Wednesday 22 October 2008
Pictures at last...and more to come
It took some time, and lots of trials and tribulations with an otherwise very friendly tool, Picasa and finally here is the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/turcoaz . I plan to make this my virtual space for posting my pics for the future, in a very careful selection that is.
Thursday 16 October 2008
Saturday 4 October 2008
1 in 4 Saturdays in my little island
Every 1 in 4 Saturdays, my turns comes for a working Saturday. We all have a big dislike for the day... not only you're working when most of the people are not, but the whole clinic is up to one vet to manage, which happens to be ... you, and apart from that the whole of George Town rushes in Saturday mornings to solve issues which they haven't had time to solve during the week.
It all starts at 6.15, out of bed, scrubs on, quick breakfast and the drive to work. Still have time to appreciate the scenery, the sea so peaceful in the mornings, as i drive right by, taking the slightly longer road to work. All to postpone the unavoidable...the following 9-11 hours of rush.
I drive by, look at the sea, the palm trees, the odd jogger (why don't they sleep???), and before i know it, I'm at work.
I don't have much time. I have an hour to finish the morning rounds, which is not a lot, and which means taking the files of every single animal in the hospital, making notes of each one's evolution from the previous day, giving the medication and deciding discharge, changes of treatment, etc. etc. I don't always get to finish in that small hour, despite the fact that I run around as fast as I can, but sometimes the sheer number of patients is too much. If I don't finish, I have to come in and out of appointments and finish the rounds.
Time runs, it's already 8 o'clock. The gates officially open. People sometimes queue up since 10-15 minutes ago, and before I know it, I already have 3 files lined up, waiting for me to call them in and do whatever everybody needs.
It doesn't stop for the next 6 hours. People line up, my stress levels used to go sky high when the files pile up and I had 5-6 waiting....now I am more cool about it, I just take each case at a turn and focus on that specific one. I have to see appointments, which tend normally to be yearly examinations, but also walk-ins, people that have an urgent problem and called in the day before to be seen, and on top of that if there is any big emergency coming in, like a road traffic accident, I have to drop everything off and solve that one and then come back to the waiting people. It feels like MASH for most of the time, except there is no Alan Alda around, but a receptionist that is just as hectic as I am, checking people in, answering the phone calls, trying to calm down the nervous people that have been waiting for an hour by now:)
At one the gates close officially, and that leaves me to finish off the rest of the waiting people. It's been 5 hours of non stop talking, so by the end I feel myself not being coherent. I fight that as much as I can:)
So typically around 2 the appointments finish. It's the time to go back in the main hospital area, and start doing all the animals that need further attention...x-rays, blood work, etc. They are either in-patients or patients that i have saved for later during the morning appointments.
In the same time, I am officially on-call after one, so I have to keep handy the on-call phone and make sure I answer it.
A good Saturday will not involve major surgery...but you never know.
Typically around 4 I finish everything...and I can start the afternoon rounds. Again the files, notes, the evening meds...
And so, around 5.30-6 pm a optimistic vet gets into the car to drive off at home into the sunset...which does not mean I will not have to come back within 3 minutes, (remember I am still on call? anything can happen. anything!), 2 hours, 5 hours, middle of the night....
or hopefully only the next morning when I have to turn the phone in....and I am off the hook!
By then, however, I am totally drained of energy, but I still can't help to enjoy my Sunday in the Caribbean. I love my diving on Sunday mornings, and the quiet underworld where there are no phones or emergencies:)
It all starts at 6.15, out of bed, scrubs on, quick breakfast and the drive to work. Still have time to appreciate the scenery, the sea so peaceful in the mornings, as i drive right by, taking the slightly longer road to work. All to postpone the unavoidable...the following 9-11 hours of rush.
I drive by, look at the sea, the palm trees, the odd jogger (why don't they sleep???), and before i know it, I'm at work.
I don't have much time. I have an hour to finish the morning rounds, which is not a lot, and which means taking the files of every single animal in the hospital, making notes of each one's evolution from the previous day, giving the medication and deciding discharge, changes of treatment, etc. etc. I don't always get to finish in that small hour, despite the fact that I run around as fast as I can, but sometimes the sheer number of patients is too much. If I don't finish, I have to come in and out of appointments and finish the rounds.
Time runs, it's already 8 o'clock. The gates officially open. People sometimes queue up since 10-15 minutes ago, and before I know it, I already have 3 files lined up, waiting for me to call them in and do whatever everybody needs.
It doesn't stop for the next 6 hours. People line up, my stress levels used to go sky high when the files pile up and I had 5-6 waiting....now I am more cool about it, I just take each case at a turn and focus on that specific one. I have to see appointments, which tend normally to be yearly examinations, but also walk-ins, people that have an urgent problem and called in the day before to be seen, and on top of that if there is any big emergency coming in, like a road traffic accident, I have to drop everything off and solve that one and then come back to the waiting people. It feels like MASH for most of the time, except there is no Alan Alda around, but a receptionist that is just as hectic as I am, checking people in, answering the phone calls, trying to calm down the nervous people that have been waiting for an hour by now:)
At one the gates close officially, and that leaves me to finish off the rest of the waiting people. It's been 5 hours of non stop talking, so by the end I feel myself not being coherent. I fight that as much as I can:)
So typically around 2 the appointments finish. It's the time to go back in the main hospital area, and start doing all the animals that need further attention...x-rays, blood work, etc. They are either in-patients or patients that i have saved for later during the morning appointments.
In the same time, I am officially on-call after one, so I have to keep handy the on-call phone and make sure I answer it.
A good Saturday will not involve major surgery...but you never know.
Typically around 4 I finish everything...and I can start the afternoon rounds. Again the files, notes, the evening meds...
And so, around 5.30-6 pm a optimistic vet gets into the car to drive off at home into the sunset...which does not mean I will not have to come back within 3 minutes, (remember I am still on call? anything can happen. anything!), 2 hours, 5 hours, middle of the night....
or hopefully only the next morning when I have to turn the phone in....and I am off the hook!
By then, however, I am totally drained of energy, but I still can't help to enjoy my Sunday in the Caribbean. I love my diving on Sunday mornings, and the quiet underworld where there are no phones or emergencies:)
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