...while on placement in SA. i had some free time during the days because my patients were sleeping, or seeing someone else, or...not available...so heres some thoughts put together in the form of poetry.
yes. jan knowles does poetry.
Why oh why does it take so long?
Any other day
I probably wouldn't mind
The thing is,
I just want to get it over and done with
No more waiting.
Good stuff.
(written possibly in relation to treating the patient who swore at me a lot.)
People think physios only walk people
Help them back to health.
You see, there's more
So much more to
It that than. i find it hard.
Oh, to be in the NIAS*
(written after a tough day,i appear to have been thinking that a paramedic would be an easy job in comparison...)
*NIAS- Northern Ireland Ambulance Service
Burns, horrible things
Ugly, sometimes, if i'm honest.
Really hard to deal with-
Not just for the kid but for the parents and
Siblings. And the physio too.
(reflecting on time spent in the burns ward.)
Simple things. you think everyone would have them.
Hard ground,
Over stones, down mountains
Everybody needs shoes.
Simple.
(after seeing the amount of parents on the wards who don't have shoes, and after seeing girls in very inappropriate shoes walking down Table Mountain.)
Saturday, 15 September 2007
Thursday, 12 July 2007
A sad, sad story
one day, long ago a friend gave me a teddy bear, a bear who is the mascot of a camp i go to. it was called broney, and we became inseparable. so broney came with to south africa, and had a great trip.
until oudtshoorn. in all the excitement with the ostriches and the cango caves, i accidentally left broney behind in the hostel.
i only realised this on the road from oudtshoorn to cape town, and of course by that time it was too late.
i am working through the loss and have made a "photo tribute" to help me through.
until oudtshoorn. in all the excitement with the ostriches and the cango caves, i accidentally left broney behind in the hostel.
i only realised this on the road from oudtshoorn to cape town, and of course by that time it was too late.
i am working through the loss and have made a "photo tribute" to help me through.
the end
home.
stayed at the ashanti lodge again on monday night (i stayed there the first night i arrived in cape town 6 weeks ago) and on tuesday after a little lie in i got up to go to Groote Schuur to see the heart transplant museum. so i walked about 25 mins or so through cape town to the train station and hopped on the train to mowbray. my ticket was R11, which is less than £1 (R14= £1 approx). arrived in mowbray ( just down the round from the (flea infected)house we stayed in for 4 weeks. walked another 15 mins to groote schuur and after walking round the main building for a wee while i eventualklly found a sign telling me that the museum was in the old building. so off i went to the old building and found a security man who asked if he could help me. i said, surely-i am looking for the museum. and he told me" i am sorry it is closed for renovations.it will be open again in september, though"
dammit.
so after taking some pics of the hospital (its quite big and beautiful) i decided to head for the train as i had to make it back to centre of cape town to meet my friend. so i though- mowbray was far away, the observatory stop is surely closer.
25 mins later i am still walking (in the right direction) but no observatory station is to be found. so i asked a nice man in a shoe shop. apparently i had walked from mowbray right thru observatory and i was now in salt river. so he directed me to the station. after missing the first train in salt river (due to being on the wrong platform- there was only 6 or 7 to chose from- i chose wrongly) i got back to cape town and walked to long street to meet my friend.
and i met her on long street and we had coffee. this is particularly strange and surreal as i know her from glasgow, yet we were both in cape town, at the same time but for completely diff reasons. so we talked and had coffee and then had some more and then we all piled in her dads car and they took us to the airport.
2 flights later, i am home. we were delayed from our first flight so while i made it onto the 2nd one, my luggage didn't- it got the next flight, all on its own.
so alls back and safe, and its strange being in a place where there are lots of clouds, huge bonfires and natural light until after 10pm at night.
good times.
stayed at the ashanti lodge again on monday night (i stayed there the first night i arrived in cape town 6 weeks ago) and on tuesday after a little lie in i got up to go to Groote Schuur to see the heart transplant museum. so i walked about 25 mins or so through cape town to the train station and hopped on the train to mowbray. my ticket was R11, which is less than £1 (R14= £1 approx). arrived in mowbray ( just down the round from the (flea infected)house we stayed in for 4 weeks. walked another 15 mins to groote schuur and after walking round the main building for a wee while i eventualklly found a sign telling me that the museum was in the old building. so off i went to the old building and found a security man who asked if he could help me. i said, surely-i am looking for the museum. and he told me" i am sorry it is closed for renovations.it will be open again in september, though"
dammit.
so after taking some pics of the hospital (its quite big and beautiful) i decided to head for the train as i had to make it back to centre of cape town to meet my friend. so i though- mowbray was far away, the observatory stop is surely closer.
25 mins later i am still walking (in the right direction) but no observatory station is to be found. so i asked a nice man in a shoe shop. apparently i had walked from mowbray right thru observatory and i was now in salt river. so he directed me to the station. after missing the first train in salt river (due to being on the wrong platform- there was only 6 or 7 to chose from- i chose wrongly) i got back to cape town and walked to long street to meet my friend.
and i met her on long street and we had coffee. this is particularly strange and surreal as i know her from glasgow, yet we were both in cape town, at the same time but for completely diff reasons. so we talked and had coffee and then had some more and then we all piled in her dads car and they took us to the airport.
2 flights later, i am home. we were delayed from our first flight so while i made it onto the 2nd one, my luggage didn't- it got the next flight, all on its own.
so alls back and safe, and its strange being in a place where there are lots of clouds, huge bonfires and natural light until after 10pm at night.
good times.
Monday, 9 July 2007
The Home Straight...
...almost.
yesterday was spent in Oudsthoorn which is most famous for its ostriches and its caves- both of which we paid a visit to. now, i'll admit, i wasn't keen on going to the caves.... cos really- they sound a bit boring, eh? well actually when we got there, i enjoyed our tour and i was even a little bit impressed. not able to fully understand though how it takes 100 years for a stalactite to grow 3-5mm- this, when coupled with the sheer size of them must mean the world is indeed a very old place. did you know that any rock formations under 8000 years old are considered young?? also, ostrich eggs are really really strong but don't taste that good when scrambled (had them for brekkie). also ostrich meat doesn't taste that good (in my opinion) and only one pair of shoes can be made from an ostrich skin.
then we travelled back to cape town- on the bus from 2pm to 9pm. we did watch oceans 11, the negeotiator (which was surprisingly good) and varsity blues along the way so it didn't seem so long.
i am well and truly replused by fast food now, as its pretty much all we've eaten. well, that and rusks (which aren't just for babies over here you know). when we spend so much time on the bus, the only places we stop for food are petrol stations with adjoining KFC's/ McD's/ WIMPY/Steers... fast food a'plenty.
so tomorrow is a final day in cape town.am planning to visit Groote Schuur (pronounced groot-ey skewer- if you're interested) hospital tomorrow so see the museum from the worlds first ever heart transplant. the patient died 18 days after the transplant, but i am pleased to report that it was from lung complications, the actual heart was fine. apparently.
and then flying tomorrow night... provided everything goes well i will be back on wed morn.
ma and da- dont forget to pick me up please :o)
jamie- can't believe it took you 6 weeks to find the blog. no present for u.
yesterday was spent in Oudsthoorn which is most famous for its ostriches and its caves- both of which we paid a visit to. now, i'll admit, i wasn't keen on going to the caves.... cos really- they sound a bit boring, eh? well actually when we got there, i enjoyed our tour and i was even a little bit impressed. not able to fully understand though how it takes 100 years for a stalactite to grow 3-5mm- this, when coupled with the sheer size of them must mean the world is indeed a very old place. did you know that any rock formations under 8000 years old are considered young?? also, ostrich eggs are really really strong but don't taste that good when scrambled (had them for brekkie). also ostrich meat doesn't taste that good (in my opinion) and only one pair of shoes can be made from an ostrich skin.
then we travelled back to cape town- on the bus from 2pm to 9pm. we did watch oceans 11, the negeotiator (which was surprisingly good) and varsity blues along the way so it didn't seem so long.
i am well and truly replused by fast food now, as its pretty much all we've eaten. well, that and rusks (which aren't just for babies over here you know). when we spend so much time on the bus, the only places we stop for food are petrol stations with adjoining KFC's/ McD's/ WIMPY/Steers... fast food a'plenty.
so tomorrow is a final day in cape town.am planning to visit Groote Schuur (pronounced groot-ey skewer- if you're interested) hospital tomorrow so see the museum from the worlds first ever heart transplant. the patient died 18 days after the transplant, but i am pleased to report that it was from lung complications, the actual heart was fine. apparently.
and then flying tomorrow night... provided everything goes well i will be back on wed morn.
ma and da- dont forget to pick me up please :o)
jamie- can't believe it took you 6 weeks to find the blog. no present for u.
Saturday, 7 July 2007
sea, sand and... surf
currently in jeffreys bay (or J-Bay) as we like to call it... the place is heaving with surfer types, and if we were here for a couple more days we'd see the start of the Billabong Pro Supertubes surf competition, which is literraly taking place outside our ffront window....
so generally feeling a bit fraudulant as we are pretending to be those surfer types aswell- not actually surfing, of course, that would require too much effort, but by walking about in flip flops buying surf clothes from factory outlets ( we took a trip to billabong, quicksilver AND rip curl today... but iactually didnt buy much).
we are just here for one day so tomorrow its off to george (one day)then to cape town. and then home. i would def come back to SA- theres so much to see *and the worlds highest bungee jump- but i cant imagine ill be doing that. ever.
its amazing how much the countryside changes= one minute your walking thru dry dry land ( or Savanna as they like to call it - they also have cider by the same name) and the next your in the rainforest. good times!
so i will tell you Short Safari Stories as and when i rememebr them. i hope i havent told you this one already...
it all started on our first night which was spent at the drifters private game lodge , just outside kruger park. we were in "tents". now these tents were actually pure luxury, big enought for 2 actual beds, and an ensuite. yes- ensuite. so earlier, after thje braai (not to be confused with a bbq, rememebr!) the rangers were telling us how the babboons like to get into the bathrooms when your going to the toilet, cos theres a hole in the roof and they like to surprise you. (actually, this story is not goin where you think it is). so, that night, when it was dark, and you could hear the hyena in the distance, my roomy (ailie) and myself were slowly falling asleep. in the small hours, we were rudely awoken by a noise whihc was freakishly close.... like... IN our tent close.... i actually cant describe how scared i was... so this noise continued... and was quite loud, so loud we both woke up and wondrerd, do we turn on the light? i sed no, as we would then have to confront whatever was in our tent. ignorance is bliss,. or so i thought. we fell asleep. about 30 mins later, the noise starts again. loudly. in our tent.i was lying rigid in my bed, the only part of my moving was my left thumb which was violently twitching. so we thought, lets turn the light on. so i, as prepared as always, got my torch and flicked it on...
o wot joy, theres nothing actually inside our sleeping quarters. the noise remained though and it appeared to be coming from the bathroom. of course, we checked under teh beds first before assuming it was in the b athroom. so, satisfied that we were the only things in our living area, we tried to slepp again. the npoise continued. eventually, at what we thought was a reasonable hour (5.30- we couldnt sleep) we got up , avoided the bathroom- even thoug i had needed to go since 4.00) and went to the tent next door to use their bathroom....
we can only sassume taht it was the babboon that night, but seriously, so scared that i did have irrational thoughts such as : can lions undo tent zips? will i die of a heart attack b4 it eats me, or will it be terribly traumatic? do i actually know God so will i be going to heaven?
the next night, in the same tents, we heard the noise againbut we had set up a sort of contraption to ensure the babbon couldn't get from bathroom to bedroom. in the middle of the night ailie asked again to check with the torhc, in my slumber i assured her that nothing could get into our tent. with my impeccable timing, as soon as i said this, the tent zip undid a little bit....
and in walked a fairly big mouse. this didnt scare us, it drove us to delirious laughter.
if you didnt laugh, you'd cry. definately.
(it was not the mouse in the bathroom,,,,it was def something bigger!)
so generally feeling a bit fraudulant as we are pretending to be those surfer types aswell- not actually surfing, of course, that would require too much effort, but by walking about in flip flops buying surf clothes from factory outlets ( we took a trip to billabong, quicksilver AND rip curl today... but iactually didnt buy much).
we are just here for one day so tomorrow its off to george (one day)then to cape town. and then home. i would def come back to SA- theres so much to see *and the worlds highest bungee jump- but i cant imagine ill be doing that. ever.
its amazing how much the countryside changes= one minute your walking thru dry dry land ( or Savanna as they like to call it - they also have cider by the same name) and the next your in the rainforest. good times!
so i will tell you Short Safari Stories as and when i rememebr them. i hope i havent told you this one already...
it all started on our first night which was spent at the drifters private game lodge , just outside kruger park. we were in "tents". now these tents were actually pure luxury, big enought for 2 actual beds, and an ensuite. yes- ensuite. so earlier, after thje braai (not to be confused with a bbq, rememebr!) the rangers were telling us how the babboons like to get into the bathrooms when your going to the toilet, cos theres a hole in the roof and they like to surprise you. (actually, this story is not goin where you think it is). so, that night, when it was dark, and you could hear the hyena in the distance, my roomy (ailie) and myself were slowly falling asleep. in the small hours, we were rudely awoken by a noise whihc was freakishly close.... like... IN our tent close.... i actually cant describe how scared i was... so this noise continued... and was quite loud, so loud we both woke up and wondrerd, do we turn on the light? i sed no, as we would then have to confront whatever was in our tent. ignorance is bliss,. or so i thought. we fell asleep. about 30 mins later, the noise starts again. loudly. in our tent.i was lying rigid in my bed, the only part of my moving was my left thumb which was violently twitching. so we thought, lets turn the light on. so i, as prepared as always, got my torch and flicked it on...
o wot joy, theres nothing actually inside our sleeping quarters. the noise remained though and it appeared to be coming from the bathroom. of course, we checked under teh beds first before assuming it was in the b athroom. so, satisfied that we were the only things in our living area, we tried to slepp again. the npoise continued. eventually, at what we thought was a reasonable hour (5.30- we couldnt sleep) we got up , avoided the bathroom- even thoug i had needed to go since 4.00) and went to the tent next door to use their bathroom....
we can only sassume taht it was the babboon that night, but seriously, so scared that i did have irrational thoughts such as : can lions undo tent zips? will i die of a heart attack b4 it eats me, or will it be terribly traumatic? do i actually know God so will i be going to heaven?
the next night, in the same tents, we heard the noise againbut we had set up a sort of contraption to ensure the babbon couldn't get from bathroom to bedroom. in the middle of the night ailie asked again to check with the torhc, in my slumber i assured her that nothing could get into our tent. with my impeccable timing, as soon as i said this, the tent zip undid a little bit....
and in walked a fairly big mouse. this didnt scare us, it drove us to delirious laughter.
if you didnt laugh, you'd cry. definately.
(it was not the mouse in the bathroom,,,,it was def something bigger!)
Thursday, 5 July 2007
oh my what a long time since an update...
apologies for the wait, but, at last, here's an update!
so at the moment we're in port elizabeth. we got the bazbus from port st johns yesterday and it was a hellish 10 or so hours. so far all we've done in PE is sleep. but we'll do something exciting later im sure.
i'll work backwards so i dont miss anything out.
port st johns...
what a beautiful place- all beaches and cloudless blue skies. fantastic. at first a bit intimidating, as (apart from others staying at the backpackers) we were actually the only white people there. the place is really really not developed at all- i couldn't even buy a postcard there, its not a big holiday destination. im really not doing it justice! beautiful place, enjoyed some hikes up some waterfalls and the like. wewere there for 2 nights.
before that was durban.
awful. luckily we were only there for one night and left v early next morning. was nearly dark by the time we got there so had to just order in pizza and play pool all night. its a hard life. actually was v scared in durban, we weren't in a good area at all! *(dont panic ma, we didnteven consider ogin out)
beforedurban was drakensberg for 2 nights which was abs fantastic, its away up in the mountains. wedid some biking,spent a day in lesotho (wikipedia it) and played some more pool
before that was joberg for a night.... not fun...
safari was before that, but im out of internet time now so ill leave that for another time... suffice to say we saw some interesting things and had some very interesting experiences :o)
good times.
so at the moment we're in port elizabeth. we got the bazbus from port st johns yesterday and it was a hellish 10 or so hours. so far all we've done in PE is sleep. but we'll do something exciting later im sure.
i'll work backwards so i dont miss anything out.
port st johns...
what a beautiful place- all beaches and cloudless blue skies. fantastic. at first a bit intimidating, as (apart from others staying at the backpackers) we were actually the only white people there. the place is really really not developed at all- i couldn't even buy a postcard there, its not a big holiday destination. im really not doing it justice! beautiful place, enjoyed some hikes up some waterfalls and the like. wewere there for 2 nights.
before that was durban.
awful. luckily we were only there for one night and left v early next morning. was nearly dark by the time we got there so had to just order in pizza and play pool all night. its a hard life. actually was v scared in durban, we weren't in a good area at all! *(dont panic ma, we didnteven consider ogin out)
beforedurban was drakensberg for 2 nights which was abs fantastic, its away up in the mountains. wedid some biking,spent a day in lesotho (wikipedia it) and played some more pool
before that was joberg for a night.... not fun...
safari was before that, but im out of internet time now so ill leave that for another time... suffice to say we saw some interesting things and had some very interesting experiences :o)
good times.
Saturday, 23 June 2007
FINISHED!
placements successfully completed: 1
flea bites sustained by living in skanky student accom. during said placement:34
we are done. and passed. and now in joburg and leaving for kruger park tomorrow, hurrah!
it certainly was an interesting 4 weeks, i think i enjoyed learning about the burns most. very interesting although as one of the physio asked me, will i really use much of that knowledge back home?
so will not get a chance to update the blog over next 5 days as will be tracking the big 5, sleeping in stilted huts and observing the watering holes...
i have changed the setting so now you can leave a comment without having to sign up to the blogger site- so please leave me a comment or 2!
flea bites sustained by living in skanky student accom. during said placement:34
we are done. and passed. and now in joburg and leaving for kruger park tomorrow, hurrah!
it certainly was an interesting 4 weeks, i think i enjoyed learning about the burns most. very interesting although as one of the physio asked me, will i really use much of that knowledge back home?
so will not get a chance to update the blog over next 5 days as will be tracking the big 5, sleeping in stilted huts and observing the watering holes...
i have changed the setting so now you can leave a comment without having to sign up to the blogger site- so please leave me a comment or 2!
Thursday, 21 June 2007
oh.
and now i have just spotted 2 mor worms in the bar. maybe that littlep piece i ate wasn't so safe after all.
ewwwwwwwww
ok, THE most disgusting thing has just happened to me. i am in the internet cafe and have just been to the pick and pay ( supermarket) to get a card for the physios to go along with the box of biscuits we bought them as it is our LAST DAY OF PLACEMENT tomorrow. i also bought a chocolate bar. a cheap one. so as i was waiting for the page to load, i opened my choc bar. actually it was already opened at one end, but i ignored that as i really wanted some choc. i bit into it. and found a hair stuck to it. so i took the hair off and put the bar down on the desk. it was only then did i notice the WORM in my choc bar. no joke- a tiny little worm in MY chocolate bar. having only taken one bit of the end of the bar that the worm was not in, i am sure i will be fine. however i am feeling slightly sick as i am looking at the little worm crawling over and nibbling its way thru my choc.
anyways, we're off to lara and the Honeys house for tea tonight, so i need to go now.... just thought u should no about the worm. and that its my last day of placement tomorrow. bring on the holiday!
anyways, we're off to lara and the Honeys house for tea tonight, so i need to go now.... just thought u should no about the worm. and that its my last day of placement tomorrow. bring on the holiday!
Wednesday, 20 June 2007
are you Young and Restless? or perhaps Bold And Beautiful? are these the Days of (y)Our Lives?...
yes, those are in fact titles to the awful american soaps we ahve become engrossed in. the upside of starting work early is that we're home in time for Oprah and about 3 different soapies, as they like to call them here. they all feature attractive but stupid people and one of them even has its very own island, with mysterious creature and strange forcefield. sounds a bit like Lost... some thing else we enjoy watching (actually watching, not laughing in disbelief at, like the soapies) is Heroes. one of my (many)flatmates in glasgow has said its really quite a good show, and i agree. its got unlikely heroes, mysterious ppl trying to stop them and one of the guys from the first (and best) series of Ultimate Force.
asides from watching tv i like to spend my time here attending lectures about hyperbaric oxygen. the lecture, while mildy interesting, was too involved with diving medecine (yes, there is really such a thing) for my liking. but it def held my attention more than the nutrition one did last week. thinking back to the lecture, im actually quite skeptical about it, but ah well. im probably more ignorant that skeptical.
its been beautiful weather here lately, so beautiful in fact i ate my sandwiches outside yesterday at lunch time. was lovely and i was enjoying myself- i had to laugh a little when a local walked passed in his coat, scarf and wooly hat... and people have been complaining about the cold aswell. ah well, i suppose it is their winter, and their houses don't have central heating.
ok, time to go home for Oprah, yesterday she was making peoples dreams a reality. i wonder what sh'es up to today.
asides from watching tv i like to spend my time here attending lectures about hyperbaric oxygen. the lecture, while mildy interesting, was too involved with diving medecine (yes, there is really such a thing) for my liking. but it def held my attention more than the nutrition one did last week. thinking back to the lecture, im actually quite skeptical about it, but ah well. im probably more ignorant that skeptical.
its been beautiful weather here lately, so beautiful in fact i ate my sandwiches outside yesterday at lunch time. was lovely and i was enjoying myself- i had to laugh a little when a local walked passed in his coat, scarf and wooly hat... and people have been complaining about the cold aswell. ah well, i suppose it is their winter, and their houses don't have central heating.
ok, time to go home for Oprah, yesterday she was making peoples dreams a reality. i wonder what sh'es up to today.
Monday, 18 June 2007
p.s...
...i also meant to add in that post that tomorrow i will be attending the surgical lecture - last weeks was that boring nutrition one- this week..... an introduction to hyperbaric oxygen- and, actually theres no sarcasm here- im lookin fwd to it...
The Final Countdown
its the final week of placement...week 4... today was my last monday. i am not sad. its not that i dont enjoy mondays, but when i think about next monday, today pales into insignificance (you see, next monday i will be in kreuger park doing things that are completely unrelated to physio).
so a brief update on last week then...
- had our midplacement assessment, looks like we're all passing (provided we don't do anything stupid in this last week)
- attended a very boring lecture about protein in nutrition
- had a very exciting lecture about burns with some nursing students - during which i answered a question about escharotomies. no one else knew what they were. i do. kudos to me.
- had that patient swear some more at me
- went home sick on thurs afternoon
- watched a physio induce some sputum in the sputum induction room
and now for the weekend update ( i promise this will be much more exciting)
- fri afternoon...half day! market then to the V&A Waterfront where i had springbok AND ostrich for dinner (didnt really like the ostrich, horrible texture, but the bok was amazing) then to cinema to see oceans 13. another marvellous film, i love the way brad pitt and george clooney interact with each other, its hilarious.
- sat morn...lie in! well, we were still up by 9.30, but considering we usually get up at 6.10, it was a biiig lie in
- sat aft... kirstenbosch gardens, fabulous weather, scones with cream and jam and a loverly cappuccino for lunch, nice walk (got blisters now) then back into town
- sat eve..ah... walked to the irma stern museum. it was closed due to Youth Day. went to UCT campus. also closed due to Youth Day. im not very happy by this point considering we've already spent half the day walking. loverly weather though.
- sun...church- rosebank methodist this time. i arrived 30 mins early (not on purpose) but was lovely weather so sat outside and waited. then into town to green point market, lots more walking, and cheese and bacon pancakes for tea (with 2 loverly large lattes this time)
and now it is monday. exam results are out, good news, i passed. more good news, that patient who swore at me last week, today was actually compliant (and NOT sedated!) and he even smiled. more than once. and, as far as i could tell, he didnt swear at me.
good times.
Monday, 11 June 2007
a weekend of Honeys
so we spent the weekend with a family of Honeys. (as in their surname is Honey...gettit?) a girl who just finished a placement at red cross invited us to stay for the weekend, and it was so nice to get a bit further away from mowbray and the hospital. we stayed in edgemead which is a northern (?) suburb of cape town. here we ate homemade pizza, watched bad movies, visited the largest shopping mall in the SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE (o yes!), saw pirates 3 in cinema, ate some more and strolled along the beach looking very windswept indeed. we also went to church (st marks methodist) which was lovely and was all good stuff.
the guys sermon (it wasn't the minister, it was someone younger as it wasa youth service) was very easy to follow so here's the gist of it:
the guys sermon (it wasn't the minister, it was someone younger as it wasa youth service) was very easy to follow so here's the gist of it:
- don't always be asking "where is God", cos we know he's everywhere, isn't he? you gotta appreciate the stuff that God is clearly visible in instead of just focussing on complaining about when we can't "see" God.
- when you do come across these places of darkness (which inevitably we will) you must pray for them. how can we expect anything to change if we don't pray about it?
- Jesus says "YOU are the light of the world" so pretty much, you gotta get out into the darkness. how can you light up something thats already fully lit? !
obviously he used more eloquent phrases but thats pretty much what he was saying.
today was hard, i had a patient who was "anxious" and cried lots. he didnt' want to do what he needed to do so when i tried to make him participate he did not like it. and as i don't speak afrikaans, i couldn't really communicate so well with him. it was good in some ways though that i dont speaka da language as they later told me he was swearing somethin shockin at me.
i enjoy physio in the operating room where patients are sedated and compliant.
just jesting. sort of.
Friday, 8 June 2007
end of week 2...
well, it was 31 degrees yesterday...in theatre, that was. outside there was rain. torrential rain. inside though, it was well hot. yesterday i spent the day in theatre. had the scrubs, the attractive little hair net thing and mask on. to top that look off, i was as red as a tomato (someone actually commented on that) and sweating like... something that sweats a heck of a lot. but it was all good fun- saw 4 ops, mostly skin grafts and changes of dressings on burns patients (cos its soo sore to change the dressings that they need anaesthetic for it).
for the first one i was just standing around looking like a lemon and gettin in the way- as you'd expect with a student. but for the others, a man they all call "prof" was doing the ops and his first words were "i hate it when students stand around doing nothing. this irish girl is here for an experience, give her one.let her do something". so lots of things like removing clips from people, taking off dressings with a blade( i actually ripped my gloves with it, oops) and making some splints. all in a day's work, eh?
today was a half day and we felt like we didnt really do a lot- but its because there is a sever shortage of patients to be had. the physios are fighting over patients, so we're not even gettin a look in! o also, there are conjoined twins on one of the wards. i haent seen them and probably wont be allowed to cos as you can imagine there has been a lot of ppl poking around them and its all very distressing apparently. they are joined at the trunk, have 3 legs and 4 feet. (no, not a typo, one of the legs has 2 feet on it)
so this weekend we are taking a trip. i dont know where yet, but we are going to stay with a girl called lara and her family. she goes to uni of western cape and has been on placement while we have been here. so we're going to do southa frican family things. and she also mentioned a braai is the weathers good. for goodnes sake , if you ever meet a south african, don't ever call a braai a bbq- its terribly offensive...
enjoy yer weekend!
ma- don't worry, i dont want to be a surgeon, too much learning involved. maybe a theatre nurse, though?? only joking... nee naw
for the first one i was just standing around looking like a lemon and gettin in the way- as you'd expect with a student. but for the others, a man they all call "prof" was doing the ops and his first words were "i hate it when students stand around doing nothing. this irish girl is here for an experience, give her one.let her do something". so lots of things like removing clips from people, taking off dressings with a blade( i actually ripped my gloves with it, oops) and making some splints. all in a day's work, eh?
today was a half day and we felt like we didnt really do a lot- but its because there is a sever shortage of patients to be had. the physios are fighting over patients, so we're not even gettin a look in! o also, there are conjoined twins on one of the wards. i haent seen them and probably wont be allowed to cos as you can imagine there has been a lot of ppl poking around them and its all very distressing apparently. they are joined at the trunk, have 3 legs and 4 feet. (no, not a typo, one of the legs has 2 feet on it)
so this weekend we are taking a trip. i dont know where yet, but we are going to stay with a girl called lara and her family. she goes to uni of western cape and has been on placement while we have been here. so we're going to do southa frican family things. and she also mentioned a braai is the weathers good. for goodnes sake , if you ever meet a south african, don't ever call a braai a bbq- its terribly offensive...
enjoy yer weekend!
ma- don't worry, i dont want to be a surgeon, too much learning involved. maybe a theatre nurse, though?? only joking... nee naw
Tuesday, 5 June 2007
excitement!
well, its all very exciting over here, i'm just back from theatre. thats right- theatre! wearing scrubs! a face mask! cutting off bandages AND stretching the patients leg!
today is not the first day we have been "keen" as even though we're supposed to finish at 3, we stayed on to go to theatre. people think we are keen, i try to convince them that really we're foreign and have nothing else to do with our time.
things are going better at the hospital, it took us a week to settle in really as they do thigns so differently over here. but we're getting on fine now (we think!)
we got an absolute soaking through to the underwear on the way home yesterday, that was the first time it has rained since iv been here and boy, did it rain! there was so much cloud you couldn't even see table mountain which is so big you usually can't miss it. this soaking was not made better by the fact that the house has no heaters, radiators or tumble dryer. as soon as i got home i stuffed my shoes with newspaper and thankfully when i got up this morning they were only slightly damp.
we like tuesday nights because americas next top model is on. its a very old series, but its oh so good!
today is not the first day we have been "keen" as even though we're supposed to finish at 3, we stayed on to go to theatre. people think we are keen, i try to convince them that really we're foreign and have nothing else to do with our time.
things are going better at the hospital, it took us a week to settle in really as they do thigns so differently over here. but we're getting on fine now (we think!)
we got an absolute soaking through to the underwear on the way home yesterday, that was the first time it has rained since iv been here and boy, did it rain! there was so much cloud you couldn't even see table mountain which is so big you usually can't miss it. this soaking was not made better by the fact that the house has no heaters, radiators or tumble dryer. as soon as i got home i stuffed my shoes with newspaper and thankfully when i got up this morning they were only slightly damp.
we like tuesday nights because americas next top model is on. its a very old series, but its oh so good!
Monday, 4 June 2007
a fun-filled weekend was had by all...
friday started officially with the end of our first week in red cross and a fabulous half day. its funny- half days at home end at 12. they also end at 12 here. we start at 7.30 though, so its more like a 3/4 day we get... anyway...
one of the girls wasn't feeling so well so me and the other girl (lorna) went into cape town. i hadnt actually been right in the centre before, and its quite intimidating you know- there are lots of big tall buildings that seem to crowd in on you... we got the train in which cost us R4 for a single. and in " realmoney" that is 28p. shocking, eh?!
we went to the markets, then walked down to the V&A waterfront where we walked about, had some dinner ( i had chicken potjie which was interesting- and again, surprisingly cheap- i paid about 10pounds (theres no "pounds" sign on the keyboard- i just noticed that!) which was my main course and a bottle of pinotage which we shared. despite being on a wine tour, lorna assured me that pinotage was white... it wasn't...
then off to the cinema to see spiderman3 (R40 for the cinema, again, nice and cheap!although they don't appear to do student discount anywhere).
some things we were shocked to find in the cinema:
one of the girls wasn't feeling so well so me and the other girl (lorna) went into cape town. i hadnt actually been right in the centre before, and its quite intimidating you know- there are lots of big tall buildings that seem to crowd in on you... we got the train in which cost us R4 for a single. and in " realmoney" that is 28p. shocking, eh?!
we went to the markets, then walked down to the V&A waterfront where we walked about, had some dinner ( i had chicken potjie which was interesting- and again, surprisingly cheap- i paid about 10pounds (theres no "pounds" sign on the keyboard- i just noticed that!) which was my main course and a bottle of pinotage which we shared. despite being on a wine tour, lorna assured me that pinotage was white... it wasn't...
then off to the cinema to see spiderman3 (R40 for the cinema, again, nice and cheap!although they don't appear to do student discount anywhere).
some things we were shocked to find in the cinema:
- they dont sell sweet popcorn
- if you buy popcorn, you have to put the flavour on it yerself. they had tables with shaker things on with ridiculous popcorn flavours like bbq, sour cream, "aromat" and salt and vinegar
- they dont clean the cinema between showings. i had to move someone elses empties off my seat before i could sit down. not impressed (as usually im a tidy person...)
saturday was culture day, as we went to robben island.its as well we picked that weekend to go ,as from today the maximum security compund is closed to the public for restoration for the nex year or so. so we went down to the waterfront again )to the nelson mandela gateway, to be precise) and hopped on the ferry. when first stepping onto the island, i thought "this is too much like the island from lost" it reminded me lots of the "others" bit, with the little houses and speakers about the place... so first we had a bus tour round the whole island, seeing various different parts. then we had a tour round the max security prison, given by an ex prisoner.it was a very moving tour, and it really made me wonder why he was still there. he was sentanced to 25 years, due for release in 2009. yet he's still on the island? (all the people who work for the museum live on the island) later on he told us that when he was released he had no employment prospects and a family to feed- being a prison tour guide is literally the only thing he's equipped to do.
the last prisoners were released from the prison in 1991 and it was opened as a museum in 1997. a sobering boat ride back to the waterfront and then to Long Street for dinner.
sunday brought a whole feast of exciting things, as we met up with mums friend neil. who,despite being "not southafrican" sounded like he was doing a pretty good job at pretending. its a strange accent he has, a mix of staffordshire, norn iron and south africa. so neil picked us up and we went to cape point and the cape of good hope (not so much a cape as a big rock) it has the privilege of being the most southwesterly point of africa. a little walk around there, lunch in the restaurant, linefish for me please, and then a drive round the peninsula and onto boulders bay.
boulders bay has been one of my top 6 favourite moments so far. boulders bay is where the penguins are- and i wish i coudl get my pics up here, as you just have to see the penguins to belive it- penguins, but no snow! penguins, waddling about in sand!
saw some ambulance staff today. love those green and yellow coats!
Wednesday, 30 May 2007
imagine my disappointment...
...when i spend 30 mins in the computer lab of the hospital trying to make the photos appear, to find that still there is something amiss... you may not be able to see the photos until i get home... ah well.
day 3 in red cross war memorial childrens hospital, cape town. myself and the other 2 girls are seeing patients together which although sounding like a good plan, isn't really the smartest. when we get more patients i think we'll split up and take some of them each.
was on a burns ward round today, which was very interesting and exciting, even though the prof kept saying "are you from near dublin? or nearer to inverness? have you been to the outer hebrides" of course he was just jesting, but really, there only so many times you can smile graciously when people keep drawing attention to you. there are some really awful burns and some that are just strange, like this one boy who pulled out a lawnmower plug with wet hands.... he'll def not do that again...
the structure of placemnets are very different here. before being allowed to handle patients students must sit a one hour test. if they dont pass then they have to resit and if they still dont pass then they get sent home. thankfully, they didnt take our marks of that test into consideration (well we didnt know we'd have a test so we didn't really study). at home we are given a list of patients and assigned to one physio. over here, its just a free for all, you just ask someone for a patient and then away you go. they physios dont even countersign the medical/nursing notes you write, and dont even get me started on their moving/handling policies. suffice to say they don't appear to have any. anywhere. at all.
but apart from that we're having a loverly time. well apart from gettin up at 6.10 and walking to the hospital in the dark to start at 7.30am. but it does mean we finish about 3, so its nice to get home in the afternoons.
one thing i do not like about south africa... 1-ply toilet roll. enough said.
finished the book "the crossing" by james cracknell and ben fogle, and im reccommending it to you. be warned though, the chapters are long and theres just no way you can stop in the middle of one!
so on saturday we're hopefully taking in a tour of robben island and on sunday hitting the beach at simons town- not for sunbathing though, for the penguins!
personal notes:
SusieB- hope the exam results were pleasing.
Bert, pete & Adam- stay outta trouble, don't be disrespecting the parents while im gone.
day 3 in red cross war memorial childrens hospital, cape town. myself and the other 2 girls are seeing patients together which although sounding like a good plan, isn't really the smartest. when we get more patients i think we'll split up and take some of them each.
was on a burns ward round today, which was very interesting and exciting, even though the prof kept saying "are you from near dublin? or nearer to inverness? have you been to the outer hebrides" of course he was just jesting, but really, there only so many times you can smile graciously when people keep drawing attention to you. there are some really awful burns and some that are just strange, like this one boy who pulled out a lawnmower plug with wet hands.... he'll def not do that again...
the structure of placemnets are very different here. before being allowed to handle patients students must sit a one hour test. if they dont pass then they have to resit and if they still dont pass then they get sent home. thankfully, they didnt take our marks of that test into consideration (well we didnt know we'd have a test so we didn't really study). at home we are given a list of patients and assigned to one physio. over here, its just a free for all, you just ask someone for a patient and then away you go. they physios dont even countersign the medical/nursing notes you write, and dont even get me started on their moving/handling policies. suffice to say they don't appear to have any. anywhere. at all.
but apart from that we're having a loverly time. well apart from gettin up at 6.10 and walking to the hospital in the dark to start at 7.30am. but it does mean we finish about 3, so its nice to get home in the afternoons.
one thing i do not like about south africa... 1-ply toilet roll. enough said.
finished the book "the crossing" by james cracknell and ben fogle, and im reccommending it to you. be warned though, the chapters are long and theres just no way you can stop in the middle of one!
so on saturday we're hopefully taking in a tour of robben island and on sunday hitting the beach at simons town- not for sunbathing though, for the penguins!
personal notes:
SusieB- hope the exam results were pleasing.
Bert, pete & Adam- stay outta trouble, don't be disrespecting the parents while im gone.
Sunday, 27 May 2007
well its sunday and today i went to church. one of the other 2 girls who is staying in the house with us (not the girls im here with, different ones) goes to church and she took me along. rondebosch united church. had an organ, and was quite traditional, until they started playing the marimba...
very enjoyable and was singing hymns in english, xhosa and dutch (i think!) \. at one point we all said the Lords Prayer, but everyone said it in their own language, so it sounded a bit different from a normal sunday in Christ Church! was lovely to know that even though we were speaking in diff langauges, well, God hears and understands it all.
yesterday we climb up TABLE MOUNTAIN! thats right, the whole way up it. we got the cable car down, cos 2 hours on the way up was enough climbing for me! ill hopefully get some pics up this time. i wont be able to put captions with them but im sure ull figure out which ones are which- theres a mix of ones from various stages of the climb, from the top, of my (very) blue bedroom, and the ashanti inn were i stayed the first night.
a few individual messages:
jenny hunter- cant remember exactly what date your birthday is, but have a good one with your visitors and enjoy biffy. not my choice but.... whatever takes yer fancy!
graham c- hope the move to london went well, hope ur enjoying the world of cover-holding.
love,
jan
ok i tried to put the pics on but its not working. ill try again next time!!
very enjoyable and was singing hymns in english, xhosa and dutch (i think!) \. at one point we all said the Lords Prayer, but everyone said it in their own language, so it sounded a bit different from a normal sunday in Christ Church! was lovely to know that even though we were speaking in diff langauges, well, God hears and understands it all.
yesterday we climb up TABLE MOUNTAIN! thats right, the whole way up it. we got the cable car down, cos 2 hours on the way up was enough climbing for me! ill hopefully get some pics up this time. i wont be able to put captions with them but im sure ull figure out which ones are which- theres a mix of ones from various stages of the climb, from the top, of my (very) blue bedroom, and the ashanti inn were i stayed the first night.
a few individual messages:
jenny hunter- cant remember exactly what date your birthday is, but have a good one with your visitors and enjoy biffy. not my choice but.... whatever takes yer fancy!
graham c- hope the move to london went well, hope ur enjoying the world of cover-holding.
love,
jan
ok i tried to put the pics on but its not working. ill try again next time!!
Friday, 25 May 2007
so have arrived safe, flight got in about 8 this morning. have spent the day sitting on the balcony reading about james cracknell (olympic rower) and ben fogle (of Castaway 2000 and animal park fame) trying to cross the atlantic in a rowing boat. its actually good stuff!
unfortunately i dont think the computer im on wil let me put photos up, but theres nothing much exciting yet, just scenary from the balcony and photos of myself taken by myself, of course!
i will tell you something though, yesterday when we were queueing to get on the plane to S.A., when i saw the size of it.... filled me with fear, it actually did. so big -i thought- how can it stay up in the sky? i was also not amused when i saw on the side of the plane a panel with " cut here in emergency" painted on it...
but sure i got over that and had the usual long flight banter- rom com films, food (and a little white wine aswell-- o yes!), spilling my water bottle all over the floor...
tonight im staying at the ashanti lodge and tomorrow we're moving on to our accomodation that we'll be in for the 4 weeks. lovely!
scenary here is beautiful, very mountainous. OH!! i am very pleased to note that the first animal i saw up close in SA was a grey squirrel. Jan Knowles, Squirrel-Whisperer..... (i tend to attract squirrels, as my flatmate jenny will testify)
hopefully get some pics up soon(ish).
unfortunately i dont think the computer im on wil let me put photos up, but theres nothing much exciting yet, just scenary from the balcony and photos of myself taken by myself, of course!
i will tell you something though, yesterday when we were queueing to get on the plane to S.A., when i saw the size of it.... filled me with fear, it actually did. so big -i thought- how can it stay up in the sky? i was also not amused when i saw on the side of the plane a panel with " cut here in emergency" painted on it...
but sure i got over that and had the usual long flight banter- rom com films, food (and a little white wine aswell-- o yes!), spilling my water bottle all over the floor...
tonight im staying at the ashanti lodge and tomorrow we're moving on to our accomodation that we'll be in for the 4 weeks. lovely!
scenary here is beautiful, very mountainous. OH!! i am very pleased to note that the first animal i saw up close in SA was a grey squirrel. Jan Knowles, Squirrel-Whisperer..... (i tend to attract squirrels, as my flatmate jenny will testify)
hopefully get some pics up soon(ish).
Wednesday, 23 May 2007
the night before
so its 10pm the night before i head off to south africa, and as im still very excited about my new phone i thought id put another picture on. above is my backpack. so far it contains a first aid kit and some suncream. some say im laid back, other say im just plain foolish...
also you will see the worryingly small pile of things to pack. surely i've forgotten something??
Monday, 21 May 2007
just checking...
just to check if this actually works... if it has you should be able to see a picture of tess.
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