~JcZw

Alright, yesterday my mother defined clearly to me what was to be confidential and what was not, so I can write about more things.

Attachment yesterday was more eventful... there were more things to do in the afternoon yeah?

Followed the doctors around the wards in the early morning, then to Dr Chong's clinic till lunch. Had lunch with the housemen then followed them in the ward till 6 when I left. Darn tiring.

Yesterday at least I felt more useful... Although I can't conduct treatment (and probably don't know how if I tried), I could help to support patients (St. John), unwrap dressings (St. John) and help to hold the files and x-rays for the doctors. I haven't seen so many x-rays in such a short time before... its amazing how they can tell a shadow from a fracture...

What did I learn?

One. The human body has hundreds of bones.. Is it 203? 206? Can't remember from Pr school. To break ONE of these bones is to cause yourself severe inconvinience and pain, not to mention6-9 months of rehab and a hefty hospital fee.

Two. Don't get diabetes. Of all the injuries in the wards, the most gruesome ones were those that were diabetes related... Amputations, gangrene, so on. I've seen such things in movies, books, but first time I've seen them in real life. I didn't swoon or anything when I saw, but its not something I would gaze longingly at either.

Three. There is a very large team behind the doctors... The nurses of various ranks, the technicians, the people who do blood testing... its the job of the doctor to give orders to these people and to keep track of what has or has not been done. The job of the average houseman is probably like having a career as a team No. 1 (until he/she is promoted)

Four. Bring a friend with you on attachment next time. Although the attachment is educational, and the various personnel more or less friendly and willing to explain things to you, it is still very lonely when there are no cases and you're just playing minesweeper on the unused computer in the doctor's office. Also during lunch there is no one to talk to and you just sit there listening to the doctors joking about various acronyms which you don't understand.... heh...

Anyway thats about it for attachment day 2. Didn't take any pictures for confidentiality's sake...
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Foil night yesterday was invaded by a bunch of epeeists.... heh including Maurice... Fenced like dunno what yesterday lar...sighz.... darn tired, blister on hand, new blister on foot from wear formal shoes, blade not working, wire not working... by the end of the long bout in which I lost 15-3 to Wei Yang I was so frustrated and sian-ed already... Think I'm starting to burn out at last.

It can't be that I'm affected by epee. My foil style is NEVER affected by epee... Unless you're talking about in terms of fatigue.

And yesterday I was testing my blade which coach repaired... Connected the wire and the white light went off, meaning a good connection. Then I swung the blade through the air to make sure the connection was secure. Then I flicked it against my foot, to check that the wire wasn't broken in the blade.

Unfortunately my shoe was not on (I had taken it off to give my blister a break). Now I've got a cane mark there in addition to a blister.

Haiyo... burn out lar... sian..
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Maybe I just dream too much... A dream is but a dream anyway... But when one comes back night after night, you can't stop thinking about it... Or the people involved.