Guest Posts

I meant to say this earlier,so sorry its a bit late.

I did a guest post at "The life and loves of Ninegrand student"

Its a totally awesome blog,that you guys should all check out

I did a short post about snacks for university, If you want to read it you can click here

The morning after

Click here if you want to read part 1.

I was really out of it on Wednesday,so I will start at the bit I remember. The doctor who discharged me,taught me last year.He said I could go home ,but he recommended I get home quickly so I can have a shower and a snack before placement.


Walk of shame moment
Traditional the walk of shame is coming home in the same clothes you wore the night before,which I managed to do.This was at 6 am so the shuttle was not running,and I didn't have money so I had to walk home in the rain.It only took 40min but I got soaked and I got a blister.I let myself into my flat and thankfully all my flatmates where sleeping.I like my flatmates but I was not ready to face them until I figured out what they knew.

The shower
I had a shower and discovered some evidence.

• 2 ECG dots-this suggests I had a ECG for some reason or other,
• 1 cotton wool and sticky tape thing points to the idea that I had a blood test.
• 1 pink cannula in my wrist.This was rather disturbing,had I escaped hospital or did I get discharged with a cannula in plain sight??

I pulled the cannula out gently and nothing to bad happened,(no blood came gushing out) it was just weirdly slippery and uncomfortable.

Warm water is so comforting,I immediately felt more like myself after the my shower.

Back to hospital
I considered calling in sick,but realised

A-I don't particularly want to get a sick note from my GP

B-being absent will give people more time to gossip about what they think happened.

C- according to my schedule I would be in a MDT team meeting,so no patient contact at all.

I couldn't find my ID badge so I couldn't get the shuttle.So I had this bizarre idea that I could jog into placement.

Retrieving my ID badge
I had to go back to A&E to see if they had my ID badge since its always in my pockets somewhere.Thankfully it was 8 am by now and the shift had changed.I decided the best thing to do is to play it cool...so I went to the desk and said,hi I am a medical student and I was wondering if I left my badge here.The nurse looked around found it and thankfully gave it to me without asking any questions.She complained about the night staff being so lazy and disorganised because they put it in the patients lost and found stuff. I felt so guilty.

MDT meeting
These are so boring but I was grateful to be away from patients.As a medical student I did not have to say anything so I could let my mind drift.Well until my name was briefly mentioned.(mini heart attack moment)I had no idea I was under the care of the haematology team.It was  brief 'x presented in A&E we are awaiting more details'.

I am attached to the stomach cancer people,but they have MDTs on days we are not at placement,so my colleagues and I got sent to watch the haematologists do their stuff.

I think it passed over the other med students heads,thankfully I never use my first name at uni,so they might have failed to make the connection.

One of the doctors did notice,and asked me to wait behind.They said they where pleased to see me looking so well,and getting on with my life since I was last admitted.But they also insisted I go home and rest if I was up all night.

Home again.
2pm. I got the shuttle back this time and just slept till about 10. I woke up apologised to half my contact list for sending texts I don't remember. I also deleted all my messages,so I have no idea what I said to anyone.I also looked through the photos and did a quick blog post.

The picture above was sent to me by my friend.I also managed to send my phone back to factory settings,deleting texts

Ambulances and Paramedics

Yesterday I got to ride in an ambulance,unfortunately I don't remember much about it.

The picked me up for my uni dorm, as my flatmates have told me.I also got a call from the residence office telling me this.

I mixed up my medicines and ended up unconscious (according to the nurses).

So I think paramedics are pretty amazing because
1. Most importantly...I am still alive
2. They some how figured out name age and profession (I would love to know how they figured out i was a medical student, I don't normally tell anyone I study medicine)
3.I some how ended up in hospital with my phone and house keys.(Thank you sooo much, it was very thoughtful who ever did it)

To all the paramedics out there,thank you for doing the job you do,saving lives is the most important bit,but its all the little things that count too.

Now I have a few questions, and some will probably never be answered.

1.Was I unconscious through out?
2.Why is my phone full of pictures of oxygen tanks and black boots attached to green trousers.(I hope I was not acting silly.)
3. Why on earth have I got ECG sticky pads stuck to me, who done it,when did it happen,and why?
4.What if I was being ridiculous, and the paramedics remember me, since I walk past one ambulance station each day on the way to uni, and i walk through A&E to get to the ward I have placement on.
5.Who called an ambulance?
6.Should I still shadow the paramedics as part of my course, of should I stay well away and shadow the police.

Still around, drowning in revision

I am still studying.

Before I was casually studying,dipping into revision here and there, and doing a bit each night.

Now my life only consists of lectures sleep and revision.It is not as bad as it sounds,since turning it into a habit it has become oddly satisfying.

The amount of stuff I have to know is scary. I really wish I was studying a course with modules, instead I have a long 4 hour exam ,on everything I have learnt since being at medschool.

This is what my typical revision day looks like.

6am- wake up
6am-7am-Get ready for the day(pray,read bible,breakfast,shower,dress)
7am-8.40am-Revise
8.40am-9.00am-walk to uni
9.00am-5.00pm-Lectures/placement( I try to do my homework during the breaks between lectures)
4.00pm-5.00pm-Walk home from uni/I go to the gym for if I finish lectures before 5pm
5.00pm-7.00pm-Sleep,I have been getting home from class exhausted(In capable of using a microwave exhausted)
7.00pm-8.00pm-Lunch(I know its technically dinner time,but this is when I get around to having lunch
8.00pm-12.00pm-Study
12.00pm-1.00am- Snack, then get distracted by youtube/tidy up my room
1.00am-2.00am-Silly hour* exhaustion takes over, so I try to stay awake by talking through my notes with different accents.
2.00am-crawl into bed, only to dream about transport channels, or renal disease risk factors.

That is a typical exam period day for my medic friends.I am exhausted, tired and likely to burst into tears for no reason at all.

But....

I would rather be stressed whilst studying medicine, than doing anything else.

My next post will be about why I wanted to study medicine,I think I need to remind myself why I am torturing myself.

May Bank Holiday sewing

I should be revising like every other student. Instead I decided to sew some stuff.Then torture my lovely blog readers with horrible pictures.

My normal phone camera is broken,so I had to use my tablet to take pictures.Its front camera is awesome,but the back camera is terrible.

Me sewing a dress

The back of the finished dress

The front

A smocked dress

I even started a smocked dress for a child I know.All the gathering and embroidery made my head ache, so the red and white dress is not finished.