2am on National Day

time-check 2.07am, i am stoning in NUH doing my first night call.

zombie-fied.

my HO is Dr Khine, a very nice doctor from myanmar (got conversational topics since i have been there before)... she just told me to come and rest ahah =P

third day into SIP and i feel... very out of place still. it's really very tiring to start your day at 7.30am and leave the hospital at 7pm. AND you practically stand the WHOLE day. my god. can you hear my feet screaming... have worn flats and not heels and yet i feel like i just want to walk barefoot to save me from the agony of trudging around in my shoes. URGH. (by the way, i think the friction has rubbed off all my skin from my two last toes. i am officially as skinless as the plucked cooked chicken on the table).

the neuro team is a rather nice bunch of people, and i especially adore my HO liqi! she is really very willing to teach and ever so helpful, always making sure to check on me when i set off to take blood alone. and i realise another trait about the hos; they seem to have mastered the art of not going to the toilet and not drinking water. they are like pseudo-cacti! at the end of the day i always feel as dry as a bone. dehydrated, wrinkled, shrivelled. maybe our bladders wisely expands themselves when they realise the day is too short for time wasted on toileting.

have yet to do any successful procedures other than venepuncture. =( although so far it's rather heartening that none have failed yet! did an ABG just now, failed to draw any blood. my heart sank. aha especially since there were four pairs of eyes (patient's and relatives') staring at me while i tried to do it. witnessed a blood culture, looks really tough to do! and i have yet to set a plug. GAH. at this rate i am never going to fulfill all the basics...

my ho just informed us today that we have to come back weekends. byebye lovely saturday and sunday. i shall become a SIP slave.

ooo. it's freezing in this room. and there's no bed to sleep on. and i haven't bathe. life is sad. my hair is greasy, my eyes are puffy, my tummy is rumbling, my lips are cracking, and i probably smell nasty. pooey.

a "Do Not Resuscitate" patient passed away just now. it's terrible watching the grief of the relatives, no words of consolation come to mind.



brrr. freezinggggggggggggggggggggg freeziiiing freezingg freezinnng frozen.