Much ado about nothing

Sorry about the lack of updates - to be honest, I've been staring at the screen for almost an hour and for the first time, she who has a bone to pick about everything, has nothing to report :-S I guess I'll write a bit about what been happening in my life, though I warn you that it won't be anything exciting...

So, we are still within our Neuro block at uni and as far as I'm concerned, we can stay here forever. For the first time all year, I understand the concepts and I have the answers. I can do the physical examinations and interpret the signs and symptoms. I know the Circle of Willis, the difference between Broca's and Wernicke's Areas, the MOA of the major antiepileptic drugs and how to calculate the GCS. These aren't particularly hard concepts or bits of information to commit to memory; but I guess the pace of information processing required in studying medicine is often so hectic and overwhelming that it's such a relief to be confident with the basics. This also holds particular value in my eyes because I'm the kind of student who believes in knowing the fundamentals or the "bread and butter", if you like; and not much more.

Today we learnt about something called "pseudoseizures" (we are studying epilepsy this week). For those who don't know what they are, here is a pretty good article on them. Captain Atopic wrote about them earlier in the year and I agree with him completely: pseudoseizures are NOT funny! I have to admit though, I'm a bit confused about the extent of consciousness and deliberation involved? Regardless, most sources point out that they may still be of some clinical/diagnostic value - in the same way that other "weird" or anti-social acts can trigger warning bells about underlying psychosocial issues. Still, it's just such an extreme measure to take!

What else? I think I'm finally on the other side of the long and drawn out messy ending to my friendship/relationship with FMH. God, it's taken over 6 months!! I'm just so blasé about the whole thing now and am actually REALLY glad it's over. When I reflect on things now, I'm amazed (read: utterly disappointed in myself!) by the trance I was under with him. It's so debilitating! I don't wish to use this blog for defamation - but he was *so* selfish to take advantage of my sentiments in the ways he did. I've learnt so much from the experience though and if I can get this message across to at least one person, then nothing would have happened in vain. My message is this: love and life are full of compromises - fair enough - but don't ever compromise who you truly are or your raison d'être (reason for being) for someone else (this includes not making anyone your reason for being). Even if your ambitions in life aren't giving you fulfillment, I urge you to search deeper within yourself for answers before relying on others to give your life a sense of worth. And that's all I have to say about that.

Anyways, moving right along... I'm going to the Spring Seminar on Emergency Medicine in Broome, this October. Anyone else going? I'm really excited as this will be my first real med conference :-D I hope it's not too advanced for me, but I think the experience will be worth it all the same. Plus, I'll get to check out what the other side of this beautiful country looks like. On the second day of the conference, there are a few workshops on offer: I signed up for paediatric resuscitation, regional anaesthesia, ophthalmology and some other resuscitation one where they are supposedly going to cover difficult airways and umbilical vein catheterisation :-S I'm sure I'll update more on it later.

Well, I think that's as much as I can write about my life for one evening. Ooh, one last thing - apparently IMET released intern (match) offers for some students yesterday. I hope that all my final year virtual buddies get their top preferences! It must be such a stressful time :-S Good luck!