Sleeping Like A Pig!

I was done with my assessment last week.
I did my OT list last week.
I prepared for my presentation last week and presented it last Tuesday.
I had only 2 calls in the last week.
But it's been a week since my last post.

Why?

Because I was busy with my story book..
The Girl Next Door by Elizabeth Noble.

It is about the lives of the tenants of an apartment building in New York.

I like the book mainly for 2 reasons.

1. The story is about the lives of many different people, so there are many different stories, not just one character, one issue. It's like many small stories in one book.

2. The book is written in such a way, where you get to be in each of the characters head. In each chapter, there are many sub-chapters, where the story is told from different point of views. Since I always like snooping into other people's head, of course I would enjoy the book!

Nowadays, I am taking quite long to finish reading my books because I tend to sleep very early every day. I am no more willing to compromise on my sleep to read, unlike the times when I was still studying. I remember sitting up till 4am just to finish reading a story book, when I had to go to school the next day.
(This is where I am supposed to say "those were the days", but I won't, because I think that makes me sound old!)

Well, things change. Priorities change. Life goes on. Right?
Right.

Sleep, Sleep

It's been 1 week since my last blog post.
I've been rather busy, actually - this time, for real.

I have had 2 calls this week.

I have had to go Deepavali shopping.

I went and bought a bus ticket for myself and ended up getting Rajiv to come pick me up in Ipoh.

I went and bought the famous Ipoh kacangs - ended up buying so much - which is why I decided not to take the bus.

I had to study for my assessment which was on Friday morning.
Thank God I passed!!
Thanks to YG, actually, who told me to study about ovarian cyst - if not I would have been dead!

Deepavali eve - Friday, I was postcall and had pm off.
We left Ipoh after lunch and reached Seremban at about 5.30pm.
Then, we went for a Deepavali eve party in Cheras.

After makan, I felt really sleepy and ended up sleeping upstairs, where all the kids were running around and screaming and playing.
My Aunty found it weird that I could actually sleep, but truth be told, I did not hear a single sound.
Even when KR called me up at 12am to wish me Happy Deepavali, I picked up the phone and spoke and don't remember a single thing about it.

Anyway, we left Cheras at about 1-2am and reached home about an hour later.

The next day, Mum cooked at home and I helped.
My Aunties and Uncles and cousins (2 families) came over for lunch.
After lunch, it was sleep time for almost everyone, except for some of us ladies who ended up chatting (read : gossiping).

Here are some shots of the sleeping arrangements - my Dad and his 2 brothers were sleeping upstairs in 3 different rooms.

Cute- right..Notice the feet sticking out from the back of the sofa and the other 'body' sleeping like a guard in front of the door

I think everyone just fell asleep at the spot where they were sitting

That night, there was a Deepavali party in another cousin brother's house in PJ, which we went to. We were back by about 1am today and then I slept, and slept till 10 this morning..a really good sleep!

See, I had perfectly good reason why I didn't blog for such a long time.

By the way, Happy Deepavali everyone!

I'll Be Just 5 Minutes

Don't you just hate waiting for someone?

They make a 'date' with you at 8pm.
And yet, they only come at 9pm.
From 8-9pm, you just and wait and wait.

Or, they tell you, wait for me, I'll just be 5 minutes, and you end up waiting 15 minutes while the other person takes their own sweet time doing their stuff.

Or, they tell you...I'll be coming to your house for lunch. And you wait for them for lunch, and they end up coming at 5pm.

I don't get it.
How can people be so irresponsible?
My brother calls it people without discipline.
If you are running late, how hard is it to just pick up the phone and tell the other person that you will be late?

Imagine if you have already planned your time - you get ready, you wait..afraid to do anything else because the person might come at any time, and you end up waiting for an hour!
Won't you feel irritated?

I have been in the High Risk Ward for about a month now.
During weekends, the MO oncall in the labour room is supposed to do rounds in the HRW.

But just imagine this - the MO oncall has to cover the labour room - any emergency obstetric cases, all caesarean sections and the HRW rounds in the morning. Just how is one supposed to do all this by 11am?

They come for rounds, and then will receive a call about an emergency caesar and then will have to dash off for that.
In the end, we, HOs end up waiting and waiting for MO to come back and finish rounds.

Today, we waiting from about 1030am up to 2pm.
We had already done the discharges for whomever we thought would be fit for discharge.
We had already done all the blood taking and stuff.

In the end, we ended up sleeping on some sofa that they had in the ward.
When the MO came, rounds lasted about half an hour.
Since discharges were already done, we managed to leave immediately after the rounds.
But the wait was really irritating.
I can't wait to get out of HRW - at least my weekends won't be wasted on the sofa, sleeping.

Wonderful Medical Advice

Q: Doctor, I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life. Is this true?
A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that's it... don't waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer ; that's like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap.

Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?
A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does a cow eat? Hay and corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable). And a pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily allowance of vegetable products.

Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?
A: No, not at all. Wine is made from fruit. Brandy is distilled wine, that means they take the water out of the fruity bit so you get even more of the goodness that way. Beer is also made out of grain. Bottoms up!

Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?
A: Well, if you have a body and you have fat, your ratio is one to one. If you have two bodies, your ratio is two to one, etc.

Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?
A: Can't think of a single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No Pain...Good!

Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you?
A: YOU'RE NOT LISTENING!!! ...... Foods are fried these days in vegetable oil. In fact, they're permeated in it. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you?

Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?
A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach.

Q: Is chocolate bad for me?
A: Are you crazy? HELLO Cocoa beans ! Another vegetable!!! It's the best feel-good food around!

Q: Is swimming good for your figure?
A: If swimming is good for your figure, explain whales to me.

Q: Is getting in-shape important for my lifestyle?
A: Hey! 'Round' is a shape!

Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets.

And remember:
'Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Chardonnay in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming 'WOO HOO, What a Ride'

AND.....

For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies.

1. The Japanese eat very little fat
and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat
and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

3. The Chinese drink very little red wine
and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine
and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

CONCLUSION

Eat and drink what you like.
Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

Ever wondered why OT gowns and towels are green? Well, as my lesson of the day, I looked it up on Wiki(pedia). This is what Wiki said :
Originally, operating room attire was white to emphasize cleanliness. However, the combination of bright operating lights and an all-white environment led to eyestrain for the surgeon and staff. By the 1950s and 1960s, most hospitals had abandoned white operating room apparel in favor of various shades of green, which provided a high-contrast environment, reduced eye fatigue, and made bright red blood splashes less conspicuous.

Sleep Is Important!

Yesterday, I came back (after a super-early dinner) at about 7pm. I checked my mail, read whatever comments I have on my blog and decided to sleep for about an hour then wake up and bathe.

I slept and next thing I knew, I woke up at 11.30pm.
Being the pig lazy person I am, I decided that I should just continue sleeping since I will be bathing in a few hours anyway.

I had 11 hours of sleep yesterday.
I must say, it is really quite refreshing.
It has been quite a long time since I've had such a long sleep.
I am sure most of my friends would agree with me that sleep is a much needed thing nowadays.

The thing is, many people don't realize how important sleep is.
Do you know, without sleep one can only survive for about 5-7 days?
Without water, you die in 3-4 days, without food you die in about 50 days or so.
So, sleeping is more important than eating.

Conclusion : Sleep more, eat less.

Finally I have been posted to NICU.
It has been quite slow the past 2 days in the NICU.
I met my HOD for assessment again the other day - basically he wanted to see how we were getting along with our intubation.
Unfortunately for us, fortunately for the mother, most of the babies being born nowadays are healthy and do not require intubation.
The chances of me getting extended is increasing day by day...*sigh*

I am oncall again tomorrow. So far, I only have 2 calls this month, but then the time table has only come out for the 1st 2 weeks of this month. I think I will have more calls on the 2nd half of this month 'cos nowadays we have a minimum number of calls that we have to do (not sure 6 or 8 calls per month).

Well, that's the update of what is going on in my life right now.
Oh....One more thing; I had flamin' burger from KFC today - I think it is quite yummy (no, they are not paying me any money to promote it)!

Till the next post...happy sleeping everyone!!