Balanced workload...

Found this... thought it was VERY funny! I wish life was that simple! =D

Tales: part 2 of 3 (& 3 of 3)

I know exactly what you're thinking.

OK, maybe I don't know what you're thinking. =P But, you haven't forgotten me already... have you? I certainly haven't forgotten you guys (even though the delay in my posts speak otherwise).

To make it up to you (yet again)... here's a double dose!

I thought these two cartoons were funny. I can imagine myself in a situation like the surgeon in the first one! =D Click on the images to enlarge!

Here goes:

Tale 2)
The next experience is just a tad similar to the first... I was on my way to a secondary school to do a physiotherapy experiments roadshow, as a part of the Student Ambassador work that I do. I was with a colleague, a third year medical student (who I will refer to as Smiley as of now), on the busy Victoria line.
The funny thing was, we had left Uni late for work and as if that wasn't enough, the train was held still in the middle of a tunnel due to a problem at the next station. After about 10 to 15 minutes of waiting, a bunch of Londoners began to step backwards in our aisle, forming a small clearing in the center...

I then heard a lady ask some passengers if they could offer their seats to let someone sit down. A tall, big built man, wearing a long brown jacket, stumbled to take the seat. He looked very distressed and was clearly having a lot of difficulty breathing.

I nudged Smiley, suggesting to her that we should go over and see what we can do to help. His eyes were closed and he leant his head back on the window as he struggled to breathe. I tapped him on the shoulder and said something like, "Sir, we're medical students, is it OK if we take your pulse?"

Here's the part where I goof up - and remember I'm in my second year of medical school now - I looked at the gentleman's hand, then turned to Smiley and exclaimed something along the lines of "Come quick, his hands are yellow!". Indeed, his hands were yellow (probably jaundice), but I didn't have to announce it to the world! I realised what a fool I was a split second later. The poor guy was probably too shattered to notice. Nevertheless, it was a childish thing to do (I won't do it again Miss, I promise!).

Anyway, while Smiley took the gentleman's pulse and let me know that it was normal, I loosened his tie and shirt collar. I think I told him to take long deep breaths and then gave him some water to drink.

We watched him for a while and then asked him if he wanted us to get off at the next stop with him and call an ambulance. He declined, but thanked us for our help and said he was getting off soon. He did. Smiley was proud of me (I still don't know why) and was boasting away about our strange train journey to the rest of our colleagues. We were half an hour late, but at least we had a story to tell.

Tale 3)
I'd like to end with a story that I'm not particularly proud of. It was just one of those days I guess. Imagine lying on the cold floor of an operation theatre with your legs being held in the air by a fellow medic. You weren't expecting that now were you?! How did I get into that state do I hear you ask? Let me explain...

It was day 2 of my clinical attachment. I was in Maxillofacial surgery and today I was going in early to be in theatres. I planned to meet my attachment partner early outside a cafe in Uni, so we could make our way there together. Guess what? I was rushing so much in the morning, I just had enough time to grab a few dates and take a quick gulp of milk.

So, we get ourselves scrubbed in and walk over to the surgeon and the scrub nurses who had already started the procedure. Man, was I disappointed. All the surgeon was doing, was removing a mole (or something like that) from the patient's upper lip. It was going to be a relatively short and easy operation.

Whilst watching the careful incision of skin, bright red blood slowly trickle out and be mopped up with cotton, I noticed that something wasn't right. I felt light-headed. A little nauseated and really cold. Soon it was as if the whole room was spinning. I couldn't hear the music or the chatter of the nurses in the background any more. The registrar taking charge of the surgical intruments turned to look at me. She wore a mask, but I could tell she was asking me if I was OK. Before I could answer, everything just blurred out.

The next thing I know, I'm on the floor with my legs in the air and a blanket over me. I tried to get up but they told me to rest for a while. I let them know though, as I lay there, that I hadn't fainted because of the blood, as I had seen many gruesome operations in the past. They asked me if I had eaten breakfast and BINGO! they had found the problem. A scrub nurse took a sweet out of her pocket and gave it to me, "Here take this," she said with a smile, "You need sugar." They were all so nice and understanding, even the consultant! He told us to go have a break and come back after we've eaten something.

I walked out of there feeling SUPER embarrassed, but I felt some reassurance after the stories my partner told me over a baguette.

Note to self: ALWAYS eat a relatively big breakfast when going into clinics or surgery for a whole day. As the oldies say: eat breakfast like a King, eat lunch like a Lord and dinner like a peasant.

Well, let me know if there's anything in particular that you want me to write about or if you have any questions for me. =) Until next time... adios mis amigos!

Tales: part 1 of 3

I wish I had more time to write on here.

I wish I would make more time for myself to write on here. I know. I need to be more regular in updating you with what's going on. I'm going to make it up to you with the next few series of posts though... three tales. (Isn't that exciting?!) But first I want to ramble a bit.

We got our Semester 3 exam results yesterday...and I passed! After sitting these exams in February, I was absolutely positive that I was going to fail. I just felt it as I walked out of the hall (for the written), as I ran out of the cubicles (for the clinical skills) and as I crawled out of the dissection room (for the anatomy). It's not that I hadn't revised. I mean, of course I had (I wouldn't take that risk!). Just, not sufficiently for the things that came up. The worse thing was when the questions kept playing over and over in my head, how I had answered them... and then all I could think about were the stupid mistakes I had made with the easy questions/stations.

That all disappeared though, when my plane took off for Spain. My sweety-pie Mum booked me tickets to fly to Madrid for the four days that I had off after exams. Sunny? Oh yes!

We're learning about the male and female reproductive systems to start off this semester. It's not too bad actually and a lot easier to digest than the neurology we got constipated with. Don't take me wrong, I love neuroanatomy and neuroscience - it's one of the many topics that intrigues me the most - there's just so much and they're mostly how we think it all works. We'll then swiftly move onto immunology (my worsed nightmare) and ageing... fun!

Oh, look what I found on Google Images (click to enlarge):

Isn't it cool?

I just noticed that the different systems are colour coded! Why couldn't learning anatomy be this fun?













Okie dokes! I think you've had enough of my verbal diarrhea. Shall we begin...?


Tale 1)

This incident happened last summer... I was on a couch returning to London from a friend's wedding. It was a hot evening and the journey wasn't completely pleasant as the couch's air-con' wasn't working. After about half an hour into the journey, whilst we were on the motorway, there was an uproar towards the front of the couch (I was sitting towards the back). I then heard a lady cry out. As I stood up I saw this distressed lady with a group of people trying to comfort her. Some others were all squeezed together in the aisle looking down at something. Oh no, has something happened to her baby... has it died? Were the first things that came on my mind.

I asked an aunty about what was happening. The next thing I know she and another lady were telling the people at the front to let me through as I was a Medical student. What?! What could I possibly do? I was only a first year at the time and I didn't know anything - and still don't by the way.

So, little me shoves her way through to the front to where all the commotion was. There I see a baby in his father's arms. His eyes were rolled back and saliva bubbling out of his mouth. He was having a fit. Of course this was a very frightening experience for me; I had never seen anything like it. His father was just watching him helplessly while his mother was wailing on the other side.

The driver stopped the coach on the hard shoulder of the motorway (I think we were near Oxford) and opened the doors. "Bring the baby outside, he needs fresh air!" someone cried. That was a good decision, as I learnt later. Half the couch came out with the baby and his father.

It was very windy outside, with cars whizzing passed at over 100mph. To add to that, we where on the edge of a hill (it's steepness was hidden by the overgrowth of vegetation). The father climbed over the small bar and sat on the edge with his legs dangling in a rocky trench-like depression. Others stayed on the otherside and watched with wary eyes and chattering teeth. I, on the other hand, wasn't going to stand and watch. I know I would have done something even if I wasn't a medical student.

I leaped over the horizontal bar and trudged over to the father and child. I had to be very careful not to trip in my heels and long party dress, as that would mean potentially rolling down the hill to God knows where. Another guy took the baby off the father and now sat in his place. I think he must have gone to comfort his wife. I knelt next to the child who, had by this time finished having his fits. He lay there limp, eyes open wide and unresponsive to what was going on around him. I clumsily took his brachial pulse (I vaguely remembered reading that this was where you felt the pulse in babies) and watched his face. His eyes were teared and glazed. He wasn't crying. Wait... He wasn't crying... shouldn't this baby be crying? I stood up and yelled, "Someone call 999, call the ambulance quick!" The guy who held the baby said "I've got experience in Medicine, the child is fine. Look he's not crying. He'll be fine; no need to call an ambulance." He stroked the child's hair. What? I was outraged. Moments later the baby tried to cry, I say this because he opened his mouth in distress but hardly any sound came out. It was then that I noticed that the back of his throat was inflammed. It looked outragedly red and sore.

An uncle had heard my plea and called 999. The doctor came in a matter of seconds and the paramedics arrived a few minutes later. I introduced myself to the doc and described what I had seen. I also remembered to mention his throat infection. He told me that the baby had an episode Febrile convulsion due to a fever he may have had from the infection and the hot temperature inside the coach. He explained that it was relatively common in babies his age and doesn't lead to brain damage. After speaking to the parents, it was decided to take the baby to the nearest hospital for a full checkup and antibiotics. Then they went off in the ambulance. I asked around about the baby a day later and was happy to hear that he was fine.

I know I didn't really do anything for the child, but am glad I was able to help even a little. I definitely learnt a lot from this experience.

I'll have to leave you here I'm afraid, but will be back soon for the next story I have to tell...

Hace frio

Brrr... it's cold isn't it?!

The pictures are of when it snowed heavily in London for a week (around the first of December), you can see; the train station a few minutes away from my house; my road, and my garden. See how thick the snow is on the trampoline? My friends and I jumped on it... 'twas epic!

I'm in Madrid at the moment. It's 11 degrees max and raining. Out of the three times I've been here, this is the first time I've seen it pour down. (Well, I saw it dribble whilst in the car up the mountain but that doesn't count!) The thing is, it doesn't suit Spain to be cold and miserable.

I remember hovering over Madrid airport last week, the beautiful sun shining on my face through the tiny window and thinking "Sun... woop!". It was my first time travelling to another country unsupervised and unaccompanied - I'm a big girl now! The funniest part of my journey was security at Gatwick airport. When queueing (I had to look the spelling up), I was like "I'm a pro at this!": I took my laptop out of my bag ready to put in a seperate tray; put my make up, perfume and cream in a transparent plastic packet; even took my boots off. I walked through the metal detector and... beep beep beep! It was my black denim jacket which had metal buckles on either side that made it go off, imagine that! I also caused a small delay whilst there, but can't be bothered to go into that. It was utter brilliance... end of.

The plane journey was also something different! I sat in between an Italian Tv freelancer who thought almost everything and everyone was crazy ( she had a few good points though) and a Spanish chap with tattoos all over his body (we could only see his arm, but he told us he had it on his leg and back). We just sat on the plane for 2 hours once we had boarded, while they were trying to get hold of the de-icer and then de-icing the wings. Seriously, you would expect them to be a little more organised! The wait wasn't too bad though. I had a few debates with the girl about religion, life and other less important things. As for the chico, he asked me about a book I was reading "The man who mistook his wife for a hat" by Oliver Sacks, he had read it a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. I asked him about his tattos and we had a "discussion" about the health aspects of that (pain, skin cancer etc). His reply was interesting: "we may find in a few years that we can't reproduce as well because of the radiation from our phones being in our pockets."

I watched a film on the tele the other night called "Unkown" or "Mentes en blanco" from 2006. It gripped me from beginning 'til end. The story line was brilliant; 5 men trapped in a warehouse with their minds erased by a leaking toxic gas. With no memory of who they are or anything what so ever, and a few blurred flashbacks of the event that brought them together, it is up to them to help each other escape, even though a few amongst them are dangerous kidnappers. I definitely recommend watching it with a friend and a mug of hot chocolate!

I'm meant to be flying back tomorrow morning. Not sure how well that's going to turn out with it snowing heavily in England again. Of course, I don't mind staying in Spain a little longer.

Project and Paediatrics

Sorry for my long absence! Tonight's post is dedicated to one of my blogging friends - Amy (http://summersunblog.blogspot.com/) - as she prompted me to write something. =)

I'll tell you what I've been upto then...

Since starting second year of Med school in October, I've been busy with my SSC, that is my Student Selected Component, for this semester (I think I've mentioned this in a previous post).

I chose the topic "The Value of Vestibular Testing in Patients Presenting with Dizziness", now that's a mouth-full! The anatomical picture of the ear to your left is therefore very relevant - if you were wondering what it was doing there. I volunteered to do a presentation in front of five others doing the same topic and our two SSC tutors (audiology Docs). I covered the anatomy and physiology of the inner ear - concentrating on the Vestibular system which is responsible for our sense of balance and the orientation of our head - and also covered Vestibular disorders, Vestibular Examination and Testing. It took me two half hour sessions and I was pleased with the positive feedback I received.

In a nutshell, I will have to gather a group of 20-30 healthy volunteers from the Med School and make them take a Stepping test (Fukuda/Unterberger Test) in different conditions. The test involves them marching on the spot with their eyes closed, and measuring the angle of deviation (left or right) compared to their original orientation. In a patient presenting with dizziness due to a vestibular disorder, the side that they digress to would be the side of the lesion. So essentially, by doing the test on "normal" individuals, I'm evaluating the deviation range within that group.

I'm currently on my Paediatrics attachment until Friday and will be on Geriatrics (health care of the elderly) starting Monday for another week. What can I say...? I'm loving it! I'm learning so much in the clinical environment and love being able to talk to the patients and their families.

I'll tell you one of the cases anonymously (or else I'd be breaching confidentiality). Patient X is a 10 year old male, a few months ago he presented with fatigue (to the extent of falling asleep in class), extreme thirst and constant passing of urine. He was diagnosed with Diabetes Insipidus, a condition resulting in large amounts of diluted urine.

Well, after doing an MRI scan it turns out that patient X has a tumour in his pituitary gland, leading to Hypopituitarism - the pituitary gland (which sits in the brain) not secreting particular hormones. His story or "History" I should say, truly touched me emotionally, as my brother is only three years older than he is. After speaking to his mum, I understood that he was yet to learn about his diagnosis. She was trying to find a way - with the help of experts - of telling her son that he had the "C" word. How do you explain to a child that they have cancer?

I have come across many more interesting cases in the three days that I've been on my attachment, which I'm sure you're very eager to read about. However, I'll leave them for another time.

Lily Waddington's Journal

I thought I would put this picture up to get you into the mood for today's post. This photo is of the Bank of England in 1890 take by George Washington Wilson (source: bbc.co.uk).

My dad and I were going through some of his old collections, when we found a journal dated back to 1890 belonging to Lily Waddington. She was my dad's great aunt, born in 1868 on the 10th of July in Dullwich. Lily died of Bronchopneumonia and Hypertension at the age of 80 in 1948, on the 12th 0f November in Camberwell. The journal is a compilation of various poems, messages, and pieces of art written and drawn by her talented friends and of course Lily herself.

Reading the journal for the first time that night, with my family at the dining table was a truly magical experience. I could imagine them scribbling the messages so many years ago, with their calligraphic handwriting, each so unique and beautiful in their own way. The poems and messages have so much emotion and meaning, that we can relate to even today. The journal, over a 120 years old, has pressed flowers neatly stuck in it, still in perfect condition. I even found a tiny squashed fly that was sandwiched between two of the pages over a century ago!

I've kept the treasure somewhere safe... so safe that I seem to have forgotten where! But I will definitely hunt it down and put up a few pieces for you to read.

I was also thinking of getting it published... if you know any publishers who might be interested please drop me a message!

Until next time... keep =) -ing.

Just changes...

It's been oh so very long since I've written, so I thought I'd quickly make a post tonight. Well, a lot of things have been happening in a very short period of time. Big changes happening to a small person like me - but that's life, eh!? It's all for the best, so I don't really mind.

Can't tell you about the big change, but what I can tell you is that I'm going to Madrid on holiday again! Yeepee! The last visit was great, but as it was during Ramadhan and I was fasting, I found myself too tired to properly enjoy our outings. So, I'm going again for seven days this time, to get a better glimpse of the sunny & lovable country.

I start Uni in October and am very excited. Can't wait to see my friends and get into a regular routine again. I'm not quite sure about the workload though. No doubt second year of medicine will bring a load of deadlines, especially with the two SSCs (Student Selected Components) - for which I'm doing something about the Ear and patients with dizziness, we'll have more indepth lectures and will be learning lots of new material too. For sure anatomy and physiology will be much harder.

Last year went by so quickly. I didn't believe the Junior Doctors when they said, they remembered first year as if it was yesterday. 6 years, how could that go like a breeze? With all the stress, long hours and terrifying exams.

It's getting late now. I'd better get ready for bed, besides I've got work tomorrow.

Until next time... be good!