Vampire Bean

Hi, I know, I know, it has been ages since I last wrote.  I probably don't need to tell you I've been busy a) because of the length of time since I wrote and b) because I'm me and, let face it, when am I not busy?  I had to stay up late to type this now though, because today has been all sorts of awesome.  Firstly, a little catch up.  Second year has well and truly landed.  We've done two case units so far.  I am frantically trying to revise for the first AMK coming up next week and my first competancy in IM injections and musculoskeletal exams the week after.  We've also been given prep work to do for a whole myriad of other exams that we have to pass this year, way more than we had to sit last year.  Alongside that, all the hours I have betwen 8.30am and 6pm that I am not in lectures I am working at the surgery because there is a massive backlog there.  I also went up for and got a promotion to Data Quality Analyst Assistant, which means I do more computery, techy stuff for them 8 hours a week and got a nice pay rise for the other hours I work for them too.  I found out my Special Study Units I've been allocated for the year, and am really happy to say that, once again, I got the ones I wanted.  I have three weeks on respiratory, looking at inflammatory respiratory disease and three weeks looking at use of language and how your choice of words can reveal things about you.  In non work and uni news I have been to visit mr a couple of times and we celebrated our 4 year anniversary.  We had another beautiful walk with the swirling birds and the sunset... but you don't want to hear about the gushy romantic stuff do you?  You want me to get to the awesome :)

If you are a medic, or a big reader of medic's blogs, you will probably recognise the allusion in the title.  I shall spell it out anyway because i'm just too excited.  Today I took blood for the first time from a real person :)  Today was also the first time I gave a real person an IM injection :) :)  Then I took more blood from a different person, just to prove the first time wasn't a fluke, and swapped the vials over to get three tube fulls.  The degree of loon grinning going on right now is pretty extreme.  I have had a full day in a GP practice today on placement and the GP I was shadowing in the morning had to take bloods from a patient and asked if I wanted to give it a go.  I was torn between really REALLY wanting to say yes and knowing that I have only done it once on a plastic arm about a year ago and haven't practiced it since.  I didn't want to let on I was nervous and hadn't done it on a real person before in case the patient revoked their consent or tensed up anticipating I would do it wrong.  But I seized the opportunity, pulled it off without a hitch, got compliments from the patient and the GP and was altogether pretty chuffed.  Later I was shadowing the Practice Nurse who let me take more blood and give an injection.  I'd been really nervous because everyone has come back from placement saying how hard it was and how they got grilled and didn't know any of the answers.  I hardly slept last night I was so nervous.  However when it came to it, every time the GP asked me a question or asked for my diagnosis, I got it right.  I am floating on cloud 9 right now, I really have had the best of days.  A second year and taking blood, blood pressure and doing injections on real people?!  I love my course. 

In Limbo

Sorry I've been a bit quiet of late, have you missed me?  Here's one I wrote but never got the chance to post.  More recent update to follow.

So I'm in kind of a strange position. I've moved into the shared uni house but I'm still going to work at the pension company as usual. Not quite a student, not quite a real working person. I moved in on Sunday - packed my little car to the roof with my stuff (how do I have so much stuff? I've already done two trips to move stuff in?!) and moved in Sunday night. I did it this weekend because I thought everyone was also moving in this weekend, and I didn't really want to be left out. When I turned up there was only one other person and he was off out to the pub. He did invite me out, but I had bits to unpack to get ready for work the next day. Surrounding the house were 8 police cars, a riot van, an ambulance and a police bike and the road was cordoned off due to what I've heard was a hostage situation up the road (no casualties thankfully). I sat on my bed looking at my life in boxes, in this massive, empty, cold house, listening to the police sirens and felt so lonely and isolated.

It was such a contrast from the day before where I'd been showing pre-freshers around my old halls site as an open day helper. Seeing all their excited faces and answering their questions made me really excited to be starting again. Best question of the day: while in one of the common rooms in one of the flats a guy pipes up "so, when I get here, will there be an X-Box and TV?" Erm, only if you bring one! Closely followed by a comment I heard one of the mum's make about her friends' son. Apparently instead of washing his underwear he just bought new ones, so came home at the end of term with 42 pairs of boxers for his mum to wash. Magic :)

Things are looking up now though. One other person has moved in, only two more to go. We have internet up and running in the house. Well, apart from the top floor because the booster router still has the previous tenants' mystery password on it but we're working on that. A couple of people have come to look at the spare room and my housemate is really excited about one of them, so fingers crossed. I've received my hours for going back to the GP job next week. I just need to stop feeling so old and try and gee myself up to going out to some of the freshers events. It gets to 11pm and I think bed time not party time. Leaving you with a bit of bean silliness - after work yesterday I went to Tescos to do grocery shopping for the week and had just put all the food on the conveyor belt to be scanned to pay for when I discovered I left my wallet in my other bag. Oops. I had to get them to put it in a chiller for me whilst I ran home to pick up my wallet. Except then I got distracted by fixing the internet (housemate had plugged the router in to the wrong hole in the wall). Oh dear. I did redeem myself slightly though by making a delicious mushroom and spinach lasagne. Om nom :) (which I eventually got to eat at 10.30pm). Next week, student bean returns!