Posh.

Today, my patient taught me something interesting.

Did you know? ...
That the word Posh came about from "Port out, starboard home" (P.O.S.H). Apparently it was on the passenger list for for people travelling from UK to India because the sun would be on the Starboard side when outbound and Port side when Inbound. Tickets for those cabins would be more pricey, and hence usually only the richer people would be able to afford.
And hence, the term really :D

Its interesting what we can learn from just talking to people, and being willing to give some the extra time to "blabber on". You never know what surprises lie ahead of you.

UP and around on a bright Monday Morning

Turned all my clocks, but my handphone/ alarm clock back 1 hour.
So here I am, chirpy and awake and WAITING FOR SCHOOL TO START (?!?) at 7am in the morning. This is beyond sad! But i like the feeling of getting ready for work in a relaxing manner, taking my own sweet time to get dressed and have breakfast.

And Im so glad that Dj is going to be around for xmas to travel around with me! We are currently looking at somewhere sunny.
Stef is coming over for the weekend, and there is going to be Mini Maf for me to meet everyone.
I have a hunch this is going to be a relatively good week, crossing my fingers and hoping that I wont lag for my new Urology rotation as I did for the past few.

Im ashamed to say this, but i am now officially extremely sick of B&J's icecream, after having (too much of) it for the past 1wk (every single day, urghs). Things like this happen when there is 2for1 offers and only 3 flavours are restocked each time -_-"

Quick Update :D

I just finished my ENT (Ear Nose Throat) ultra-short posting and I have to say this is definitely smthing tt i really enjoy. I was speaking to one of the specialist reg and he was saying tt you get a good mix of clinics and surgery on ENT which is great. I like being able to use my hands and work on stuff, and yet I like the whole idea of meeting pts and chatting to them as well. Plus the surgeries for ENT are pretty "clean" and sleek, and these surgeons sure do play with loads of toys. Double plus! I like rotations cos it allows me to open my eyes to more fields and things tt I would not have considered otherwise, but at the same time I dont like the fact that I dont quite get to know my consultants and the staff well cos we just keep switching firms.

I havent been all too proactive and working as hard as I should be in school (I dont think i have properly clerked all tt many pts this wk), and I have been having way too much fun with my flatmates. Like i do find it rather ridiculous tt Im having dinner from 7-10pm on a daily basis. Even my mum has started saying things like, why dont you try working, for 2-3days and then play for the rest. -_-" But still, its cool to have smthing to look forward to after a long day at work. The feeling of a pseudo- family away from home.
But the last couple of weeks have been really great for me, from gg down to Billingsgate Market and getting loads of lobsters and crabs and throwing parties and meeting up with friends and all.

Im going to watch a Chelsea match nxt wed, and Kep is just insanely excited about it. Im looking forward to it, hopefully catching a glimpse of ballack or smthing. But not all tt excited about the cold.

And i havent yet decided if I should go home for xmas, cos Stef is not going to be ard to travel w me and I think dj is off in Japan. URGHS.
Either tt, or I will make my brother come over to go Morocco with me :D

Skiving off On- Call.

Considering that I havent been doing any reading for the whole week and that I just managed to skive off from my on-call duties which I swopped with Morrison, I should be getting some work done now instead of waiting for House to load. (Yes, the new season is finally out! So is Heroes. I dont even want to check if Chuck's out, even though I dont think I would eventually be able to resist it anyway.)

The whole week has been so hectic, coming in early and all. We aint going back tt late, but still having to be rushing about and taking in all the info just completely drains me. I havent called home much, and my mum called to ask if I had died or smthing. I have now FB-ed my brother to tell him to periodically assure my mum that Im alive and well, not that I think he actually checks it with A's coming up and all. Hopefully, he would actually be working on it to some extent.

My flat has been like totally the most amazing thing that happened to me ever. Going back now is to some extent like going home. With people to chat with and stuff. Its really a nice feeling. I have half made my immediate neighbour (the one who looks like asian harry potter) my slave. Which is cool :D

I met up with Egg, Dada and his twin sister last night for dinner and some drinks. We had Fish and Chips and I have to admit that 3 years down, I still dont get British grub. As much as i love fish, I still cant bring myself to say that I loved dinner last night. It was good for fish and chips, but I really would rather have it done say, the Italian way. Headed down to Potions after that, and it was claustophobic, though i did get pretty used to it after a while. And i am starting to like my cocktails, though for the sake of my liver, I do try to keep it down to the bare (social) minimum.

Colorectal firm's over. Which is quite a pity, cos I really really loved it so much. The consultants and regs are absolutely amazing, all of them excellent surgeons and interesting personalities in their own unique way.
Its going to be Upper GI and Bariatrics next, heard it loads more relaxing, which is cool 'cos I think Im going to need a slowing down to not burn out. I applaud the singaporeans back home who can just go on and on like energizer bunnies. Sometimes I wonder if I would be able to handle all of these when I do eventually go home. Hopefully, I wont be like the crappiest doctor around.

Its a lovely day outside today, and thats a good sign always!

On Call on Sat is afterall a good thing!

I had one of the most productive days ever yesterday.

Managed to successfully take bloods from a terrified kid. Which was really a cool feeling cos he thought I was pro. Hah. Even though i was probably trembling more than him. But I had to keep that confident smile on, and assure him things were going fantastic. And thank God, I got the vein the first time. Nothing beats the feeling of shiokness as you see the flash-back (blood flowing back into the needle for the first time before you insert the tube), when you got the vein.
Really, now i see the wonders of good communication. I mean last time I used to think that PDS was such a waste of time and they are teaching the plain obvious. But now Im starting to appreciate the little tips and all which I picked up from there. For one, it makes pts less angry when you mess smthing up, which is smthing med students are bound to make.

I failed my first cannula but the pt was chilled with it thankfully. The FY1 on duty failed on his first try too :P
But after that, i managed to cannulate this anesthetized chap. And it felt good. And honestly, I think I was real lucky to have met cool nurses and anesthetists and surgeons who were willing to show me things.
Watched a hip replacement op after that, and now i do have second thoughts abt ortho. And i see why my neighbour was telling me to run 5miles a day at the very least and to work with weights. Tough stuff.

I then popped by the next theatre to watch my consultant do a complicated colectomy on this lady with metastasis in her sigmoid colon, following spread from the left ovary. They had to create a permanent end ileostomy after that. I was amazed totally by the concentration levels and dexterity of my reg and consultant. I think as Medstudents, I really do have to sit back and think when I complain about how tough my timetable is, 'cos i think our bosses have it worse. Not only do they not complain one bit about it, they still have to juggle teaching responsibilities on top of it.

Managed to get off 2h from work, which was cool. Went down to oxford street hoping to do some shopping only to realise that I am in London and shops are off at 5pm. So headed down to my snr's MAF party after that. Came back shattered, showered, slumped onto bed and slept without an alarm clock. Shiokness.

Going shopping in a bit!

Eradicate the Freshers!

Im feeling murderous today. Like Im freaking pissed at the freshers in my block who are partying daily till 4am everyday. I cant bloody sleep at all with all the noise they are creating and its frustrating when you are in bed for 4 damn hours. (You get my point from my choice of vocab.) They kinda forget that there are people who dont want to hear their convo and flirting and have to wake up at 6.30am for work.
Im real thankful that my flatmates are angels.

Well of course, other than my animosity towards the newbies, Im otherwise quite happy. Clinic's awesome and so busy. We are up and running from 7.30am and only off at 5pm, with like 15mins in between classes for lunch (in the midst of walking to the next class). Its kinda crazy, but exciting in its own way. I prefer this to having to wait around for things and being bored.
Managed to clerk someone with 4 pages of past medical hx. But in light of pt confidentiality and what not, I dont think its a good idea to share it here. Really, i never knew that so many prblems could be present in the same person at the same time. But i suppose, I should be qte immune to this already no?

Nitin and I then went to watch a colonoscopy through a stoma after that. It was cool stuff, since most of the time they tend to insert the telescope through the anus. Im quite impressed by the Reg's skill. I mean it does require some sort of coordination and practise to be able to maneuver that stuff well. The pt had some sort of mutated HNPCC, which predisposes him to colon cancer. Results from the colonoscopy wasnt too good, a previously removed polyp is now a fairly large lesion. He prbly has to have a colectomy lined up. It would really be interesting to do some follow up with him since the Reg mentioned that he prbly has to have a surgery lined up qte soon.

On a side note, I think Im pleased with myself thus far. I dont think Im doing fantastically well as far as rankings are concerned. But i think i have largely surpasses my expectations in terms of being able to communicate with people- both pts and peers alike. For the past 2 years, I have had this irrational fear that Im going to pass out everytime i spoke up in a group, but I have to say it is getting better now :D And i think im finally really enjoying hanging out with the angmohs. Which is good news really.
Im thankful that clinics is going well for me, and hopefully it would continue so.