Adventures in Albany - Day 09

I decided to walk to the practice and to take a jog after, to try to lose some weight and get fit, so I can attract girls. I could only do 10mins jog, but I managed to walk to the beach. Unfortunately it was dark by the time I got there, so there wasn’t much to see or do. I took several snapshots and watched a red sunset and took a dark and scary walk back to the hospital. I decided to call some of my friends so that I wouldn’t feel so lonely. It was quite a good adventure, though. I just wished that it wasn’t so dark so fast.

When I got back to the hospital, I remembered that they were having the drinks session for Camille. I wanted to make an appearance, but drinking wasn’t my thing, and it was in the city centre. I shudder at the thought that the person driving me back would be a little drunk and I don’t fancy appearing in the newspaper tomorrow. But, if I can, I tip my glass to you, Camille. She was the one who approved my internet access, but now, I can’t access it. I do wonder whether her absence meant that my access had been cut off, but it shouldn’t matter. I went to see them again today, and tried to grant me access, but tonight, I am without internet again.

I guess I would have to live without it and use my books to find out the various treatment and management of the things that I have seen today. And tomorrow I have to present a case to get some sort of evaluation of how I am progressing as a medical student. I have time to present the case, and I have to do a good job to see that I am improving or not. I hope I am.

I went to see one of Dr. Mildenhall’s patients early this morning. He had been bugging me to see him since he was admitted on Monday. I wondered what ‘typical’ presentation he would have. It turned out to be a myocardial infarction in a very fit and healthy 50 year old man. He started having the pains a few weeks back, after he takes a 30min jog. Why do these things happen to people who seem to be doing the right thing in life? What justice is there about life? “Those who deserve death, live on, and those who deserve life don’t, but who are we to decide?” was the quote that Gandalf said. I guess as a doctor, I would be able to do something about this. And I am almost there.

I saw a couple of babies and pregnant mothers today. I still have that fatherly instinct which makes me want to cuddle and pamper a baby of my own. I also have been harbouring the feeling of owning a pet, from visiting www.icanhascheeseburger.com too much. I saw a poster of a few pets being sold and I walked past the pet shop on the way to the practice today. I really want to go in and buy a pet. Can I afford a pet? Will I be a good carer? I think that I can, but my sea monkeys are dead.

There was also another patient we saw today who is on trial for custody of her own children. There was history of drug abuse and domestic violence, and I cannot help but think how much she doesn’t deserve to have them. They say that people growing up in abusive families will turn into abusive parents themselves. I guess there is some truth in it, taking examples from the animal kingdom as well. If not taken care of, the animals tend not to care as well as others in the same species. This is a type of evolution process and part of the selfish gene theory, which allows the species to continue. It is not just limited to mammals and birds, but also some reptiles, amphibians, fish and invertebrates. Yet, there are always exceptions, especially among humans where this happens. Now that she has gotten rid of the negative influences, her lawyer and her doctor is trying to help her gain custody. I have no right to judge, but I do hope that she is able to handle them and give them all they need, and not harm them in any way. And I do hope that the children turn out better than their parents and have a clean and proper life.

Adventures in Albany - Day 02

I realized today that I have a so much to learn and remember to become a doctor. Today, I saw a whole range of patients, which spanned throughout my entire medical studies. It started with a suicidal depressed patient with a personality disorder, one of Dr. Knight’s patients in the hospital. We briefly talked to her to see how she is coping, and interestingly she wrote a letter to her parents telling them her feelings. I was brought back to my own experience with depression, suicidal ideation and family matters. I hope that I don’t have to go through all those feelings again.

Dr. Knight then finished giving me a tour of the hospital and took me to the practice, where I was given instructions and schedule for my attachment. That morning, I was attached to the only female doctor in the practice, Dr. Tompkins. She saw lots of Obs & Gynae patients, and I struggled to recall all that I have learnt last two years. There were a couple of Pap smears and antenatal checks, but there were also the medical cases and geriatrics and polypharmacy as well. Later that day, I was attached to another GP, Dr.Wasiun, who specialized in Anaesthetics. He had a few pre-admission patients, which reminded me that I need to study that for my exams as well. Both of the GP’s also had a few paediatric cases as well. It was clear that I have lost touch with most of what I have learnt throughout the years, but at least I know where I stand right now.

My tally, I covered psych, O&G, paeds, anaesthetics, gen med, and geriatrics, all in one day.

However, the highlight of my day was when one of the mothers who came in handed me her baby to hold while she assisted in the examination of her other child. My heart melted and the paternal emotions start building up. I completely ignored the rest of the consult as I tried to talk to the baby. The baby was anxious and was reluctant to suck on the dummy, but he occasionally smiled. It wasn’t the “Aww, so cute,” feelings, but more of the “I want to protect you,” feelings. I can only guess how a father would feel towards his child, and I think what I feel is close to it. I was reminded of the lines from 17 Again, starring Matthew Perry and Zac Efron. It was the scene when they were handing out condoms and Zac Efron stood up and gave a wonder speech of what it was like to hold your first baby girl in your arms. I would quote it here if I can remember the exact words.

There used to be a saying that the first daughter is the reincarnation of the father’s lover in a previous life. I find some truth in that statement. It does explain why the feelings fathers have towards their first born daughters are greater. It is really the feeling that you have to protect her from all harm, giving her all you can give. It is really the same type of feeling I would share towards my lover first. I do hope I am a good father.

That evening, I tried exploring Albany, but as with Perth, everything closes at 1700hrs. I managed to find the UWA campus and the RCS campus were, but I didn’t really find much else. By then, it was getting dark. Luckily, I was to have dinner at Dr. Knight’s place, so he called me and I managed to get a lift to his place. It turned out that he was a father of 3 hyperactive girls. I learnt about Australian culture about meals and bed time, and also got several tips on parenting. I found out that children will become more hyper as it gets closer to bed time and it is usually because they are tired. It sounds contradictory, but true enough, they fell asleep the moment they were sent to bed. I have a lot to learn about parenting...

I left shortly after they went to bed, and Dr Knight took me to the RCS campus, where I managed to borrow several books to make up for my lack of internet. It made me realise how much I relied on internet before, and how easy it is to have the internet to replace all the books that I took home that day. With these books, my room looked more like a study area. Now all I need is the motivation.