A Lot On The Platter

Tada!! I'm back again.. yes I know know, it has been TWO whole weeks since my last post.. First of all, my excuses are that I didnt get my internet till last saturday AND I just started my general medicine posting and is super busy!!

A lot of days when I come home I'm so tired that I just wanna sleep but then the stomach begs for attention then I'll hvta cook. T_T And after that, I'm surely beat. And I will still hvta force myself to prepare whatever that's need to be done for the next day.

So many things to tell that I do not know where to begin.

First of all, I've settled in quite nicely into my new house! yay. Pics will not be up so soon I'm afraid. (busy remember? you're lucky to get this post haha) A lot of mishaps happened while moving which cost a lot of moolah [which opposes the reason of us moving which is to save money] but anyhow that is a one off thing. Long story short, we are lucky to get this place and hopefully will be able to stay for the long term. *cross fingers*

Secondly, general medicine is interesting but super busy. I find myself short of knowledge on countless occasions. Need to buck up! But somehow, this feels like how it's supposed to be. Well, I'm placed on the respiratory team and in the beginning, I was apprehensive of being able to learn other sort of cases but it has been sorted out this week. Which is good. We now have at least 1 signs round, 1 case presentation every week. Then there are twice per week ward rounds. And lots of other tutes, clinics. The only problem would be trying to find patients to clerk and perform physicals on.

Coz apparently we hvta ask students from the other team that the pt is on if we could that, so that they can have a go first (as some pts might tire, which is perfectly reasonable). And some of the pts are so sweet to accomodate us all :)

Anyway, being on the respi team means there is a lot of swine flu going on!!! Even though we don masks, gowns and gloves when we approach pts with possible/confirmed swine flu, I wonder how good these precautions are? I have a feeling I might have even gotten swine flu without knowing? lol. Oh well, even if not yet at the moment, probably a matter of time. >.<

So far, in my quest for pts, I have heard murmurs, crackles, felt one hepatosplenomegaly (which I found on my own ^^). So that's pretty good for 1.5 weeks' worth of work eh. Don't forget the 3 case reports we hvta hand up. Which are supposedly to be freaking long. More than 10 pages. :/ I better start cracking on my 1st one.

Besides that, my research deadline is slowly approaching as well. Need to buck up on that as well. As you can see, I have a lot on my plate at the moment. @.@ And don't forget the end of year exams that are creeping up on us! I dunno how am I going to manage with so many things going on. >.<

Last but definitely not least! I'm up so early on a saturday morning coz I can't seemed to sleep.. Maybe it's because I'm excited that my dear dear is arriving today!! Only 5 more hours plus... yay... *palpitations* lol.

I wonder what will happen after almost 8 months of absence.

It's certainly something to look forward to after a tiring day of stressing my brain out in the hospital. haha.

Okla, I think this should suffice as a good update! A few more months and I will be able to come home! :)

Moving

Will be moving house in a few hours' time. So won't have internet for 1-2 weeks. =(

Gen med starting next week. So many things happening. I just want to have a comfort zone. Hope I will be able to set it up soon!

Might try to blog using the uni's computers if I'm free enough. Okla, need to get some rest. Cya!

Random Shots

Didn't do much this weekend except laze around (hey I need a break!) and start a bit on my literature review for research.

I found a few random photos I took with my phone. Btw did I mention that I got an iphone? ^^ More than 3 months ade hehe. It's really worth it using the cap plans here. And it helps that it has GPS as I don't really know my way around here much.

Okay enjoy the random photos k.

outside the main teaching hospital, Charlies

this was around 5pm i think but now it gets darker at 5pm

writing down notes during surgery rotation

was bored so took a photo haha

yummy steak at hog'sbreath

perth city train station - where all the train lines meet

some indonesian rice - forgot name d coz super long ago

picture I took to remind me of which buses to take to fremantle hospital lol

out jogging

the aussies love their footie - one day I'll go and watch haha

vietnamese beef noodles at the market - yummy indeed!

one of the parks I jog through

Sorry if the photos are not that interesting. I think I have some funny ones in my camera but I collect a few more first k ^^

Sunset

The other day, we rushed to the real estate agency to submit a house application straight away after we saw a hse. And since it was quite near to a beach, Joshua suggested we go hang out at the beach nearby.

It was not a well known beach so it was practically empty. But hey, it's winter afterall, and ppl rarely go beaches during winter, right?

And guess what, we were just in time for sunset! I'll let the pictures do the talking :)

Joshua and Debbi - nice right, the sun in background

Debbi and I - see the wind quite strong, blow our hair around haha

the setting sun

two ppl admiring beauty of setting sun :P

which btw set in like 15 mins, which was really fast surprisingly

hehe my first jumping photo, which Debbi kindly obliged to :P

A Sigh Of Relief

Finally, I'm able to breathe a sigh of relief. How nice is it to be not under stress.

The stress of finding a house and getting ready for psych exam really got to me. The former more so. It got really complicated, but anyway long story short - I'm glad to announce, we had finally gotten a house!! Yay! Would like to sign the lease earlier so that I can be at ease (supposed to be today but agent was ill so had to reschedule to monday). But all should be well.

The new house is almost perfect - in terms of location, convenience, degree of niceness, price, and space of bedrooms. Admittedly, I would like a larger sized bedroom but it will do. Beggars can't be choosers eh.

Of coz, it's not as spacious or as nice as the current one, but hey at 3/4 the price, it's really a good price. Sucha pity that I never got around to posting pics of my current house as it's really nice. Oh well, I'm going to miss it too. =( Will probably be moving around end of next week. Lots of logistical stuff to handle coming up.

But it would be good to able to save quite a sizeable amount of money every month. Then I wouldn't need to feel so guilty for using my parents' money. Maybe more money for other stuff as well? :P haha but actually I really don't use much for weekly expenditure. Cooking really is cheap here.

Anyway, those who are moving in with me will be Debbi and Joshua. yeah new person haha.. I hope there will be lots of fun times coming up! (but must remind myself to not be too hopeful ya)

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House stuff aside, I was quite nervous abt the psych exam yesterday.

Because there were just too many unpredictable factors.

What if my patient walked out on me? What if s/he is not a good historian? What if I miss out smtg important? What if I get nervous and just freeze in front of the examiners? What if I can't answer the Qs the examiners ask me? So many what if-s...

But my fears all come to a naught. Of coz it wasn't like I became outstanding overnight but in my own eyes and expectations, I did pretty okay. To others, it might be nothing but it means a lot to me that I'm able to present a history coherently in exam conditions and answer most of the Qs sensibly. Cause I realised since I came here (with the angmohs being relatively excellent communicators or presenters or whatever) I didn't feel I was up to par and lost confidence in speaking publicly.

But now with this behind me, I must tell myself that I can do it, as long as I believe in myself. :)

I haven't been in sucha good mood for a long long time. *contented sigh*

Change Is Certain - Like Death And Taxes :P

Many apologies for the late update as I'm aware that in my last post I said that there will be a post coming soon, but here I am, updating after more than a week has passed. oops.

A lot of things have been happening so that's my excuse :P

Anyway, to give u a gist of what's going on without being circumstantial about it.

All those lamenting in my last few posts was about this problem. The lease for our current house expires in 2 weeks' time and we are still searching for houses. major uh-oh. This house-hunting has been taking up alot of my time/energy. Oh and caused me alot of anxiety as well. I was gonna diagnose myself with an anxiety disorder soon! Yeah I still dislike change, but coping with it better now.

I really hope that this will be able to be settled in the next few days. *please please I can't take it anymore*

I hope that my next post will bring good news! *cross fingers and toes*

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My observed interview was last wednesday. Went okay but seriously could have done much better if I wasn't so nervous (bah) and didn't get thrown off by the presenting complaint. (I never heard of a moving-on order before ma!)

And I managed to present a case in front of a number of ppl on friday and I didn't sound as stupid as usual. yays!! *do victory dance* Hope I will continue to improve on my public speaking/crapping skills! lol.

But then we had a quiz after that and I practically bombed most of the Qs thrown at me. =( sorry, all these other stuff going on and the fact that I'm quite unmotivated for psych does not help.

And yeap, my major psych exam is this coming thursday. Need to clerk a patient (lucky this one is not observed) and then present in front of two examiners. Then will get asked alot of questions. Hope I will be able to do fine!! I just wanna pass.

Okay I hope this update is up to your expectations coz I'm supposed to be studying now. I need a break after this, which is good that campus week is coming up. phooof.

That's all for now. ta!

PS: Debbi's birthday was last tuesday and we managed to pull off a surprise potluck for her! I will update more abt that in a separate post k. Pics not with me also.