Weekend in Carlisle

It's Saturday and I'm sitting here in the library in Carlisle. Why didn't I go back for the weekend? A mixture of reasons, actually. Firstly, was on-call last night. Secondly, figured I'd use this opportunity to have a look around the town. And thirdly, one weekend away from Newcastle ain't gonna kill me. Been quite productive, actually!

Was on-call yesterday 'till 10pm. Clerked in 3 patients, all of whom had rather interesting stories. The worst was this lady who's had epilepsy since she was 7 (she's 50+ now). She's fed up with falling down without warning all the time, and is contemplating suicide. Kesian jugak. Most of the cases in the geriatrics ward are kinda kesian jugak. I think I'd rather die than be in the condition that most of them are. Not being coherent, not being independant. There were 3 interesting personalities that I met earlier during the day. One was an opera singer, who kept on singing all the time. Needless to say, it was quite frustrating trying to listen to her chest. Another is currently in prison, and it was quite amusing/scary listening to him curse and threaten folks for stealing his clothes (he woke up to find himself in pyjamas and wasn't amused about it!) and lastly was a priest. He kept on talking about God blah blah blah, and after that, I found out he's HIV positive and is awaiting some sort of inquiry. Tsk tsk tsk...

Was tired by the end of yesterday, but I went in today at 0830 for the post on-call ward round. Turned out to be a mistake, 'cause I was stuck there 'till 1300. Probably one of the longest ward rounds I've ever been on!! Went thru about 25 patients. It was rather educational though, and since there were about 5 patients with a PSM, I'll probably never make a mistake with mitral regurgitation again. Hopefully! Was with Ali, the house officer and Dr Billet. He is one of those nice docs who's always teaching and is always smiling. Don't think he's capable of losing his temper. The closest I've seen him to being mad is when he was cursing orthopaedic surgeons for treating broken bones only and not the patient (this particular patient was discharged without appropriate support and came into hospital a few days later having broken another bone).

Went to Carlisle in the afternoon. Posted Alin's 'Selamat Pengantin Baru' card, explored the town. It's a quaint little place. About the size of Durham. Not as pretty though. Then again, not many towns can claim to be prettier than Durham. The main difference with Newcastle is the fact that I didn't see any other Asians apart from a couple of chinese folks working in their takeaway, and the fact that there's a Gap store in the middle of town. Unfortunately, they weren't selling the stuff for my sweetie that I was looking for. After a couple of hours, I was just too tired and decided to go back. Wanted to catch 'Saw' but it's only showing at 2100 so I figured it wasn't worth it. Did some shopping at M&S, took the bus back, had a 20-minute nap, and here I am!

A friend of mine was asking me for advice about his r'ship and it got me into thinking about how some people get themselves into situations where they're cheating on their partners. Guess it's a matter of figuring out what's wrong with the current r'ship they're in. I've got a friend who's switched bfs a few times, and each time before breaking up with her current bf, she'll be having some sort of affair with the next one, although she claims it's innocent. I've told her she wasn't doing the right thing, but history just tends to repeat itself. Funny thing is, her ex-es still put her on a pedestal, but that's probably due to ignorance about what's going on. I just hope that her current r'ship remains strong and they both remain happy with each other.

On a sadder note, The Lancet reported that 100 000 civilians have been killed in Iraq since the occupation of the foreign forces. And that's probably an underestimate. These folks won't even make the headlines of any major newspapers in the US. There won't be any memorials built in their honour. Their names won't be know. There won't be a national day of mourning for them. And the situation is bound to get worse. A decline in the standards of healthcare is bound to be chronic in the near time. And what about morbidity? It's no wonder that everyone hates the Americans, apart from the Americans themselves and the odd British. And I'm not going to be surprised if the Al-Qaeda only gets stronger after this. From being sworn enemies of Saddam Hussein, Iraq's gonna be fertile ground for recruitment. One can only hope and pray that our world is not going to descend into an endless cycle of mindless violence.