More Than Just A Nurse

I willed myself to see what fit there was,

image to circle, how this all in-where'd.

But mine were wings that could not rise to that,

save that, with this, my mind, was stricken through

by sudden lightning bringing what it wished.

- Paradiso, Canto 33, Dante Alighieri 

Nurse (verb) -  Someone whose job is to look after people who are ill or injured, usually in a hospital.

(Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, This Edition 2003, Seventh Impression 2003, Pearson Education Limited 1978, 2003)

          

17th November (Thursday) - I was an unlucky fool. Because no one remembered to assign someone to a doctor's clinic, I was forced to be the one to go inside. I loved assisting doctors, second to dressings. I used to be that way, assisting a doctor half day (usually in the mornings), then doing dressings in the noon. But I dreaded this clinic. I used to assist this place for around a month to cover the second person who will sometimes go on leaves. It's rather heavy, with an average of 40 to 60 patients a day, I didn't mind that, but what I dislike the most was the girl who takes care of that place. She was okay person to begin with, I thought, but once I started working with her, I really, really get sapped and drained, both physically and mentally once the clinic starts. Nobody had wanted to enter there because of the bad aura that emits from the place, myself included. But maybe I was a softie and too nice, when I reported to the girl who does the assignment and my head, the answer I get was not like the other girls. "I can't stand this place and the doctor, please shift me." "Okay, noted." Problem solved. When I quote back the same line they used, I don't get an okay. I get this. "You have no right to choose which doctor or clinic you get assigned to. Get back to work."
So I steeled myself to work at that place. The doctor is usually okay, but today, because of someone forgetting an important promise to assign a second girl to cover his other girl who is on leave, he took out his anger on me. "What is this nonsense?" "Where the hell are the folders?" "Why are you giving me half-finished work?" Usually, he doesn't talk to me, but today, he lashed out, as though he wants to eat me, figuratively.
Now, I've gotten a lot of verbal abuse, not just from doctors, but patients, colleagues and even managers alike, in short, just about everybody. Usually, the main girl will handle all the difficult parts, my role is basically support, attend to patients, bringing them to the doctor, and bringing them back to the main girl who will discharge them from the clinic. She's rather blackhearted, no, I'm not going to sugar coat this. She doesn't share her PC password with me, so when I got locked out, I needed her help to get back into the PC to key in appointments and check on patients' status. When I asked her for help, she yelled at me for being incompetent and useless and shoved me aside so that she could log in. Anything I do she shouted at me, calling me an imbecile on how I don't know how to handle my work.
Perhaps the most aggressive thing she had ever done to me was sneering at my job. Nurse, yes. But a nurse working in an outpatient department. "It's a stupid job, which just about anybody can do. A nurse should only be working in the ward, not at a stupid department like outpatient. "Stupid, huh? A nurse should be in the ward only. Then what do you call nurses who works in the operating theatres and the sterile unit? Nurse who works in specialises fields like aesthetics, wound care, research? A nurse's job is aplenty, a nurse can run a clinic, assist doctors, perform nursing procedures, do research, give health advice... She's implying that an outpatient nurse job is useless, because all we do is run the departments and clinics and attend when we are needed. But here's the thing. A patient does no go into the ward immediately. Oh no, before a patient gets admitted, whether it's for observation or surgery, a patient ALWAYS comes to consult the doctor in the outpatient clinic first. There they will discuss their options, and when it's really needed, to get admitted for care. Once the patient has undergone surgery or care in the hospital, they will come back for follow ups in the clinic. If they have dressings, we will do it according to the doctor's order. Daily, alternate, every three days, once weekly, it all depends. And when they're done, they are discharged officially, or... end up with bad luck and end up getting admitted again. And there are some procedures which can be done in outpatient side too. Instead of seeing just a few doctor for few minutes, You have to see them most of the time, and there's no escape, because you may end up passing by each other a lot in the corridor and end up working with them. Instead of seeing a limited amount of patients each day, you end up seeing a whole lot of people, not just the sickly types, but healthy ones too who came for their regular check ups or second opinion.
It's true that I ended up as an outpatient nurse, but I still get to practice my skills, hold onto my license, and write novels as a part time hobby. So, I'm more than just a nurse, in a way. And I learnt a lot in the outpatient side as well.  I gotten to know many wonderful people, patients, doctors and colleagues alike, some I even got to be close to them like friends. As long as I love what am I doing, I'm happy that way. I didn't want to end up miserable and end up hating my job, so I took an alternative. And I never regret my decision.    

Curse

12th October (Wednesday) - Oh what a day, everywhere I go, it seemed that I had a curse. You know, there's a term called the Zidane curse, named after the famed Final Fantasy IX main protagonist Zidane Tribal. You see, everywhere Zidane visits, shortly afterwards the place get destroyed. Such examples are Alexandria, Ice Cavern, Lindblum, Cleyra, and when you advanced far enough, nearly all of the places due to the Iifa Tree's roots blocking nearly every place, making you (the player) unable to re-visit them. My case, instead of places being destroyed, whichever clinics I ended up with, I get blasted by patients.
Surprise, surprise, I ended up with my old doctor. Cheer. I thought it was too good to be true, so I double checked. Ah, the girl who usually takes care of there is on leave, no wonder. Three patients only? I don't believe. I had been with my doctor for so long, his clinic is unpredictable. Despite seeing only three patients for appointments, walk ins can just come flooding in like a tsunami.
I swallowed hard and went into the clinic and felt myself screaming mentally. What on earth just happened? It looked as though a hurricane had just burst into my doctor's clinic. Rubbish all over the floor, the clinic table was a mess, crumbs and used tissues covered with who knows what all over, the tissue roll for the bed empty and untouched, the appointment book which I had wrapped had its cover ripped off and the book is hanging dangerously on its spine, the pages dog-eared and torn. Couldn't even understand a single thing the person wrote. When I opened the cabinet to put in my bag, papers spilled out like an overflow dam. Jesus Christ, I know it's not my business, but I can't help feeling furious. I may not have been with my doctor anymore, but this little place was like a second home besides my original department. I grabbed the mop and broom from the housekeeping trolley (with permission), and you know what happened next. I had a hard time fixing the tissue roll because my doctor's bed is a little hard to remove the fixing, compared to his neighbour's. I even went to grab several non-bacterial wipes and wipe the whole table, mine and my doctor's. Only then I felt happier and ready to work.. To quote a doctor who I once worked with, cleaning up people's mess.
Patients came around nine, and my doctor usually comes in after ten, so there's the usual "Please take a seat, my doctor will be in shortly." As expected, there were several walk ins. No folders, big trouble because there are several loose notes. Argh!!!
And here comes my curse. A phone call came. A patient who had came yesterday claimed that my doctor did not give him a referral letter to another doctor. He insisted that he wants it now, that my doctor had forgotten. So I had to chase downstairs for the folder otherwise I won't be able to get my doctor to write the letter he insisted. Then there was patient who had to come for admission. Can't understand a bloody thing the girl wrote, but I managed to ask the patient, when he came, regarding his admission. He's a very nice guy, and he explained to me nicely that he hasn't done any of the paper works yet, so he's here to see my doctor and get admitted. Fair enough, I got his folder and prepared the necessary papers. Admission, OT slip, Consent, Prescription, Imaging, Insurance. Thank God.
My doctor did a double take when he saw my face. "No wonder why the sky looked funny today. It's you." "Me, what did I do???" I asked him. And he merely answered, "You came back , after all this time." Well, because your clinic girl was on leave, and I had to cover her, and as I reminded him, it depends on the assignment I was given. He gave a shrug and we got down to work. Just like old times. I called a few patients for him, although he called most of them. As usual, I ran back and forth from the clinic to the counters, to make sure my patients went to the right place to collect their medicines and make their payments instead of going all the way down to my department just to make payment. Of course it includes running to the photocopy machine. Everyone was shaking their head and said, "Just like how it used to be last time." Because concierge takes forever to come up, once I confirmed that there's no patients (at that moment), I escorted my patient to admission, like the good old days. He said, "You seemed to be quite familiar with the doctor." "Because I worked with him for seven months." I answered. Of course, he asked why I wasn't permanent with him, and I gave him my standard answer, it depends where the assignment throws me to. He then said, "I pity you, so you're basically running all over the place." And I just smiled at him. Because who am I to complain?
A patient called, anxious and demanding to see my doctor regarding her daughter who has scoliosis. I asked her where is she, and she's at a place where my doctor covers in the afternoon, but unfortunately, he won't be coming in today. She then pleaded to me to hold my doctor while she try to hurry over. Unfortunately, the place where she's in right now will take at least an hour, no matter how much she try to rush. To confirm, I asked my doctor how long does it usually take to travel from that hospital to here. He then told me, "To get over from there will take roughly 30 minutes if there's no jam, to find a parking and do an X-Ray of the whole spine will take another 30 minutes, assuming the X-Ray people are fast. By the time she reach here, I will be late for my surgery, which is outside." Oh, fiddlesticks, Seriously, WHY ME????? In the end, my doctor compromised. If she can reach by 12, he will see her. So I let the girl know, but I also warned her that I can't keep promises, because my doctor won't entertain latecomers. She then said she will try to make it here as soon as possible, but knowing her, she might not make it. Once I put down the phone, my doctor said to me, "I know you are trying to be nice, but in this world, you can't please everyone. Somewhere out there, there will always be people who hate you, no matter how nice you are. And here's something you should know, people often say they can come, but once the time comes, you will see all sorts of excuses left and right." That's the one thing I like about my doctor, he's honest and straight to the point, and he knows how to appreciate the effort people had put into. (For your information, I called the patient once 12 o' clock came, and she said she couldn't make it, and that she will come tomorrow to see him. I relayed this to my doctor and he said, "You see? I told you so.")
Remember the guy who called and insisted for the referral letter, I managed to get his folder, and I put it on my doctor's desk, who went. "What is this folder doing here?" And I explained to him regarding the situation. He then answered, "I forget? I didn't forget. I specifically told him to get a letter from outside clinic so that he can save cost, because he wanted to be admitted under the government side. If I gave him my letter, they may put him under the private side and he will blame me." Ohhh. Because the guy called me (again), demanding for the letter, my doctor got to work, shaking his head, muttering how some people just don't appreciate his help. While waiting for our patients, he then asked me, "I been meaning to ask you, how much was the gift you gave me?" I made the mistake of telling him less than hundred (Actually, the range was actually below fifty), which he immediately launched into how our economy is going down and I should not get him anything. I explained to him I got it in a sale, and it's a small appreciation, for letting me take care of him those past few months, and treating me and my family for free. And he said, "I don't want you spending money on me, it's hard to earn enough money as it is now. Next time, just send me a card." Which I intend to do, if I have the time (and if our relationship is still alright, like today). Maybe I should've made him a salad, like a doctor once jokingly told me to. (If you recall my old post, he's rather health conscious. And salad is cheap and healthy. Just toss in lettuce, tomatoes, onions, shredded steam chicken, drench in some olive oil and pepper and give it a good mix.)
It was just a half day with him, with less than two hours, but I'm happy to just assist him like the old days, and he was okay with it. Before he left for his surgery, he added, "Come back and assist me again if you have the time." I told him, it depends on my assignment. He nodded and gave me a farewell, leaving me to lock the doors, pack up and go. Even though the work was a little hectic due to the fact he's rushing, I was happy for that few hours.
Oh, he just have to poke fun at my social life.
"So, you have a boyfriend yet?"
"No."
"Well, if you do, please bring him to see me."
"Why?"
"I want to survey him and interview him first before I let you go out with him."
"!!! But what if he runs away?"
"Then he's not a good match for you."
And he said it all with a dead serious face. Ahhhhhh.

Strangers => Haters

6th October (Thursday) - On the previous day, I've spoken to one of the doctor's personal assistant. We took care of my old doctor before, and she gave me a wan smile. "This year's patients are the worst." And I agreed with her. The majority of this year is awful. I've been hurtled abuses and insults by patients, threatened, some had tried taking videos and photos, which my doctors had to intervene, since I noticed whenever I explained to patients regarding the no photos no videos policy, they don't take me seriously until my doctors step in.
Because we were short on staff, 6 people on medical leave, I had to cover other clinic, in this case, a cardiology clinic. I assisted a cardiothoracic surgeon, who used to be next door to my old doctor. Cardiologist, no, it's my first time. I thought it was like assisting the cardiothoracic surgeon, how wrong I was. For one thing, she order plenty of tests. ECHO, ECG Stress Test, PT and INR blood tests. I wasn't familiar with the proceedings, so I actually had to call and asked about the procedure. Stress test and ECHO, takes about 30 minutes each. Reporting takes an hour. And stress test needs a consent. PT and INR, takes roughly thirty minutes to an hour depending on complications, but because that day the the machine went a little faulty, I ended up more than waiting two hours for the results. And that day was nuts. A lot of patients walked in, and cardiac patients definitely need folders. And with most of them walking means folders come in late, which means wait, and wait and waaait. In between many patients called me for requests such as wanting to know their blood results, prescriptions to be extended, wanting to speak to my doctor (''It's urgent''), the usual stuff. I should also mention that the clinic was also my old doctor's clinic, so there were a lot of phone calls coming in. "Hi, I would like to make an appointment to see Dr So-and-So." And I will go, "I'm terribly sorry. He has moved to another clinic a year ago. Let me transfer you over to his line./ I'm sorry, his line is currently busy. Let me give you his extension and room number. Thank you, have a nice day."
Perhaps the worst scenario was an agent from outstation called. He was very unpleasant right from the start. I barely got pass, "Hi, good morning, Dr-" when he blasted me with verbal abuses, claiming that he had called from two weeks ago, that he had couriered and email his client's insurance to the hospital, and someone had promised to follow up with him. See, this clinic doesn't have a fix person, so you can imagine the insults and shoutings he threw at me. "WHAT KIND OF STUPID HOSPITAL IS THIS?" "I'M GOING TO BRING YOUR DOCTOR AND YOU TO COURT, AND TO THE MEDIA, I'LL MAKE SURE I TARNISH YOUR NAME, GIVING SUCH A LOUSY SERVICE." Oh yes. I've been f**ked, sh*ted, cursed to rot in Hell, but never once was I cursed to go to court and the media. Of course, the cardiologist I worked with was really pissed off til she refused to entertain him, only to give him the number of the person whom he should talk to regarding his insurance instead of hurling all sort of threats at us.
We got our justice thirty minutes later when the insurance supervisor called. Apparently, his colleague had emailed and couriered the things over. They didn't receive any courier package, but they did received an email. When they asked him for the proof of payment slip, he went, "What slip?" And that's when the supervisor found out he had not made any payment, hence his request was unable to be processed, and his colleague had never kept him up to date regarding this or the payment. Oh yes, he made a mistake at his side, yet he had shouted insults and threats to my doctor and I. The supervisor advised him to apologise to us, whom we both had been hurt and saddened by his nasty insults and threats. Unsurprisingly, he did not. Well, this certainly taught me a good experience. Never ever throw hotshot threats and insults until you have thoroughly checked your side of the story. ;)
Strangers had come up to me asking why am I working as a clinic nurse. "You could earn so much more as a ward nurse. Clinic nurse is a stupid job. Anyone could do it." Well, I'm sorry to say. Who are you to judge me? My friend had it worst. She was a doctor's personal secretary for more 5 years, and the guy made a remark. "You have no future with this kind of job. You should be a nurse. Your pay will be much higher than what you are earning now." Now, I know he's trying to give suggestions but the way he says it is as though our jobs are useless. To tell you the truth, there is no such thing as a 'useless' job in the world. People laughed at me for writing novels, but it's what I love. And I balance it with my full time paying job. I don't interfere my nursing job with my writing, only when I'm off duty, back home, that's when I'll do my writing. My friend is a degree holder in mass communications, and she was pretty ticked with that stranger's remark. I sometimes really wonder what kind of a world are we living in...
Today I went to buy some food late at night to get the half-price off, and this guy, whom I have no idea who, made a remark on how I will get fat from eating all the stone cold carbo. I politely told him I'm going to refrigerate it, then air-fry it to get rid the excess oils and eat it fresh hot for breakfast. Instead he turned down his nose and said, "Stupid girl. Everyone knows air-frying is a useless invention. You might as well steam those food you're eating." I only shake my head, made my purchase, and brought the food home. And can you guess what the guy bought? Thick gravy chicken with rice, and yes, you guessed it, at half price.
I'm going home now, take my juice, and throw myself to sleep. This has certainly been a whacked out day.  

Disrespect

3rd October (Monday) - Not a very good start to a new month. Patients and doctors (not all of them) alike are shouting at us from all sides. I got the worst of it cause I'm the most junior and most soft one.These few days I've been pretty much going, "Why me?????" Not that it matters, since there is no such thing as innocent proven guilty anymore. It all started from one of his difficult patient. A lady who is in her fifties, she had a total knee replacement done. It has been more than a month and she still can't walk, only ambulate in a wheelchair. I tried giving her the benefit of doubt from her first day doing dressing under me. And let me tell you this, she always complains that she's in pain, cannot move. And her daughter who always accompanies her, she really takes the cake. She really has that arrogant look in her face, Every time she comes, she expects us to run after her like a queen. She couldn't even be bothered to push her mother in the wheelchair. When her mother complaints of pain and couldn't move, I had to single-handedly carry her over to the bed, and it's no easy feat because the patient wouldn't help herself. And the daughter...stood at the side, playing with her phone while looking at me with that look. "My God, you're not strong. Can you even manage to carry my mother?" Well, most of my patients has families who willingly helped us, spouses, children, siblings, girl or boyfriends, caregivers... They all helped us as we support one side and they the other. It really ticks me off when she says that. And she always complains about everything. Seriously, she will be hovering by your side, going, "Why is the incision not straight? What an awful cut." (You think I'm the one who did the surgery? Ask the doctor please.)"You didn't clean properly. There's still a lot of black stuff all over it." (Those are all old blood clots and scabs. If I keep forcing it out, your mom will start bleeding again.) "Physiotherapy? The doctor never say anything about physio." The last statement really make my blood tick. I've assisted orthopaedics surgeon for a long time, and I know that after any surgery, there will always be a post-op physio, especially for those involving your limbs. Spine? Yes, there's also physio for spine strengthening along with corset or bracing, depending how severe the case is. And you can imagine, it has been more than a month and the lady still cannot walk. No surprise there. I had seen many elderly, some as old as seventy whom undergone total knee/hip/ spine surgery, and they can walk, some with ambulatory aid, some without. Cause they all went for regular physio as per the doctor orders. My own aunt who is sixty plus underwent total knee replacement twice, and she can walk without crutches after two weeks. Even though the wound is long dry, the daughter kept demanding me to cover the wound. She claimed that it is to protect the wound from infection, and then she nagged me, "Don't you know anything? Leaving the wound open is bad, cover it up." Okay, you win. I'm really tired of you shooting all of my help down. She'll be back around this month and I pray hard that she doesn't come to the treatment room. We might go nuts just from her alone.
And it was one of those days where we are super busy. With just the two of us, and two doctors who needed the treatment room the most, my friend and I took one each. She will handle Doctor B while I handle Doctor A. Between us two, we managed to run our patients smoothly. While I was waiting for my doctor to come to review his patients, Doctor B came up to me at the counter and he wasn't happy.

Doctor : Where are my patients?
Me : Room 2 with my friend.
Doctor : Who is in Room 1?
Me : Doctor A's patient.
Doctor : I want the first room.
Me : Doctor, I'm sorry but I can't give you the first room, cause Doctor A is using it.
Doctor : Oh, I get it. You respect him, but you don't respect me. I followed the queue, so why did you bypass my patients?
Me : My friend is handling your patients.
Doctor : I don't care. Give me the first room.
Me : I'm sorry.
Doctor : *Gave me a dirty look and walked back into his room*

My friend came out after our cashier told us the story. She sighed and told me same thing happened to her, except the doctor demanded why they trained me like that. And my friend defended me, saying that I was only following the procedure. And we were kind to give him the second room, all just for him. The first room I'm using, I'm sharing it with seven doctors. If I had complied to his request, I will get seven doctors jumping at my throat. So yeah. Ever since then, he had always taken his anger out on me.
Recently on Friday, his girl caused me to land in hot waters. The doctor came out and asked me why I didn't call his patient. My friend and I can only stare blankly at him, because his girl never gave us any sticker, so how would we know who to call? So she hurriedly gave me the first sticker, an eighty-something old lady. Scanning my patients, I only saw one lady that fits the age description, When I called her name, the doctor glared at me and shouted, "WRONG PATIENT!" What the- I doubled check with the patient, and she said yes, that's her name, Yes, her IC was right, but the doctor was fuming. Turns out his girl gave me the wrong sticker, and when I tried to explain my mistake, he brushed me off with a glare and said, "I don't want to hear your excuses." Then his girl finally gave the second sticker, the right one, but the damage was done.
Then she did it again. Second patient is an another eighty-something lady, she said it outloud, to me and my friend, that the lady is to apply a Plaster of Paris (POP). I had my doubts, because I saw the lady had a lumbar corset, and her doctor is an orthopaedic, not a spine surgeon, so I double-checked with the doctor.He pretty much blasted me at that point. "Who asked you to call my patient into the treatment room? I say bring that lady to DR SO-AND-SO. My God, don't you understand ENGLISH?!"
My friend had saw what happened at the point and, with a fierce look in her eye, she went to him and said in a firm voice. "Don't shout at my friend. The reason why she did so many mistakes was your girl gave her the wrong stickers TWICE." He didn't once said sorry, but just ignored her. Just my luck.
The drama's not over with that. The next day around 9 in the morning, a mother with her two-year-old child came up to me at the counter and demanded, "Who's your manager? I wish to speak to her immediately."Since it was a Saturday, our manager is not around, but there's only the executive-on-call. I explained to her, but she was shaking her head and said, "No, I want the manager. Get me your manager now." Again, I explained to her one more time, that there's only the executive-on-call, and the cashier backed me up. Then she let out her anger on me. She came as early as eight-something to register as the second patient for our spine surgeon, who she knows takes forever to see a patient, so she came to register early for her two-year-old boy, who she suspect of scoliosis. She had waited for her turn to come, but she saw three patients had went in. So she went to ask the inside girl, who said that her son's folder is not here, so she have to wait. And she claimed she had called early whether she needs to make an appointment, and the girl said that there's no need, that it's based on a first come first serve basis. Bzzt. Wrong answer. I can only winced as the girl did a mistake which I can't help her with. My friend, who was coming back from the washroom, saw the whole thing happening from the corner that she went and ran for the customer service for their help. So the lady took out her anger on the customer service, and they quickly sent her to Doctor So-and-So for the consultation. Sigh, why me? WHY ME?????      

Injustice and Arrogance

But the stars that marked our starting fall away.

We must go deeper into greater pain,

for it is not permitted that we stay.

- Inferno, Dante Alighieri 

16th August (Tuesday) - "Define crazy patients." My relative snapped at me.
I felt my stomach tighten because this is usually how she asks things. With her chin high and her eyes laser pointing at you. I wish they would stop asking about my job, because I know that I'll never be on par with their doctorate titles, but they didn't have to snub me for my nursing job.
So I stuttered slightly, "Well, I was working with a haematlogist-"
"How dare you call the patients crazy. They are all cancer patients with leukemia, lymphoma and thalassemia major, you ought to be ashamed of yourself. Snapping back at them like that."
Let me tell you I had to excused myself and lock myself in the washroom and cried. Because only my work colleagues know how the patients are. I haven't yet encountered cancer patients except in the medical oncology side, but the haematologist side so far only have blood monitoring and blood transfusions to be done in the daycare or ward. Yet, as you can see on the above conversation, I was rudely cut off and was berated for being... rude to my patients. I had never once fight with my patients, because there's no point in fighting with them. You can fight with them and win the battle, but the cost? Your name and image will get tarnished and smeared in black. By not fighting back, you actually win the battle. Do you know? You lose nothing, you gain nothing, but you did not lose your level to sink down low to their level. And that's a win for me.
So yeah, after I came out of the crying phrase, my other relative, kinder than the first asked me, "You're still in a clinic, right?" And I said yes. Then he told her, "You see, she's only in a clinic, not the ward for crying out loud. But why did you say that they were crazy?"
So I explained. That the haematologist doctor I was covering has certain strict flow to follow, and he's always in a hurry. He often give his patients a fixed time and they have to make it before half time, because that's when he will run off to another clinic. There were patients who are regulars of his, yet they don't follow the rules, walking in late, never doing their blood tests, demanding for MCs despite having a minor problem, in short, pissing him off. And my relative, the one who snubbed me, did not apologize, but just huffed, thinking that I am an incompetent nurse. I know I'll never be on par with doctors, but deep down, I know how I treated my patients, and that's good enough. Because some people will never see things past the surface.
So I was assigned to another doctor, and I really, really dislike his patient. The first patient registered quite early and came up to me. She was pleasant enough, pretty young lady in casual clothes. She passed me an MC slip and said the date was wrong. Since I did not know the story behind I asked her for the whole thing. The date was supposed to be July, but was instead written as June, so I told her politely to have a seat while we wait for doctor to come in.
The phone rang and it was the previous girl who took care of the clinic. She asked me whether that patient had arrived and had she really made a mistake in the MC, so I told her yes and that I'll get doctor to fix it. The patient, I think must have misunderstood because next thing I know, she was yelling at me with all sorts of words. (Edited slightly for confidential purpose, the real thing is worse, hundred times worse)
"YOU BLOODY SHUT THE HELL UP RIGHT NOW! I'M REALLY NOT FEELING WELL AND YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST SNUB ME?! I HAD BEEN ACCUSED OF TAKING ADVANTAGE OF MY MEDICAL LEAVES AND I DO NOT! I AM A PHYSICIAN, A SPECIALIST, SO I BLOODY DEMAND THE SAME RESPECT FROM YOU LIKE HOW YOU NORMALLY TREAT YOUR PATIENTS! SO SHUT THE HELL UP AND GIVE ME WHAT I WANT, OR I WILL TAKE YOUR NAME AND GIVE IT TO YOUR HEAD! YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW MY MEDICAL RIGHTS?!"
Oh. My. God. My ears were ringing from all that shouting. The girl, still on the line, immediately dropped the phone and came running to my aid. At the same time, some senior girls as well. And she was still yelling until the clinic at the either ends could actually hear every single word. And all the patients were staring as well. I was at a total lost because I had no idea what happened, and my mind was at a complete blank. The girls were trying to calm her down but she was still yelling at the top of her voice until the doctor came, and then she was all smiles. The girls managed to settled things for her, and the one who did the mistake apologized to her, but the patient coldly told her, "You are not fit to be a nurse." Ugh. Humans are imperfect, flawed beings. We do tend to do mistakes, but of course we try not to. I also did a mistake last year regarding the wrong date. But instead of shouting, the patient nicely said, "It's okay, please change the date so that I can claim my insurance." And voila, problem solved.
The most horrible thing was the patient had evidently complained about me to the doctor, because my head came down and asked me for the story. The good thing was she knew that I had just came in, so she said, "Don't worry. I'm not here to scold you. I just want to know the story." So I did my part, and I was off the hook. Because I had never assisted this doctor for a really long time, so how would I know what had happened previously. And the doctor I mentioned, he always takes the patients' side, never ours. My old doctor would listen to both sides, and if he thinks you are doing wrong, he won't report you to the head (unless it's a HUGE mistake), but he just said sternly, "Please don't do that ever again." If the patient is wrong, he won't lash out, but told them in a firm voice that they shouldn't come late and stuff. Why, oh why, did he have to listen to whatever things they twisted up with?
The girl in the neighbouring clinic came over when he wasn't in and told me that I wasn't the only one. The others who came before me suffered the same thing as well. Wrong date, wrong appointment, any tiny mistakes and the head will come and question you. Really, it's like being in a minefield, one wrong step and BOOM! to kingdom come.
People said he was kind cause he's always smiling, whereas another doctor was cold, arrogant and sarcastic. I rather be with a cold, sarcastic doctor with a kind heart tan once that smiles in front of me and then planned where to put the knives on my back. I assisted many doctors who people told me were loud, obnoxious, rude, sarcastic, mean and when I worked with them, I realized that they are really kind people, who often tries to help the patients in their needs. There are kind doctors with kind heart, I won't deny, and there are some who really just mean all the way through. Two sides of a coin, it's just whether I struck lucky or not.
That patient will be coming back for her next follow up. And I will still be polite to her, but the respect that I gave her, I'm taking it back. Treat me like trash and I'll still treat you the same as always, but my respect, you can't have it anymore.    

Does Size Matters

In-con-veiv-a-ble - Too strange or unusual to be thought real or possible
(Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman,7th edition, printed in 2007)

15th August (Monday) - Santa Maria, I really despise family reunions. It's bad enough that you are related to a whole family of doctors, lawyers and accountants, but the worst of it all is the comparing. "What kind of job are you working as?" "How many As did you get in your exams?" "Why don't you become a doctor/ banker/ investment manager/ etc etc?" What irks me the most is people take one look at you and said, "You're so fat." !!!! Seriously??? If it is strangers, I don't mind. But your own blood, that is going too far.
I'll be honest here, I'm not thin, nor am I obese, I'm just somewhere in between, average, maybe with a little flesh since my hips are big, hence finding a one piece dress for me are absolute no-nos, and because my hips are big, I have to go for empire-waisted dresses so that my hips don't emphasize too much. But what ticks me is that in my family, we are all generally big-boned, so for me to get down to stick thin Hollywood-sized is an impossible thing, unless I starve myself and go on a hunger strike. Some of my relatives are thin, as in really thin like the typical stick thin Hollywood types, not an ounce of fat in their body and you can see their bones protruding out. Yes, they are blessed with those genes, so they never had to worry about clothes or how they look because they can get away with it, picture perfect. I do envy them, but at the same time, I felt doubtful. Could I really look like that? Because the way they look like are like walking flag poles, and when they fall down, I feel like wincing because science actually says that fat is needed to protect our organs. I experienced a patient fell down before and she was stick thin (not by choice, but because she was sick), so when she fell, she ended up having a bruise. Poor thing. The irony, she wants to gain weight as a healthy person whereas I'm going for the opposite.
Let me assure you I did try a lot of stuff to lose weight, I went on a carb free diet, high protein and fibre diet, went on aggressive exercises on the treadmill, taking less fluids, skipped meals, the only thing I never did was taking meds or under the knife. And even with all my efforts, I still looked the same. I talked to a few guy friends who are close with me, and do you know what they told me? They preferred girls who are healthy looking with a little weight here and there, not stick thin types. Seriously, I nearly bowled over. I never knew that. Everywhere I go I often see stick thin girls looking glamorous, like they just stepped out of the red carpet or fashion magazines. And they often have that smug look on their face, like however they look they will always look flawless. In the end, funnily, my colleagues in work were the one who comforted me. "Look, you're not fat, nor are you thin. But you look just nice the way you are. Why would you go to extreme measures just to please your family?" I was going the wrong way all along, instead of aiming for weight loss, I should've aimed for a healthy lifestyle. Maybe that's why I was gloomy all the while and turning down meal outings with them.
There's another patient whom I encountered few months ago in my clinic. She was big-boned (Trying not to use the fat word here) and had a balloon inserted into her stomach. Her story, she told me was to aim for a healthier lifestyle, and not to overeat. She said that she can still enjoy her food, but in smaller portions, and she never regretted going for that option. And when I told her I was <insert the word here>, she gave me a funny look and said, "I would go crazy just to get your size. Do you know how lucky you are to have a full figure, shapes and all?" I felt silly for doing all of the mentioned above things just to lose weight, and one more thing she said that sticks into my mind. "Numbers on the scale doesn't matter. I'm a little big-boned, but I still get to wear my other clothes and look good." She discharged happily from the clinic, and she does look good when I saw her one day when I'm off duty.
Recently I saw a video of Jennifer Lawrence doing a live interview. And what she said makes me want to cheer. The word FAT should be banned or made illegal. And I whole-heartedly support her. When she was given the role of (Suzanne Collin's Hunger Games trilogy) Katniss Everdeen, there were a lot of critics who said she wasn't fit to be Katniss because she looked fat. !!!! I thought Jennifer looked lovely and represented Katniss character nicely. But the critics said that she was fat, or as they put it, having a fuller figure. They wanted a stick thin model to play Katniss, because in the books, Katniss looks malnourished, since she never had enough to eat and is always looking out for her family.
And there was an article on parenting that I've come across yesterday, and this mother to two or three (I can't remember) kids actually banned the word fat in her household. Because she said she didn't want to de-moralize or lower her kids' confidence and self-esteem on how they look. And she even banned scales from the house, opting to check her weight once every six months at centers instead, for which I salute.
Now I'm also slowly learning to love my body for the way it looks, sure it isn't picture perfect, but I don't want to go down the long road feeling miserable and missing out all the fun things in life. You only get to live once, so cherish whatever you have.
Okay, break's over. Back to writing.

Hectic Month

1st August (Monday) - I can't seem to find the save button for most of my accounts. After my lappy got infected by trojans, my friend reformatted my whole lappy, to the point where he also made a clean slate on my browser. I'm not complaining or anything, but every time I open my browser, I have to type in each and every password and usernames, which it's a little annoying but safer, since I had to force my wee brain to memorize every account usernames and passwords, although there are one or two which I could never remember due to never logging in for a long time. But I did remember some of the important ones, so saved.
The internet at home has gone cuckoo, so here I am, using an outside Wi-Fi, which feels a little unnerved, since you know, home is always comfortable. I never did understand why my sister loves using outside Wi-Fi, I always go for my data plan if I could, but there's a limit which I could not exceed. Small matter, if my limit's up, I just have to settle for the home internet.
These few days work has been hectic. I never assisted a cardiothoracic surgeon more than a day. While the surgeon is a really nice man who taught me what I needed to do, the preparation is more hectic compared to how I assisted the gastro and orthopaedic specialists. I had patients jumping at my throat, demanding me to let them in to see the surgeon, but for heaven's sake, a patient who is going for open heart surgery, valve repairs and other major stuff needs a thorough explanation from A to Z. A new patient came in for a CABG (Coronary Artery Bypass Graft) so my doctor had to prepare tons of paper works, which was all down to me to file in every single paper that came to my way, make sure my doctor signed and wrote his note, sign my part of being the witness, explain everything over again, make sure the blood tests are done.... Whew, a lot of stuff to take in. And there was this patient's wife who actually shouted at me saying that how come he's (my doctor) taking so long. I explained to her he's a new case (Well, not technically. He came few years back and suddenly appeared for a surgery) and he's undergoing a major case, hence we are taking a long time, not just to explain to the patient but to prep everything, from the paper works, the results, the operating theatre, the pre-admission (etc. etc.)  and the patient physically and mentally. She started yelling about how they came early and they expected the doctor to be fast. Yes, everyone wishes for the doctors to be fast because that's the purpose of us coming to the hospital, but you have to be patient.
When her husband's turn finally came and he was discharged from our clinic, the doctor asked me why was she hopping mad and shouting at me. I explained to him regarding the situation and he shakes his head. "She have no right to shout at you. Doesn't she understand that heart cases are quite major and needed many explanations to do?" Well, you could say that most cases do need to be explained but major organ involved such as brain, heart and spine usually takes a lot longer because of the risks involved. (Ah, good times, good times with my old doctor...)
So my aunt did come for a consultation with my old doctor, and can I just say I feel like tearing up? Seriously, I know my doctor said I need to be positive and look on the good side, but arghhhhhhhhh. The new girl who took over my place drove me nuts. When she was first assigned to him, she didn't know what to do, so I taught her the basics of running his clinic. The next day, she practically banned me from stepping foot over there. !!!! If I want to see my old doctor, I have to make an appointment. (Yes! Even for a chat.) For the love of Mary, I had to go through another way which is to call my doctor's extension so that I can be allowed instead of being a persona non grata. Sometimes when I'm assigned to the same floor as her, she will make snippy remarks on how she thrashed all the forms that I previously prepared for my doctor (He has a lot of cases those days), or how I dote on him by letting him run his clinic past lunch time (Is patient or lunch important? You choose), or how she threw the folders that I had carefully organized to avoid going crazy due to the many rotational staff when I'm not around. Well, fine, let her talk. I pretty much gave up on trying to be polite and nice to her. It's her clinic, she can do whatever she wants to it. I'm not in that clinic anymore, so I have no say to what she does.
I always thought of the world to be a good place, yes, I know there's the dark side of it, but I always try to look at the positive side (psychiatrist's advice), but you know, I noticed most people who puts up a friendly front could be seriously nasty. They'll smile and treat you nicely like sugar coated candies, but behind your back, they're the ones who plants the knives and needles. Some are quite stony faced or arrogant looking, but once I get to know them, they are all sweet like marshmallows.
On a bright side, I finally 'graduated' from the psychiatrist side, so no more follow ups for me, hopefully. And now I got to get ready for a chess competition, while juggling work, writing, reading and drawing at the same time.
Now time for me to indulge in reading while cranking up Powerman 5000 on my mp3. Their songs are really good to let out your anger and frustration

Recommended Powerman 5000 songs: Bombshell, Show Me What You Got, Supernova Goes Pop, Supervillain, When World Collides
        

Authors Talk

10th July (Sunday) - These days things had been havoc. Working alone to deal two major dressings, people, trying to settle certain invoices, in between trying to clear leaves before the end of this year, running stock takes, and as always, handling difficult patients. I thought of trying something different, talking about books, the only thing that kept me sane from the craziness of the work place. Since it was the festive season, we're severely short staffed to the point there's only one person on each floor, but thank God it wasn't everyday. But I'm so exhausted after those two huge dressings, so instead of nursing, today I'll be talking about books instead.
Recently I've been hunting down the Heather Wells series by Meg Cabot. Originally I only had the second, third and forth books, but not the beginning and ending. What irks me, as a bookaholic and bookworm, is that if I love a book, I always aim to get the whole series, so recently I went to the Big Bad Wolf sale and lo and behold, I found the last book of the series. Yeah! But I'm still missing the first book, which led back to my book hunting, and miracle, a bookshop that I frequented to often managed to get the first book for me, first edition. Now my series (and life) is complete.
I've been a Meg Cabot fan since I first started reading her Princess Diaries series, and since then, I've been picking up her other works, The Mediator series, the Abandon series, the Avalon High series, the Airhead series and many more. Meg Cabot books aren't easy to come by, except for the Princess Diaries series, so it was really hard for me to even get hold any of them. God knows why, maybe they are planning to sell E-books... People often joked that I should sell off my Enid Blyton and Meg Cabot books but no way am I ever selling them. It was really hard to come by them and I loved them. Her heroines are really spunky and sassy despite their flaws, and you can relate to them easily.
J.K. Rowling, ah who wouldn't love Harry Potter? I grew up with them since they first came out and still love them. I got the original covers instead of the ones I see out now in the market, I wonder why they kept changing into weird covers, it's so weird... Again, not for sale, although I could fetch a good value from them. Now they got an eight book coming out end of this month, and you know me, saving up now so that when it comes out, it's off I go.
L.J. Smith, I got all of her series, from Vampire Diaries (NOT the ghostwritten ones) to Dark Visions, to Forbidden Game, to Night World, to the Wildworld and Secret Circle (again, NOT the ghostwritten ones). Now they are also hard to come by, especially for Dark Visions, Forbidden Game and certain Night World titles. It's an absolute pity that her Vampire Diaries and Secret Circle series were taken from her, hence why I refuse to buy the ghostwritten versions. I tried by reading those open copies that you see in bookshops, even finished reading them, and I'm so sad. These are not L.J. Smith writings. I wanted to see the original author writing, not the ghostwritten ones, but due to certain issues, she lost her rights to them. Thank God the other series are all still under her name, so I'll be focusing on them more. Few years back she had released a Vampire Diaries fanfiction and I would love to get my hands on them, except it's in E-Book form and only available in the US of A. Aw...
Anthony Horowitz, I had the Alex Rider series and the Power of Five series, all first editions, sadlky except for Stormbreaker, which is with the first edition movie tie in cover, but nevertheless, again, can fetch a high price on certain sites like Amazon and Ebay. Again, NOT  FOR SALE.
Chris Bradford, I started reading his books 4 years ago after reading an interview about him in the Star, and had never regretted it. It's almost as real as you can get, and he actually practices most of those martial arts and skills in real life. For the Young Samurai series, he studied various martial arts like Kendo, Ninjutsu, Karate and many others. For his Bodyguard series, he underwent a real bodyguard training and graduated with flying colours and a qualified license. Man, who would've thought a bodyguard training is tough? If you read my books, I actually input karate in my characters (I'm a Black First Dan), although for Blitz's story, I've been trying Capoeira and certain self defense skills. Couldn't find any good capoeira class over here so I had to resort to reading and Youtube to get the feel. Please do not attempt all of these in real life without proper guidance and instructions or you may get seriously hurt.
So there you have it, most of my favourite authors. And now, back to writing plus drawing.    

Half Year

5th June (Sunday) - Look at how time flies. I've been moaning on how time seems to creep slowly, but now we're in June. Two more months and I'll be entering my 2 years of working life.
It has been more than a year that I had stayed in one place, and human nature had never ceased to amaze me. What you learnt in school is pretty standard, you know, like honesty is the best virtue, treat people kind and they will be kind back to you. How wrong I was when I first stepped into the working world back then, all fresh and naive, like a newly-hatched baby chick. Human nature in the open is not what you learnt in school.
As mentioned above, human nature had never ceased to amaze me. I really dislike Fridays, because everything that goes wrong, mostly happens on a Friday, for me... I was in my doctor's room, making coffee for him when I heard shoutings and thumpings. Despite the mug burning my fingers, I stepped out a little from the doorway and saw this middle-aged guy yelling like a madman at the cashier. Everyone, and I do mean, everyone - patients, doctors, their assistants, EVERYBODY is staring at him. He was apparently yelling about his medications being slow. Sigh, you know, we had always explained again and again that our pharmacy takes time to process the charges. Our cashier is super efficient, he keys in the doctor's charges and that's it, he waits for the pharmacy to key in theirs and then he can collect the payment. Pity some people just don't get our process, even though they are old patients. I encountered many who claimed they are follow up patients hence they don't have to register but just waltz in to see the doctor. Sorry, same rules apply. Register first, get your sticker, pass it to the clinic girls, sit down and wait for your queue, see the doctor, wait for payment or medications. The 'best' part of the whole drama, people who are waiting for their medications for 30 minutes did not even complain. This guy, according to my colleague who witnessed the whole thing, did not even waited long. She helped faxed his medication prescription, placed it on the metal tray and our cashier explained to the man, who immediately burst out. And he actually yelled that he's doing everyone a favour, which again, caused everyone to stare at him. My goodness, why are all patients acting like this? I know that my doctor said that it's because they are sick, but I don't think being sick gives you a reason to act like this, and this guy is actually a very healthy guy who came for a yearly health check up. I recall there was a time I had a really bad dengue till I collapsed and was pretty weak, and I did a surgery under local anaesthesia, and most recently I sprained my leg quite bad til I couldn't run, but walk real slow. And I had never yell at people despite the service is slow.
It's sad but nowadays people just don't give a darn about basic human rights anymore. There was an incident where a doctor and I got yelled by the patient's son. The scenario was like this: Mom undergone spine surgery and is required for follow up. Family brought her in the early morning to see four doctors, three of them are at the top and our doctor is at the bottom. Her appointment says it's in the morning, but the family all went up to see the other doctors since they are all in the same floor. Fine, it's acceptable. In between though, they have to pick up their three kids, so by the time they came back, it's already past two. Our doctor have no clinic, but they yelled like maniacs and attacked the clinic girl with verbal abuses, plus the next door doctor and me, even though we are both innocent parties who have no idea what is going on. He yelled that he have to pick up the kids from school, about how they have to rush back home etc etc. Look here, when an appointment is given to you, you are the one who choose the time to suits your need. You cannot give excuses like that as though we were the one who forced you to take that date. Those things we can still take it, but the one that is most unforgivable is the way he talked to our doctor. "My wife and I run our own business to earn money, we pay your thousands to fix our mom, so you should be the one to care for her. Not us. You are a stupid, brainless doctor, and so is your nurse over there."
!!!!!
How dare you! You leave my doctor and me out of this! How could you even say that?! And he even added, "It's not our problem to take care of my mom. We paid you the money right? So doctor, you should be the one to take care of her."
!!!!!
Terrible, yes? Can't believe there are these type of people around. No wonder my clinical instructor once told me when I was a student, "Humans are not humans anymore, they are acting like hooligans." These people think doctors and nurses, especially nurses, are like slaves, nice to step on. They forget that we too, are human beings like them. We also have the right to be respected as a basic human being, not some slave or machine.
Now whenever I go to work, I always pray to Mary, Mother of God, that the day will be a good day. I know the day won't be as smooth as a straight line, but at least, please don't let the patients do this to us. Amen to that.

Back Again

28th May (Saturday) - Oh yeah, I'm back, after that last post. Regarding my long hiatus, it was because my internet modem was blasted by lightning, and the maintenance people told me that they will come after a month. One whole month... Sigh, I've been trying to use the outside wifi but for blogging purpose, it's not so great with handphone, especially when it keeps getting hanged like mine. And I don't really like lugging my lappy around outside due to safety reasons. A split drink means absolute disaster for any electronic items. I know certain authors like Cassandra Clare (Mortal Instruments) and J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter) tends to go out to write in coffee shops and such, but I prefer the comfort of my own room, but occasionally if I do feel need the urge to go out and look for ideas, I bring my lappy, along with my art kit which consist of my sketchbook, 6B pencils and colour pencils.
Work was the same as usual, but lately I've been seeing the bad side of people more and more. There was an incident of a patient with a title who kept using her title to bully us, a patient who is an absolute nightmare, who is extremely rude and demands discounts despite the fact that she's a highly-educated person, a guy who kept complaining about our process, some who twist their stories and got us into trouble with the doctors, oh, never-ending stories. Whew, it's not easy being in servicing job.
Recently I've been getting snickered by others who claimed that being a clinic nurse is a pathetic job. Well, I'm sorry that I'm not in fancy jobs such as operating theaters and the wards. But read back in my previous posts and you will know that I did work in the ward, which unfortunately things did not turn out well. Some people actually said, "You're pathetic. You have no future." Is that so? I got a friend who worked in clinic for many years and where is she now? In the Middle East. She proved that even though she has been a clinic nurse from the day she started working, she had managed to achieve her goal of going to the Middle East. I've been in the clinic for more than a year and I did learn a lot. Of course people laughed and said everything is about dressing, dressing, dressing, but that's just one part of it. What about handling all the patients that come in before they are admitted? After they are discharged, they often come back for dressings. The advice that we give them? And the doctors, we have to deal with them everyday, not like in the ward where you just handle them for their rounds.  I still haven't developed a thick skin yet, according to my doctor. He said, "You're not pathetic, you're just a slow bloomer, but that doesn't mean you're not as good as any of them."
I had never been one to be scared of glass, but a large cut across my thumb had scarred me, not to the point where I hate glass phials, but more to the point of unable to break it unconsciously. I've been training myself whenever there's an injection that needs to be done, but the only ones I managed to break successfully were Voltaren phials. Shincort and Vitamin B12 are fifty-fifty, but I couldn't afford that, because if my friends are not around, who is going to assist in the procedures? Luckily my friends and some of the doctors were urging me to overcome my phobia by using a gauze so that I don't cut my fingers. But in a worse case scenario like emergency, I may have to break it by hand, but we'll come to that part in time.
Overall, most of the days were rotten, but there were good days too, like meeting up with my old doctor, friends, and de-stressing by going for R & R. And slowly I'm getting to know my doctors as well, all their little quirks and habits.
Now, back to writing, and hopefully for more updates..  

Best Moments II

20th April (Wednesday) - Moving on from the previous post.

16) You never informed me...

Patient : It will be my last follow up next week with your doctor.
Me : Okay, so your appointment will be...
Patient : Okay, so I'll see you then.
Me : Aw, sorry. I'll be on leave.
Dr. : *just happens to come out* What's this? You're going on leave?
Me : Um, yeah.
Dr. : When did you apply it?
Me : Few weeks ago.
Dr. : You never inform me.
Me : Um, do I have to?
Dr. : I don't want to talk to you...
Me : Aw, come on, Dr. It's just a few days...
Dr. : Ignoring you...
Me : D: (Patient laughing in the background)

17) Bodyguard

Dr. and vendor having a long discussion about implants.

Patient : Excuse me, nurse, I just came back form x-ray.
Me : Okay, just a minute. *went inside* Doctor, sorry to disturb you, but you got one patient just came back from scan.
Dr. : My bodyguard is throwing you out.
Vendor : ! You're his bodyguard?
Me : Since when I'm his bodyguard?
Dr. : You are handling all my patients flow, so you're my bodyguard.
Me : !!!!!!
Dr. : See? She's so innocent.
Me : Since when?
Dr. : There, you're doing it again.
Vendor : Such a young bodyguard.
Me : Hello??? I got a patient waiting outside. Please....
Dr. : Okay, she's throwing you out. Shoo.
Vendor : *laughing* I'll wait outside.
Dr. : Good job, bodyguard.

18) Good cop, bad cop

Me : Doctor, vendors are here to see you.
Dr. : I don't want to see them. Throw them out.
Me : But they came all the way to see you.
Dr. : I don't want to see them.
Me : Why do I feel like such a bad guy?
Dr. : Cause you are one. Now throw them out.
Me : D:

19) Law of Nature

Dr. : Good timing, scold this fellow (vendor) for me.
Me : Eh? Why???
Dr. : Cause I said so.
Me : Um, I can't do that, Doctor.
Dr. : Why cannot?    
Me : Cause the law of nature say I'm not allowed to scold someone for no reason.
Dr. : What kind of law is that?

20) Long Time

Scene : Me walking in a hurry to collect something.
Dr. : Hey, hey... Hey.
Me : Oh, hello, Doctor.
Dr. : You never assist me for a long time. So naughty.
Me : It's not my fault, Doctor. The assignment didn't put me with you.
Dr. : Yeah right. You got a boyfriend right? That's why you don't want to assist me anymore.
Me : Nooooooo.
Dr. : It's okay. You can tell me, who's the lucky guy?
Me : Nooooooo.

21) Long Time II

Scene : Me assisting another doctor. Staring at the appointment book while shifting folders around.

Dr. : *walks in* Hi.
Me : Ahhhhhhhh. How come you're here, doctor?
Dr. : I came to see you.
Me : How did you know I'm here? I never told anyone that I'm here.
Dr. : I asked around, and your colleagues told me you're here.
Me : Oh, can I help you with anything?
Dr. : Yeah, I need you to fix my appointment book.
Me : How come? I thought another girl is upstairs helping you.
Dr : She's messing up my appointment book. It's giving me a headache.
Me : Oh, um...
Dr. : You can come later when you're free. See you.

22) Cursed to Hell... (Worst time ever)

Scene : After a long leave, came back to the clinic to see messages regarding cancelled appointments. Didn't know the whole story, but the messages asked me to call them regarding their appointment.

First patient : I don't want to talk to you. I want to talk to your doctor. He promised me that I can come yesterday and your idiotic colleague told me that the doctor is doing operation.
Me : Yes, he was. It was a major surgery that took up 4 to 5 hours.
First patient : Screw that. I'm not taking anymore nonsense from you. I want your doctor to call me personally, or I won't come at all.
Me : Sir, my doctor is a surgeon. If there's any last minute changes, then I'm terribly sorry. But emergency operations sometimes comes out of nowhere, and my doctor has no choice but to close his clinic last minute, otherwise we will end up wasting your time.
First patient : Who the f**king hell are you? You're just a lowly nobody. I do not want to go through the appointment with you. You're not the bloody doctor. If he doesn't call me, then I won't come. *slams phone*

Second patient's husband : Who the hell are you? Why do you keep calling me?
Me : I'm sorry to disturb you, sir. But I tried calling your wife many times, and she's not picking up her phone. Our clinic is open again so she can come today.
Second patient's husband : Why the hell are you telling me this? You should be calling my wife.
Me : I had called her many times sir, but she's not picking up her phone.
Second patient's husband : I'm not going to tell her anything. You bloody tell her yourself. *offs phone*

 Moments later....

Second patient :You called me since this morning?
Me : Yes, madam. I'm sorry to disturb you, but I got a message regarding your appointment. Apparently your husband knew all about it.
Second patient : So?
Me : I wish to inform you that our clinic is open again so you can actually come in now if you like.
Second patient : HOW DARE YOU. WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? YOU'RE TREATING ME LIKE A COMMONER.
Me : Huh? I-
Second patient : I  BLOODY CHANGED MY APPOINTMENTS THREE TIMES ALREADY AND EVERYTIME YOU SAID YOUR DOCTOR IS DOING A SURGERY.
Me : He is -
Second patient : ARE THE SURGERY IMPORTANT? MY APPOINTMENT IS IMPORTANT.
Me : ....
Second patient : YOU THINK YOUR DOCTOR IS SO IMPORTANT? MY WORK IS MORE IMPORTANT. YOU'RE TREATING ME LIKE AN UNIMPORTANT PERSON.
Me : *near tears* Madam, I'm calling you to let you know so that you don't end up coming here when the doctor's not around. It's not that you're unimportant.
Second patient : YOU SHUT THE F**K UP. I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHY I BOTHER COMING TO SEE YOUR DOCTOR. YOU AND HIM ARE JUST THE SAME.
Me : *tears flowing freely now, trying hard not to talk*
Second patient : YOU THINK YOUR DOCTOR IS SO HIGH AND MIGHTY? THERE ARE TONS OF ORTHOPAEDICS AROUND THIS WHOLE COUNTRY. I CAN BLOODY CHOOSE WHOEVER I WANT.
Doctor came in, saw me crying, and paused on his way into his room.
Second patient : *shrieks* YOU AND YOUR DOCTOR ARE SUCH SELFISH PEOPLE. THE TWO OF YOU SHOULD GO TO HELL AND ROT.
Me : *At that point I'm shaking uncontrollably and my doctor looked angry*
Dr. : *In a really deadly soft voice* Give me the phone. *took the phone* Don't you dare shout at my nurse like that. I'm the one who told her to block the clinic because the surgery are all major. They are all serious cases that cannot be delayed, so don't you shout at my nurse like that. *drops the phone back into the receiver* Hey, hey, don't cry. Cheer up.
Me : *crying hard* She cursed you to go to hell.
Dr. : She's gone now. Don't be sad. She won't bother you anymore. Come on, sit inside and relax.
Me : *sobbing* I'm so sorry.
Dr. : Hey, no need to apologize. It's just pure bad luck.

After five minutes...
Dr. : You okay now?
Me : *nods silently*
Dr. : I'm not mad at you. Cheer up, now, okay? Don't worry about her. Just do your job right.

23) No backbone

Doctor accidentally knocks the snail plush that I used to decorate his clinic.
Dr. : What's this?
Me : It's a plush.
Dr. : It can't stand.
Me : My friend didn't put enough support on the base.
Dr. : Hmph, no backbone.
Me : You can put a backbone in it, Doctor.
Dr. : Ha, ha. No.
Me : Awww.

24)  I'm Not Angry

Colleague : I saw your doctor, and he's shouting on the phone.
Me : What? Really?
Colleague : He looked really ticked off.
Me : I'll go and see. *runs up to his room* Doctor, are you angry?
Dr. : What, no. I'm not angry. Who told you I'm angry? Was it you?
Clinic girl : I didn't say anything.
Me : My colleague. The one in red
Dr. : No, don't know her. Oh, I got to run.
Me : Huh?
Dr. : Talk about the special needs.
Me : You want to fight for justice?
Dr. : Nooo.

25) Pretty Ladies

Me : Doctor, got vendor want to see you.
Dr. : Not interested.
Me : But it's a pretty lady.
Dr. : Oh? Why you didn't say so earlier?
Me : Seriously, you want me to bring the pretty lady?
Dr. : I want to see her face first.
Vendor : Don't be like that, doctor.
Dr. : Oh, it's you. Hmph.
Vendor : I know you're not a bad person, Doctor.
Dr. : How do you know? Did you tell her?
Vendor : My colleague told me.
Me : I told her that it's up to her to decide.
Dr. : In that case.... SIT DOWN.
Vendor drops onto the chair.

26) Back Pain

Me : Doctor, another pretty lady is here to see you.
Dr. : Another one?
Me : Just a friend.
Colleague : Hi, doctor. It's nice to finally meet you.
Dr. : What is it? Back pain?
Colleague : ???
Dr. : You got back pain?
Me : Doctor, she's English educated. She can't speak Cantonese.
Dr. : Oh, you understand what I'm saying? I'm asking whether you got back pain.
Colleague : Oh, n-no.
Dr. : Oh, I get it. You're here to give me a present? Where's my Christmas present?
Colleague : Um, no. I don't have any presents.
Dr. : Coffee is fine.
Colleague : *at total lost* Um, um...
Dr. : Oh... You're here to visit your sister for lunch.
Me : Me?
Dr. : Yeah, you. Go and have your lunch.
Me : Cannot.
Dr. : Why cannot? I'm letting you go.
Me : But we got one more patient from X-Ray still haven't come back yet.
Dr. : Oh.

27) Char Kuay Teow

Dr. : Ah, you're here to visit your sister again...
Me : Wow, you already know...
Dr. : So why did you quit the culinary arts?
Colleague : Because my previous supervisors weren't satisfied with my cooking.
Dr. : You should start selling char kuay teow.
Colleague : Huh?
Dr. : They sell like hotcakes.
Me : Agreed. My relatives also sell char kuay teow for a living.

28)  Like A Father

Dr. : What happened to you?
Me : Sprained my ankle.
Dr. : And this happened when? You can barely walk.
Me : In zumba quite some time ago.
Dr. : Why you didn't come to see me earlier???
Me : I thought it was a minor sprain.
Dr. : Minor sprain? You shouldn't treat it like it's nothing. MC.
Me : Nooooo.
Dr. : Why you don't want MC?
Me : I can still work.
Dr. : But you cannot run. How to work?
Me : I can walk slowly.
Dr. : Hmph. Don't later say you cannot walk. I'm forbidding you to go and do aggressive exercises like karate, zumba, Olympic marathon and such. You listening?
Me : Doctor, please stop scolding me already.
Dr. : Hey, I'm your father right? If you get injured, who's going to rescue you?
Me : You.
Dr. : Yeah, right. Okay, no aggressive exercises.

29) Wrong Name

Me : Doctor, you got insurance forms to fill up.
Dr. : Mm. Hey, why is my name spelt wrongly?
Me : Yeah, since when you're carrying my surname?
Dr. : Yeah.
Me :*jokingly* Daddy...
Dr. : Hey, don't call me daddy. You're making me feel so old.
Me : Well, what do I call you then?
Dr. : *all serious* Brother.
Me and Dr.: *laughing*

30) Over The Limit

One faithful Saturday...

Me : Hello, doctor? How are you?
Dr. : Yeah, how can I help you?
Me : You got patients waiting for you in your clinic.
Dr. : WHAT THE HELL?! SINCE WHEN I HAVE SATURDAY CLINIC?! I ALREADY CANCELLED IT SINCE FEBRUARY.
Me : Um...
Dr. : WHY GOT PATIENTS?!!!
Me : Doctor, I'm sorry. I have no idea. Your book doesn't say anything. It just says 7 patients.
Dr. : BLOODY HELL. YOU ARE VERY LUCKY I HAVE NO SURGERY. I'LL COME UP ONCE I'M DONE WITH MY DRESSING.

*few minutes later*
Dr. : *looking really pissed off* Give me the book.
Me : *hands over the appointment book*
Dr. : Why is there nothing written on it?
Me : I don't know, Doctor. I saw your patients' names on it so I thought you're having clinic.
Dr. : BLOODY HELL. I FILLED UP ALL THE FORMS SAYING I HAVE NO MORE SATURDAY CLINICS CAUSE I NEED TO DO SURGERY.
Me : *squeaky* O-Oh. Did you remember who was the person who assisted you when you filled up those forms?
Dr. : IT WAS THAT BLOODY FOOL, xxx.
Me : Uh-oh.
Dr. : I got no time to see the other patients. Send them to Dr. So-and-So.
Me : I'm so sorry, Doctor. I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry.
Dr. :  I'm not blaming you, it's that BLOODY IDIOT I'M MAD AT.
Me : (Note to self: Do NOT ever piss him off, ever)

31) You Can't Fool Me...

Patient : I wish to see your doctor.
Me : Of course. Which day would you like?
Patient : Today, afternoon.
Me : I'm sorry, madam. My doctor never has afternoon clinics. It's always in the mornings.
Patient : But the website say he has afternoon clinics.
Me : Noooo. The website is wrong. He never has afternoon clinics since form the beginning.
Patient : Is there anywhere else I can see him?
Me : I'm not sure. Let me give him a call and see. *after dialing* Hello?
Doctor : Yes, how can I help you?
Me : Doctor, a patient wants to see you in the afternoon. Is there anyplace she can meet you at?
Doctor : This clinic, xxx. 3 o clock.
Me : Madam, he asked you to come to this clinic, at this time.
Patient : I don't know this clinic.
Me : Doctor, she said she never been to this clinic before.
Dr. : What is her name?
Me : Madam xxxx.
Dr. : She think I don't know, is it? She came on this day to see me at that clinic, on the year xxxx, on the month of xxx, regarding this condition and I did surgery on her the following day. Don't tell me she don't know.
Me : *repeats everything Dr. said*
Patient : *looks panicky* Um, you know, nurse, I think I'll go see him there, after all.
Me : Okay. *after patient left* Wow, Dr., you remember your patients well.
Dr. : Of course, they can't fool me.

32) Haircut

Me : Hi Doctor. Eh, you cut your hair.
Dr. : Why? You don't like it?
Me : Nooooo, you look nice. Why cut it?
Dr. : *all serious* I want to look young.

33) Different Bag

Me : Doctor, why are you carrying a xxxx bag?
Dr. : Why cannot? I'm not allowed to carry a xxxx bag?
Me : Oh no, I thought you usually carry that shoulder bag of yours.
Dr. : Hey, I'm allowed to change my bag once in a while right?

34)  No Necktie

Me : Doctor, why you didn't wear your necktie today?
Dr. : *teasing* Hey, you're not married, and yet you can lecture me  about my necktie?
Me : Aw, but you always wear your necktie without fail.

There are many more, but I think I shared enough. Yeah, my doctor is all serious, but he has a very kind heart underneath that all serious exterior. God bless him, it has been fun working with him for these past few months. Take care.

Best Moments

19th April (Tuesday) - It was on 7th September when I first worked with you. At that time I was so lost, confused and nervous about handling things on my own. Who is this guy? Answer : He's next to the psychiatrist. Didn't you notice him at all during your therapy sessions? Me, no. I mean, I couldn't remember all the doctors on top unless I worked with them. What's he specialty? Answer : Same as the guy you took care of downstairs, except he's all in one. Orthopaedic and all. Mmm, okay. How does he look like? Answer : You'll see. What's his character like? Answer : Okay. So-so.
I bring you the best moments between us (and the occasional patients/friends) within these 7 months. (Conversations are slightly edited for confidential purpose)

1)  First day we met....

Scene : He walks in.
Me : H-Hello.
Dr. : *looks at me up and down* They gave me such a young girl. So innocent.
Me : ?????

2) Somewhere within the first week...
Scene : Last minute patients came in when he's gone.
Me : (Ohhhhh God. Why did they have to come in late??? I'm going to be eaten alive. Ahhhh, what should I do???)
Colleague : Give him a call for Christ's sake.
Me : Ah, um, he won't bite right?
Colleague : JUST CALL HIM.
Me : Okay, okay. *dialled the operator to connect to his phone* H-Hello.
Dr. : Yes, what is it? 
Me : Um, sorry to disturb you doctor but you got a patient just came from customer service. May I know where you are now?
Dr. : I'm just starting the car.
Me : Oh, um, do you want me to tell the patient to come back another day?
Dr : *after a long silence* I'm coming up now. Stay put.

3)  One month later...

Scene : After the patient had consulted with him, he passed the folder to me silently and walks back in into his room.
Patient : For goodness sake, you two should talk more.
Me : Really?
Patient : Yeah, you're his nurse, right? Don't treat yourself like a second-class citizen. You have every right to talk to him.
Me : *looks at him from over the door where he's busy with the news* Are you sure?
Patient : I know he looks serious, but he's cute.
Me : ??? Cute?
Patient : Yeah. Didn't you know?
Me : No, I don't. You're sure he's cute?
Patient : Observe him more, and you'll know. Good luck.

4) Our first proper conversation...

Me : Are you Christian?
Dr. : *looks at me sharply* No, do I look Christian?
Me : *panicky* Um, guess not.
Dr. : *softens a little at my look* My wife's Christian.
Me : Oh, I guess it means you go to Sunday school a lot, huh?
Dr. : *face gone all serious * Depending on my mood.

5) Patient asking me his age...

Patient : Is this Dr So-and-so clinic?
Me : Yes. How can I help you?
Patient : I wish to make an appointment with a spine specialist.
Me : Oh, sure.
Patient : Between these two doctors, who is the older one?
Me : Mine...I guess.
Patient : How old is your doctor?
Me : Excuse me?
Patient : I say how old is your doctor?
Me : (OMG, OMG, OMG) Um, give me a minute.*poke my head around the door* Dr?
Dr. : Hm?
Me : Um, how old are you?
Dr. : *gives me his usual serious gaze* Why do you want to know? '
Me : *hangs head* Um, the patient is asking.
Dr. : *serious gaze* xx.
Me : *went back to the phone* xx.
Patient : Oh, that's wonderful. It means he's well experienced. Okay, I wish to come now.
*After closing the phone*
Dr. : What did the patient say?
Me : She's coming.
Dr. : Good, good. Why does she wants to know my age anyway?
Me : She wants an experienced doctor.
Dr. : Hmph.

6) Once we are open to each other...

Me : *joking* Ahhh, Doctor. I got back pain.
Dr. : You want my advice?
Me : Yes?
Dr. : *serious* Go and find yourself a nice boyfriend and settle down. Problem solved.
Me : !!!!!!

7) While waiting for him...

Me : Hello??? Doctor, where are you?
Dr. : Somewhere. Why?
Me : Got patients waiting for you.
Dr. : Okay.
*thirty minutes to one hour passed...*
(He still hasn't come... Started drawing on my sketchpad... Humming softly while watching the dark lines form a picture. Had a funny feeling someone is watching me. Looked up from my drawing...)
Me : *jumps a mile*AHHHHHHHHHH.
Doctor has been standing in front of me the whole time looking at me drawing and smiling for the first time.
Dr. : Oh, don't mind me. Go on, keep drawing.
Me : (OH MY GOOOOOOOD)

8) Somewhere around middle of October...

Patient : Does your doctor ever eat?
Me : Now that you mention it, he doesn't.
Patient : Don't you give him anything to eat?
Me : Should I?
Patient : Hey, you're his nurse. You should take care of him...
Me : Um....

9) Patient bought us breakfast...

Patient : Here. These are for you.
Dr. : What is this?
Me : Patient gave it to us.
Dr. : I don't want it. You take it.
Patient : But this is the best sotong (squid) nasi lemak (banana leaf rice) that you can ever find.
Dr. : You mean the one you had to line up for?
Patient : Yes.
Dr. : *takes one from me *Okay, I'll take it.
Me : *hands him my portion*
Dr. : You don't want it?
Me : You can have it.
Dr. : Thanks.

10) In November...

Me : *putting up a tiny Christmas tree on the counter* Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way...
Dr. : *suddenly came in* Are you singing???
Me : !!!! I can't sing?
Dr. : *hiding a smile* No, just asking.

11) He found out I was attending a psychiatrist...
Me : (came back from appointment to see him reading the little note I left him where I went) I'm back.
Dr. : *tossed note aside and points at chair* Sit.
Me : *sat down*
Dr. : Are you okay?
Me : Me? I'm fine...
Dr. : Are you happy working with me?
Me : Of course.
Dr. : Listen, if you got any problems at all, just tell me, okay? Don't keep things to yourself.
Me : But, Doctor, you're not a psychologist...
Dr. : Hey, I'm a doctor right?
Me : Right.
Dr. : I got my license right?
Me : Right.
Dr. : So it means I'm qualified to listen to you.
Me : Okay, okay.

12) He was missing for a long time...

Me : Doctor, where have you been?
Dr. : Stuck at the other side of the building.
Me : But I called you an hour ago...
Dr. : You know how people are right? They ask questions till I cannot run- *starts speaking in Tamil*
Me : Wait, did you speak Tamil?
Dr. : Why cannot?
Me : Um, nothing.

13) Near breakdown....

Me : Ohhhhh, I'm dead. So dead...
Dr. : What?
Me : I'm going to be out of job. My probation is ending.
Dr. : So?
Me : It's a matter of life and death!!!!
Dr. : How old are you?
Me : xx.
Dr. : Hmph. Still so young. Don't worry. You will pass.
Me : How do you know?
Dr. : Trust me, I know...
 *Following day*
Dr. : So?
Me : I passed ^^
Dr. : *smiles and gave me thumbs up* Told you so.

14) I had to keep him informed...

Dr. : Don't wait for me to come up.
Me : But you always come in at this time.
Dr. : *gives me his number* If got patients, don't wait for me. Give me a call.
Me : What if there's one patient?
Dr. : Also can. Just give me a call.
Me : Okay.

15) I'll give it to my son...

Dr. : I'll give it to my son.
Me : But the vendor gave it to you.
Dr. : I'm still giving it to my son.
Me : Wait, how many kids do you have?
Dr. : x.
Me : Are you going to take it?
Dr. : No, I'm giving it to my son.
Me : Sigh....

To be continued...

All In One

30th March (Wednesday) - I'm so sorry for the super long delay.Our house was in the middle of a large renovation, and our internet got cut off. Not on purpose, though. The front is being renovated, which means we all to use the side door. No kitchen, hence we're all living on takeouts for the past month. And the house still isn't done yet, for your info. Thank goodness my room is the only one which does not needs to be renovated, but I do wish I could get a built in bookshelf for all my books, but there's no more space and it's costly, so scratch that. I pray that it'll be all done soon.  
Once again, I'm the subject of being yelled at by patients. It's really amazing how one thing links to another. On Saturday, some guy from the west came, demanding to see the doctor (Not my usual doctor, another one). I couldn't remember the patient at first, but his name was definitely not on the appointment list, so I have no idea what's going on. After they made one hell of a noise, I called the doctor on his cell and naturally, he raised his voice. Not pissed off, but more like annoyed. After a long conversation, he finally said, "Call the patient to come over to emergency." So naturally, the patient did.
Not long after that, I got a phone call, which I answered, and the family from the west yelled at me. Uh huh. No good morning, no niceties. Just yelled at me like a mad dog. Oh, now I remember she called me on Wednesday morning to fix an appointment for her dad on Friday. Yep, I saw my handwriting with a remark on the side. After that, there's no more. She claimed that she called me 5 minutes later to change the appointment. I do not buy that. I was in the whole time. And I don't recall her calling because I was right beside the phone the whole time. It's really amazing how some people can twist the story to make them look like the innocent party. Now, I'm not saying all of our patients are like that. Out of ten, maybe one or two will do something funny like this. But many patients I've seen so far are kind, funny and understanding. Some even crack jokes with us regarding their conditions, how getting a surgical scar is like a signature from the surgeons, some brought us tons of food as thanks, some also complimented us though the feedback forms. Yeah, it's not all doom and gloom as it seems. Anyway, back on track, the patient claimed that the doctor I'm with don't know anything, and when I told her the doctor asked her family to go over to the emergency department, she, in a very haughty tone, said, "Your doctor is no genius. I'm sure he can't remember every single thing on a patient. You need to courier the file over to the hospital."

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

What the- CHRIST, listen to yourself, do you know how ridiculous it sounds? What do you think this is? Some mail office where we can just send things over in a courier bag? For the last time, you CAN'T courier/ fax/mail/ a folder over to another hospital. It's against the law, and it's hospital property!!!!! Not to mention we can be hold liable if things go terribly wrong. And how dare she challenge my doctor that way. I may not know him as well as my other doctor, but I worked with him long enough to know that he knows his patients very well, especially his old patients. And this man, the patient, her dad, happens to be a regular customer. And you know what else she said? She claimed that my doctor failed in the surgery. It's taking all of my willpower, not to mention mentality, to scream at the daughter and her smug know-it-all-attitude. Really, I dealt with so many difficult customers (and I'm still not done yet), and she is one of the worst. In the end, after I refuse to budge, she slammed the phone down, after claiming that things will go horribly wrong once my doctor goes to the emergency department. I know she's upset and all, but please, there's a limit on how much I can take too. God, I'm going to Starbucks and get a large sugarless Chocolate Cream Chip. What a fiasco, I need something bitter to drown myself in.
We're not done yet, how about the time where I was attacked for no reason, regarding something I did not do. Really, when everything goes wrong, look for her. You know, that pale girl cause she's as squish as a marshmallow. Just because I do not bite back doesn't mean I can be reckoned with. I already let out my dark side once with a whole load of bloodys, and people were all freaked, because I had never, ever yelled like that, nor have I raised my voice. Yes, I do get irritated and all, but so far I managed to control myself. I really don't know what are these people playing at, but there's no more reason to let my guard down anymore. Now I got to think like a survivor instead of being all-nice.
I wish I could rant more, but at this rate I don't think one post will be enough. Some more I'm so exhausted from this whole thing till I feel like sleeping and wish everything will just go away. But this is life we're talking about, so no chance.
By the way, that children song I was singing. It's actually a really old Japanese song. Here it is :

かごめかごめ 籠の中の鳥は
いついつ出やる　夜明けの晩に
鶴と亀が滑った
後ろの正面だあれ Kagome kagome Kago no naka no tori wa Itsu itsu deyaru Yoake no ban ni Tsuru to kame ga subetta Ushiro no shoumen daare

Second Time Jinxed

25th March (Friday) - Back again to my doctor.  This time it wasn't him who made a riot, but the patient instead. I got there happily, humming a children song when this lady handed me her queue. Like a complete fool, I looked at my appointment book, and found that someone had scrawled CLINIC STARTS AT 11 in caps, plus DO NOT TAKE ANY MORE PATIENTS scrawled across. Trusting the person who wrote the message, I told the patient that clinic starts at 11. Big mistake. Next thing I knew, her daughter yelled at me like a total maniac, as one of the assistants would say, "Barking like a mad dog." Seriously. She yelled at me until the whole floor heard her. Taking an advice form a friend, who said I was 'thick-skinned', I told her politely that I had no idea what's going on since I just came back from a long leave, like the usual time, and still she blasted me. This one is ten times worse because the whole floor heard the whole drama. It was a good thing it's early in the morning. So not many people heard the whole thing. Oh wait. Who am I kidding? In books, they always say the worst place to be in it's a quiet place. Noisy places means less chance of being overheard. Desperate, desperate, I ran to the phone and dialed my doctor's handphone. Thank God he answered the phone after a few rings. It's standard, unlike last time where he didn't pick up the phone (Although that's because he's on the airplane). Okay, I doubled confirm with him, he's starting clinic at 9.30. I suggested the patient to go for breakfast, but the family refused, saying they refuse to leave til they catch the doctor. Fine then.
In between while waiting for my doctor, I received phone calls from the nurses, and visits from the other clinic assistants, plus the registration staff, whom wanted to know what was that lady shouting about. Well, this is the second time I get blasted for something that is not my fault. No big deal. Somehow I been jinxed that whenever I come back to work with him, I get hit by something that has nothing to do with me. Good grief. Of course I have to take the blame, but how long more can I keep this up without screaming inside?  
Thank Mother of God he arrived at exactly the time after I informed him that there were three patients waiting. He saw me sitting at the table looking slightly crestfallen from the patient's drama. He gave a smile and said, "Well, well, looks like we're reunited." Eh??? Um... Okay. I got tons of stuff for him from the vendor. New notepads, I know he loves to write ^^, new pens, we're always losing them, free samples of scar cream (I know he needs them, since he's a surgeon), and Japanese coffee chocolates (He likes coffee), Yay, he accepted them all, and he passed me something thick in return. His legal documents. Whaaa- "Help me pass these to legal department." Well, okay. It wasn't sealed, but I refuse to pry into it. Turning the envelope over, I found the extension where I'm supposed to call. To be on the safe side, I dialed. Good thing too. The lawyer asked me open the envelope and check the contents. "Er, um, I can't open the envelope. It's his P&C." The lawyer chuckled and said, "You're supposed to open it because you have to check the contents. I'll tell you what to do, don't worry." Okay, so taking out the documents, she guided me through the process, like taking out whichever documents she mentioned and check to make sure he sign and stamp them with his company stamp. I was a little confused because I expected him to use our usual stamp, but the lawyer chuckled again and said, "You didn't know? He has his own business." Oh...OH.... So that's what that title meant. Blur, blur, blur. The lawyer came down too to help me with his documents which we looked through together and she tsk-tsked. He did not sign his initials on each page, only stamped them. After confirming with her and her senior lawyer colleague to make sure, it was acceptable, providing he did sign the important parts. Once we're satisfied, she collected the documents and I thanked her.
In between waiting patients for X-Rays, some of the other assistants told me, without further ado, to attack the person who caused me so much trouble. I refused, because I didn't want to cause havoc. They told me, "This is not about havoc. This is about fighting for your right. For God's sake, why are you the one who always had to pick up the mess?" In the end, I tried. I did it in a nice way, not blaming others, but just inquiring how. The manager tried, but it was no good. Not one admit their fault, because "The doctor didn't say anything, so it's his fault." Always, always, my doctor get stabbed. If not him, me. Urgh.....
The rest of the day passed by as a blur, but it was really good to see him again. Just like old times. One patient even commented, "You and your doctor look romantic."

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll.......take that as a compliment, but I think my whole ears turned red. My doctor basically laughed his head off. Oh, it is funny in a way, but I hope no one misinterpret it for other meanings.    

Betrayed and Blamed

6th March (Sunday) -  The event takes place on Saturday.
"Hello doctor. How are you???"
"WHAT THE HELL???? I NEVER HAD CLINIC ON SATURDAYS STARTING FROM THIS MONTH ONWARDS!!!"
I had to hold the receiver away from my ear at that time cause my doctor, who is usually kind, soft and gentle, who usually blasted patient who tried to nonsense with him, it's yelling in the phone. Ahhh, what on earth had just happened? This week is really rotten. First auditing is coming in June, but the higher ups are blasting us for every little problems that gone awry. Small little things that could be settled over some swapping around, but they kept yelling, "Life and death! Life and death!" Oh geez, stop pushing us around like mad dogs. My friend who had been in Saudi Arab and various hospitals for many years before she came here said even when it's close to auditing time, everyone was cheerful, joking even as the day approached near, like any other day. Auditing is auditing, she told me. All you have to do is practice the right thing that you had been doing, and please don't go screwing things up. Sigh... If auditing comes every three months, then we will see people barking like mad dogs, as one of the assistant usually said.
I myself even lost my temper, pushed to a breaking point when the new system is coming out. Somehow, on the previous day, against my will and consent, someone had dragged my name into the  computer learning system. Now wait just a minute, I never submitted my name, and I certainly had never said I mastered the whole computer thingamajingy.
Bloody hell. Oh yes, those words really came out of my mouth. I was so furious, so mad, that I comply at first, and yeah, they couldn't handle all the old fussy doctors' personal assistants, so that I end up taking all the flames. And idiotically enough, I did. All the bloody word came out of my mouth. Bloody idiots, bloody fool, bloody, bloody, bloody, bloody, bloody... The one thing I should've done was take a photo of the schedule because I did not see my bloody name on it. But again, I was an idiot for not doing so, so I ended up letting them get away with it.
Oh she called after 2, after the whole fiasco. She said, "Do you want to teach others how to use the new system?" And I coldly declined, and then she said, "Oh, I thought you were confident, that's why I put your name in the list." Again, in a very cold voice, I said, "You listen to me right now. I had never once said I am confident in the new system, and I certainly never said that I would do it." She kept really silent then and we hung up.
The next day, my friends were teasing me why I'm not taking care of my doctor anymore, and I said, "Oh you know, we are S-E-P-A-R-A-T-E-D." Speak of the devil, the moment I stepped out, our cashier boy went, "You are needed with Doctor So-and-so." Um, okay. So I did, and I already got few patients waiting. Okay, as usual, let's give him a call.
You seen the first two lines between me and my doctor, now let's continue from there. After he blasted me, he demanded, "Did anyone told you that I cancelled clinic on Saturdays and start operating on Saturdays?" And I sighed, "Doctor, no one ever tells me anything." And he muttered something under his breath, then he said, "Give me few minutes, once I'm done with a dressing in the ward, I'll come over." So I give a sigh of relief. Okay, one crisis down.
Oh Christ. Not averted. I thought there's only one patient but ended up there's two, so the chains of disaster were set in motion, one after another. He went, "How come there are two patients now?" There was nothing I could do, because the patients came at 8 and I only just found out. So he accepted and took them over. But once they were gone, he told me to push all of our patients to another doctor., after checking our appointment book. Seven patients, and there's no note nothing that says no more patients for Saturdays. Nothing. He was so furious that he too started swearing bloody idiot like I do (Oh yes, I learnt my swearing from him) then he muttered, "I took Saturdays because everytime when I want to do surgery on Thursdays, they tell me no slot, so I took Saturdays cause nobody wants the slot." Ohhh, so that's why he's around on Thursdays when there's no clinics. I helped him book a lot of surgeries on some Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays but I never knew. Bless him. In between when he was seeing patients, I called a good friend of mine, a super senior clinic girl about my situation and she went, "Oh my God. Did he informed medical affairs?" I told her that he said he did, and she quickly checked the system for me, but there's nothing there, and I told her so. Then she told me to get my doctor to write a letterhead or memo informing that he has no more clinics on Saturdays, which I informed him, and he said, "I already signed the bloody forms 2 to 3 weeks ago, and I already spoken to the bloody medical affairs officer. How come I still got patients on Saturdays?" Then I meekly asked him, "Did you remember who did you passed it to?" And he said, with venom, ""I certainly remember. It was your good friend, xxxx.  Oh, oh no. Oh God, not her. My God, I can't believe this. What had she been doing?!!! Mother of Mary!!! I apologized like those bobble-head dolls and nearly had to get onto my knees, he looked at me and said, "I'm not blaming you. It's your bloody idiotic colleague who did it. If I ever see her, I'm going to shoot (yell at) her. And do something about the calendar, one of those fools threw it away." Huh? I took a look at my calendar and nearly screamed. The nice calendar that I had, the one which I marked my doctor leaves, public holidays and notes is gone. Thrown into oblivion. Alright, now this means WAR.
I consulted with my friend after he left, and I quickly called the girl who did the assignment, the one who made me pissed, she didn't answer at first. It was her friend, so I quickly relayed the situation to her. She went, "Are you sure?" And I go, "I'm not kidding here, I was yelled by him from 8.30 onwards." She quickly called the girl over and she went, "Are you sure? He had never yelled this bad." And I went, "Well, I've seen him yell like this with nutty patients, but this is the first time he yelled at a staff like this. Did you know that he blocked his clinic on Saturdays to do his surgery?" And she shook her head, saying that there's no messages regarding this, and asked me to talk to the girl who is in charge in fifth floor. So I went to find her at another doctor's clinic, and she too, didn't know anything about it. Great, just great. And because I couldn't stop my patients from coming, I had to run to the doctor that my doctor requested and explained the situation to him. Lucky, he was in a good mood and he said, "Okay, sure. Just get all the folders over here and I'll settle it." Oh, thank you, doctor.
I quickly went to the phone to repair the damage by contacting my patients. Some went into voicemail. Some I was too late, they appeared in front of me, so I had to apologize and said, "I am so sorry. I just came back from a long leave and I had no idea what had happened. My colleague did not leave me a note, and there no updates from her side." My patients of course, go, "She should've updated you." Yes, it's just like what happened to my poor friend form the ground floor. She came back after a month long MC from a major operation, and she get fired by the patients. Now it's my turn. And because the patients know my face, they went, "Why can't you stay with him?" And I said, "I can't. Unless he said so, otherwise I follow my assignment." Terrible, isn't it? He's the only doctor whose nurse kept changing.
So after shifting most of my patients' appointment, I had to do the calendar, the appointments, tidy up the clinic (WHY IS THERE A SPOILED KETTLE UNDER MY TABLE?!!!!), clean up the place, insurance wise I had to settle on Monday when medical affairs is open. And leave notes for the staff who is coming in. Hmm, she's on leave, which means it's me. Oh, clever. Very clever. Looks like I have to do some more damage control. The girl called me and said, "Well, you know his mood, his attitude, his habits, so it's safer to put you in." Gee, more fire to put out. We're starting clinic in the afternoon, hope we get more patients, and please, less drama. That's all I ask. Maybe this week was rotten because I had never prayed to Jesus. Well, I better do it before the day starts... What a mess. Time to go and eat some McDonald's to release the stress. >.>