It's been a year since I last blogged! And it's been a year since I was home! It's just too quick....
Just reading my entry from last year which has actually changed my decision about not going home for the whole 18 days that I've got off. What's gonna be different this year? CNY is almost over so most ppl will be back at work...Datuk Tan will be in Singapore and is refusing to come back for the extra weekend...hmmm altho I hope we'll still be able to gamble :) And this time I'm announcing my return (ceh wahhhhh...) unlike last year :) Thought another surprise will just be too boring.
Again, it's been a long while since I've last written. I suppose this is a good time to write another short entry after an enjoyable 2 weeks back home for CNY.
Firstly, I have to thank everyone back home especially Edwin and Ho for their time which they so generously and "unreluctantly" gave despite having to work...relatively hard :).
My holiday started when I surprised my parents in church on the Sunday morning after Edwin and Ho took me for breakfast. The look on my mom's face was priceless when we stepped into church with my luggage..
Although this was the first CNY that I've celebrated at home in 5 years, the 1st day of CNY was particularly boring as I just sat in my grandparents' house with no one to talk to for a whole day. The second day was a bit more interesting as we went to Seremban (mom's side) and I got to meet and play with little nephews and nieces that I never knew existed before that!
We managed to fly to Singapore last minute to visit my dad's good friend and managed to speak to a couple of doctors about the training and working situation over there. My overall impression was that they work A LOT harder than we do here in the UK and that the selection to training posts was quite fair unlike the UK. So it is a potential option for me further down the line...
The rest of my holiday followed this routine : Woke up at bout 12-1pm, have lunch with parents + parents' friends, then do a bit of shopping, have a nap from about 5-7, have dinner at home then from 8 onwards go mamak or gamble till about 2-4 am :) It may sound a bit dull, but I actually had a really really enjoyable time, free from work and any worries. Initially, I thought that after 2 weeks, I would be all ready to get back to Cardiff to start work and to have some purpose in life but I was actually quite disappointed that the time went by so quickly and I think another week or so would have been better. Oh well...
I'm now back here and life has restarted. Had to do my laundry, washing up, grocery shopping and cooking. Will be going back into work tomorrow and I've been told that it will be busy. One thing that I've promised myself is that I will NOT complain about the work load and the hours here as doctors in the UK are quite spoilt with the new working time directive.
Anyway, thanks again to everyone who took the extra effort to meet up at crazy hours and had to pay the price the following day...but I bet it was all worth it right?!?! :)
Pics will be coming up soon...but videos can be found on Facebook and:
It's unbelievable that it's been 10 weeks already since I've started work. So much to say, so many stories to tell. The learning curve continues to be extremely steep.
Before I start, I shall clarify some terms and the hierarchy in medicine, the big boss is the Consultant, next down is the Registrar, then the Senior House Officer (SHO) then me, the House Officer.
For the past 3 days, I've been left on my own ie. NO registrar or SHO. Just me and the big boss, which is very unusual.
Today, I strolled into work as usual, and within 2 minutes, one of my patients died right in front of me. We've been expecting her to go off anytime within the last few days but oddly enough, it happened just as I came to work. It's the second time that I've seen someone die right before me so I can't say that I'm used to it yet. It felt odd..a slight sense of helplessness. The sad thing is that it could have been prevented.
She was a lady with dementia and was staying purely in hospital as she was waiting for a place in a nursing home. Unfortunately, she caught a bug that gave her diarrhoea called Clostrium Difficile (C.Diff) which didn't go away despite antibiotic treatment. She became terribly unwell and developed a small heart attack which then led to a downward spiral.
Hospitals are nasty places. Elderly people who stay there long enough WILL catch a bug of some sort. I've seen quite a number of these deaths which makes me very bitter with the system in general. Nursing homes are generally very full with a long waiting list and unlike back home where usually our elderly relatives will come back from hospital to live with us, a significant number of elderly people have to be put into homes because their relatives haven't got time to look after them. Hence, the unnecessary waiting around in hospitals leading to a 'hospital-acquired' infection leading to death.
Yesterday, I had to tell a 60 year old man that he had a 12 cm tumour of his colon. That was 2 days after I stuck my finger up his bum. Fortunately it hadn't spread to any of the other organs so the prognosis is fairly decent. Breaking bad news is something that I'm surprisingly comfortable with. It's not that I enjoy being the bearer of the news but somebody has to do it and I think I'm pretty good at that :)
Tomorrow, I will be starting my night shift for a week. That's 14 hours over night in a day for the next 7 days. I really don't know how I'm going to cope with the lack of sleep...I won't be seeing anyone at all other than my colleagues on the night shift and the patients for the next week.
Oh well...this is what I subscribed for in the first place so I shouldn't moan. I do feel quite privileged at times to be part of some of the most significant moments in a patient's life which makes up for the other frustrations that comes with work.
Anyway, that's all for now. Need to go to bed. Keep the pictures coming. I enjoy seeing everyone 'grow'. :)
Firstly, I must apologise for that outburst on Saturday.
I can't describe how horrible that weekend was. Nurses were constantly bleeping me for 13 hours; for some jobs that were important, and mostly not.
I've never felt that much pressure. On occasions, I had to raise my voice a little at the nurses which is unusual for me. I regretted doing/saying a few things out of frustration and stress.
I guess the worst is over for now. I don't think ANY amount of knowledge or experience as a student could have prepared me for that. It's just something that everyone will experience at some point and will have to learn from.
Working has made me appreciate my evenings and time off more. It's a huge change in lifestyle and I hope I'll get used to it soon.
