Charlie's Bird
living the dream with Charlie and Thandi and chirping all the way back to the nest.Archive for January, 2012
Gotta love your patients
…or is that patience? I’ve been reading a blog by a doctor who posts the ridiculous things his patients say to him and his staff, so I thought I’d share this tale with you
Nurse B: Dr Birdie’s rooms, how can I help?
Patient: I need to ask some questions about my cycle.
Nurse B: Go ahead, no problem.
Patient: I am supposed to go for blood tests and have a scan, but can’t remember what day its supposed to be in my cycle.
Nurse B: Well, Dr Birdie usually explains that very well, what day are you at the moment in your cycle?
Patient: Well, I’m not sure, I spotted and then stopped, then spotted again.
Nurse B: OK… what did Dr Birdie say the last time she saw you then?
Patient: Oh, no, I’m not seeing Dr Birdie anymore, I’m seeing Dr Not-Even-A-Part-Of-This-Practice now.
Nurse B: Well, why don’t you contact him then?
Patient: No, I don’t want to bother him.
Hmph… The tragedy is this patient has now called numerous times, seriously trying my poor nurse’s patience. B, you’re a star!
In other news, check out my fatness files, vers 2.1!!!!! Yay!!!!!
Swimming lessons
…so iPhones really don’t swim well, as Charlie discovered on friday afternoon. After a long day at the office I went home to find a hot bodied little girl, smelling sweetly of boudier biscuits, who I knew would be a happy little thing after a cooling swim, so into the pool we all jumped, and there we were having a lovley swim when Charlie jumped out faster than he dived in, as he realised that he had left his phone in his pocket, and it had enjoyed the 10 mintes in the pool with us – NOT!So there we were, wet phone, and eventually 2 very grumpy people and a bewildered daughter. Anyway, after a very grumpy evening, Charlie is using my second phone and I am telling my spoilt brat brain to relax and be gracious.
Saturday afternoon Thandi went to our neighbours daughter’s birthday party, she’s all of 2, and boy, oh, boy, did Thandi girl have a blast, there were other children to watch, pools to splash in, juice to drink, fruit to taste, party, party, party till she dropeed and was fast asleep at 18h30, the earliest she’s slept for ages. Poor thing. And yesterday she went shopping for groceries with mom and dad, had breakfast out (yummy biscuit got smeared everywhere) had a swim and a play outside, a big nap after lunch (mom and dad even napped too) and a trip to the beach (yukky sand!) and visits from her grandparents meant another exhausted girl last night.
Work wise, the weekend was fine, I did one delivery last night, and for the rest, all was under control. Aside from some reading and relaxing, I didn’t do much else this weekend, and am hoping for a good week, book club wednesday and nothing planned for the rest of the week. Have good mondays peeps!
Damn the consequences
…is kinda how I feel today, bring on a chocolate brownie or a cupcake or something, because crikey moses, even though I have been rather obsessive about my diet and exercise I have gained weight this week. Now I know it’s because of the injection and the raging hormones (welcome to the world of hot flushes and night sweats!), but it’s very demoralising when this happens. I mean I go to bed slightly hungry every night, and am very controlled about what I eat… Oh well, at least I am hopefully improving my cardiovascular health now.
And then just to top the weekend off, I am on call… so not much fun for Birdie this weekend, oh well, this too shall pass.
Last night Charlie and I had a mini date night, out for sushi. It was nice, not as nice as last week, but it was good to just sit quietly, watching the world go by, watching our perfect sleeping angel. It was quite weird, they had a whole lot of sushi, california rolls and the like, which they had tempura battered and fried – weird, I think it must have been the old stuff that they made at lunch time – not great looking! Anyway, the date time was more important than the food, I am such a lucky girl to have such a good man standing next to me through all this. Charlie is my hero!
Is that a fly in my ointment?
You know, lately I have been confronted by the seriously stupid. Not just mildly silly or blonde, but the ‘seriously, they’re allowing you to reproduce?’ stupid. Like when I ask if the baby is moving, I get told about the time she twisted her ankle and fell. Or when I ask who diagnosed your brain tumour, I get told, an MRI. Or the patient that expects an operation for her heavy period/painful side/leaky bladder, but won’t let me examine her? I know the gynae ain’t fun, but really now!
let the scale speak
….hmmm, this diet and exercise lark is hard! My goodness! It’s been 3 weeks now of almost perfect behaviour, a smidgen of wine has really been my only cheat, and while I am happy with the loss I have seen, I’d have loved it to be more.
Dietwise, I have bran flakes, fruit and yoghurt for breakfast, sometimes dring my morning I’ll have some fruit, lunch has been strictly salad, with occasional tuna added (no dressings/mayo). Dring the afternoon, there has been no time and no apetite for anything, and for supper its been protein and a salad of some sort or occasional veggies. Once we had sushi.
Exercise has been enthusiastic. Training with Gusto 3 times a week, and these sessions involve a 20 minute run, some core, some light weights (very light, and not every session) and then another 10 minutes of extra cardio, be it a run, a cycle or the elliptical machine. Over and above that I try to get 1-2 extra sessions a week in myself, either on the road or the treadmill. So I certainly am putting in the effort.
So since I had my suppressor injection, things have slowed rather rapidly, I know it’ll be water retention and all that, but I am also experiencing a very painful left knee, which I can only really attribute to the side effects of the meds, man, last night it kept me awake and I am needing anti inflammatories to get through the day, its blimmin’ sore! And I have to have some drugs before I hit the gym, and I know that isn’t ideal. I’m hoping when I re-introduce the hormones I will feel a little better, but, who knows?
Saying all this, it boils down to my frustration at the scale’s report, yes, if you look at my fatness file I am 4 kgs down in 3 weeks, which is great, but given the sacrifices, I would love it to be more… Patience, Birdy, slow and steady wins the day…
What we think of monday
This silly machine won’t let me upload a video of my cutest girl blowing a raspberry at monday, I’ll keep trying though, maybe you’ll get to see it later in the week.
The weekend was quiet, sushi friday night, chilled saturday and breakfast with friends on sunday, food preparation for Thandi and some triathlon watching. All quiet on the home front.
Milestones
This morning, while changing Thandi’s nappy, she lay there, clapping her hands together, palms open, very proud of herself! Little did she know her mom was almost bursting with pride! What a girl!
Frantic Friday
I am so relieved that it is finally friday. It’s been a really long week, I even on wednesday night, after swopping the TV channel expecting to see Body of Evidence, asked Charlie (rather grumpily, I have to confess) if it was Thursday, why wasn’t my show on, to be rather sheepish when he told me it was wednesday only, so you see, it’s been one of those weeks.There are no plans aside from a cup of tea with some girlfriends this afternoon, and maybe watching the crazy iron people on Sunday, so I intend to put my feet up, rest my extremely sore joints, and prepare for the next week on call. It appears that I am having some slightly different side effects from the suppressor injection this time (probably because I am exercising), but my joints, especially my knees are agonizing, and my muscles are far sorer than usual, which are all documented side effects. Yay, lucky me!
And today is going to be a spectacularly great day, becase today Jacqui and Pat’s little girl is being born, Olivia, we welcome you to this crazy village, and Thandi can’t wait to meet you, to tell you all about it. I know you are going to bring your mom and dad endless joy! Yayayay!
Traffic Ranting
…so I often compose posts (and letters to the newspaper) about the traffic and how much it annoys me, in my head, while I drive to work, but then by the time I am here, I’m over it, and never post them. Today however, I am not over it, so I write in annoyance!
There was an issue with the timing of a 2 traffic lights this morning. They are near 2 schools, and control access onto the freeway, so they are pretty important ones. They also are horribly busy and backed up at the best of times. Today was special though. The timing was out, which meant that the usual flow of traffic was just disrupted, and we all know that queues of traffic bring out the best in people. We will enter intersections, when there is nowhere to go, and nothing is achieved, other than backing it up for others who are trying to play by the rules. I have gotten quite aggressive now when it is MY turn, and will drive around people to get into my lane (which, because it’s a turning lane, is often empty) I know this sounds kinda odd, it’s difficult to explain, but if you know me, you’ll figure out exactly where this is. Needless to say, I often wonder if people would drive like such idiots if they knew who was in the cars around them, not that I think I deserve special attention personally, but I am a doctor, often on the way to an emergency, and when I get held up, it means that my patient might suffer. One day I was on my way home, when the traffic on the highway ground to a halt, clearly there was an accident up ahead, can you believe that some idiots even pulled into the emergency lane and tried to ‘beat the traffic’ that way, obstructing the access of emergency vehicles. I was so angry, I nearly climbed out my car and went to stop them physically. Imagine if that was your family member in the crashed vehicle, and as the minutes ticked away in the valuable golden hour, the ambulances couldn’t get there to help them. Mankind has become so inconsiderate and selfish, shame on us!
Almost as dangerous is the guy who drives in the fast lane, at 10-20km less than the speed limit, who won’t move over, behaving like the ‘police’. If I am speeding, you can be assured it’s because I am on my way to an emergency, and I don’t need yo to keep me in check. If I get a fine, I will pay it, I don’t argue with the law!
So next time you see a silver sports car speeding down a road, squeezing into the gap, hooting at you who has broken the rules, remember it might be the Bird, on my way to help someone…..
Yawn
…and I am a tired birdy today, 2 interrupted nights with deliveries, a daughter who decided she wanted to spend more time with mom, so woke an hour earlier than usual and a personal trainer giving me hell. Oh, yes, and busy rooms, with all its usual chaos…
Charlie's Bird 