Sorry about the lack of posts recently.
I've been actually quite unwell for the past week or so since starting my latent TB treatment.
Very fatigued, nasty chest infection with productive cough.
Falling a bit behind at uni.
Will be back on this soon.
Thursday, 22 March 2012
Thursday, 15 March 2012
Diagnosis
I sat there, sitting in the bare waiting room.
"Andy?" asked a voice at the doorway.
I looked up and saw a young doctor, about the same age as me holding my file.
I followed him into his much larger consultation room.
The pleasantries followed, before he went to the crux of the consultation.
"So, I've had a look at your chest x-ray from earlier today and I can see some calcification in some areas of the lung" as he pointed to the chest x-ray on the screen.
He continued. "Given that your past history and that you don't have any symptoms, I would say you have latent tuberculosis".
I gave him a stunned mullet look.
Umm.
"So some of the treatment options is to start you on some treatment to reduce the risk of it being active."
30 minutes later and after a blood extraction for a liver function test, I came out with two bottles of bills.
One bottle read Isoniazid 100mg three tablets once a day and another which read Pyroxin 25mg one tablet once a day.
So here starts the first day of my next nine month's worth of treatment and pill taking.
Oh and apparently no alcohol as well as Isoniazid increases liver toxicity (hence why the baseline liver function test).
Umm...
"Andy?" asked a voice at the doorway.
I looked up and saw a young doctor, about the same age as me holding my file.
I followed him into his much larger consultation room.
The pleasantries followed, before he went to the crux of the consultation.
"So, I've had a look at your chest x-ray from earlier today and I can see some calcification in some areas of the lung" as he pointed to the chest x-ray on the screen.
He continued. "Given that your past history and that you don't have any symptoms, I would say you have latent tuberculosis".
I gave him a stunned mullet look.
Umm.
"So some of the treatment options is to start you on some treatment to reduce the risk of it being active."
30 minutes later and after a blood extraction for a liver function test, I came out with two bottles of bills.
One bottle read Isoniazid 100mg three tablets once a day and another which read Pyroxin 25mg one tablet once a day.
So here starts the first day of my next nine month's worth of treatment and pill taking.
Oh and apparently no alcohol as well as Isoniazid increases liver toxicity (hence why the baseline liver function test).
Umm...
Wednesday, 7 March 2012
Switch on
I have come to the realisation that I'm responsible.
Not my tutor, whom is crap.
Not my tutorial group for being all sciencey.
Not the video conferenced lectures.
Not the wasted time in histology class or time management classes.
It's me.
I'm responsible.
So today I put it into action. I studied. I reviewed the lectures and completed my case reflections.
I stayed at uni from 0830 until 2240 and I didn't waste that much time.
I do want to be a doctor.
Plus I have a small crush on another med student, Jay. If I don't pass, I won't see Jay.
That's motivation and a half!
Not my tutor, whom is crap.
Not my tutorial group for being all sciencey.
Not the video conferenced lectures.
Not the wasted time in histology class or time management classes.
It's me.
I'm responsible.
So today I put it into action. I studied. I reviewed the lectures and completed my case reflections.
I stayed at uni from 0830 until 2240 and I didn't waste that much time.
I do want to be a doctor.
Plus I have a small crush on another med student, Jay. If I don't pass, I won't see Jay.
That's motivation and a half!
Tuesday, 6 March 2012
Panic stations
The 2nd years provided a voluntary tutorial on our latest case study which we finished today.
A few of us attended which was good.
They covered many things, stuff that I thought I knew but didn't, and stuff that I didn't even know.
Things like the RAAS system, BP control through the medulla, and parts of ADH control.
Panic stations!!!
A few of us attended which was good.
They covered many things, stuff that I thought I knew but didn't, and stuff that I didn't even know.
Things like the RAAS system, BP control through the medulla, and parts of ADH control.
Panic stations!!!
Monday, 5 March 2012
Smell of fomaldehyde
Two cadavers laid on two trolleys in the centre of the anatomy room, their bags unzipped with a cloth covering their head.
Our lecturer gestured for us to surround the first cadaver as she retracted the flap of skin covering the abdomen. The cadavers had already been dissected so it was a matter of moving the skin flaps off the side as if folding back a shirt, lifting the covering connective tissue exposing the abdominal organs.
We peered over each others' shoulders as she pointed out the stomach (much larger than I was expecting), the liver, gall bladder, pancreas (a lot smaller than I was expecting), the duodenum / jejunum / ileum, the cecum (the appendix was missing), and the ascending / transverse / descending colon. She also lifted the liver and ascending / transverse colon to reveal the kidneys which was especially relevant to our current clinical problem case.
It was a fantastic session as we were finally able to see the organs and their size physically on a cadaver. However, the smell of formaldehyde was extremely strong and I could still smell it a few hours later (must have been stuck in my nose!).
A productive session.
Our lecturer gestured for us to surround the first cadaver as she retracted the flap of skin covering the abdomen. The cadavers had already been dissected so it was a matter of moving the skin flaps off the side as if folding back a shirt, lifting the covering connective tissue exposing the abdominal organs.
We peered over each others' shoulders as she pointed out the stomach (much larger than I was expecting), the liver, gall bladder, pancreas (a lot smaller than I was expecting), the duodenum / jejunum / ileum, the cecum (the appendix was missing), and the ascending / transverse / descending colon. She also lifted the liver and ascending / transverse colon to reveal the kidneys which was especially relevant to our current clinical problem case.
It was a fantastic session as we were finally able to see the organs and their size physically on a cadaver. However, the smell of formaldehyde was extremely strong and I could still smell it a few hours later (must have been stuck in my nose!).
A productive session.
Thursday, 1 March 2012
Waning enthusiasm
Today wasn't bad.
Anatomy was good, I had never seen cross sections of the abdo in vacuum sealed bags before. Kind of reminded me of barbecue packs at the butchers.
I was surprised at how green the bile duct was, even after processing by formaldehyde.
That's basically the end of my enthusiasm for the day.
The next session was histology. She's an awful lecturer, not skilled in the use of video conferencing. Plus she was boring.
Coupled with a one and half hour wait at the local government office and I really didn't feel like studying.
It's the 1st of March and I had promised myself I would study better from today onwards.
I'll make it tomorrow.
Anatomy was good, I had never seen cross sections of the abdo in vacuum sealed bags before. Kind of reminded me of barbecue packs at the butchers.
I was surprised at how green the bile duct was, even after processing by formaldehyde.
That's basically the end of my enthusiasm for the day.
The next session was histology. She's an awful lecturer, not skilled in the use of video conferencing. Plus she was boring.
Coupled with a one and half hour wait at the local government office and I really didn't feel like studying.
It's the 1st of March and I had promised myself I would study better from today onwards.
I'll make it tomorrow.
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