humble beginnings

Week 1 at Gynaecology outpatient wasn't as hellish as i thought. Tiring alright, cos sometimes we have a non-stop flow of patients morning and afternoon, which means countless gynae checks which involve peering and poking around the insides of women and doing TCTs (thinprep cytologic tests), feeling their uteruses, testing for bacteria, fungi and trichomonas, staring at the comp, squinting through the microscope at the cells of bodily fluids...but after awhile it just gets routine and you distant yourself from the grossness and audacity of it all. The only thing that lingers in my mind now at the end of a neck-breaking week is the image of blood dripping from a vagina I just checked, and feeling very anal about the spot of blood staining the floor. Which was thoroughly disturbing, but I was relieved that it miraculously disappeared at the end of the day. I hope they UV-disinfect the room over the weekend. Lol. I was paranoid and on-edge the entire morning cos I got a papercut which bled and I was worried I'd contract some blood-borne disease from the close proximity to the blood, bodily fluids and bodies I was working with. And from all the addresses I've entered over the week, it seems that the no. of pregnancies is statistically high among residents of 分钟寺. I smirk to myself whenever somebody tests pregnant and happens to live in that area. Seems akin to a red-light district. The other day I saw an ultrasound which showed the head and body of a foetus. It was just beautiful in a sense I can't describe, the moment of it all, at the possibility of a new life beginning in somebody's uterus, even though I was an outsider, and even though that life was not going to be given a chance. Here you don't consider ethics, morals and that whole GP debate we went through about the case for and against abortions. It's all about birth control which leads to population control. And family planning. I lost count of the no. of abortion forms I've filled the entire week. But another interesting discovery I made is that most, if not all of the women lined up for abortion I've seen this week have no menstrual cramps. Cool stuff. There was a girl as young as 19 or 20 who'd already had an abortion in may this year and is now going for a second. Yeah, if you choose not to get bogged down by the morality question and the inevitable reality about how even the modern China society has become so open, you kinda rise above it all, take a step back (or rather a step forward) and just do the job without hesitation. It's a routine question: "如果怀上了，要 还是不要？"


This afternoon when I came back from lunch, changing into my lab coat in my room, an old lady almost old enough to be my granny came in and talked to me.

“您是大夫吗？”
“哦，我不是，我是学生。”
“哈哈我以为您是大夫，在想这大夫看起来好年轻！”

Following her, a few other patients also came in and thought I was the doctor. Had to keep repeating that I'm a student. Lol. And I thought I went back 10 years in time after yesterday's haircut. YY said I looked like I came straight out of the black and white '60s, Marilyn Monroe style. Lol. Others say I look much younger and friendlier. And more student-ish. Haha. Maybe I appear more professional to the patients. Lol. It's short and neat, it dries fast and I save on shampoo, only downside is that my neck has no protection. Grow fast! Then I can change style again ;) The hairstylist's "好打理" just totally won me over and my trim turned into more than 15 bucks' worth.


Back to random thoughts of the week at gynae. There were some pretty hilarious incidents, like of this woman whose leather jacket I was admiring ever since she came in and sat down, for she totally cracked me up when my teacher asked if her temper was bad and she said "对啊，整天想打架". I laughed in her face but she had no reaction, and I was probably lucky to be wearing my mask for I was sniggering to myself all the way while typing out her prescription. I don't think she'd pick a fight with me anyway, for at this dept I'm treated as a doc too and therefore with respect and courtesy. I still find it ironic when people double my age address me as "您" though. Yet I'm used to calling every patient "您" too even though most of them are in their 20s and some of them are younger than me. Lol. Guess it pays to be nice and polite, even if I'm not paid.