Our first few days got us quickly back into the realm of muscles, bones and joints of the body before we could say disease and we realised how much revision we needed to do! Labs were followed by examination tutorials as we went through the MSK exams from our FCP unit days with added 'special tests' for different joint pathology. Tuesday we headed to the hospital and were given patients for hand, wrist and elbow examinations where we were taken through rheumatoid, psoriatic and osteoarthritis with very little knowledge of what to expect! The patients were lovely though and we learnt lots quickly just through examining their hands.
For some reason i had 'the blues' again mid week, i don't know why but it just seemed to come. I hate it though, Kyle notices it the most as i just don't feel myself. Maybe its because we have to keep being at every one's beck and call and push anything else in our life aside? Well i missed our last 4-5 lecture on Thursday so i could go for a run through Kings Park in the sun, sun and fresh air does wonders :) maybe i am needing more sun and am vitamin D deficient? it wouldn't surprise me, i get up at 6am to go to the gym and the sun is barely out when i leave at 7.30! I am in hospital most of the day and leave when the sun goes down or else i am inside studying staring outside my window longing to be in the sun... anyway by Saturday i was finally feeling a little better thank goodness!
I had a phlebotomy session on Thursday and finally finished bleeding 20 people so i had my little log book signed off yay! Friday was another early start at a trauma meeting at Charlie's and Emma and I followed the intern around for the morning, then lectures in the afternoon much to our research coordinators disgust as afternoons are suppose to be for research. It is frustrating each coordinator gets angry at us as the students but we just get messed around with timetables and do as we are told we aren't responsible!! (little rant :P)
On a different note i got to catch up with my family at the airport from their European travels! It was lovely to see them and here a few stories and see some pictures even if it was brief, but i can safely say they all had an amazing time and are in need of a few days relaxation to recover from their adventures! I look forward to seeing more pictures soon :) For now i leave you with a beautiful poem to finish off our Geriatric rotation but always stay with us...
When an old man died in the geriatric ward of a nursing home in an Australian country town, it was believed that he had nothing left of any value.
Later, when the nurses were going through his meagre possessions, They found this poem. Its quality and content so impressed the staff that copies were made and distributed to every nurse in the hospital.
One nurse took her copy to Melbourne. The old man's sole bequest to posterity has since appeared in the Christmas editions of magazines around the country and appearing in mags for Mental Health. A slide presentation has also been made based on his simple, but eloquent, poem.
And this old man, with nothing left to give to the world, is now the author of this 'anonymous' poem winging across the Internet.
Cranky Old Man
What do you see nurses? . . .. . .What do you see?
What are you thinking .. . when you're looking at me?
A cranky old man, . . . . . .not very wise,
Uncertain of habit .. . . . . . . .. with faraway eyes?
Who dribbles his food .. . ... . . and makes no reply.
When you say in a loud voice . .'I do wish you'd try!'
Who seems not to notice . . .the things that you do.
And forever is losing . . . . . .. . . A sock or shoe?
Who, resisting or not . . . ... lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding . . . .The long day to fill?
Is that what you're thinking?. .Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse .you're not looking at me.
I'll tell you who I am . . . . .. As I sit here so still,
As I do at your bidding, .. . . . as I eat at your will.
I'm a small child of Ten . .with a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters .. . . .. . who love one another
A young boy of Sixteen . . . .. with wings on his feet
Dreaming that soon now . . .. . . a lover he'll meet.
A groom soon at Twenty . . . ..my heart gives a leap.
Remembering, the vows .. .. .that I promised to keep.
At Twenty-Five, now . . . . .I have young of my own.
Who need me to guide . . . And a secure happy home.
A man of Thirty . .. . . . . My young now grown fast,
Bound to each other . . .. With ties that should last.
At Forty, my young sons .. .have grown and are gone,
But my woman is beside me . . to see I don't mourn.
At Fifty, once more, .. ...Babies play 'round my knee,
Again, we know children . . . . My loved one and me.
Dark days are upon me . . . . My wife is now dead.
I look at the future ... . . . . I shudder with dread.
For my young are all rearing .. . . young of their own.
And I think of the years . . . And the love that I've known.
I'm now an old man . . . . . . .. and nature is cruel.
It's jest to make old age . . . . . . . look like a fool.
The body, it crumbles .. .. . grace and vigour, depart.
There is now a stone . . . where I once had a heart.
But inside this old carcass . A young man still dwells,
And now and again . . . . . my battered heart swells
I remember the joys . . . . .. . I remember the pain.
And I'm loving and living . . . . . . . life over again.
I think of the years, all too few . . .. gone too fast.
And accept the stark fact . . . that nothing can last.
So open your eyes, people .. . . . .. . . open and see.
Not a cranky old man .
Look closer . . . . see .. .. . .. .... . ME!!
Remember this poem when you next meet an older person who you might brush aside without looking at the young soul within. We will all, one day, be there, too!
PLEASE SHARE THIS POEM (originally written by Dave Griffith)
The best and most beautiful things of this world can't be seen or touched. They must be felt by the heart!
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