Feel-good story

I love this story. I grew up as an Air-Force brat, so I have a real soft-spot for forces personnel, and it is nice to hear a happy story about them. I know they do a lot of good work throughout the world (as do our own armed forces) so it is great to see one such story end up in the media.

It also happens to be medically-related. So enjoy a happy story about the US navy, a jungle track, a woman doing charity work, and a witch-doctor. 

Time for another drunken post . . .

. . . huzzah!

There is nothing quite like going out to dinner with friends and having a fine time, even if (as it was this evening) for no reason in particular apart from celebrating the successful end of another day.

I think that we should all concentrate on living in and celebrating the here and now much more than we seem to. I don't think any of us are personally responsible, but I have a theory that we are all conditioned by society and the media to focus on the negative.

Have you ever noticed when you turn on the news or pick up a newspaper that the majority of the content is very negative? It is something of which we should all be consciously aware. I believe that if we take too much notice of it, it can get us down.

There ARE terrible things going on in the world, and we should be aware of them and care. But spending a lot of time being miserable because of a combination of the evening news and of the little mundane things in your life that get you down is simply going to waste your time.

I have mentioned in a post before that I believe that we should enjoy each day as it comes and not wish our lives away, and I am going to say it here, again. Partly because I really believe it very strongly, and partly because I had a glass or two of nice wine with dinner.

One of the most relaxing holidays that I have ever been on involved going to a place that had no televisions, newspapers, radios or mobile phone reception. It was in the middle of the rainforest, had lovely food, luxurious surroundings, and a spa bath in every suite. It was so relaxing to just be able to focus on what you saw arround you, all in the present moment.

Life is stressful enough without all of the added worry that the evening news brings. Try switching it off for a week and see how much more relaxed you are!

You don't have to be unaware of what is going on in the world - reading the internet news can keep you informed. There is just something about the uncontrolled content, pictures and presentation of the nightly news that can be stressful.

Anyway, if there is nothing else of value in this post, please go out to a nice dinner with friends and have a glass of wine or two, not for any particular reason, but because you want to and you value a good time and good company. Life is too short to need excuses to enjoy yourself!

Just a thought

Our days are so full at the moment that part of me wonders whether they are preparing us for life working as junior doctors on the wards. We rush from lecture to lecture without a break in between, and frequently have days of 7 or 8 hours straight contact time without space to eat or pee (sorry for the detail!) without eating during lectures or tutorials, and excusing ourselves to find the nearest bathroom. There should theoretically be a 10-minute break between lectures/tutorials, but everything runs overtime as the sessions are so content-rich, and the lecturers frequently have to leave us to cover the last part of the lecture ourselves.

That said, I'm loving it!

And everybody seemed fine in the anatomy prac - even those who hadn't seen a cadaver before. I really enjoyed it as I love the practical aspects of anatomy. A few of us were really enthusiastic (within limits - there was no cheering involved!) and I like to think that this made it easier for those who might have had difficulty. I got really keen when I found out how hard atherosclerotic arteries are and tried to get people to poke them. I worked out I'm an anatomy "poker", which was a surprise. I like to get in there and get my gloves dirty. Another surprise!

I don't believe how fast the past week and a half have gone. The days are so full and busy that they just fly by. I am happiest when kept busy and occupied, so I'm pretty chirpy right now!

Displacement

Yesterday I found myself absolutely terrified about what to do with my fish. Nothing out of the ordinary was happening with them, everything was as per normal. But I was terrified and obsessing.

It was also my last day of work. I am now officially unemployed, and a full-time student again. But I wasn't worried about that. I was fretting about my fish. Displacement, anybody?

I had a lovely last day at work, and hope to be seeing all of the wonderful people I have been working with sometime soon. I promised to come and visit them and ask all kinds of silly questions as a medical student and junior doctor. People wrote the nicest things on my going-away card, and all the doctors told me that I will make a great doctor. It was a lovely thing to say, and I'll accept the complement. (Part of me wonders if anybody ever gets told, "Um, well done getting into medical school, but all of the staff here at the hospital think you should reconsider and go and study accounting." I think not.)

Right now I am thoroughly enjoying being excited and enthusiastic about something again. I am on the edge of the big, deep, scary pool about to jump in, and I know that it will be very tough swimming to the other end, but from out of the water it all looks so exciting and new and I can't wait.

I woke up at 7am this morning (which is mad considering it is Saturday and I went out and celebrated last night) and played the piano and read "Hot Lights, Cold Steel" by Michael Collins from cover to cover. It was a fantastic read and reaffirmed my reasons for never wanting to enter surgery. I think any young gunner with stars in his or her eyes should sit down and read it and find out just how glamorous and well-paid life as a surgical trainee really is.

It was fantastic to lie down on the couch and spend the morning reading a book. I haven't been able to do that for years. Something always distracted me or I wasn't able to concentrate well enough to maintain interest. I must be happy.