A Very Varied Catch Up Post

I've done it again... left it for ages to write another post.

 

My time at the drug clinic is almost over... I'll be sad to leave and I'll miss the people who work there. It's been the most interesting rotation I've ever done and I'm seriously considering it as a career choice.

 

Last week and this week have been quite eventful... Early last week I got some sort of flu-like virus and had to go home from work. It must have been going around the clinic because when I rang my boss the next day to tell him I was still sick, I found out that he was also calling in sick... with the same thing. And then his boss went off sick a couple of days later, with the same thing...

 

We have two third year medical students with us at the clinic right now, and last week during a quiet afternoon I taught them venepuncture and cannulation. They were soooo excited. I let one of them venepuncture me and he got the needle into my vein first try. Then he got flashback and got so excited that he moved the needle... and blew the vein. Oops. Mr Slippers isn't very happy that I let a medical student practise on me though...

 

Mr Slippers and I had a great time in Canberra, except that I was still sick. On Friday we had a picnic lunch in the Black Mountain reserve, looking over Canberra and the lake. Then we visited the National Museum of Australia. They had quite a lot of interesting things to see there, including Phar Lap's heart, and a stuffed thylacine. We ran out of time to see everything before the museum closed though. The rest of the afternoon we lazed around on the grass by the lake on a picnic blanket (sickeningly stereotypical I know). Dinner was in a pizza place in Dickson that we stumbled across and walked into because the pizza smells were tempting Mr Slippers.

 

The next morning we went to Old Parliament House to see the hot air balloon festival except that by the time we got there there was only one hot air balloon left, from the Royal Australian Air Force. It was still pretty cool to see one in real life though. Our next stop was the Renaissance Exhibition at the National Gallery. It was extremely crowded, and there were not that many artworks from the advertised artists (Botticelli, Raphael, Titan...). Then we went to the National Library to see the exhibition Handwritten, only to find that you have to book online and there were no places available until Monday. Organisation fail. So instead we drove out to Fyshwick to a booksellers called Clouston and Hall where they sell books that are going out of print or are already out of print. It was a veritable treasure trove. I bought three books which are going to be birthday presents for my mum and dad.

 

In the afternoon we decided to go down to the lake and ended up trying out a paddle boat for half an hour. We learned that a) jeans are not the best clothing to wear for paddle boating on a sunny day and b) the other side of the lake is quite a long way away.

 

Dinner on Saturday night was at a Spanish restaurant in Manuka called Legends. It was freaking awesome. We had the traditional paella and a glass of sangria each (I wanted to order a jug, but Mr Slippers pointed out that he had to drive and I shouldn't drink 3/4 of a jug myself). Dessert was churros with dark chocolate dipping sauce.

 

It was still early after we finished dinner so we decided to go and find Canberra's casino which is imaginatively called Casino Canberra. It wasn't exactly well signposted and we ended up wandering down a dark alleyway following some nondescript signs towards it. The casino is very small and old-fashioned compared to the one in Sydney but we both thought the atmosphere was much better in Canberra. They don't have any poker machines, only table games. We decided to play $15 blackjack. Mr Slippers lost his money ($45). I bet $30 and walked away when I had $60. Which was after playing 4 hands. Yes, I'm a very conservative gambler.

 

Sunday morning we checked out of our hotel and decided to go to Questacon. We couldn't park in their carpark so we parked at the National Library carpark nearby. On a hunch Mr Slippers decided to go in and ask if there were any places in the next viewing session for the Handwritten exhibition. He got handed two tickets for the session starting in 10 minutes! We couldn't believe our luck. The exhibition itself was amazing, with illuminated texts from Medieval times and letters from famous people, as well as the original music for Beethoven's Symphony Number 5.

 

We had lunch in Manuka at a milk bar (using my casino winnings :)) then drove back to Sydney. The Spot Film and Food Festival was on, so we stopped by to find some dinner. Mr Slippers had Moroccan meatballs and couscous and I had nachos. An excellent way to round off a long weekend.

 

Monday brought me crashing back to reality. I woke up with a slightly stiff neck which then degenerated into acute wry neck by lunchtime. By the end of the work day I was unable to hold my neck up straight and was having excruciating muscle spasms that made me stop whatever I was doing when they hit. I almost crashed the car on the way home. At that point I decided that I should go and see my GP, who gave me diazepam (Valium) to relax the muscles in my neck and stop the spasms.

 

(Ironically, the reason I probably got the wry neck in the first place was because I had been sleeping on two pillows in the week before because I was sick.)

 

Luckily for me, my body has finally decided to get back to 100% normal and I'm back at the gym :)

 

In other news, this coming Monday Mr Slippers and I will have been together for 1 year XD

Life as a Resident: What I Do When I'm Not Working

I have to admit, I could really get used to this Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm thing. I have a lot more free time on this rotation than on any that I've had before. No weekend shifts or weekday overtime is absolutely amazing... not sure if I can go back!

I've started going to the gym, either in the morning before work or in the evening afterwards. I actually prefer in the morning, mostly because I get it over and done with and when I finish work I can just go home and chill out. When I'm at home in the evenings on a weekday I'm either doing housework, surfing the Internet (and watching a lot of Air Crash Investigation and Seconds From Disaster on YouTube), or writing letters to Mr Slippers. Or planning our next date. Or planning our holiday to the USA in October (serious YAY!).

Other than that, I visit my parents, catch up with friends or go shopping. Not very interesting, to be honest. But I find that it's what chills me out and relaxes me, and at the end of the day that's what my time away from work should be about, spending it with family and friends.

Mr Slippers has been doing night shifts this past week, and I can't wait for him to finish (it's his last one tonight) because then he has the next week off. We're going to Canberra on Friday (I get a day off :D) to see a couple of exhibitions and just generally spend some quality time together. With two doctors in the relationship, finding time together takes effort... and it's only going to get harder as we get further into our careers.

What do you do when you're not working?

The Most Perfect Pre-Valentines Day Ever :D

With Valentines Day being on a Tuesday and Mr Slippers and I working in different hospitals and all, we decided that we would have a pre-Valentines Day yesterday and something more low-key on Tuesday night.

In the morning I picked up Mr Slippers from the car servicing place (cos he had to get his car serviced :P) and we drove to a beautiful park and found a bench beside a pond. I had packed a breakfast picnic: bacon and egg rolls, mango yoghurt and tea (in a thermos) and we sat there eating breakfast and throwing the odd piece of bread to the ducks in the pond. About halfway through our meal it started to drizzle but the giant golf umbrella we had proved to be quite handy :)

Then we went to Toys r Us as a bit of a random thing to do (and also kill time until Mr Slippers' car was ready). I couldn't find a classic Monopoly set which was a little disappointing, but we did get to play Mario Kart on Nintendo DS 3D! Next we went back to the car place and I drove home (getting a little lost on the way back... I have no sense of direction). Mr Slippers said he'd be a little longer because he had to go pick something up...

... Half an hour later he walks through my front door with a dozen long stemmed red roses :D

In the evening Mr Slippers took me out for dinner, to Otto in Wooloomooloo. Everything was perfect: the rain had stopped and there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and we had a table outside in the evening sun :) We had arancini to start with, then I had beef carpaccio (this is in my top 10 favourite dishes ever!) and he had scallops. I had pasta with prawns for my main course and Mr Slippers had pasta with scallops and Morton Bay bugs I think... We shared salted caramel semifreddo with popcorn icecream and popcorn candy for dessert. Which was extremely awesome. A cocktail and a glass of prosecco made BGDino very happy :)

The perfect Saturday. And I got brought breakfast in bed this morning too :)

In summary, I am a very spoiled, lucky girl!

Life as a Resident: New Title, New Rotation, New Location

Yep, I'm officially a Resident Medical Officer! I survived my internship and now one year older and hopefully wiser, I get different rotations and a pay rise (serious WOOT on the last one, junior doctors get paid okay but not as well as people seem to think...)

My new rotation is Addiction Medicine, and I'm based in a treatment clinic NOT in the hospital! Yep, two months out of the hospital environment. It's the first time that the clinic has ever had a resident so there's a lot of me getting used to them and them figuring out what the heck to do with me.

After a year of variable and sometimes long hours... two months of a 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday job. Yes, you read correctly. No weekday overtime until 11pm, and no weekend shifts for two whole months!!! Life is going to be hard to get used to when I go back at the end of term!

So in Addiction Medicine I have clinics both morning and afternoon, reviewing people who are getting treatment for substance addictions of all types. My first morning in the methadone clinic was a real eye-opener. Seeing someone in acute opiate withdrawal is quite disturbing.

This year I have to figure out what it is I want to do with my medical career. To be honest I have no idea and will most likely do a senior resident year just so I have a little more time to decide (also I want to try out anaesthetics and I didn't get a rotation in it this year). Mr Slippers has his heart set on becoming a surgeon... that's definitely not my cup of tea!

The other extremely nice thing about my schedule this term is that Mr Slippers and I can spend more weekends together, since only one of us (him!) is doing weekend shifts. Let me tell you, two people working weekends at two separate hospitals makes coordinating time off together quite tricky sometimes!

On Friday I'm having a get together at my house. There'll be six of us from medical school, and since we haven't been able to catch up since midway through internship, I'm sure there will be lots to discuss!

Goodbye 2011...

It's happened again... the end of the year has crept up on me and I'm surprised by how fast 365 days can go by. Lots of blogs do it I know, but I'm going to do the ubiquitous summary post, and I'm amazed at how much has happened this year.

♥ JANUARY ♥

I saw in 2011 with my parents and brother in Rasa Ria, Malaysia. I made a New Year's Resolution to try something new on the first of each month after going parasailing on New Year's Day. Unfortunately I must confess I didn't end up keeping this resolution :S

♥ FEBRUARY ♥

I spent February getting used to my new job as a doctor and balancing working with socialising. Happily I still see my friends from medical school and we get together for a meal every now and again.

♥ MARCH ♥

I dyed my hair for the first time ever. I really enjoyed having the red foils, but they were just too much maintenance in the end. This wasn't the most exciting thing that happened this month though: Mr Slippers and I started dating XD...

♥ APRIL ♥

I didn't post much in April... probably because I was deep into my six months doing general surgery. I learned very quickly that it was NOT what I wanted to do for the rest of my life!

Incidentally, I'm wearing this dress for dinner tonight with Mr Slippers and his parents :)

♥ MAY ♥

Another month of writing very little, mostly due to work.

♥ JUNE and JULY ♥

Not even any photos, and almost no blogging. I have to confess now I was going through a very rough patch at work, and blogging took a back seat to life. Apologies. I'd also like to say here thank you to Mr Slippers for being there for me :)

♥ AUGUST, SEPTEMBER and OCTOBER ♥

More absence from blog as I put my life in order and became acquainted with that scourge of healthcare work: night shifts!

♥ NOVEMBER ♥

Spending my birthday doing nights was seriously un-fun, but the day brought these beautiful roses from Mr Slippers. November also meant a trip to the Blue Mountains together, my annual leave, and my first trip alone to Singapore.

♥ DECEMBER ♥

Our family's first Christmas in Sydney and my first with Mr Slippers. The most perfect day in which I got thoroughly spoiled and we all ate too much of my mum's excellent cooking. Baked ham has already been requested for Christmas 2012!

A Very Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas! I definitely did!

I had the week off leading up to Christmas due to doing a week of night shifts. We had Christmas Day dinner at my mum and dad's house on the day. There were six of us: Mum, Dad, my brother, his girlfriend, myself and Mr Slippers (he wasn't working either :D).

It was a veeery long meal! The BGDino family likes to eat XD. In six (yes, six!) hours we got through:

Lobster with mayonnaise and rocket salad
Roast ham with three kinds of vegetables
Chocolate cake
Cherries
Cheese
Mince pies
Christmas pudding with custard
Chocolates

All washed down with champagne and dessert wine...

Aside from all that, we also exchanged presents and pulled Christmas crackers, and did a lot of talking and laughing and taking of photos.

The Christmas table was my responsibility this year, here's what it looked like:

What did I get for Christmas? Well, I'm a very lucky girl and my boyfriend and family have spoilt me rotten this year:
♥ Stationery for letter writing (Mum and Dad, Mr Slippers)
♥ Voucher for a manicure (my brother's girlfriend, who noticed that I like having my nails painted when  I'm not working in surgery or emergency)
♥ $ (thanks Mum and Dad ;D)
♥ A metre of Japanese kimono fabric (from my brother, only he would know that I'd love something like that)
♥ Japanese book on craft projects (from my brother, he knows me well)
♥ KINDLE!!! (Mr Slippers, who managed to keep it a secret from me for a month * ♥ you*)

This morning I slept in, and then Mr Slippers made me breakfast:

Pancakes! Made from scratch! (I told you I'm being very spoilt!)

Tomorrow I plan on checking out the post Christmas sales, to see if I can buy a pair of sandals (mine are falling apart after Christmas shopping and Singapore!) and of course a cover for my precious new Kindle (incidentally Amazon 1 click purchasing is proving to be very dangerous!!!)

Back to work on Wednesday, although I only have to work 2 days before getting more time off for New Year's XD

How was your Christmas? Did you have a good day?

Being Productive During My Week Off

So as I mentioned in my previous post I finished a week of nights at 8:30am on Monday. Since then I have (in no particular order):

1. (half) Reset my body clock back to normal. (Woke up at 4AM this morning. Body seemed to think it had had enough sleep.)

2. Cleaned my fridge out of old food and gotten rid of all the boxes from parcel deliveries over the past week

3. Picked up the last parcel waiting for me at the post office

4. Visited my parents to see how they're going

5. Gone to Ikea (and gotten lost on the way there...)

6. Finished wrapping all my Christmas presents

7. Had the electrician come by to install a circuit for my airconditioner

8. Had the installer come to install the airconditioner

9. Cleaned up after the air conditioning installation

10. Had coffee with a friend from high school who I hadn't seen since 2008 (!)

11. Dropped off some snacks at the hospital

12. Picked up a New Year's Eve gift for Mr Slippers' parents (we're having Christmas Day lunch with my parents and New Years Eve dinner with his)

13. Checked that all the Christmas table decorations are ready

14. Bought groceries for the next week

15. Put petrol in the car.

Most of these are very mundane everyday tasks but it just goes to show how far behind I get on household stuff when I'm on night shifts! I'm going to have to learn to do better since in the future I might be mixing night shifts with looking after a family!!! I can only just about look after myself!!! :S

Before the end of the week I'd like to:

1. Tidy up my apartment

2. Vacuum and dust my apartment

3. Launder all my bedsheets

4. Do the laundry (clothes)

5. Pick up a Christmas cake for a friend that my dad made at the hospital (long story short he's having long term treatment at the moment, I don't really want to go into details tbh)

6. Pick up chocolates for Christmas Day lunch

7. Get my nails done

8. Write a New Years letter to Mr Slippers :)

If I get all that done by Friday I will be very happy. 4 more sleeps till Christmas!!!

Life as an Intern: More Night Shifts

It's 9:30am and I finished my second week of night shifts an hour ago. It wasn't as bad this time around, for one thing I didn't do 8 in a row, instead just the usual 7, and I knew what to expect second time round.

Now I have a week off (conveniently over Christmas) and then I'll go back to work with 4 weeks of Geriatrics to round off my internship. This week is all about sleeping, changing my body clock back to normal, and getting ready for Christmas. Since I had annual leave before last week, I've done a lot of Christmas crafting: an advent calendar for Mr Slippers, miniature Christmas stockings and decorations for the Christmas lunch table, buying and wrapping presents for everyone... I even got myself a tiny Christmas tree from Daiso (which just opened in Sydney... yay!) which sits on my coffee table.

I looove Daiso. It's such a dangerous shop for me... lots of crafting items and knicknacks, cute stationery etc; etc;... and everything is $2.80 which makes it even more tempting... I bought a lot of my Christmas crafting supplies from there, and a couple of advent calendar fillers.

6 days till Christmas... my first with Mr Slippers. He told me he's already bought my Christmas present. I've been unsuccessfully trying to gather hints about what it might be... I wonder what it is?

Snapshots

Just a few photos to share...

This is what plastering class looks like...

Daylight at the end of night shift number 8 of 8...

And this is what Mr Slippers gave me for my birthday :D

Life as an Intern: Time Off

After surviving eight night shifts in a row, I'm now on annual leave! :D Five weeks of not being at work XD

I actually ended up with laryngitis on my second last night and spent all of this past week sick, but luckily I didn't feel too unwell so I could enjoy my week away.

Mr Slippers and I went to the Blue Mountains for a couple of days last week. I'm sorry there aren't any photos, in my post-nights daze I forgot to pack a camera :S We stayed in Blackheath in a little guesthouse which was very pretty (and served an extremely good English breakfast!) We did all the usual touristy things: Scenic World (and going on the railway which I remember vaguely from when I was six years old but was VERY much steeper than I remembered!!!), Jenolan Caves (we saw the Imperial and Chifley caves), Echo Point and Govett's Leap lookouts, and looking around Leura (and buying the odd present or two from the gift shops).

I had a bit of a scare yesterday on our way back home. Something I ate at lunch disagreed with me and I got the most intense abdominal pain I've ever had. In trying to walk from the car to Mr Slippers' apartment (about 5 metres) I had 3 vasovagal syncopal episodes. It was scary - it's never happened to me before, and even though I'm a doctor I was scared. Luckily Mr Slippers was there. I'm ok though, except I lost my glasses on the pavement somewhere when I hit the ground and we couldn't find them anywhere. Now I'm wearing contact lenses until my new glasses are ready... doh >.<

What else do I have planned? Well, I'm going to Singapore next week. This week I plan to get stuck into my latest craft project: making an Advent calendar for Mr Slippers. I'll try to remember to take some photos of the process :P