Some of you may have thought that I had died of overwork. You weren't far off. I've worked yet another weekend with no days off in the weeks either side. Others may have thought I'd contracted some horrible mutated snuffles-virus from all the snuffly children I see. You were also not wrong. I seem to always have snuffles right now.
These weren't the reasons I haven't blogged.
The main reason is purely technical. My laptop is still having serious issues. Hopefully with enough locum shifts and some saving I can get something more reliable, and longer-lasting soon. On advice I'm thinking a macbook of some sort, so as soon as I'm allowed out of the hospital for longer than an evening at a time I'm going to go for a play in the apple store.
I also have a second reason for being a bit wary of blogging. I've been quite scared by all the weekend's drama in the Torygraph about doctor's on twitter/blogs and the things they say. I feel it was all taken out of context. In fact I call my midwife friends madwives to their faces... it's all banter, but I do worry that things I say will be taken out of context.
Anyway, an update on how things have been going at work.
In a word, good.
I'm still LOVING paediatrics and I'm still getting love-butterflies in my tummy when I talk about it to people. I've also had some tears with sad patients and I've had frustrations with other staff dumping their work on me so it's not perfect, but I'd rather tell you some of the awesome things about my job.
1. BUBBLES. I get to blow bubbles to
2. CHILDREN. Some would say children are very far from awesome, but as I have the mental age of a child I love spending all day with them.
3. BABIES. They are so ickle and cute and I get to cuddle them and pretend it's part of my examination. In fact it is part of a good examination as it's nice to see how the baby handles.
4. PAEDIATRIC NURSES. All the nurses on my ward are beyond lovely. They are chatty, kind, helpful, experienced and have challenged me to keep up with them on a night out. I can't wait.
5. TRICKY BLOODS/CANNULAE. Again some would think that this is not so awesome but it's pretty satisfying when you get bloods or put a cannula in a tricky little vein. My personal best is getting bloods from a chubby 16 month old baby in 1 go. I want to try and get a cannula in a neonate before I finish this rotation. I reckon with all my recent experience that I'd probably just about manage it.
6. PLAYING. I like playing. Examinations are play. Talking to teddies and examining them is play. Taking inhalers is play. Play, play, play!
7. KIND CONSULTANTS. Even though they can be stern or firm about getting things done the right way, all my consultants are lovely. A large part of me feels this is not so much to do with how I'm treated, but it's from how I see them interact with children. It's so cute to see "scary" consultants laughing and smiling and playing with kiddies.
8. ACUTE CARE. It's scary but children deteriorate very quickly so whether its on a resus call to a&e or on the ward I get a fair amount of adrenaline pumping while dealing with sick kids. It's great to put skills to use and to work under pressure.
Tomorrow I'm doing (another) 12 hr day, having done my last 12 hr day on Sunday. We shall see if I am still so cheerful tomorrow night. Somehow I doubt it.
Dr Sunshine xXx
It really does sound as though you are enjoying yourself, which is good to hear, however, what's with all these long hours and extra shifts when you are supernumerary and should be having an easy time? I guess that it means that you are not getting up here very often and it will be some months before I see you again. "Your shawl" is completed and everybody loves it so it is going to be a big feature in the book. Keep enjoying yourself and I hope that a more reliable means of communication will be available courtesy of all the extra hours in the not too distant future.
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