Showing posts with label pain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pain. Show all posts

Friday, July 1, 2011

Anaesthesia,: Epilogue.

So I"ve now finished my 2 weeks on anaesthesiology.

Twas a short trip, but I learnt a lot.

My introduction to anaesthetics was gentle. Starting with the basics, I was advised on what to learn and read up about, the basics of the risks involved, and the indications and contraindications.
My learning was encouraged by questions and revision of the basics. Practical skills were encouraged and with repetition, I slowly understood what needed to be done, and what to watch for.
It challenged me in my knowledge. It stimulated interest.
I definitely  feel  like I have learnt a lot and in particular, feel more confident with achieving and maintaining a patent airway.

I also got two intubations down (from two), which is a good start!

As a farewell, my mentor signed me up for a presentation and dinner.

At the Grand Hyatt Singapore Hotel, speech on Multi-modal strategies in the management of post-op pain given by Professor Schug of the University of WA and Royal Perth Hospital. It was a very interesting speech, concentrating on the benefits of COX-2 inhibitors in conjunction with opioids, as well as the use of pregabalin/gabapentin.

And the food.

Oh my the food.

Tuna and Avocado Tartar, with Lavoche and Remoulade Sauce


Previously a Cream of Mushroom soup

Pan-fried Fillet of Cod, Puy Lentils, Gratin Potatoes, Glazed Asparagus, with Dijon Mustard Sauce

Crispy Chocolate Praline Cake, with Raspberries and Vanilla Cream

 Oh my.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Fringe Go-er's Lung

Friday was a big day.
Friday morning was, as an understatement, annoying. Apparently being able to be in two places at once was a requirement for medicine, one that I seem to lack.

Friday afternoon definitely got better, with a crazy gym session that left me in quite a bit of pain (and especially now as I am typing this a day later...) but in a good way. Like when you scratch mosquito bites, even though in this context it is actually a good thing, rather than a bad thing. Perhaps I started with a bad analogy. It"s my blog, if you don"t like it, go write your own.

Friday evening was quite interesting as I went out with some friends to see the Adelaide Fringe Festival opening parade as well as the free concert. I do not recall ever seeing so many people in one place in Adelaide before, which made actually seeing the parade quite difficult. So we went and had a beer.
Following the failed parade viewing, we met up with some other friends to find this concert area. It was then we noticed that with the combination of dry heat and thousands of people, there was quite the amount of dust raised. There was pretty much a constant haze in the air that tickled at your throat and made you cough. I dare say the cigarette smoke didn"t help matters.

Being the group of nerdy medical students we are, our conversation inevitably turned back to medicine, and an amusing topic. We had previously learnt about interstitial lung diseases of amusing aetiology, such as cheese worker's lung and pigeon fancier's lung. With the amount of dust and cigarette smoke in the air, it was only a matter of time before the blame game continued and passed the cause of interstitial lung diseases to Fringe Festivals. Perhaps attendance of Fringe Festivals should be added to the "common medical problems" section of a history.

So the bands were quite interesting, a particular Canadian friend was quite taken by the rap group "Killaqueenz", laughing almost continuously at the amusing lyrics. Personally I was quite impressed by the energy of our English classmates as they danced and jumped and got lost. It really was quite amusing with the number of times we lost people.
Our overly excited, high pitched and fascist hating friend was in her element, criticising those who left early, smuggling drinks into restricted areas and making friends with random German medical students.
Eventually, we called it a night and wandered through half the city looking for an available taxi before finally managing to catch a bus back home.

The shower I had once I arrived home was heavenly, finally being able to scrub the dust and smoke off, before finally being able to fall into bed after being awake for 20 hours or so.

This morning was warm, but delicious. Oh wait, I missed a part there. The scrambled eggs with mushrooms I made for breakfast was delicious.
The trip into Central Market for groceries was a chore as the temperature had decided to skyrocket, with a good percentage of humidity.
There was a celebration going on in Chinatown, making it very difficult to get around. I"m not entirely sure what the celebration was for, but I"ve decided that it was a 1 week late celebration of Chinese New Year. Which I blame on Adelaide always being just that little bit behind the rest of the world...
Bumped into a certain colleague who was shopping with his "smaller half" as he likes to put it. I always enjoy putting links in my blog, though I never seem to be able to do it much, so a mention of him and a link to his blog (even though anyone that reads my blog most probably reads his anyway) is always fun.
Decided to have lunch in the market and finally after 2+ years of wanting to go but never actually making it, Lucia's was the place to be. It was as good as rumour had it, with a delicious bolognaise and rich, creamy mushroom sauce.

All in all, its been a good day (though very hot) and I"ve spent way more than I should have. Oh well, not every day is a weekend, gotta make the most of it!