tip of the iceberg

Now that I've officially left Neurology, I'm still having mixed feelings. Even though I haven't integrated myself fully with the department and the patients, there's this feeling of starting something but not being able to be there to complete it. In a space of 1 wk, I had 6 new patients warded under my group. Wonder what will happen to them. It's weird since I've come to recognize their family and caretakers, and yesterday (my last day), the grandson of the patient whose medical record I did came to visit with his dad. We were doing our daily morning rounds and were trying to get her to respond to check her condition. No matter how my teacher shook her and called loudly, her eyelids refused to open for more than half a second. She wasn't unconscious, just drifting in and out of sleep. This was the aftermath of a cerebral infarction affecting a large area of the brain. Shall not go into medical details. Anyway the point is, once her grandson called her, in that 响亮 kid's voice, her eyelids instantly fluttered open fully albeit for only a few seconds till she closed them again. It was touching. It was on her that I observed all the pathological reflexes and listened to her atrial flutter. It's sad to see her in such a state, so I sure hope no one around me suffers a stroke or gets Parkinsons.

I feel that I haven't learned enough. It's been really stressful and busy in Neuro and I made mistakes, but overall it's been rewarding. I'm still not familiar with all the neurological diseases, the anatomy of the brain, the medications and interpretations of CT scans, MRIs and other lab tests, and that just adds to the complexity of clinical work. Neurology is such a specialised and complex area, the more I'm exposed to, the less I feel I know. But at least I think I'm starting to learn to be a doctor. That's something no amount of textbooks can teach. Hopefully other departments will be fulfilling too.

Btw I still dislike the nurses at Neuro 2, I hate answering the phone and taking blood pressure. I honestly suck at it.



Finally went to the gym after a n-week long hiatus. Did 45mins on the treadmill and dropped my ipod 3 times. Lol. Finally made friends with a gym instructor when we went to use the equipment :) Never spent so long in the gym before. 2.5 hours maybe? I wanna run outdoors one of these days. Apparently tmr is 立秋　woots! And I love my bikey uncle, he fixed my pillion seat and didn't want my money when I had no change. Shall drop by with 1 buck next time haha.

It feels good to have worked out! Am aching all over now :D