Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Extractions, partings and fluffbunnies

[Warning: Long post ahead]

Holidays are here, and it's such a joy to be able to wake up late every day, to spend many hours every day reading fantasy books or drawing, or just vegetating in front of the computer, without really having to worry about not doing work. But my next posting is Paediatrics, which is going to be really stressful. Did I mention I don't really like children? I mean, they're cute, but I get gripped by violent tendencies when they start wailing or jumping around. Just don't tell anyone about that. And I shall try to keep my disgust under control, I promise.

After suffering much annoying pain - I was being really snappy the whole week because of that nagging pulsing throb in my left lower jaw - I finally decided to get the offending wisdom tooth removed at the National Dental Centre last Friday. The NDC is either really efficient or they have a low patient load (how many people like removing their teeth, frankly?). After my consultation at the "toothache clinic" I was asked to go get an appointment for day surgery to get the tooth removed. I wanted to do the op on that same day so I didn't have to make multiple trips, so the nurse asked me to sit in Day Surg and wait for an empty slot (if someone didn't appear for his or her op). And I was just sitting around for five minutes before I got called. Totally amazing.

Preparing for the operation was somewhat similar to gowning up, and it was funny when the nurse gave me the gown and I put it on with the ties behind, like you wear an operation gown, only to have her tell me I was supposed to wear it with the ties in front, like a normal robe. I can no longer see the line between normal life and clinical life any more, I swear.

I thought the operation was the most horrible thing I've ever been through in my life, and would strongly recommend people not to do it unless they really need to. Firstly the local anaesthetic injections were disgusting. And I chose to remove all three of my remaining wisdom teeth, so I got injections in three different corners of my mouth. It is amazing how, for something designed to pierce the skin with minimal effort, it can be so painful. I have a totally different view now on people who fear venepuncture. After the anaesthesia the nurses proceeded to drape me in those green cloths, and even wrapped up my eyes, "because the lights are very bright". They even put instruments on my chest, to my great amusement.

The main operation was for the lower left tooth, which was impacted, so they had to break it up and remove it, while the other two wisdom teeth were growing out properly and only had to be plucked out. Even with anaesthesia, the breaking up and removal of the lower tooth hurt like hell, and I was unconsciously adopting a flexion posture while lying in the chair, and my back was positively arched the whole time. I admit, I have pretty lousy pain tolerance. I was so happy when it ended, but there was so much pain it was miserable. You can imagine how I was when the anaesthesia wore off.

Now it's POD5, and the swelling is beginning to go down, and my jaw doesn't feel so stiff any more. But I'm still trying not to chew on the op side. The dentist left so much suture hanging free after tying up the wound that one end keeps coming between my molars, and I'm kind of worried that I'm going to chew the knot undone, though of course that is almost impossible. It's remarkably annoying having a foreign body in the mouth though, I can't wait for the stitches to be taken out.

Okay, enough about my operation, and more about the last day at TTSH, which was also on Friday (yes, I went back to hospital for a debrief and one last tutorial by our favourite professor after the operation). I can totally remember how I Was dreading the posting so much in the beginning, because I never liked surgery, and how I kept whining in the first few weeks that the posting was depressing me, but after eight weeks I came to realise that medicine and surgery are not all that different after all, and it's not like surgeons can afford to think less or care for their patients less because the scalpel solves all their problems. Because of all the wonderful people we met in this posting, from nurses to HOs to MOs, registrars and consultants, and also patients, it just got more and more enjoyable as the time went by. Of course, there were a few really low moments (thanks to Dear Mister Registrar), but things on the whole were good.

My small group stayed behind after Prof L's tutorial to look for doctors to give cards to. Actually we only bought cards for two really special registrars: our personal tutor Mr. R, and Mr. K (whom I have written about before) who deserved something special because he gave so much where he was never expected to give, and was such a shining beacon of tear-invoking kindness that puts Dear Mister Registrar to eternal shame. If I have to name only one thing that made this posting so good, he is that thing. This sounds really cheesy, but I think there cannot be enough gratitude expressed for wonderful people.

All that said, I'm going to really miss my CG, the wonderful people I've spent 16 memorable weeks with, people that I've shared laughs and Dear-Mister-Registrar experiences with, people around whom every moment is a precious one. (Yes, I'm being cheesy again. Save me, I can't help it!) Some of us have even gotten to the point of being able to read each other's minds, in some bizarre way, though these moments are often related to Dear Mister Registrar. Of course evil thoughts tend to converge. It was a great time, and I'm sorry we have to be broken up into other CGs, but that's life. I'm looking forward to having a great time with the next CG too (I hope).

I'm being really talkative today, am I not. For those people who take the MRT like me, I must say I'm totally baffled that SMRT has put up new board signs on the tracks of aboveground stations, one of which announces in 4 official languages the mind-boggling message "Value Life. Act Responsibly." I'm like, what? And I spend all of five minutes while waiting for the train wondering to myself what the purpose of this bizarre message could be. Is it there to dissuade people who are contemplating jumping on the tracks? If so I hardly can imagine that any suicidal person might be turned away by four words, except maybe be tickled too much by the sheer lameness of the words to think of dying. And with the signs standing at approximately ten-metre intervals, their deterrent effect is almost zilch. To me the words make me think of a campaign to prevent premarital conception and abortion, but why would they be putting those signs on MRT tracks? The crack possibilities are endless to that question. Weirdly enough I don't see any symbol that could indicate what the signs are for, but maybe I'm blind. Speculation, anybody?

Yet another example of how clinics blurs the border between hospital life and real life. The other day in TTSH A walked in and said, "You all should see the 40 year-old virgin, damn funny." And my first reaction was, which ward and bed? Perhaps, if he had used "watch" instead of "see", things would have been clearer.

I've resurrected the music section of the site, because Honoo no Tobira is just such a magnificent song (ah, but Kimi Wa Boku ni Niteiru is perhaps more magnificent). I hope it's not still causing internet browsers to crash.

[fluff]And because I'm bored, here's a screenshot of my desktop, showing the magnificent Cedric Diggory wallpaper made by grrliz who does awesome icons and wallpapers. And who is crazy over Cedric as well.


Cedric Diggory is the next hottest thing to come out of the HP movie series (and because Daniel Radcliffe is getting uglier and uglier - the hair, Harry, it's the hair). It's unfortunate that he dies in GoF, because oh, what fantastic cheekbones he has. Ahem. Pardon my gushing. A friend thinks the young version of Voldemort i.e. Tom Riddle was cuter. Hmm, that is a point. But for now, Cedric Diggory rules. The last time I went so crazy over an actor was when Tom Cruise acted in Minority Report, and I kept going gaga over the posters. But he has fallen to total new depths with all that Katie Holmes rubbish. Sigh. That, and Tom Cruise is a Sith Lord, for those of you who haven't seen it yet. [/fluff]

Notice that my desktop is really minimalistic. I hate having too many icons on my desktop, and my motto is, Why have that shortcut on your desktop when you access the program more often from shortcuts on the quick launch bar or Start menu?

ETA My Dear Mister Registrar post has been likened by a friend to a male version of a bitch fit. Hilarious.

Avaris / 10/18/2005 02:54:00 PM

0 consumed