Landing gear down as we approach the rain-lashed deck..
What I hate the most about working at the moment is the fact that I am simply too tired to do anything during the week except make food, shower and collapse on the sofa or in front of the laptop before submitting to my own brain's weariness and crawling into bed.
Work, sleep, repeat in its most basic principle.
Anything else, writing, blogging, cleaning is forgotten. It's ok I guess but it can get a little morose. Except for Tuesdays when I'm in class, I'm doing this. And my 'other' half day is Thursday but it's an afternoon shift so while I get the chance to sleep until 8am (rather than getting up at 5.50am) I still get a little testy. And next weekend I'm on overtime on the Saturday again so it might be harder to get any decent rest that weekend.
All I can say is roll on the end of April when the family's upping sticks for a week and going to the cabin in Aber. Yay for playing with logs, matches and firelighters!!!
Work was a little bit of everything last week.
I got to work all days yesterday, save for a few 2 minute pee breaks, while we took out some poor patient's bladder, prostate and right kidney.
And on Wednesday I was doing a big cysto-prostate which included neo-bladder formation. Long case but I got it done, took an hour extra to finish though.
It's odd though, sometimes how I see the department where I work is nothing like the reality. The basic principle is the same, but it's like Neil Gaiman's ‘Neverwhere’ universe crossed with Jamie Hewlett's cartoon drawings. Instead of floors we have catwalks and the robot (nicknamed 'Bruce' after the shark in Jaws) is attached to the ceiling instead of the floor and is wheeled in on runners rather than wheels. Everything has an excess of flashing lights which makes it look like something out of Star Trek or rather the Star Trek space ship when the Borg get their hands on it. All subdued lighting, and a heavy emphasis of green.
We have the back corridor that runs down to the fire-escape, which gives you a fantastic view of the new buildings as the outer cladding's going on the frame. The 5 tower cranes are still going strong, their stalk-frames seemingly always in motion one way or the other.
These huge equipment trolleys come up groaning with kit, before being offloaded and later reloaded with the same gear only now very, very blood-spattered. They can only be opened with these iron T-shaped pin-keys but we only have one of those so a jerry-rigged fork handle often suffices if we can't lay our hands on one. We also have working lifts from the CSSD (cleaning crew) which winch gear up and down from the autoclavers so it comes out toasty clean.
See? everything seems to me like it ought to have graffiti, our scrubs get covered in blood, prep and betadine, I often play with my stiletto scissors like I'm rolling a spanner round my fingers. Pens stuck behind the ear, and keys safety-pinned to scrubs like roadies.
It's weird that we have the hardest working Urology department in the COUNTRY.
Not weird unusual but weird given the fact that we're not especially pretty when it comes to what we do. When I say pretty I don't mean the staff (cos as everyone knows I'm gorgeous!!!) but the overall aesthetic of the department. The building's gonna be demolished as soon as the new theatres are up and running in 3 years’ time. I'm not saying those new theatres will be better or worse than what we're working in right now, just.. where we work has karma. Like Lambeau Field in Green Bay, it's not the prettiest but it’s certainly possessing some mystique. So I am certainly smelling the roses - not to mention the burning prostates - while I can. Before the wrecking balls arrive.
Work, sleep, repeat in its most basic principle.
Anything else, writing, blogging, cleaning is forgotten. It's ok I guess but it can get a little morose. Except for Tuesdays when I'm in class, I'm doing this. And my 'other' half day is Thursday but it's an afternoon shift so while I get the chance to sleep until 8am (rather than getting up at 5.50am) I still get a little testy. And next weekend I'm on overtime on the Saturday again so it might be harder to get any decent rest that weekend.
All I can say is roll on the end of April when the family's upping sticks for a week and going to the cabin in Aber. Yay for playing with logs, matches and firelighters!!!
Work was a little bit of everything last week.
I got to work all days yesterday, save for a few 2 minute pee breaks, while we took out some poor patient's bladder, prostate and right kidney.
And on Wednesday I was doing a big cysto-prostate which included neo-bladder formation. Long case but I got it done, took an hour extra to finish though.
It's odd though, sometimes how I see the department where I work is nothing like the reality. The basic principle is the same, but it's like Neil Gaiman's ‘Neverwhere’ universe crossed with Jamie Hewlett's cartoon drawings. Instead of floors we have catwalks and the robot (nicknamed 'Bruce' after the shark in Jaws) is attached to the ceiling instead of the floor and is wheeled in on runners rather than wheels. Everything has an excess of flashing lights which makes it look like something out of Star Trek or rather the Star Trek space ship when the Borg get their hands on it. All subdued lighting, and a heavy emphasis of green.
We have the back corridor that runs down to the fire-escape, which gives you a fantastic view of the new buildings as the outer cladding's going on the frame. The 5 tower cranes are still going strong, their stalk-frames seemingly always in motion one way or the other.
These huge equipment trolleys come up groaning with kit, before being offloaded and later reloaded with the same gear only now very, very blood-spattered. They can only be opened with these iron T-shaped pin-keys but we only have one of those so a jerry-rigged fork handle often suffices if we can't lay our hands on one. We also have working lifts from the CSSD (cleaning crew) which winch gear up and down from the autoclavers so it comes out toasty clean.
See? everything seems to me like it ought to have graffiti, our scrubs get covered in blood, prep and betadine, I often play with my stiletto scissors like I'm rolling a spanner round my fingers. Pens stuck behind the ear, and keys safety-pinned to scrubs like roadies.
It's weird that we have the hardest working Urology department in the COUNTRY.
Not weird unusual but weird given the fact that we're not especially pretty when it comes to what we do. When I say pretty I don't mean the staff (cos as everyone knows I'm gorgeous!!!) but the overall aesthetic of the department. The building's gonna be demolished as soon as the new theatres are up and running in 3 years’ time. I'm not saying those new theatres will be better or worse than what we're working in right now, just.. where we work has karma. Like Lambeau Field in Green Bay, it's not the prettiest but it’s certainly possessing some mystique. So I am certainly smelling the roses - not to mention the burning prostates - while I can. Before the wrecking balls arrive.