20130329
it took me 2 hours to get from rusden to lygon today. TWO HOURS. could have almost driven to shep please. ridiculous. :| apparently some brick wall on swanston st collapsed and killed 2 people? because of strong winds. according to shuwei.
ended up having dinner at ying thai instead of ramen ya. too cold to walk so far. ;p tom yum and pad thai, yum! :D then we went a few doors down for freddo's. ;p met daniel there, heh. awkwards.
there wasn't any space to sit inside or outside, so we walked over to the car and sat in it to have our ice cream haha. finally got to have rocher again because it was cold. ;p talked for a while (i keep telling everyone about my virgin delivery experience ;p) then sent her home.
thank God it didn't take me 2 hours to get home.
attempted to entice kevin to come visit again with freddo's. ;p
okay my headache is back. time to sleep!
12:04 am
20130328
"hello this is allan from sky package first, just calling to let you know you have an air bag in depot, if you'd like to collect it today before 5pm, that would be great. bye now."
what on earth is sky package first? google yields no clues. i really need to do something about the letter box lock. either that, or never have anything delivered to rusden. it is too frustrating.
lazy day today. feeling rather headachey. :|
all my piano skills have gone down the drain haha. i can barely play anything anymore.
transition year. i feel like i never know where i'm going to be in the next year. such a nomad, but this can't go on forever.
harbouring hope. i'm beginning to understand why some people can be friends and others can't. and this makes me really thankful. for that.
there is cat hair everywhere.
everywhere. i need to do something about this shedding, i reckon. maybe i should use furterer on my cats hahahha. ;p
going to drive to the city for dinner with shuwei now. my car is guzzling petrol like..... okay no i've just been driving a lot. :|
oc soon!
can't believe it's already the end of march. :| resident teaching presentation + o&g journal club coming up soon ugh.
4:59 pm
20130327
smelly cat, smelly cat
what are they feeding you
daniel is my biggest insta fan haha. ;p
went to liar liar for brunch with the abalone this morning! :) tempted her with Skype haha. she just has to go up to shep with me to drive it back. ;p anyway. the hot choc was so-so but the eggs ben was not bad. hollandaise could be more buttery but overall it was still good.
dropped her off and then went to glen to pick my dress up. :) yay! also got a few other things heh. eg. new hairdryer. ;p
my brother's own birthday gift to me - following me on insta. ;p
had dinner at shyun (my first time!) with nike. :) yay! was nice catching up. :) dim sum next time!
nearly forgot that today is payday. ;p so many yays! ;p
hungry...
11:07 pm
20130326
it's so nice to rest again! ;p i feel like i've been running non-stop for the last 3 weeks and could finally take a break today. ;p
woke up at 7+ and couldn't go back to sleep, so i ended up playing bearadise haha. played till 300,000+ and then stopped and of course now the game has restarted itself, sigh. i will never beat my own high score at this rate. ;p
went out to the glen to get my dress altered. daylight robbery - $42. might as well go and buy a new dress that fits right. -.- but i really like this dress though. sigh. drove back home and walked to uni to study. was quite surprised to see the library so crowded. :| didn't think it was exam time or anything!
didn't really feel like studying so i just did mcqs. after 2 hours i got too bored so i left to pick up my photos. plus i think the pretest book is really dated. "babies should not be delivered before 39 weeks without first ascertaining foetal lung maturity." really, 39 weeks?
walked back to uni to meet daniel for lunch. :D bought peri peri yay! :D hahaha. loyal customer even 2 years after graduating.. ;p it was so crowded everywhere so we ate outside. it was warm but super windy, so difficult to eat messy food haha. went to find the piano rooms in campus centre too. managed to find them even though the last time i was there was probably 4-5 years ago. ;p
after daniel went to class i went back to the piano room to attempt to learn to play the song. but my fingers aren't used to playing anymore haha. after about half an hour someone else came and asked to use the room - actually there were two pianos in the room, and she asked if i was using the other one. how does one person play two pianos at once? and how can two people play different things on two pianos in the same room? but anyway. i left.
facebook is always so annoying when i want to upload photos.
am attempting to pack for OC. am also attempting to convince someone to go for brunch with me tomorrow haha. i need a bit more motivation.
trying to decide whether or not i want to have dinner. hmm.
7:39 pm
20130325
was really glad to be able to escape monday madness today. i don't envy yati. birth suite was full except for 1 bed, and the antenate at 32+2/40 with grade 4 placenta praevia started bleeding again. and one of the postnates is still on a magnesium sulphate infusion. eek.
so yes, i was really glad to leave at about 11. went to pick my stuff up from the post office and the other yellow beetle was there! haha. parked next to it. ;p now i've met its owner haha. modcloth + kathmandu. went home and loaded the car. becks ran to hide under the bed when i took the harnesses out, but i managed to drag him out by his leg. they really don't like car rides.
took nearly 3 hours to get back today. :| unloaded the car, then went to pick up the lomo film scanner from dhl. didn't realise that it was so close by - near the horsies. then i went to pinewood to develop my film. can collect it tomorrow. :) can't wait!
think i actually like the new modcloth dress more than the other one. will go alter both tomorrow. thinking of dragging myself out for brunch too. liar liar?
waiting, still waiting.
i want to go on a proper holiday but i'm too lazy to plan one. :|
7:21 pm
20130324
day 7 of 8. :) :) only 3 hours to go! i always have a huge smile on my face when i leave the hospital haha.
was a good day. :) got to assist with a kiwi cup delivery! eggcites. considering i have never even delivered any baby before?! hahaha. ;p in med school we had to do 3, but i just observed 3 and got them signed off. ;p (ultimate slacker i know) (shh i'm already a doctor, doesn't matter)
so ibby and i both pulled on the kiwi cup, one hand protecting the perineum, and then after the head was delivered and restituted (?) i got to deliver the rest of the baby! and also the placenta. and take cord bloods. hee. ;p
there was also a fair at the hospital today, and a few of our patients who had given birth were wandering around haha. got to see their babies. ;p and also got to have indian food for lunch. one of the midwives got my hopes up that there was a thai stall, but we couldn't find it. :(
they changed the paeds roster. i think from march there are 3 residents instead of 2.. will have to work shifts. :( not overnight, but 1430-2400, which i really dislike. much prefer regular day shifts, sigh. plus i don't like paeds at all, it freaks me out. sigh. at least that isn't till august.
let the cats out again this evening but they keep coming back in and going back out. i leave the screen door ajar but once one of them goes out it closes and i have to go and open it again. last night becks went gallivanting because i forgot that i left the front screen door ajar. found him 2 doors over and took a while to get him back. would be nice to have a cat flap eh.
shall continue with my packing for melb this coming week + OC. i don't feel at all prepared for OC.
need to pump petrol.
6:41 pm
baby you've got the sort of laugh that waters me
and makes me grow tall and strong and proud, and flattens me
i find you stunning, but you are running me down
my love's too big for you my love
i think i've actually already decided.
off to work - day 7 of 8.
7:43 am
20130323
day 6 of 8. :)
my love's too big for you my love
and if i was stronger then i would tell you no
and if i was stronger then i would leave this show
and if i was stronger then i would up and go
but here i am, and here we go again
it was rather busy for a saturday. got my first positive amnisure heh. and also removed products of conception from a cervix for the first time. ibby always lets me do things, yay. :)
one woman delivered within an hour of presenting to birth suite haha. and another delivered within a few hours. there was just one more woman in labour when i left, a primip. her CTG kept having loss of contact, and at first she refused a foetal scalp electrode, but then molly (the midwife) had a conversation with her husband:
"i haven't heard your baby's heartbeat for 25 minutes."
"but it's still there right?"
"i don't know, i can't hear it."
and then they agreed to an fse. -.-
ibby sent me home half an hour early. :) wandered around kmart and coles for a while. when i got out and went to the car, the man who was parked beside me said he liked my car haha. ;p so do i! ;p
can finally let the cats out again. :) it felt so good to have the sun shine on my back again, after leaving the hospital past sunset for the last 5 days. feels like winter has come early because it's dark when i go to work and darker when i leave. seasonal affective disorder.
thingsweforget.. :) of course some of them are more meaningful lah, they were handpicked for you! heh.
dinner with nike on weds at shyun (yes i haven't been there before) and dinner with shuwei on thurs. :) don't know where to bring shuwei though!
8:33 pm
20130322
friday! :) day 5 of 8. only 21 hours to go!
okay time to bitch about my med student.
on monday he watched me miss 2 cannulas before telling me he'd worked as a phlebotomist for 4 years. then today when mal asked me to do 2 cannulations he told me that he would do them because watching me on monday freaked him out. D: how rude! then after he did them, he told me "look i did your job for you!" !!!
on top of that. we had a patient show up to birth suite unannounced with an antepartum haemorrhage and placenta praevia. he put 2 cannulas in and i took the blood tubes and sent them off urgently. after that he asked me if i used his name or mine. -.- please, of course i have to use my name so i can sign it and send them off urgently right? plus he says things like "thank god my grandparents died of cancer so i don't have to keep flying out to see them." ?!?!
and. he is smelly.
it was otherwise a pretty uneventful day. saw a few patients in ED, saw one patient in pre-admission clinic, went for teaching.
there's no teaching next friday so i can't leave the cats here after all. :| i hope i manage to drive back to rusden from phillip island without a gps. :| maybe i can just follow someone there haha.
there are currently 3 4Aers going for the big 10 thing. ;p
festering dislike.
9:49 pm
20130321
day 4 of 8 - hump day! :)
worked with the new boss for the first time. he does things in a strange way... before even sorting out the inductions this morning, he whisked both regs away for a meeting about their rosters. then he disappeared without finishing the round. -.- and in the afternoon when he went to see the ICU patient he started singing
don't cry for me argentina along the corridor haha.
i let the reg do most of the heavy lifting today. did the easy stuff heh. like baby checks and discharge summaries/ scripts. saw easy patients in ED and birth suite while he handled the inductions. there were two planned inductions and 2 SROMs, so we ended up doing 3 inductions, and we're doing the other SROM tomorrow. this morning every room in birth suite had a patient. never seen it this busy before!
one of the inductions delivered, the other one didn't get started till late because of the madness, and the augmented SROM ended up going for a caesar as i left. she just refused to have an epidural and kept screaming and wasn't progressing. every time i see a patient like that i think to myself that i will never do that. elective caesar, no screaming involved. i can barely handle dysmenorrhoea, i don't think i'd be able to handle labour.
OC is coming! it reminds me of transition camp and campfires. need to gather all my warm clothes haha.
just bought one of those things that plays music from the phone in the car because i left mine in sg. $4.95 only leh. some more it's the kind that charges at the same time, which is better than the one i have.
one of the regs said that the bosses are thinking of redoing the resident rosters also, to have both of us on during the week and one of us on on the weekend. D: NO PLEASE DON'T. i've already booked my june flights! and i really like having my 6 days off heh.
think i will leave the cats in shep over the good friday/ easter weekend. makes life easier.
friday tomorrow! :) working with ibby and mel, praying for an uneventful weekend. :)
9:58 pm
20130320
day 3 of 8. tomorrow is hump day!
it was actually a really quiet day. after the short ward round i saw one patient by myself, did a few jobs, had lunch, and then settled down to check the 3-inch tall stack of pathology results. it's annoying because you have to check bos/ chartview/ labtrak to try and make out why the patient had the test/ what you're meant to do with the result.
saw 2 patients in birth suite and sent them home. there was a patient who came in for an ECV but we later realised that she was only 36 weeks so we sent her home too. and birth suite was quiet otherwise.
tomorrow there are two inductions, one for a woman on the methadone program at term+10, and one for severe IUGR. there was meant to be a woman with a foetal death in utero coming in too, but we're pushing that till friday. "is it better to do the one whose baby may die, or the one whose baby has already died?" my consultant asks.
he was nice to hannah though. but i heard that she has put in her resignation and will finish at the end of the month. i don't blame her, i would too.
and the boss was quite hilarious today. at about 6.30 he came to birth suite because when he's in his office he doesn't see anyone and gets lonely hahaha. then he was talking to us about shows and said "sometimes when i have to leave the hospital, it's because of big bang theory."
he also said it was silly for me to drive back from melb just for teaching. but unfortunately, the other o&g bosses are so unreasonable that we're expected to be there even on our days off, claiming that it's "paid time" though it really isn't. -.-
i wish it was monday already.
since it was quiet i went to get my fluvax today. the lady didn't have to use the cotton ball, i couldn't even see where the needle went in. it's funny how they give us lollipops. ;p like kids. ;p i don't dare to eat it at work though, later halfway have to go and see a patient haha.
also managed to give dhl a call and arranged to pick my lomo film scanner up on monday. :) yay! at least this one didn't get lost in the mail. heh. it's difficult living in two places and not being able to collect mail within 5 days.
also feel like using this furterer thing after hearing all these rave reviews haha. hmmm.
think i better start using ical again.
i called
You answered
and You came to my rescue
and i wanna be where You are
10:20 pm
20130319
day 2 of 8 and i am tired!
long day. 7.45am till 8.45pm, not fun. though my reg bought hot chocolate for me.. i didn't get to drink it till it was cold though. took a bite of my sandwich at about 4.30pm and then went to discharge a patient from the surgical ward, and then went to assist on an emergency caesar. finished the sandwich at like 6. hmm.
handover was painful. the consultants make it such a pain. my reg was so pissed off at them for almost killing hannah. she debriefed hannah twice. and i'm really amazed at hannah. i would probably not have been able to make myself come back to work after that. :| plus it was in front of the med student as well. how inappropriate.
so when one of the surg interns asked me about doing an advanced dip obs here next year i discouraged him from doing it. i mean sure, do it somewhere else, just not here. the bosses are such pains to work with.
sutured a second degree tear today, with ibby guiding me. :) yay! first time ever doing subcuticular sutures too haha i know i am slow, but at least i have done it now. ;p though i don't like them.
one of our antenates had a ?PE with sats down to 80% on room air overnight. she went to ICU and had a CTPA and started labouring and had an emergency caesar, which was done in the scope room because there were no free theatres. turns out she just had terrible pneumonia and not a PE. really unexpected though, she's so young and it happened so quickly. :|
sent my reg home after work because her 4yo kid was sleeping and her husband would have had to leave her home alone if he were to come and pick her up. she likes my taxi haha. ;p says it is funky.
my nose has been messed up since singapore. :\
10:43 am
20130318
93 million miles from the sun
people get ready, get ready
'cause here it comes
it's a light, a beautiful light
over the horizon, into our eyes
oh my, my, how beautiful
typed an entry yesterday but forgot to publish it. edited it just now but it refused to save. and now i can't be bothered to type it all out again.
was really tired this morning, and it was written all over my face haha. my reg whispered to me, "you look so tired! you should go and take a nap before it gets crazy!" because, as she says, she is a shit-magnet haha.
annoying 17-weeker told me in ED "you can't keep sending me home without fixing the problem," then after i admitted her she self-discharged!!! can you please don't waste my time doing your admission notes and writing up your med chart! don't even have time to use the toilet please! :|
the boss is also super annoying. he keeps telling me to be more proactive and chides us for not pushing him along during ward rounds. hello i am the resident, you walk and i follow, my role is not to lead the ward round but to write notes and check obs and chart meds. if you ask me to examine the patient, i will, but if i do it who will write the notes?
then later, after interrupting my lunch to go for a family meeting, he thanked me for accompanying him "because i cannot talk and write notes at the same time." -.- that's exactly what i do for you on ward rounds! grr. plus he was mean to the med student as well. really dislike him.
got to suture a vaginal wall tear for the first time today! ;p only 2 interrupted sutures, but still! ;p it's been such a long time since i sutured anything, my hands were shaking and i had to think for a while before i remembered how i usually tie the knots haha. but rasmita was so nice, she pointed exactly where i should oppose the edges. :) am glad i'm working with her till wed! then it's prasanna on thursday and ibby over the weekend. :) score!
i really think i looked (and felt) a lot better at the end of my 12hr 15min shift than when i started haha. it's easy to just keep doing work, it's only when you have nothing to do that the wave of tiredness hits you and then it's very difficult to get over it. so i'm happy to keep busy. ;p
one day i will find the time to dig out the mini screw drivers and fix my camera (which is falling apart). and cut my nails haha. i'm kind of glad my hair is short now, it dries a lot quicker. ;p
for now i'm too tired, going to sleep. ;p day 1 of 8! :)
11:07 pm
20130316
day #5
light up-
last day! T.T though i am really more upset about having to go back to work than about leaving sg haha. it has been an infuriating few days, what with being shouted at for no reason, crazy driving, having my flipflops stepped on for extended periods etc. the grass really is greener on the other side. the air is a lot fresher too.
my mother sent me to serene and picked up the baking stuff from sebas. he brought the macarons haha. the texture is all wrong and they have no feet! hahaha. but i still like the ganache. ;p had a hash brown and orange juice at macs while he blotted his hash brown haha. it's been ten thousand years since we had breakfast at macs, aww.
took the train to tanjong pagar and waited for ian. an indian man in the train kept coughing onto my hand i nearly died. D: it really makes me feel like a tourist when i have to look at the board to figure out which direction i'm meant to be going in.
had brunch at the plain. yet another singapore brunch place to disappoint! i don't know why i bother. -.- had darling's eggs and a hot chocolate which was too sweet. talked... and then he decided that we should go to town to look at prada wallets. his friend is going to europe and he says i should order haha. should i get a bag also? ;p hahaha.
wanted to go to taka to eat durian pancake.... but we ended up eating a cheese cookie, 2 durian pancakes, and a bunch of random deep fried food! would have loved to have some modanyaki as well but he insists it is too salty and i couldn't eat too much because i have to have dinner at home. oh well, i'll be back again soon. ;p
i still think he is one of the few people i can be 100% myself with. could finally tell someone about the qianbian face hahaha. ;p
took 171 home and the ezlink reader was broken so it was free. ;p aunty ai seok was at home, she said i look prettier hahaha. so many pimples please.
my neighbour keeps shouting oi. -.-
my mother picked up my dress for me. i have to say the lady did a really good job in terms of workmanship, but it's still loose around the waist. wonder if i should go and get it altered again in melb. :\ it'll be so ex though! but for the sake of vanity. heh.
flying in less than 5 hoursss.
5:43 pm
day #4
can't believe i'm flying off tomorrow. so fast eh.
i'm really tired though, which is not a good way to start work. :( looking forward to 10 days' time... when i can finally rest!
drove to bukit batok to pick up curry puffs in the morning. 30 big and 30 small. drove them to school and watched my brother play frisbee. imagine like 25 kids in a big clump trying to catch a frisbee. -.- anyway, eveland won in the end. ;p
drove to pick perryn up from clementi and went to keong saik. but the place only opened at 12. so we went to mei heong yuen for pre-lunch desserts while waiting for the rest to arrive. eugene met us there, then kaiwen met us at keong saik snacks. didn't really think the food was great. melbourne sets the benchmark and most of singapore cannot make it.
after lunch we went to tiong bahru bakery. eugene's and my first time there haha. had to borrow parking coupons from eugene too heh. iris joined us there. :) everyone is very envious of my roster, understandably. ;p but they're all on holiday now. talked about jl's engagement ring haha. i really don't remember walking to school with him. not at all. but apparently it was witnessed by perryn and iris haha.
dropped perryn back at clementi and drove home. thought about going to swim because it was sunny, but there wasn't much useful sunlight time left (for tanning) so i didn't. my sister gave me a mani and ivy dropped by to pass me stuff to bring back to melb.
the family went to the outback steakhouse for dinner to celebrate fath's birthday. the guys had steak and the girls had chicken and ribs. i have eaten so much this trip that i think i've gained back what i lost since the beginning of the year. :|
drove out to salted caramel to meet peiyu, alvin, and caleb. ice cream and waffles. i think salted caramel is overrated haha. peiyu got my cupcakes too! :)
drove home, sorted out transport for tomorrow morning, showered, packed, and checked in. :) all set to fly! i just need to get home in time to shower before dinner tomorrow so after i touch down i can just go to church.
this trip i met up with/ will have met up with:
- ivy
- diana + rong + yurong + yuming
- sebas + kevin
- zhilin + zepeng
- perryn + eugene + kaiwen + iris
- peiyu + alvin + caleb
- ian
not bad eh, for a 5-day holiday. ;p but tiring!
okay goodnight. :)
1:04 am
20130314
day #3
the human heart is a scary part in fact
'cause i could break you
and you could break me back
though my head says just forget it
you'll get hurt and you'll regret it
ask me now and i won't hesitate
i am doing a lot of things and meeting a lot of people, but at the back of my mind i know my time is running out and the dreaded monday is coming. :( 3 days to go.
walked out to get my hair cut this morning. spent a while psyching myself about it before haha. i don't mind it too much i guess. it's better than having that dry mess. was going to take a bus back but decided to not be lazy. though it was so hot.
the frog came to pick me up after class. went to holland to get stuff from phoon huat. also managed to have some daily scoop! :) they didn't have yellow brick road though, so i had to settle for butterscotch pecan. still good though!
went over to cold storage to get cream and stuff and was reminded of kevin's cream accident haha. and also of how ridiculously expensive everything is here. D: 300ml of cream for $4?! 325g of baking chocolate for $9.95?! daylight robbery please. cream would be <$2 in aust and chocolate would be $3.70.
saw joseph mak in cold storage haha. (i keep wanting to say coles) and then saw him again as we were walking out of the hawker centre. he saw me then so we waved, heh.
sebas drove me over to kevin's xo fish bee hoon place but it was closed!!! D: how upsetting. had to settle for siew yoke rice instead. still good, but not what i was craving for!
attempted to make macarons. was reminded of why i dislike baking in singapore. i always miss my baking stuff in melb. good quality stuff haha. not like the plastic things we have here. and the ingredients! sigh.
kevin came! :) yay. took instaxes haha. dywtd face. ;p the macarons took ten thousand years to form a shield so i gave up and left hahaha. sebas will never let me forget it. :|
went to town to meet zhilin for dinner! :) ippudo's shiromaru tamago ♥! i managed to get us a table before the ridiculous dinner crowd hehe. ;p after dinner we walked to ion and zepeng joined us at starbucks. hurhur. was nice talking to someone who understands exactly how it feels. :)
so many pimples around my nose, why! :( so painful. :(
took 171 home and immediately got the car and drove to hv to collect shuwei's stuff cos i forgot to get it this afternoon. i wonder how i'm going to fit everything in. good thing i brought one of the country road bags back.
11:55 pm
20130313
It is so strange, to encounter an ex. It's as if you're in a foreign film, and what you're saying face-to-face has nothing to do with the subtitles flowing beneath you. We are so careful not to touch, although once upon a time, I slept plastered to him in our bed like lichen on a rock. We are two strangers who know every shameful secret, every hidden freckle, every fatal flaw in each other.
- Sing Me Home (Jodi Picoult)
day #2
the morning was very angst-filled. had breakfast with my father (that part was fine), then went out to the police cantonment complex to apply for my coc. they confiscated my camera at the door - because it is okay to bring camera phones in when you can take photos silently, but not okay to bring a noisy film camera in. and then they wouldn't let me apply for the coc because i didn't have an "official" document from the federal government stating that i needed a coc. i had something printed off the immi website but apparently that isn't enough.
took a bus to town and was yelled at by an old man for not moving to the rear even though the bus wasn't crowded and i wasn't blocking anyone. gave him a death stare and was angry for a long time, which felt weird. give me more reasons to dislike singapore, why don't you.
window shopped in town, then went for a facial with the moth and sit. extremely painful but quite good i think.. went to pick the broth up from school and then had lunch at itacho. my sister accidentally ordered the foie gras handroll instead of soft shell crab and no one wanted to eat it. wasn't really impressed overall.
went home to drop the brother off (he had tuition), then after a while we went back to town to buy my shoes haha. my mother made me drive because she had to text/ make calls. -.- i hate driving in singapore. especially to town. in the middle of the day. ugh. so stressful.
but anyway i got my shoes, yay. :) and a pair of jeans and pants from zara. my beloved jegs are getting loose. :(
was going to go chop my hair off but it was raining too heavily. might go tomorrow if my hair is still gross (i just washed it).
diana picked me up and we had dinner at brotzeit with rong, yurong, and yuming. :) glue. the conversation revolved around hair, balding, diana tying her hair, relationships, marriage, childbirth... diana says cannot.
there are 2 more people i need to run this by.
if nothing is happening tomorrow....
11:27 pm
20130312
those are the best days of my life.
hello from singapore. :) +65 8281 5724.
ibby was the best this morning and sent me home before 8.30am haha. ;p because it was a public holiday (ie. no clinics/ elective theatre list as per usual monday madness), there wasn't really much to be done in the morning even though there were 2 inductions. needless to say, i was overjoyed. ;p
the hospital rubbish collector saw me walk out and said "that was a real short day for you! and you don't look too upset about it either!" haha. ;p
went home, packed the rest of my stuff up and put the cats in the car. the beetle's dashboard is a lot wider than Skype's, so the cats are more tempted to jump up. think my seat and the passenger side panel still suffered a bit despite my efforts to protect all the cloth bits. :\
arrived in rusden at about 12 and talked to liliane till 2. went to clayton to attempt to get the lanolin but forgot that it was a public holiday and shops would be closed. then i went to proud mary to get coffee for ian. initially wanted to have lunch there but didn't have time so i just grabbed a hot chocolate to go. yum. :)
dropped the car off at alpha. it was weird seeing someone else drive it! haha.
the speed at which the queue for the emirates check in moved was ridiculous. but when i was second in the queue (behind a couple with a kid), the guy in charge asked me to go first haha. ;p the lady was quite upset, particularly when i finished checking in and she was still waiting haha. then the customs area was so empty that the customs guy spent a few minutes asking me about my work haha. "what kind of doctor are you?" when i say "general" people always think GP. but sometimes i can't be bothered to explain how it works.
non-medical people tend to arrive at the strangest medical conclusions. i don't understand why.
the flight wasn't too bad, felt strange being handed a warm towel, then a snack, then dinner, then another snack haha. been flying budget for too long! ;p
moth picked me up and we got macs on the way home. mcwings with twister fries, yay! opi was waiting up for me. :) tuna and coach were up too.
tomorrow we're having the hk pork chop rice thing for lunch and then i'm going to perm my hair, then meet ivy, then have dinner at home. oh yes and i need to alter my dress also. and i need to remember to go to the police station at some point.
feels weird for some reason.
it's 4.42am in melbourne. i miss my cats! :|
4:42 am
20130310
BD blogging-
the lady drove my new car over yesterday evening. :) so nice of them! otherwise i'd have to wait till i don't even know when before i'd be able to go over to wangaratta to get it.
drove it out to get rekorderlig for perryn. now i've added dan murphy's to the list of places i know how to drive to in shep. ;p sat in the car outside dan murphy's trying to figure out how to turn the lights on haha. :|
mang is back today!
must remember to go to the police station when i'm back in sg.
will attempt to drop by proud mary to get some coffee (to bring back to sg) tomorrow if there's time. it will be very tighttt.
my sneaking suspicions are growing.
day 7 of 8, please let today be quiet too!
7:34 am
20130309
day 6 of 8. only 2 to go! and only 12 hours. :) :)
was a rather quiet day, which was good. nearly fell asleep after lunch haha. my reg did actually sleep. ;p
there was a lady in ED with menorrhagia who had a Hb of 58 and was asymptomatic other than being a bit lethargic. amazing.
then a GP obstetrician referred us a patient from echuca with a "non-reassuring CTG." when she arrived and we looked at the CTG from echuca, it was normal. -.- baseline 110-120, variability 10, with accelerations, no decels. there was a period of sleep trace, but still. and my reg was super paranoid because the patient was hep c positive heh.
one of my frequent flyer patients came in too. but the midwife and i sent her home. it's not nice to have patients raising their voice at you in albanian. a pregnancy is meant to go for 40 weeks, stop trying to make us get your baby out at 37+1!
realised that my ezlink and nets cards are still in rusden. must remember to get them before i fly... otherwise i'll have to buy yet another ezlink. -.- i wonder if my prepaid card still works. :\
anxiety ++
6:04 pm
another summer day
has come and gone away
in paris and rome
it's saturday and i just don't feel like doing any work. praying for an uneventful weekend.
7:33 am
20130308
day 5 of 8! :)
i think i really feel a lot less tired this week even though i've been sleeping later. :) yay.
was really busy this morning but slowed right down in the afternoon. was so bored by 5pm haha. at 7.15pm the boss walked into the office while i was facebooking and my reg was sleeping. :| hur hur.
we also spent some time complaining about the bosses haha. ;p but seriously though, their system does not work. every day a different boss is on and they have different management plans and they question us about a decision yesterday's boss made as if it was our decision. they get upset when we call them, they get upset if we don't call them. they get upset about things that aren't within our control. -.- hannah said that they just take whatever you say and want to do the opposite.
the day started off with a private caesar. again, everyone does caesars differently. some want you to push on the fundus, some don't want suction, today the private obstetrician made me retract using my fingers while he sutured the uterus, i was so worried about getting a needlestick injury heh.
went for the rest of the ward round after getting out of theatre, ran around doing jobs and baby checks, then went to pre-admission clinic. finished that and went for teaching. finished up my jobs after that and then just slacked haha. no ED referrals at all. :) probably balances out yesterday's referrals haha. it's a lot better having the reg around all the time.
best part of the day.... carrying an hour-old neonate while my reg sutured a labial tear. :) :) :) yesterday (or maybe the day before yesterday), there were a couple of babies around the nurse's station and i went around looking at them and judith said to be careful, i would get clucky haha.
...okay i am tired now. 21 hours to go. :)
12 - cut & perm hair
13 - facial/ dinner with fairsian bloggers
14 - lunch with the frog/ pineapple tarts
15 - sg meddies lunch/ fath's birthday dinner
16 - brunch with ian/ fly
makes me feel tired just thinking about it. ;p
9:16 pm
20130307
"the gathering will be held on 20 december, please rsvp by end of march."
seriously? 8 months in advance? how do these people plan their lives so far ahead?
anyway. thursday is hump day! :) day 4 of 8, but 48 hours down and only 33 to go. :)
it started off nice and slow, with me doing the ward round by myself, with the num and med student trailing behind.. but became rather crazy towards the end of the day, with patients piling up left right and centre (ED and birth suite).
was about to do a speculum exam and amnisure on a suspected SROM (though i highly doubted it was a SROM) when i was called to ED to see a patient with significant PV bleeding. and after that referral i got another 3 while in ED, ha. think i spent a few hours there this evening.
the new reg is the loveliest though. she's so nice and is always laughing and is ever so willing to help me. it's so nice to work with her! she's going on nights though, and i'm with h over the weekend. :\ it makes all the difference you know. i'm so glad i was working with r today because if not i probably would have been really stressed with that many patients.
have been summoned to theatre tomorrow morning for a caesar under one of the private obstetricians. not sure if that's common practice, but oh well i haven't scrubbed in for a while. and it shouldn't be too busy except that i have pre-admission clinic. and also from what i heard he isn't the nicest of people - patients have stated that they do not want to be looked after by him.
these people are not being helpful at all.
finally went to coles and bought the usual things to bring home - starburst and timtams. in addition to that, tea tree oil for my grand aunty.. and i still haven't found lanolin for my aunty. maybe at chemist warehouse on the weekend? oh and of course, rekorderlig for perryn haha.
haven't booked my airport parking. should i pay for undercover parkinggg? i suppose not eh. :| it's expensive enough as it is. :\
home in 4 days!
12 - cut hair ;p
13 - facial/ dinner with the fairsian bloggers
14 - slaving over pineapple tarts
15 - fath's birthday dinner
16 -
9:14 pm
20130306
i didn't blog yesterday? ;p haha. i did lah, but forgot to publish. it was all rather drab anyway.
day 3 of 8! :) nearly halfway there.
apparently monday is a public holiday. labour day. we were trying to figure out if we're meant to get the day off since there are no clinics or theatre lists.. doesn't make sense to have 2 regs and 2 residents around for nothing much.
did 5 baby checks today and got peed on by 2 boys. it's always the boys, sigh. only managed to go and change a couple of hours later heh. walked around in scrubs the rest of the day. ;p in fact i'm still in them now haha. and since i wore them home... i might as well keep them right? ;p
i think my ED friend is purposely picking up gynae cases haha. 2 out of 3 referrals were from him. but at least he does bloods - though he always does CMP, i'm not sure why. the guy who made the 3rd referral didn't even bother doing bloods or anything before calling. -.- but i left him to face ibby haha. the wrath of ibby.
we had a PNMM meeting today - perinatal mortality and morbidity. the paeds guys were there too... they don't seem particularly friendly. i think when i do paeds later on in the year i'm going to miss my nambour paeds team!
am noticing a trend here hmmm.
dar ray invited me to go to gold coast with some of the malaysians haha. but i'm working. i think it would be lovely to visit queensland again though, particularly the sunny coast. though i really don't know what i'd do haha. maybe i should go up to cairns in winter. ;p
home in 5 days!
9:14 pm
20130304
large kittens.
day 1 of 8. thank God monday madness is over! if the whole week is like this i think i will just cry.
the day started off with the boss calling everyone out of handover because one of our patients needed to go back to theatre because she had been dropping her Hb after her C-section on sat. in the end the boss scrubbed with the other boss who was doing a list and the rest of us stayed in birth suite. and it turned out to be bleeding from the rectus sheath so she kept her uterus.
ibby got so annoyed by the theatre staff who asked him if she had MRSA. "she's dying and you're worried about MRSA?!" besides, she'd been to theatre just 2 days ago. and also, we all are probably colonised with it.
there were 4 women in birth suite so it took some time to sort them out. by the time we were done, prasanna was called back to theatre and sarah left for her week off, and bayo (the consultant on call) wasn't in yet. and hannah (the reg on call) was in clinic. so i was left there by myself.
attempted to do a foetal scalp electrode and failed. the up side of that was that for the first time ever i managed to stick my fingers through the cervix to touch the baby's head! haha. but i think i attached the fse to the cervix, hur hur. the midwife tried and got it the second time round.
the reg phone isn't working and hannah doesn't have a mobile phone so i had to keep paging her. and she cannot multitask so i have to wait super long before she calls me back. -.- how stressful, when patients have been waiting forever. :| sigh.
so yes, i did the ward round by myself. but there were only 3 patients to be seen, and they weren't particularly difficult so it wasn't too bad.
was asked to call the reg/ consultant and diabetic educator about starting an insulin infusion on this woman who (we thought) was in early labour and had pre-existing T2DM. "can you find out if they're happy for us to follow the protocol?" isn't that what a protocol is for? so you can follow it instead of asking whether it needs to be done? -.-
called my patient to tell her that histology had confirmed a complete hydatiform mole and that she had been referred to the royal women's and that they would contact her for follow up. she thanked me for being so lovely to her when i looked after her, aww. :) day made.
will be home in a week! though that just makes me feel even more tired. traveling is so tiring.
OC part time fees:
friday half day $50
saturday/ sunday full day $70/day
accommodation + food $30/day
total = $250 = same as early bird price -.-
i think it's quite unreasonable that sat and sun don't have half day fees though. because i have to leave by 1 on sat and by 4 on sunday and sunday service is free anyway. oh well.
every time i think of this i think about what ian's mother told me that day at their house, when we had cake that she served on a platter.
9:45 pm
20130303
erm.
it's sundayyy. sunday blues. :( but oh well. holiday soon.
went to church early to learn ohp heh. the programme keeps crashing. like at least 5 times today. plus i am not a big fan of fancy backgrounds haha. oh well. otherwise it isn't too difficult lah i guess.
went for a walk to visit the horseys. saw a cat who reminded me of chipper, but it wasn't too friendly and was at the wrong house. didn't see king (whose real name is yoyo). went home because it was too hot haha.
mixtapes and kueh lapis.
oh yes it's the 3rd of march. 6 years is a long time. is it weird that i still remember what i was wearing that day? ;p
liliane helped me bring B down to the car haha. they were really quite quiet this trip = lots of time in the right lane again. the more times i make this trip the faster i go. :\
sometimes i wonder what it would be like without.
james was quite funny haha.
this year's first years are paying aud60k for their first year. that's crazy.
was talking to this uncle in church (i really cannot remember his name :\) and he said i have become more confident haha.
part time OC?
resounding.
trying to psych myself up for work but it's difficult. super tiring week here i come.
9:11 pm
20130302
it's weird, but i start getting depressed on saturday. it's back to work on monday. :(
went to get cat food and a cat nail clipper in the morning. advance indoor cat food 20% off + $10 voucher from all the cat food i've gotten from them previously = score. ;p
also went to pinewood to drop my film off, but they said i could only collect it on monday. :( but i'll be in shep = i can only collect it next monday! :( such a long time to wait to see photos i've been waiting more than a month to see, sigh. patience.
came home and went to find the postcard to take a photo (tomorrow being 3 march and all) and ended up reading old letters haha. who knew that much love could be contained in a handful of envelopes? i nearly couldn't believe it.
had lunch at huff bagelry with some of the guys. slightly weird, but not
too bad i guess. the bagels were really good. hot chocolate was not bad either. we were going to go to freddo's after but there was a big jam and daniel had to go for his rehearsal. so we dropped him off and then went to freddo's without him haha.
was falling asleep in the car on the way back until zepeng started replying haha. quite hilarious really. and ian randomly msged to say it's a good thing i'm working in melb instead of sg. which he has told me several times already. i know, that's why i'm here and not there.
went to the library after to attempt to get some studying done, considering i haven't really studied at all this whole week. was there for about 2 hours before they kicked me out, but at least i have the books now. though i highly doubt i'll do any study at home. maybe can do some pretest questions if it's quiet at work haha.
feel like soup.
7:18 pm
You are all i need when i'm surrounded
You are all i need if i'm by myself
You fill me when i'm empty
there is nothing else
You're all i need
12:42 am
20130301
my side of the grass is green.
yay i survived. ;p though it was only just over 5 hours haha. am still really tired though. in my bones.
pumped petrol and drove up to shep. i feel like i am pumping petrol every other day. -.- and it's so expensive. :| i don't know if i should keep coming back before friday. :|
when i drive without my cats i spend a lot more time in the right lane haha. overtaking all the slowpokes. ;p when i drive with my cats, i just aim to stay alive, hur hur.
o&g education was really good. makes me feel like the drive was worth it haha. plus of course attendance was taken. the boss did a quick refresher talk about CPR, then we went through shoulder dystocia. now i know all about it haha. yay. came back and wrote it all down so i won't forget. she made ibby do the mcroberts hahaha. oh and during the CPR talk there was a slide with VF on it, and one of the consultants asked, "is that variable decels?" (as a joke, of course). which i thought was hilarious haha.
oh and i was giving random medical advice on fb haha. while driving. feels nice to be able to help people, even if it's just simple things like paeds paracetamol and ibuprofen dosing. ;p haha.
drove back and it only took 2 hr 40 mins even with the after work traffic. :)
have had a headache since 8am this morning. tension, i think. but it's almost gone now, yay.
FOUND MY PILLS IN SHEP. joy.
5:49 pm