Do you ever just wanna SCREAM?!

Haven't written for a while...does that mean the time has flown by or that I've just been too lazy to write? Probably a bit of both...

Last week did a week of nights. Wasn't too bad. Some nights were really quiet. One in particular was a total nightmare. Got to do some suturing finally and my crowning achievement had to be cannulating a 2 year old baby!

Today the emergency department was once again a total madhouse. It was as if everyone in Sydney woke up and decided they'd pay a visit to Bankstown Hospital ED! And by gosh there was no shortage of stooooooooopid presentations! I won't give examples...starting to get worked up just thinking about them...

On a happier note, got to spend time with my cousin and aunty from Malaysia yesterday. Took them to Bankstown to have Vietnamese noodles my aunty was craving and then we went for a drive down south to Wollongong to visit the Nan Tien Buddhist temple. Really really pretty and serene! Took heaps of photos until my battery ran out! Then on the way back met my bro and other cousin for dinner in Hurstville where we had yummy seafood for dinner! So all in all a nice day!

One more day in the madhouse tomorrow and then I have 3.5 days off... yay!

Long time no blog...

Wow haven't blogged for like 10 days...so what have I been up to?

Not much really...just worked 6 out of the last 8 days so I guess alot of work. Nice to finally have some quality time to rest and relax. During the week it's usually just so hectic at work that I come home totally wasted and since I'm working 10 hr shifts now, that doesn't leave much time for anything else. Basically get home, have dinner, veg for a bit in front of tv and then hey it's time to sleep already! And so the same routine occurs day after day...how depressing...

On a slightly happier note, my GP application appears to be going well. I've applied for SIGPET first and IGPE second (acronyms for 2 of the 3 GP training organisations in Sydney) and based on the reports of my 3 referees I was ranked in the top 10-20% of candidates ie band 2. That gives me a fair shot of getting an intervew with SIGPET or IGPE so fingers crossed...! Funny though...cos I'm not even sure that I wanna be a GP yet, but I guess we'll see...

Have an aunty and cousin sister over from Malaysia at the moment. My cousin is coming to study at UTS as part of a twinning program for 2 years here. They've been here before so will have to think of new places to take them...anyone got any suggestions?!

Good to be a kid again...

This week I had 4 awesome days off from Monday to Thursday! Despite thinking initially that I'd have nothing to do for 4 whole days, I realised that this week our church was running Kid's Club 2006, a school holiday program for kids!

After spending Monday at home watching TV all day in the form of the World Cup final and some compulsory viewing leftover from last week, I was all ready to get outside and help out at Kid's Club!

The program started on Tuesday and we had around 20 kids. This year the Club theme was 'Around the World', each day being focussed on the culture of a different country. We started with Australia since it IS the best country on earth! The gospel theme for the day was that God created the world and we had stories, puppet shows, singing, games, memory verses, and craft that were used to teach the kids. It was great that by the end of the day, most of the kids seemed to have remembered this main point!

On Wednesday, the theme country was Mexico and myself and Thomas dressed up as Mexican amigoes enjoying an afternoon siesta (which is what I feel like having just about now!). The gospel theme was how all mankind has sinned and that God's punishment for sin is death. Although it was a pretty serious topic, the kids seemed to grasp the main point and the seriousness of it. Other fun things we did included doing a Mexican hat dance, and making a traditional Mexican toy!

Today was the last day that I could attend even though the program finishes tomorrow. The theme country today was Japan and a number of leaders were sporting ninja headbands, karate outfits and traditional kimonos! The gospel topic was that Jesus died to save us and this was well taught via Liz's storyboard. We went down to the park as well to play parachute and stuck in the mud and by the end of the day we were all exhausted!

The last few days have been just such a lift for me. In a time when work has been challenging and I haven't always been in the brightest of spirits, helping out at Kid's Club really helped me remember what's important and valuable in life and gave me so much encouragement both from the kids and the other leaders. It reminded me how much I love working with kids and perhaps that's what I want to spend the rest of my life doing...

Any ordinary day?

Twas my birthday today...though by the end of it, it more or less felt like any ordinary day... Got up late having watched the tennis the night before. My bro and mum ran into my room to wish me happy birthday and give me presents - what a nice start to the day!

We then went out for lunch in Hurstville before I had to head off to work for an afternoon ED shift. And whilst I was in the car I started wondering...'Man I wish I had today off! Why didn't I try harder to swap shifts and get it off?'. Then I started wondering about why birthdays are special and I concluded that I wasn't really sure...

What makes birthdays something to be celebrated? What makes it our special day, where everyone congratulates you and you suddenly seemingly become the centre of the universe? I suppose there's the significance of having reached another milestone in your life...another year to add to the tally...or to some people, another year closer towards getting older and older and older...perhaps without having accomplished too much, or not having accomplished what one would have liked or expected...?

Well today at work it was like any other day. I definitely did NOT want people at work to know it was my birthday...perhaps cos I didn't want them to sing to me (which by the way I find kinda uncomfortable about each year...whether it's just my family or a whole bunch of people...)? But at the same time, thanks to my family who made the few hours before and after work special, and the people who called and sent messages. Special thanks to Uncle Alex and Aunty Clem from England who called whilst I was at work but I wasn't home to talk to.

Work turned out to be one of my cruisiest shifts ever! Got home just before midnight to cut the cake my mum had baked for me and to enjoy the women's final of Wimbledon. And just like that my birthday was over...was it just another ordinary day...?

Days off are good! =)

Ah...how nice it was to wake up today without having to worry about jumping out of bed to rush out the door to work! I love being able to take my time waking up...sometimes even picking up one of the many books piled beside my bed to read if I can keep at least one eye open without too much effort...

After much thought, I think that's just about the only thing I like about this emergency term so far... Working four 10-hr days per week rather than five 8-hr days means more days off and that can only be a good thing! ...which makes me wonder...if I'm so happy not to be at work, does that mean I don't like work???

Hmm...maybe it's just this ED term...the unpredictability of each shift...not knowing what will walk in the door next... Yes I know, I say 'what' when referring to patients coming in the door...is that a bad sign too??? Sometimes it's just so frustrating dealing with some patients...actually most of the patients I've seen so far...that one can't help but label them by what postulated disease they may have just out of spite - to the CMO..."uh Dr so and so, I have absolutely no idea what to do with my left-upper-quadrant-abdo-pain-guy-who-says-he-hasn't-peeed-for-2-days-guy...could you sort him out for me? Pretty please??!" On the other hand I have met some really nice people and man the kids and babies I've seen - SOOOOOOOO cute!!! Kinda scary not knowing what to do with them too but I kinda wanna take them home with me!

Man I feel so dumb and inadequate this term! Whereas I was confidently prowling the wards last term, doing ward rounds on my own, pretty sure of my stuff, now I find myself without much idea for most of the patients coming in ED and looking like a complete idiot and dumbass when I present dodgy cases to the CMO or staff specialist! Luckily most of them are really nice and don't expect me to know too much...still...

Makes me wonder about how I'll survive in GP land...if that's what I really want to do...