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.

A few pictures of my Spanish Vacaciones

I was fortunate enough to visit Spain with family for thirteen days, here are a few pics...

Our house is in El Molar (which means "the molar/tooth" - just one of the many humourous names given to places in Spain), just outside the city centre of Madrid.

Madrid is beautiful, with its breathtaking mountainous scenery and small pretty cottages... a

definite heartthrob!

We managed to drive up about 2000 metres above sea level. Felt a little light headed as the pressure began to drop minutely (had great flash backs of physiology lectures). The view from above was immensely spectacular! Driving up to high altitude reminded my brother and I of one of the best episodes of the Top Gear series.

Hollywood look-alike-much!

Thought it looked cool so took a picture while we drove past it on our way to Madrid!

A bull! These boards aren't put up any more, but the ones that are left are monuments now.

Wonderful... he even smiled for the camera! =D

SEGOVIA here I come!!

Segovia is a historical place located in the community of Castilla y Leon - meaning "Castle and lion" kinda like our Elephant & Castle huh!

Be-u-ti-ful... a Spanish aqua-duct. Here's a better pic of the tremendous beast...

Next up, the Cathedral and MY (;-]) castle... nah, it's actually the castle of Isabela La Catholica:

The head in the bottom right corner is my little bro's!

I don't know much about the history of Segovia (maybe I should do a bit of research, hmm... nah!), but I do know that the architecture is exquisite. Walking down the old streets were brilliant (including the oh-so-good shopping facilities), the walls of the buildings were decorated with tiles of geometric patterns greatly influenced by Islamic art. I'll see if I can find a few photos for my next post.

I've got so much to talk about - I'm actually bursting! Until next time... Adios & hasta pronto!