I Am Not A Drain On Society

Just a bit of good news

2012-01-25T06:49:00.000Z

As all at work is going slightly bonkers at the moment, I thought I would share some good news with you.

I am now engaged!

Complete surprise and wonderfully happy.

Help!!!

2012-01-18T22:55:00.000Z

Does anyone know how to fix a sewing machine?
I seem to have lost a lump off mine when I moved back from the last hospital (and yes, I did take my sewing machine with me....) and can't find it and don't quite know what I'm looking for to replace it.

It's a Janome if that's of any use to anyone knowledgeable!

The Maplin Game - a deviation from medicine

2012-01-16T17:34:00.002Z

This game can also be played in any hardware, model or otherwise 'manly*' shop.
1. Enter shop alone, or ditch any boys at the entrance and let them follow you in.
2. Go and look at something. It doesn't have to be anything in particular, but generally the more obscure, the better the result.
3. Wait
4. Wait a bit more, it usually won't take long before someone (almost always male) approaches you and asks if you're OK.
5. Observe that as you move around the shop this will happen more than once.
6. Laugh that it never seems to happen to male counterparts in the shop.
7. See if you can beat my personal best of 3 in 5 minutes!

*I'm not saying that these shops are just for men, I often frequent them to look for arts and crafts tools.

Changing times

2012-01-12T22:23:00.001Z

Christmas this year brought the usual strife with my family, but thankfully my in laws are wonderful and seem to have adopted me.

The new job is going well, although much less stressful than my previous post - it's proving hard to get used to leaving at 5 and on time rather than 3 hours late!

I promise to try blogging more this year and wish all final years the best of luck with impending exams!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

2011-12-19T20:58:00.000Z

...except that it isn't really.
My ward doesn't have any Christmas decorations and the seasonal spirit is a little lacking among staff.
Christmas day is just another working day for most doctors. We do the shifts the rota tells us to and pray that it's not busy, or that if it is busy then the day goes quickly.
So to all the NHS and frontline staff working over the festive period, I salute you and wish you a decent working shift.
Merry Christmas

Stage fright

2011-12-12T22:24:00.002Z

In summer I was a medical student.
This week I'm doing formal teaching with medical students.
This scares me immensely

Black Wednesday

2011-12-08T22:58:00.001Z

The term for the doctor's switch over day is known as Black Wednesday. Everyone is tired and stressed.
The night before change over I had to leave one hospital, pack my room into my car and travel to a new place and a new hospital.
Chaos isn't the word.
Today was the first day on the wards after induction and was a very steep learning curve.
I hope tomorrow will be easier, but we'll have to see...

Aaaaargh

2011-12-05T21:34:00.001Z

Job swap is filling me with fear, not to mention the fact that I haven't finished packing yet. It upsets me that I'm not going to be seeing all the other juniors and nurses that I've formed a strong working relationship with anymore.

The nurses are upset because they've just got us trained!

I just hope my next job is as amazing as this one has been...

All change

2011-12-04T22:30:00.000Z

I've just become nicely settled in my current job, and lo it's time to rotate into a whole new specialty at a whole new hospital.

It does make you feel very uncertain when you have to change jobs every four months, and probably kicks junior doctor confidence somewhat.

But hey, I knew the drill when I got my jobs list last year. Best of luck to everyone on Wednesday when they start their new jobs.

PS, don't get sick this week unless it's before Wednesday!

Strike

2011-12-01T11:03:00.001Z

I support NHS staff striking.
Had I been balloted to strike and patients would not be at risk then I would be stood on a picket line with a placard.
It's not just about my wages, it's about my family who also work for the NHS, it's about the hard working team of nurses, paramedics, porters, radiographers etc who work with me to make health care here something to be proud of.

The population is getting older, and instead of this being just a problem it is evidence of a strong and effective NHS.

Shouldn't THAT be something to stand up for?

The joys of being a junior doctor... part 1

2011-11-22T17:03:00.000Z

...ePortfolio. I don't know a single junior doctor who loves it, but I definitely know a lot who hate it.

It's a hoop jumping exercise where you have to get various skills and competencies signed off and evidenced by people more senior than yourself.

Check out all the lovely green on there!

Now signing a piece of paper would be easy, but no, I have to send an email to people from a clunky and poorly designed website which they then have to log into to agree that they have seen me doing said skill and are competent in it themselves.

It could be easier.

On the plus side, I'm a completely neurotic freak and have got loads of mine signed off already.

Career development

2011-11-02T21:10:00.000Z

Help, I cant decide which way I want to go in medicine. I always desperately wanted to do A&E when I was a medical student and now I'm not so sure.
As a student I always hated surgery and found it barbaric, yet now I'm really pining to see procedures and get involved. It's truly bizarre how much I've changed as a person.
When I started in August I lacked confidence and the ability to ask questions, now I'm quite comfortable managing patients and doing stuff under my own steam (although the concept of doing a mini-ward round on my own freaks me out).
And more amusingly, in July I was still a medical student, yet now I have 4 of my very own - and I bloody love them. I will be taking them for beer when they leave!
So yes, generally life is good and I'm thoroughly enjoying being a doctor, well at least for the moment.

Time flies

2011-10-12T00:29:00.001+01:00

It's been a truly mental period recently.
I'm back at work and probably healthier than I've been in a long time and I'm loving work again.
I still have a profound fear of one of the consultants, but as long as I keep avoiding her then it's all good.
What worries me is that I'm reviewing patients on my own and making decisions. I just don't feel confident enough sometimes, but then my patients seem to be doing ok so I can't be that bad...

physician heal thyself

2011-10-01T21:29:00.001+01:00

Turns out that you get to be an even worse patient when you qualify. I thought I'd been pretty bad as a student but as a doctor I'm probably 15 times worse.

I got hospitalised again with something rather painful which has now thankfully resolved (and hopefully this time stays away for good).

So back to work soon with some trepidation. Hope I'm fit enough...

Swapping places

2011-09-19T23:36:00.001+01:00

I'm sure this whole experience will give me something wonderful to write a reflective piece on for my NHS ePortfolio: yes, I am back in hospital as an in-patient.

This time the care has been exemplary and the nurses truly wonderful. While I know my hospital has a good reputation, I can't help but feel that the reason I have a private side room is because I am a doctor here.

I'm sure the senior emergency department registrar doesn't personally cannulate all his patients and give them IV morphine within 20 minutes of their arrival into the department.

If I didn't feel so unwell and in pain I'd probably feel spoilt.

Anyhow, at least I'm in the right place, I just hope I can get back to work soon, as I'm actually missing it.

Development

2011-09-05T08:48:00.001+01:00

I've now been working as a doctor in a busy hospital for over a month. I'm still loving it but it's very exhausting. Thankfully I'm on annual leave at the moment which is a nice break after some long working weeks.
On the plus side when I go back to work my rota changes again to allow me to work more manageable working hours with no nights and only a few weekends on call.
Interestingly I may now be undecided on my career path as I'm really enjoying doing a surgical job. I wonder if every rotation I do will be like this or if I've just found a niche that I love.
Anyway, back to work next week!

Adaptation

2011-08-15T04:56:00.001+01:00

My first two weeks as a doctor have been a massive change. I'm finishing a run of on call nights that have really forced me to think on my feet.

I've done more rectal examinations in 2 nights than in 5 years as a student.

But I still haven't introduced myself as Dr Jones. It still sounds wrong. I inwardly cringe a little when my boss introduces us as Miss Smith and Dr Jones. I keep expecting it to be pulled away from me at any second.

Most of all, despite the poo, smells and endless nights I have some amazing colleagues and fantastic nurses as company.

I love being a doctor. It was well worth the effort

Everything changes

2011-08-02T23:46:00.001+01:00

Everything changes tomorrow. No more induction week, tomorrow I am the F1 doctor.
Don't be ill folks.

And then everything changed

2011-07-31T20:01:00.000+01:00

A few weeks ago I was a bit ill.
It wasn't fun and I ended up calling an ambulance out for myself. Now anyone who knows me will recognise that I hate people who waste the ambulance service's time. In fact I even called a friend who was working as an ambulance technician that night and asked his advice. So I ended up getting some help, and some decent analgesia (I'm actually reasonably scared of needles, so to let a paramedic cannulate my hand goes some way to show how much pain I was in) - I loved entonox so much that night, and after some IV morphine the pain was a lot more bearable.
Anyhow, a few days later and after some IV antibiotics I was discharged, and then readmitted when the pain got worse. More IV antibiotics, lots of analgesia and some fluids later I went home. Things are better now but still not perfect.
Anyhow, a big thanks to the ambulance service for their help that night and for not treating me like a muppet when I went a bit mad on entonox.

Since then it's all been a bit of a whirlwind.

I've:

graduated
introduced my parents to my inlaws
got my GMC registration
moved to my new hospital
done half of induction week
gone to a mess party
met some of my consultants
and started answering bleeps when shadowing

I don't yet have a rota but that will be sorted this week.

It's all very scary, and the worst was seeing my ID card saying Dr Merys Jones.

But I guess it's all finally true and it happened. Hard work pays off in the end.

arghhhh!

Time check

2011-07-26T05:19:00.000+01:00

See the time of this post? Yeah, 05:18. I'm up, dressed and in the middle of straightening my hair. I set off in 40 minutes for the first day at work.
It's a good job that I'm staying over at the hospital this week, because this is an ungodly hour to be getting up...

Life change

2011-07-25T17:55:00.001+01:00

Today is my last day as a student.
Tomorrow I start my induction week at my new hospital as a newly qualified doctor working somewhere completely new.
I'm scared.
Don't get sick in August.

PS I'll write about my recent 'holiday in hospital' at the weekend.

The cost of being in hospital

2011-07-16T21:05:00.001+01:00

If anyone is feeling generous... It has cost me £60 so far to watch television while I'm in hospital. Had I realised I was going to be in this long I probably wouldn't have bothered with it in the first place, but equally I'm now bored rotten.
If anyone feels like sticking a few quid in the paypal account at the top to help me afford to alleviate my boredom I would love you all forever.
A very bored, hurting and skint Merys

Patience

2011-07-16T11:13:00.000+01:00

...is not one of my greatest virtues. Add to that the fact that I'm still in hospital and you'll probably understand why I'm a little irritable at the moment.

I'm still in pain, still not sleeping too well and still have no idea what's going on.

But on the plus side I did have a frank discussion with my parents about depression and why I'd never told them. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I maintain that I was right not to tell them initially. Mood is currently a lot better on venlafaxine.

Fingers crossed home soon before starting work.

Invasion

2011-07-12T00:44:00.001+01:00

I'm getting really sick of being in hospital. I have tubes stuck in completely inappropriate places and it's very invasive. My stomach and thighs are bruised from injections, and today alone I'm on my 3rd cannula (1 tissued and I accidentally pulled another out due to rolling over with the IV line around me). I've just had a new one BANDAGED in place.

So for now I just have to survive the night with old ladies snoring their heads off around me. I may go insane.

The other side

2011-07-10T20:40:00.001+01:00

If you've been following me on twitter recently then you've probably realised that I'm in hospital. Aside from 36 hours at home, I've been here for 10 days and things haven't changed.

The pain is worse and is compounded by other factors (that I may or may not blog about in the future).

The food is terrible and I've not been happy at all. But we still aren't sure what's going on.

Maybe the new week will bring some answers.

Merys