Productive day in Surgery

Bye Medicine, hello Surgery.

Am up in another hospital for surgical placement. It's fantastic that I'm under Miss Sweetland! She's a consultant breast surgeon, so naturally it was Breast Clinic I attended with her this morning. Her clinic's a gooooood experience. My first time in a Breast Clinic. It was good because she was keen to teach me stuffs, and didn't make me feel very stupid either. It was pretty independent as well, as in she made me go in like a doctor to clerk patients independently, after which she will go and see the patient, make me present the history, go through the physical examination with me, and assess the situation from there. I felt that I was doing something productive. :) She also observed me when I did the examination to see if I got it right. I think I'm pretty confident in doing a breast examination now. If only every consultant's like that, I reckon I'll learn a lot.

Clerked a patient today who unfortunately might most probably have breast cancer. She's only in her 40s, and I reckon she was already being bogged down about the lump she had for a mth because I could see that she was holding back her tears when she was telling me her story. Physical examination showed that it was pointing towards a malignancy and it was proven so with her mammogram results. Gonna send her for a core biopsy. It's very unfortunate huh? But a strong lady she was. She was accepting the assumption made well, and was told Miss Sweetland and me that she'll focus more on what she can do to treat it rather than being depressed about it.

Breast cancer's scary. Was reading all about it just now from the Surgical books I borrowed. It's the commonest malignancy in females (even males get it!). It's estimated that 1 out of 11 females have breast cancer. Isn't that scary?

Through one patient, I witnessed the fears she had about her diagnosis. She needed to keep her job, and was worried treatment will prevent her from doing so. She's a single mum of 2 young children, so she really has to keep herself going. And one of the most common problems....cosmetic reasons. She wanted to look like a complete woman. It's something I can never understand..and I must say I still do not understand this point till now. Maybe because I'm not in their shoes (I hope I never will), I am unable to see their point. There are reconstructive methods now, but psychologically, a woman doesn't feel complete. Why is that? Some are fearing that it will lead to a divorce too! Then again, I'm wondering....is the physical appearance the only factor for true love? Can one call that love?

Anyway, afternoon was good as well. The SHO brought us to see patients with really good signs. Gosh, it's the first time I saw someone with an abdominal aortic aneurysm. Very interesting. I was given a "mini test" to do a abdomen examination on a patient today by the SHO too. It was pretty smooth and I was able to explain to her what I was looking out for etc. And she said I did it very well!!! *cheers*

Damn tired today. Must be because I couldn't sleep last night again. Sophie said I should read a book if I can't sleep, which was what I did last night. Sun Tze's War and Management for bedtime story....but instead of getting sleepy, I became more awake!!!! Argh...

Had enuff of reading on Breasts and nothing but Breasts today. Didn't even have another few hrs to revise varicose veins and prepare for my communication skills workshop scheduled this week. Shall rush them tmr..sigh.

Shall try to have an earlier night. Maybe finish half an episode of korean drama? Hhaha...I'm just full of shit...