unit in Big City Hospital which is about as different from GI medicine as can be! As part of the rota, I spend most of my time in A&E admitting people with belly pain, which is sometimes interesting but mostly not. I worked the weekend and clerked a grand total of FOUR PATIENTS in both of the 12 hour shifts. It was very dull. Unfortunately I made the mistake of updating my facebook status to reflect my frustration at having nothing to do and consequently jinxed it for today – I have just finished a 9-hour second on shift where we had 25 admissions. Repeat after me: Never Use The Q Word, Never Use The Q Word…………ad nauseum.

Also as part of my rota, I spend the occasional couple of days manning the day surgery unit. This is a particularly bad piece of staffing, as my shift consists of: turn up at 07:45hrs and change into scrubs. Go to unit. Prescribe paracetamol. Have a break til 10:30. Have a break from my break til 12:00. Decide it is lunch time and have a long lunch. Write a few discharge scripts. Have another break. Write a couple more discharge scripts. Go home.

Initially this was fun…for about 3 hours until I realised that nothing even remotely interesting is likely to happen, and the guilt starts to set in that there are F1s in the hospital (like the poor sods doing my last job, which I loved but which was not very break-friendly) who don’t get to pee for 13 hours, and I am sitting around. Thankfully I only do a few days like this every few weeks. Apparently I could go to surgery, but since lap choles and hernias really don’t do it for me, I prefer to read the paper.

In other news, I booked some flights to take The Boy out to visit The Parents in sunnier climes. We are going in a couple of weeks. The Boy is lovely, by the way, did I mention that?! I finished my 12 hour shift yesterday and came home to find that he’d come round and cooked me a curry. Spot on. Ten out of ten. Awesome. I digress.

Anyway, life is grand. Work is work. Andy is gorgeous. We are going to see my parents soon. I am going to bed now, and I might even read a book for a bit. Did I mention that Andy is gorgeous?

Hope you are well. I’ll try and keep in touch a bit more often. I always say that, but I do mean it, honest.

love,
Joey xx

Eat, read and be happy

Much as I love my job, I also am really enjoying time off!

I finished my last shift in GI after what could possibly have been the worst week ever, but I survived to tell the sorry tale and am now spending a few (well-earned, I think) days off. Yesterday I stayed home and chilled out with The Boy, which was great. Then in the evening we went out for drinks with my SHO and registrar, which was very pleasant. There was no hierarchy-like feeling, and a good time was had by all.

Today my friend Elaine came down to visit for the day. We had lunch, talked about boys (and not about work), mooched around the shops, bought some jumpers and didn’t feel guilty about it because the money came out of our no-longer-in-the-red bank accounts, then we met up with The Boy and had dinner at one of my favourite wee restaurants. We are currently sitting in my living room watching Scotland play Italy in the pouring rain, but it’s okay because we have the fire on and we are warm and dry.

I’m a happy girl. I’ve got a few days off coming up, and I have big plans for them – I’m going to READ. Yes, ladies and germs, I’m going to read. I bought two Ben Elton books in the first week of work, and I haven’t even read the back covers yet. I love Ben Elton. So in my days off, I am going to SIT DOWN for more than 10 minutes and I am going to READ. Hurrah! Yay me.

Here are some other things I might do.

Days off are awesome.

Some thoughts and much rambling

Many apologies for the lack of posts of late, I suck at regular blogging! Sorry, sorry, etc.

Lots going on in life, much of it work, but some of it, um, extra-curricular! Am currently sitting on the sofa watching rugby (with one eye, apologies for typos) next to a pretty wonderful guy who has appeared on the scene…his name is Andy, he might feature here from time to time

Today we (yes, me and aforementioned lad, we’re ‘we’ now!) went to the church I grew up in, my ‘home’ church. Haven’t been for about 3 years because it’s not really home any more, at least it doesn’t feel like it and I go to a different church usually. It was nice, very different from last time I went.

It wasn’t a comfortable service. I know it sounds bad, but I sometimes like to go to church and then leave and not have to think too much, especially about things I should be doing differently. Challenge is not always welcome. I’m challenged enough at work, I feel like church should be a safe place with not too much thinking and definitely no feeling! Oh dear, I suck.

Anyway today’s service was really quite uncomfortable for me, I felt a bit weird about it all. I might write more about it once I have cultivated some more logical thoughts and when I have time to write things!

This week is my last on GI – I’m doing 4 long days then I have 5 days off, hurrah! Then I am going to the surgical admissions unit for some fun and games with people with abdominal pain. I really like GI, I’ll be sad to leave. I’m just getting the hang of it. But change happens and I’ll get over it. Might even get a holiday if I’m lucky!

I hope things are good in your life. Think lots.

Dear Medical Students

…I have something to tell you.

The financial recompense for working all the hours God sends, being treated like everyone’s personal whipping boy/girl, doing all the crap jobs (yes, even you will grow to loathe taking blood for the boredom factor and wish you could get your hands on larger needles) and never, ever, ever going home on time is WORTH IT.

Yessiree, I got paid today, and boy is it worth it. For a start it turns out I am banded higher than I thought (2A not 1A for those who are interested, hallelujah) and also it turns out that I’d been forcing myself to expect a much lower amount so I wouldn’t be disappointed.

It worked!

So I’m now down one overdraft with enough money left over to pay my rent, buy my long-and-eagerly-awaited iPod, get a new phone (mine dies a lot), buy some trousers AND eat strawberries.

I may even bounce into work tomorrow.

It’s amazing what getting rid of some debt can do!

So, dear medical students, I have been you and wondered when my time will come. Let me tell you that it will come, and you are paid more than bus drivers (not after you add the overtime, so don’t do that calculation, it’s not good for your soul) and you will get to take your family out to dinner. Stick at it.

And believe me about the taking blood. After the 20th time on a sunday morning when you have a million other things to do, it gets boring.

Yours richly,

Dr Joey BMSc(hons) MBChB NrlyDed

By yon bonnie banks

Remarkably, I’ve had a few days off! Four, in fact, from tuesday to friday. I am a happy bunny.

On tuesday I went to see a show at the festival with a friend from church (yes! I have friends from church now!), then I did a lot of rather frustrating online training stuff which is due for monday (yes, all you med students out there, even once you have reached the hallowed goal of doctorhood medical training is still a box-ticking exercise) including a pharmacy tutorial thing which is marked by a pharmacist and the results of which go to your tutor – it took me AGES and was pretty tough but I got like 92% so it can’t have been that hard! I hope the pass mark is less than 90%…

On wednesday I went through to Glasgow to pick up a friend who I haven’t seen for a year – it’s not that we are lazy or bad at keeping in touch or that we don’t like each other any more, it’s just that she was in Japan for a year and it’s hard to meet up regularly with someone who lives on the other side of the world. Not impossible, but certainly more difficult than if she lived just down the road. Anyway. We set off in the car for a wee road trip to Loch Lomond, and, believe it or not, it was a glorious day! Possibly the first since April. We climbed up a hill and surveyed the views while eating strawberries, we went out for lunch, we chatted about lots of things, we got lost a few times (she’s not the best map-reader in the world but we were in no rush and I love her anyway), we drove on a lot of roads which look like this but with forrest and hills, we stayed in a B&B run by a lovely man with a Highland accent (consequently I will always associate that region with Highland accents, although they are all Weegies), we pottered about a bit more and rated each town on their facilities (Aberfoyle, lose 10 points for not having a chippy but gain 20 for having nice toilets, Callander gain 10 points for having an excellent chippy, Crianlarich lose lots of points for having nothing! Though I gather the station restaurant is nice…), then we went home again. It was a great trip.

Last night I went on a work night out which was a bit of a let-down, especially given that only 3 of us turned up, plus one more from another ward – grrr at my registrar who organised the whole thing and then didn’t come, I love him a little less now. Today I have finished off the annoying training thing, and tonight am having a family dinner with, you’ve guessed it, my family. The parents are departing on Sunday which might be a bit of a shock, since they have spoiled me rotten by doing all my washing and making me food to take with me while I’m at work, not to mention picking me up after particularly long shifts!

I’ll leave you with another picture which my friend took yesterday and which apparently sums me up in a nutshell…though I think a stethoscope should be added for completeness!

Exhaustion…or how I learned that medicine is a game

Well, that’s me finished my first 8 days of work…I calculated that I’ve worked 86 hours since last friday which is rather a lot if you ask me, and I’m ready for my day off now!

All in all, I’ve really enjoyed it. I’m starting to think it’s some kind of crazy game. Here’s how I see it:

Go to work in the morning – get handover. This determines the difficulty of the game that you start at. Lots of sickies = advanced, nothing to report = beginner.

Level 1: The Ward Round – see all patients before moving onto next level. Complete menial tasks for points, insert venflons for more points, review sick patients for bonus points.

Level 2: Complete ward round jobs. More points to be had by knocking down obstacles such as fluid prescribing, rewriting kardexes and things. Go back three spaces for a tissued venflon.

***Congratulations! You have prescribed meropenem, at £100 a day! Win a free lunch from a drug rep***

Bonus Level 3: Lunch. This is a difficult level to get to and is not reached every day.

Level 4: Get called to see a sick patient. 500 bonus points for not killing them, 100 points for correct investigation and initial management, 100 points for diagnosis. Lose 500 points if you have to send them to HDU. Lose 1000 points if you have to send them to ICU.  Game over if you have to send them to the morgue.

…anyway, you get the picture! Some days you win, some days the hospital beats you. I won a couple of days this week, but other days I lost. A couple of people got really sick, a couple are dying, we had to tell 5 that they have terminal cancer, and on one day my (male) consultant and my (male) registrar between them managed to make 4 ladies cry in the course of one ward round – enter me with tissues and sympathy while my reg and consultant stand there looking awkward and saying ‘there, there’ in a very male way.

So it’s been a rollercoaster, but I’m feeling good. I’m starting to recognise when people are properly ill, I’m not panicking about every little thing, and I’ve stopped freaking out every time I prescribe a scary drug – warfarin and insulin are not exact sciences, I find, and I even managed morphine and benzodiazepines a few times this week!

This weekend I have lots of nice things planned, including taking the medical students out for lunch, seeing a friend from uni, and playing my violin at church. I’m looking forward to it.

But most of all, I’m looking forward to going to bed!

Nine to five

…what a way to make a living…

Well, nine to five it is not, but I love my job! I’ve done three whole shifts now, nobody has died and I am loving it. I’m pretty tired already – I worked a late on friday (13 hours), and yesterday I was meant to leave at 5pm but it was actually 8:30pm, but today was ok, I was out by just after six. Only another 5 days before I get a day off…

Actually I feel like a traitor looking forward to my day off – I really like this job, even after only three days – the nurses are lovely, the other doctors (the little I’ve seen of them!) are lovely, I’m really enjoying being able to prescribe things without needing someone else to sign off on them…I like all of it really. But it is quite all-consuming. Life is get up, go to work, come home from work, shower, eat fruit, sleep, repeat.

So I guess I’m appreciating time off much more than I used to. I’m already thinking of things to do on my weekend off, people I can see, fresh air I can breathe.

But for now, I’m enjoying myself. I’m tired, but only when I’m not at work. And I am really, really glad I saw this thing through to the end and became a doctor, because it is awesome.