Byron Bay
We have moved down the coast to a place called Byron Bay. It’s a pretty famous beach spot, lots of backpackers and people taking it easy.
We have moved down the coast to a place called Byron Bay. It’s a pretty famous beach spot, lots of backpackers and people taking it easy.
The other day we had the chance to cruise up the coast and go see the zoo that Steve Irwin made famous. It was a good, fun day.
Eli sneaking a pet of a little roo.
Annalise with her popcorn trough in tow.
After almost ten years away, I have returned to Airlie Beach. Last time I was here I was with Mike, driving up the coast. This time I am here with 130 of my classmates, and we have all rented yachts and are going to sail out around the reef islands. The Great Barrier Reef is just 100 km from shore.
The photo showing a parking lot was actually where we slept on of the nights back then. Mike was sleeping in the parking lit and I was on the adjacent beach. The cops came and told Mike to move on in the morning, as they do here. They didn’t notice me, I was sleeping under a small catamaran! Those were good times.
This is on the way home from the hospital, and I always love coming around the corner and seeing the sun set over these hills. The view is not to last however, there is a construction site hiding in the glare.
There is lots different around here, on the website and in my life, but from what is written down it is hard to tell. I haven’t been writing here for a few reasons, some described below, some not. For the first time since having this site, I completed an update of the underlying software. It was something I was basically scared to do because everything was working and I didn’t want to lose it all and then be in a big mess. But, developments are underfoot that have finally necessitated an upgrade. The previous version had been released October 26, 2007… that’s even before I was accepted at UQ! It seems as though the database came up alright and everything went off without a problem… there was nothing to be afraid of I guess. I had read some nightmares of everything disappearing, which they maybe fixed the problems since then.
But that’s not all that is different. I now have a job to look forward to at the end of my second post secondary degree. The last time I graduated I had no idea what I would be doing. This time, I know the time, date and place that I will begin work. Contract signed. It is a very good feeling to have some future security. My application to Alberta went well, but I needed to make a decision about which way to go. After a massive amount of consideration I have decided to undertake internship in Australia. It is a one year commitment that essentially completes my degree with a year of paid hospital work. After which I will achieve ‘general registration’ which will allow me to work as a doctor in Australia in a broader sense.
I do have my second thoughts about Alberta, especially as the process is about to go into the next phase on Saturday, but I couldn’t keep straddling the fence forever, and to continue to straddle would mean thousands of dollars spent flying back and forth across the world and missing time from my program here, in the final run. Let’s hope I have done the right thing!
Some days are better than others. Sometimes everything feels like it goes your way. This was one of them for me. To be continued…
So it is well into February and so much has happened this year that I suppose it’s time to make a post to acknowledge it. My holiday was filled with family and friends, my new nieces, my nephews, and my siblings and their partners. It was so great to be home. Busy, which is funny to think, because everyone else was working, raising kids, generally accomplishing things, while all I had to do was hang out with them. But still, it was a lot of it, and I’m so thankful for the people back home.
After the longest break of my degree, I have returned to Australia. Upon arrival I spent a quick weekend recovering from the travel and time change, and then headed to Brisbane for Ophthalmology at The Royal. I don’t really know why, but despite being stationed in Nambour, I have the first half of this rotation in Brisbane (a 1.5-3 hour drive, depending on traffic). So, I am living at King’s College again. I lived here when I was looking for an apartment in 2009, that’s why some things feel different, and some things feel the same. Same sweaty nights, same mosquitoes waking me up at 4 am. All part of the process I suppose. And when you think about all the things I have sacrificed for this crazy journey, this is just another small piece.
Right now I am on Cardiac surgery at the Princess Alexandra Hospital, which is pretty neat. Yesterday I watched an 11 hour procedure, which involved a double bypass, an ascending aorta graft and an aortic valve replacement. The patient did not breathe, had no pulse, no circulation, no bypass pump, no brain activity… for 80 minutes. To accomplish this, the patient was cooled to 18 degrees C! Then when we were done, they simply reversed everything, and the heart started to beat again and they closed up, and we went home! Crazy.
Anyways, I am going to get to sleep, since I’ve had long days, early starts and short nights lately.
So much time has passed without me really writing it down here. It’s a shame, since so much has happened, and I didn’t really take the opportunity to record it along the way. I have a renewed my motivations and we’ll see how it goes here. There has been a lot of exciting news in my family in the last little bit, which each of my three sisters welcoming into the world a brand new daughter each! I am so excited for these little ones! I can’t wait to meet them. I know my sisters have had their hands full with getting these girls into the world safely, and I am so happy they are here. There have definitely been some trials along the way, that’s for sure. My thoughts and prayers are with them, always!
School-wise, these last weeks have been crazy. Literally. I am on my psychiatry rotation and it is challenging in a lot of ways. Here is some mood music for this post:
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There are a lot of things I have seen this last month and a bit that are very sad. Many people struggling with realities and perceptions of realities so different than mine. People crying out, needing, wanting, hoping, angry, sad, confused. There are so many situations that seem un-fixable. Things cannot be un-done, fathers can’t come back and love instead of abuse, stimulate instead of neglect, mothers can’t undo the drugs done while pregnant, and the people here are just left to pay the price. It’s been a lot for me to think about, and I really internalize what I see. It challenges me deeply on what I think it is to be a person, to be self-aware, and what to do about it. This is a field where you really do see people that cannot function properly in a real life situation. Concepts of consequence, cause-effect, future planning, insight vary from patient to patient. They can of course be completely absent. It breaks my heart, to be honest.
I can’t really recount all the crazy things I see, ’cause that’s probably a breach of student-doctor-patient confidence, and because it’s too crazy to remember. Sometimes it’s just strings of words… sometimes they make sense, sometimes they don’t. Sometimes I am a member of the people from outer space, sent to spy on the patients to see how much they have been telling the doctors. It has definitely grown on me in the time I have spent, but I am starting to feel confirmation that it’s not for me full time. I think I look forward much more to helping people in a GP setting, even if it’s a psych issue, than in the full lockdown of the secure ward. Starting to feel something about what I want to do for a future practice is exciting too.
When I was up in Townsville a few weeks ago, I learned something very funny about my little nephew. Whenever there is music on and nobody is looking, he will often start to dance around. Sometimes he’ll let you watch, but he’ll usually stop when he knows someone is looking. I captured this groove one day when we were driving around. It kinda looks like he’s just bouncing around in the car, but if you watch you can see that it’s actually very intentional.
Well it’s been a long time since I’ve updated here, leaving people wondering where I am and what I’m up to. And pondering my spelling. I have been fairly busy trying to get my apartment together, getting a vehicle and even seeing my family up in FNQ.
I got back from the bush and had to study for a final and then had a few days off, and then got to jet to Townsville to see Jenn, James and Eli. There are a few pics of us, on Magnetic Island, just off the coast of Townsville.
Eli is a funny little guy, always ready to smile, and he’s starting to be much more intentional about his interaction with people. He used to smile like he couldn’t help holding back, and now when he smiles he really looks happy. Another time that he looks totally happy is when he’s groovin to the music. I took a short video of him in the car and will try upload it here in a bit.
Jenn and James took me all over, showed me the university and the hospital up there (I asked to see that, I don’t think it’s on the typical tourist timetable).
Since getting back I was swamped with getting into Surgery. This rotation started out really intense, in that we were there for every morning meeting and were assigned to a team and followed the interns or registrars everywhere. There was two weeks of orthopaedics at the beginning and now I have had a few weeks of general surgery, which is a bit more “go see what you’d like and not what you don’t, just make sure you study.”
In the meantime as well, I have finally bought a truck, which has proved to be a bit of a headache already. I brought it home, so proud, only to have it fail to start on the very first time I stopped it. It turns out there was a loose wire in the starter motor. I did not know what was going on, but was fortunate enough to have an old housemate of mine, Steve, visiting from Langley. He was able to be my starter motor, push style, for about a week. Then on the weekend I picked up some wrenches and pulled the starter. The fault was clear by that point, so I fixed it and re-installed it. It’s starting beautifully now. I just have a few issues with the fuel pump. I hope I can work those out too. Here you can see my repair:
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Steve was here for three weeks and we were able to go to a footy game together, see a bit of the area and chill and hang out like old times. Sometimes it seems as though neither of us has changed a bit.
I also bought a used bbq I found online, and was able to pick up, with my (trusty?) truck. I’m pretty excited about it, and have basically lived off it in the last two days. I want to get a few plants and make the apartment feel a little more like home. Plus study. A bunch. I have an exam in three weeks and it’s no small thing. Hopefully I survive, all I have to do is read and memorize a textbook…
I’ll try grab some photos of the truck, I never think to do it. Plus I’ll try show you where I’m living when I get my act together. Hopefully it’s soon!
While I’m in the picture mood I might as well throw in a pretty cool sunrise from a few days ago:
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