So today is the last day of Easter break before we start our final module tomorrow: Human Development. I've particularly been looking forward to this one as it contains lots of baby-related things! It has a reputation of being a bit of a nightmare though so we shall see how it is! We have 5 weeks of HD then 2 of study leave and then it's 4 days of final exams. So of course I spent the last 2 weeks revising and doing lots of work didn't I? Of course not!! We had the most pointless essay ever to do on Interprofessional Education that I bashed out in a few days (it's so rubbish I'll be surprised if they even bother marking it!) and I wrote up some lecture notes that I ran out of time to do earlier in the year. But other than that I've been taking some much-needed R&R and done a few night shifts at the children's hospice.
Night shifts are a bizarre thing. Before working at the hospice I'd done nightshifts in a hospital where there was lots to be done and patients often woke several times during the night so it was rare that you got to sit down for more than an hour at a time. In the hospice however, there are 4 members of staff (2 nurses, 2 care assistants) for 6 children (usually 8 but 2 bedrooms are closed for renovation work) and on the 3 shifts I did, all 6 children slept all night. There were a few things that needed doing, like a ton of laundry, which I found surprisingly therapeutic, and some filing but apart from that I was just paid to try and stay awake! Although the nightshifts were rediculously easy, I think I much prefer day shifts where you actually get to play with the children rather than spending a couple of sleepy hours with them before and after bed.
Most of the children I've looked after in my time there have been long-term disabled children that stay at the hospice to give their parents/carers some respite; I haven't actually yet looked after any there for end of life care. However, the other night I spent time with a child who was recently diagnosed terminally ill but didn't know (the staff had all been told but the parents hadn't yet told the child); they looked and sounded perfectly healthy which made it difficult to think of them as someone that is dying. The child wasn't particularly young and the way they spoke showed they felt in-control of their condition and had accepted it as long-term; I can't imagine how they're going to take their prognosis. On a happier note though, I looked through the notes of the first little child I looked after and it seems they're in remisison, yay!
I'm off now to go finish unpacking and then enjoy my last day of freedom (well technically it isn't freedom as I have muchos work I should be doing, but we'll forget about that) before I start on the downward spiral towards final exams!
Faye
xxx
Monday, 2 May 2011
Friday, 1 April 2011
Most. Amazing. Thing. EVER.
Yesterday I watched a baby being born!! And it really was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. It was Obs&Gynae and Paeds day on my hospital placement and I was lucky enough to get put in the room with a mother about to give birth (I'm never lucky!!). She'd been pushing for a long time and wasn't getting anywhere so the Reg came in and assisted with ventouse and had to do an episiotomy (OUCH!). I kept thinking to myself that I should be more grossed out but I wasn't at all; I was just fascinated! Unfortunately I barely got to see baby as I was whisked out to move onto the next thing (we were rotating round different Obstetricsy things), I only just managed to shout my thanks and congratulations to the parents as I left.
In the afternoon we were shown around the neonatal unit and given a crash course in neonatology by one of the consultants and I absolutely loved it. It's definitely something I can see myself doing in the future. Then we finished off with a quick look around the Paeds ward which was really good once we swapped consultants. At first, the one who'd taken us round the neonatal unit was making us ask a mother in the middle of comforting her child being given medication questions about her child...bearing in mind we've never taken the history of an adult patient, so had no clue when it came to Paeds! It was so awkward and luckily the other consultant came and rescued us from out floundering.
In terms of the rest of the course I'm plodding along with Consolidation&Integration not doing as much work as I should be as per usual. We're into April now which makes the exam, which is on the 15th, seem so much closer! It's my birthday on the 13th so the plan is to try and do all my revision before then so I can take my birthday off completely.
Right, off to go and pack now as I'm home for the weekend to see the Mother for Mother's Day...haven't had time to buy a present so my presence will have to be enough!
Faye
xxx
In the afternoon we were shown around the neonatal unit and given a crash course in neonatology by one of the consultants and I absolutely loved it. It's definitely something I can see myself doing in the future. Then we finished off with a quick look around the Paeds ward which was really good once we swapped consultants. At first, the one who'd taken us round the neonatal unit was making us ask a mother in the middle of comforting her child being given medication questions about her child...bearing in mind we've never taken the history of an adult patient, so had no clue when it came to Paeds! It was so awkward and luckily the other consultant came and rescued us from out floundering.
In terms of the rest of the course I'm plodding along with Consolidation&Integration not doing as much work as I should be as per usual. We're into April now which makes the exam, which is on the 15th, seem so much closer! It's my birthday on the 13th so the plan is to try and do all my revision before then so I can take my birthday off completely.
Right, off to go and pack now as I'm home for the weekend to see the Mother for Mother's Day...haven't had time to buy a present so my presence will have to be enough!
Faye
xxx
Saturday, 12 March 2011
Made it to the other side!
I just read over my last blog entry and it wasn't particularly cheerful so hopefully this one will be a bit better! I'm feeling much less stressed now the dreaded Brain and Behaviour exam has been and gone...and it was absolutely awful. But luckily everyone found it the same so I won't be the only one to have done badly, I'm sure!
We're a week into our new module (Consolidation and Integration of Systems) in which each lecture is on a different disease, some of which we've already done so it's not all completely new and daunting, hence the consolidation in the name. I'm enjoying it so far, especially the lecture on heart defects as I was born with a hole in my heart and my brother had major heart problems too. I'm also loving the fact the latest we've finished all week has been 1pm, it's like being a normal student again! This is supposedly so we can do lots of self-directed learning but I've very wisely used the time to go shopping, nap and catch up on TV, bliss!
I finally went on my first home visit on Thursday on my GP placement day. I went with 2 others to visit a 96 year old who still lives on her own in her completely immaculate flat, is completely with it mentally and, although she's had a couple of heart attacks, aside from that is completely healthy (and don't stop her going out for a walk every day). She was a lovely lady to talk to, I can only hope I age as well as her! Our next GP day's theme is the complete opposite of "The Older Person" since it's "Pregnancy and Childbirth" and the fortnight after that it's "The Young Child"...they've definitely left the best two 'til last. Obs&Gynae and Paeds are most definitely on my potential specialities list so I cannot wait for these days, I just hope they live up to my expectations! It's crazy to think I've only got 2 sessions left at the surgery, it's going so quickly and it'll be sad to leave the surgery as they're all so lovely. But...onwards and upwards!
Faye
xxx
We're a week into our new module (Consolidation and Integration of Systems) in which each lecture is on a different disease, some of which we've already done so it's not all completely new and daunting, hence the consolidation in the name. I'm enjoying it so far, especially the lecture on heart defects as I was born with a hole in my heart and my brother had major heart problems too. I'm also loving the fact the latest we've finished all week has been 1pm, it's like being a normal student again! This is supposedly so we can do lots of self-directed learning but I've very wisely used the time to go shopping, nap and catch up on TV, bliss!
I finally went on my first home visit on Thursday on my GP placement day. I went with 2 others to visit a 96 year old who still lives on her own in her completely immaculate flat, is completely with it mentally and, although she's had a couple of heart attacks, aside from that is completely healthy (and don't stop her going out for a walk every day). She was a lovely lady to talk to, I can only hope I age as well as her! Our next GP day's theme is the complete opposite of "The Older Person" since it's "Pregnancy and Childbirth" and the fortnight after that it's "The Young Child"...they've definitely left the best two 'til last. Obs&Gynae and Paeds are most definitely on my potential specialities list so I cannot wait for these days, I just hope they live up to my expectations! It's crazy to think I've only got 2 sessions left at the surgery, it's going so quickly and it'll be sad to leave the surgery as they're all so lovely. But...onwards and upwards!
Faye
xxx
Thursday, 24 February 2011
Just about hanging on in there...
Things aren't particularly peachy for me at the moment. Firstly my current module, Brain and Behaviour, is hard, like really insanely hard. As well as the concepts themselves being difficult to get my head around, there's just so so much to remember. The exam is next Friday and I can't see any chance in me being prepared for it. Secondly, my grandad passed away last Wednesday so I missed uni Weds - Fri to go home, plus I'm missing uni again tomorrow for the funeral. Which means lots of missed lectures plus lots of missed time in which I'd normally be studying equalling a very behind and stressed Faye. I've submitted an extenuating circumstances form and spoken to the GEP coordinator though and she's told me just to do my best under the circumstances so at least that's something.
After B&B's out of the way we dive straight into the next module, Consolidation of Systems, the exam for which is two days after my birthday so that's going to be a quiet one! Then after Easter break (only 2 weeks rather than the usual 4!) we've got 5 weeks of Human Development, then 2 weeks of study leave and then EEK end of year exams!! And then year 1 (and 2 technically) will be over and, providing I pass, I'll be a third year medic!! We're having to put down our preferences for where we want to be next year at the moment...and although they apparently pay no attention to anyone's preferences, it's still seeming an impossible decision right now to know which to put down. I don't think I particularly want to do an out-firm (i.e. living out in Essex for 9 weeks) - I know I'd get really lonely plus I'm looking forward to living in a house again (although that's a whole extra worry for me at the moment as I have no one to live with at the moment but I'm gonna stick my head in the sand with that one and hope it sorts itself out!). But then saying that, teaching on out-firms is meant to be better as there are less students per consultants - there can be up to 15 students per consultant on some of the in-firms apparently so it's a fight to do and see anything. Maybe I just won't fill in the form at all and leave it up to karma...but then I can't moan if I don't like what I get!!
I suppose I should try and sleep soon (although have left my sleeping tablets at uni and I'm incapable of getting to sleep without them, bad times! Note to self - after saying it for months I really must find time to visit my GP soon!) as it's a big day tomorrow. I went to my first funeral just before Christmas (my mum's best friend's who died of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma little more than 6 months after being diagnosed...it's a cruel, cruel world) and it was horrible. I mean it was a nice service and everything but it was just so sad. I know tomorrow is going to be just as bad. And unless everyone's prayers are anwered it might not be massively long before I'm at another one as my aunt's having a major battle with her cancer at the moment. But I refuse to think about anything happening to her as I won't be able to deal with that.
Anyway this has turned into a bit of an outpouring of everything in my head at the moment...this is what happens when I leave my diary at uni! Good job I don't have the greatest of followings...
Faye
xxx
After B&B's out of the way we dive straight into the next module, Consolidation of Systems, the exam for which is two days after my birthday so that's going to be a quiet one! Then after Easter break (only 2 weeks rather than the usual 4!) we've got 5 weeks of Human Development, then 2 weeks of study leave and then EEK end of year exams!! And then year 1 (and 2 technically) will be over and, providing I pass, I'll be a third year medic!! We're having to put down our preferences for where we want to be next year at the moment...and although they apparently pay no attention to anyone's preferences, it's still seeming an impossible decision right now to know which to put down. I don't think I particularly want to do an out-firm (i.e. living out in Essex for 9 weeks) - I know I'd get really lonely plus I'm looking forward to living in a house again (although that's a whole extra worry for me at the moment as I have no one to live with at the moment but I'm gonna stick my head in the sand with that one and hope it sorts itself out!). But then saying that, teaching on out-firms is meant to be better as there are less students per consultants - there can be up to 15 students per consultant on some of the in-firms apparently so it's a fight to do and see anything. Maybe I just won't fill in the form at all and leave it up to karma...but then I can't moan if I don't like what I get!!
I suppose I should try and sleep soon (although have left my sleeping tablets at uni and I'm incapable of getting to sleep without them, bad times! Note to self - after saying it for months I really must find time to visit my GP soon!) as it's a big day tomorrow. I went to my first funeral just before Christmas (my mum's best friend's who died of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma little more than 6 months after being diagnosed...it's a cruel, cruel world) and it was horrible. I mean it was a nice service and everything but it was just so sad. I know tomorrow is going to be just as bad. And unless everyone's prayers are anwered it might not be massively long before I'm at another one as my aunt's having a major battle with her cancer at the moment. But I refuse to think about anything happening to her as I won't be able to deal with that.
Anyway this has turned into a bit of an outpouring of everything in my head at the moment...this is what happens when I leave my diary at uni! Good job I don't have the greatest of followings...
Faye
xxx
Wednesday, 10 November 2010
So so much work
So tired from netball
So need to tidy my room
So little time
and did I mention SO SO SO much work...how am I gonna cope with this much work until the end of June?! Argh!!
That's literally all I've got time to write but, seeing as I have 4 followers now (wow!), I thought I should let you all know I'm still alive (which reminds me, I need to do the same for my mother!)
Faye
xxx
p.s. I get to wear scrubs and watch angioplasty tomorrow - SO excited!
So tired from netball
So need to tidy my room
So little time
and did I mention SO SO SO much work...how am I gonna cope with this much work until the end of June?! Argh!!
That's literally all I've got time to write but, seeing as I have 4 followers now (wow!), I thought I should let you all know I'm still alive (which reminds me, I need to do the same for my mother!)
Faye
xxx
p.s. I get to wear scrubs and watch angioplasty tomorrow - SO excited!
Wednesday, 27 October 2010
I'm still alive!
Just realised I've completely and utterly neglected this blog...but for good reason! Shortly after making my last blog entry I was contacted by the medical school who offered me a place on the GEP course and I took it! So my journey to becoming Dr Faye started 2 weeks earlier than planned on the 6th Sept! Since then life has been absolutely mental (and that's an underestimation!) - for the first week and a half I was commuting up to London every day as I couldn't move into halls early. All I can say about that is...never again! I have never been so exhausted in my life...I was getting back at 7pm, eating, showering and going to bed. Luckily I moved into halls before the workload fully hit. Which it most definitely has now! 1 exam down on the first module, Movement & Posture (which I passed, phew!), next one on Carriage of Oxygen next Tues eek! I'm busier than I've ever been before and I LOVE IT! All the lectures and anatomy classes are really interesting which is a welcome change from biomed! What with playing for the 2nds netball team twice a week and all the extra work I have to do, spare time is at an all time low! I manage to go out quite a bit in the first week of freshers with my flatmates who are on the 5 year course but have barely been out since then due to the sheer amount of work :( It will be worth it in the end though as I'll be in clinics next year and, if all goes to plan, a doctor a year earlier!!
I'm gonna keep this short and sweet as I need to do a bit more work before turning in for the night. Off to the hospital tomorrow for my first day of hospital placement on cardio...looking forward to using my very pretty brand new stethoscope!!
Over and out,
Faye
xxx
I'm gonna keep this short and sweet as I need to do a bit more work before turning in for the night. Off to the hospital tomorrow for my first day of hospital placement on cardio...looking forward to using my very pretty brand new stethoscope!!
Over and out,
Faye
xxx
Wednesday, 18 August 2010
One month today!!
Exactly one month today I'm going to be moving into halls in London and finally realising my dream. Still doesn't feel real but I'm getting just a little excited. Bit apprehensive about going back into halls and making all new friends and everything again but I'm sure it'll be fiiiiine.
Bought the last few bits yesterday that needed replacing like frying pan, backing tray etc. Also bought 16 cans of Branston baked beans 'cos they were £1 for 4 cans which is bargainous and I do go through them quite quickly...just hope no one judges me for rocking up to uni with 16 cans of beans (and 12 packs of Ainsley Harriot's cous cous haha!). Well it's their problem if they do!
I was paid my student loan the other day, rediculously earlier than usual but apparently that's the norm now. As it stands, once I've paid my rent I'll have £100 to live on from Sept til Dec, what a joke! Living off the savings it is then! Unfortunately there haven't been that many shifts available so haven't been able to work in the hospital that much...so gonna have to be really really careful with money. At least this time round uni will be close enough for me to go home and work at weekends if need be.
I've got a very exciting weekend lined up this week...I'm off to Oxford to meet up with all my uni friends. Feels like forever since I've seen them when realistically it's only been a month. I've never been to Oxford before so am muchos excited...apparently we're going to go punting and see all the sights and whatnot...can't wait!!
I've had no shifts at work the past few days so have just been bumming around and finding new blogs to read. Was hugely excited to discover Mumford & Sons blogs...it never occurred to me that these would exist. So I've spent the last few days watching pretty much every interview they've ever done and swooning over Ben Lovett. Thank God I've got a shift tomorrow to give me something constructive to do!
Bought the last few bits yesterday that needed replacing like frying pan, backing tray etc. Also bought 16 cans of Branston baked beans 'cos they were £1 for 4 cans which is bargainous and I do go through them quite quickly...just hope no one judges me for rocking up to uni with 16 cans of beans (and 12 packs of Ainsley Harriot's cous cous haha!). Well it's their problem if they do!
I was paid my student loan the other day, rediculously earlier than usual but apparently that's the norm now. As it stands, once I've paid my rent I'll have £100 to live on from Sept til Dec, what a joke! Living off the savings it is then! Unfortunately there haven't been that many shifts available so haven't been able to work in the hospital that much...so gonna have to be really really careful with money. At least this time round uni will be close enough for me to go home and work at weekends if need be.
I've got a very exciting weekend lined up this week...I'm off to Oxford to meet up with all my uni friends. Feels like forever since I've seen them when realistically it's only been a month. I've never been to Oxford before so am muchos excited...apparently we're going to go punting and see all the sights and whatnot...can't wait!!
I've had no shifts at work the past few days so have just been bumming around and finding new blogs to read. Was hugely excited to discover Mumford & Sons blogs...it never occurred to me that these would exist. So I've spent the last few days watching pretty much every interview they've ever done and swooning over Ben Lovett. Thank God I've got a shift tomorrow to give me something constructive to do!
*sigh* perfection in a man!
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