bonjour brightside

hi i’m back from sydney! it was a blast, and the weather was magnificient! didn’t get to explore sydney because i was at the IMPACT conference mainly (it was fantastic, by the way!) but i’m definitely thinking of coming back (how could i not?) will update more in a later post because i’m swamped with work right now plus my arms are sore from canoeing

i scrubbed into theatre today for a total abdominal hysterectomy that i wanted to watch. it was 2 hours long! i got a little bored halfway through because i couldn’t really see what was going on from where i was standing, just bits of bowel and fatty tissue here and there and of course the resected uterus, fallopian tubes and ovaries. we cut open the resected uterus to look at its cross-section, and there was a white mass growing into the uterine wall (this lady had endometrial cancer).

+ as you can it’s not really grey’s anatomy-esque… save for the green surgical drapes, and scrubs that we all have to don. there is no drama in a hysterectomy, at least. although at one point the anaesthetist instructed the nurse to take the patient’s temperature during surgery and the nurse said “there isn’t a reading”, to which the anaesthetist jokingly said “nothing? she must be dead then!” and i sort of laughed – not at the remark per se but at the way he said it so mockingly (which, in that situation, was extremely inappropriate of course- i need to stop laughing at the slightest things.)

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i’m so bored*… can you tell? two posts within 5 hours. that’s saying something isn’t it. PLUS i cleaned my pigsty tornado-swept rathole of a room (not exaggerating, it WAS that bad) and organised my clothes (FINALLY). as usual i have too many clothes and my wardrobe is bursting- again! so i set aside the clothes that i probably won’t wear ever again and it came up to two big bags! my room is now comparatively cleaner and less messy than before! although i’ll give myself 2 months before it goes back to its original state…. i love being tidy and neat but somehow it never lasts for long, mainly because i can NEVER find my things when they’re kept in folders and boxes. (or is that just my excuse for being messy)

anyway, i came across this article from The Age about medical students eating poorly, apparently eating disorders seem to be more prevalent in highly-educated women… sad but true. i know it doesn’t seem logical but then again most things aren’t, especially when it comes to human behaviour. i once met a consultant who specialized in eating disorders, she was in her 40s, and absolutely stick-thin! (i also noticed that she ate a single apple for lunch.) i wonder if she makes a convincing case when it comes to counselling girls with anorexia…

*i also changed my header image as you will have noticed; i took this picture in ann siang hill (loveliest tiles!) while i was home for the holidays in january- ….which reminds me that i still have those pretty pictures in a folder waiting to be posted (which i will in due time, of course).

was just browsing through j.crew’s catalogue when i came to the realisation that j.crew’s getting better and better over the years! (slow, i know) they have work clothes that i actually want to wear, or rather work clothes that i actually want to wear for events other than work. clicked on their store locator only to find that they have no stores outside of the U.S. of A.!! *cries* (or, am i just grossly misinformed?)

+ anyway i’m being lazy today, i skipped school, or rather hospital… just because.

in other news, i got all my births signed off! now i need to complete my gynae tasks, which actually is quite a lot… still it’s nice to be at home for a change, although i did want to go to theatre. i feel slightly slack BUT then i also have to pack for sydney (leaving on thursday arvo!) see, another reason to make myself feel better

on tuesday night at 2138h i delivered my first bub, a gorgeous little baby girl! i wasn’t really expecting to do the delivery, but my resident made me do it, and i was trembling slightly as i prepared to catch the baby’s head as Mrs D screamed and pushed with all her might at every contraction. at first the baby’s head emerged, then we eased her shoulder out and then the rest of her body tumbled out as we caught her, it was so quick! she was a wee one, lovely and beautiful as she opened her eyes and took her first breath. i cut her cord (sooo proud!) and delivered the placenta as well- on my own! (under supervision of the resident of course) it was an exhilarating experience.

the difference between watching a birth and doing one yourself is massive- bringing a baby into the world with your own two hands is just amazing, amazing, amazing! nothing like seeing the proud parents smile like they’d just won the lottery, cuddling their gorgeous bub and cooing over her, like she was their precious little princess. maybe that was how it was like when i was born too (or so i like to think)

+baby picture from anne geddes