Sunday, January 21, 2007

I almost want to have a child. Almost.

Did night call on Friday night, and on review it certainly was much better than the previous night call. Where on the latter we only saw one delivery, at which we stood around gaping and not knowing what to do, which was quite ridiculous and better left not talked about, as well as missed one delivery because evidently we don't know how fast multiparous mothers can zip through the stages of delivery, this call saw us witnessing two deliveries being better prepared with knowledge of the way things work and how to be useful. The first was a rather obese lady who came in unbooked - she had never been to the hospital for any antenatal check (nor any other doctor, apparently) and called the ambulance when she felt contractions (she had done this for 4 previous pregnancies, apparently) so she was already 8cm dilated on arrival, and it wasn't too long before she delivered. Pretty amazing how we managed to take a history before she gave birth. The labour was complicated by a retained placenta (for an hour the MOs couldn't get it out) and the registrar had to be called, who somehow managed to get it out, much to everyone's amazement. Anyway I can't believe there are women these days who don't go for any follow-up at all and just turn up at the hospital when the baby's almost out. I had clerked another lady in the wards that had a similar history, except that the ambulance was only in time to get the placenta, and the baby came out at home. o_O Unfathomable.

Second patient was a nice Chinese lady who permitted us to watch her delivery so readily that I was quite touched. Since she was nulliparous the registrar happily said she'll deliver at 5am but the baby wanted to come out near to 1am (guess babies have a way of thwarting all your presumptions about them haha). The other doctors were occupied with another patient's delivery (this patient didn't allow us to watch so I was lounging at the counter reading my stuff) when the nurse called for help and I ran in to find the baby's head peeping out. I might have asked to glove up and help the delivery, but in a moment of mingled emotion and humour the lady reached her hand out and asked "可以借一下你的手吗？" so I gladly offered it for her to hold. At that point in time I had this strange fuzzy feeling in my chest, that here I was, actually being useful to someone as she delivered, instead of standing around gaping, and I didn't mind not getting to assist the delivery. The baby boy that was born was so cute, a pink and chubby bundle that was so adorable I couldn't help playing with his arms as he lay in the warmer thingey, and then the MO saw what I was doing and said "Very free is it? You're here to do O&G, not paediatrics." Hmm, whatever.

I think in the course of being a medical student roaming the wards, very rare and far between have been the times a patient smiled at me and thanked me, and for me, despite all the horrible nurses and doctors I have had to put up with, despite all the patients that don't want to talk, that ignore me, and worst of all, lie to me and then say something else to a doctor when he does bedside tutorial, despite the fact that sometimes I wonder what there is left in humanity for me to like and to want to save, at the end of the day it is that one smile and thank you that makes it all worth it, I guess. Haha I am starting to sound very disillusioned even though I am still a lousy medical student and haven't even really cared for patients yet. I suppose leeches like us who take up patients' time and intrude on their privacy and yet don't contribute to their overall well-being don't really deserve too much thanks.

I have finally found something to like about O&G. Thank goodness, and to think I would have continued to hate the posting all the way for the next 5 weeks if not for this gem. Not a particularly good prospect.

Another week left, and then it's off to KK, where hopefully I can fulfil my quota of assisting two deliveries. One more week, and no more waking up at 5.30 haha. But also that much closer to the end-of-posting tests.

Spent the whole of yesterday zonked out because of sleep deprivation during call. I was garang and only got a little more than an hour of sleep, because the person who was doing call with me was more zonked out that I was and I volunteered for more "counter duty" - guarding the counter for new arrivals or deliveries. I found that it is much easier to keep awake for a long period of time without sleeping than it is to go to sleep and then try to keep yourself awake. And the way my body reacts to sleep deprivation is rather amusing because I can walk around perfectly fine and awake, then ever so often, like once every half an hour, I just feel an incredible urge to pass out, and after 5 minutes it's gone. Almost like narcolepsy haha. I hope that doesn't happen in the future when I'm driving home after call, is all. And I woke up at 11.30 this morning, much to my shock, because I usually don't wake up so late.

The whole of today was spent on my stupid obstetrics writeup - it was difficult because it turns out I wasn't kiasu enough in copying everything from the case notes and you only discover what's missing when you sit down to write it out. In addition the case happens to be rather controversial one in which the patient was sent home when she shouldn't have (would you send home a woman with a Hb of 5.6g/dL with only ferrous fumarate? my goodness) and I had to be accurate in what I wrote, not withstanding the fact that the patient was a horribly poor historian and couldn't tell me much. I seem to be picking controversial cases for my writeups a lot - my gynae writeup was on a patient with ectopic pregancy that was missed and sent home only for her to return a week later with it ruptured and her in shock. I feel like I'm uncovering things that are better left covered.

I should sleep, but I woke up so late this morning that I'm still feeling very awake argh. This is why I'm blogging, and at a time when I should be studying. Laziness is bad.

Avaris / 1/21/2007 11:26:00 PM

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