You know how they say "you have to try to find a balance to cope with uni life much more successfully" ?
Yeah, well I think after the past 6 months' events, I've finally found that balance. And in a healthy way too.
More to come soon!
ps- I guess people are right when they say things will get better eventually :D
The last two days have been WONDERFUL. Stressful, tiring, worrying, amazing, exciting.
I'm feeling the best I've felt all semester. I'm finding my path again through this maze of university life.
So...I asked a question in my last post pertaining as to how others had found this semester compared to last. I said I would answer this question in my next post - and so I am. To be honest, I found the start of this semester very difficult. Suddenly I found myself questioning everything I once thought university was about....and for a few weeks I felt like Melbourne University was a very cold, distant and lonely place.
What I have now realised (or remembered?) is that University is truly what you make of it; how you see it....
A positive attitude, one that tries best to erode all feeling of fear related to social contact, is the best way to find yourself enjoying classes again. Ultimately...it is what you involve yourself in, and who you befriend, that decides the outcome of your university life.
Some of the people I befriended last semester, I have grown apart from; not through any fault of their own, but merely through my own realisation that it is important for me to spread my wings as far as I can possibly fly.
And somehow, people that I discounted 'back then' have ended up becoming the new friends of tomorrow...and in turn have led me to meet some other wonderful new faces within my course.
My involvement with the Political Interest Society is deepening as the days go by; Wednesday night was a fantastic success, with the delightful, intelligent and inspiring Leslie Cannold speaking to us at our "Politics in the Pub" night. Her feminist attitude, resonated strongly within me....and her discussion of "Multiculturalism and Feminsim - Can they mix?" provoked intense intellectually challenging and stimulating discussion....which went from talk of practicalities, to thoughts of philosophy. It was simply engaging and wonderful. I must again assert my sincere thanks to Dr Cannold's presence on the night.
As that finished, I soon ducked off, squeezed into a car full of friends and went for icecream on Lygon Street. We spent a few glorious hours listening to the escapades of our Dutch exchange student friend, and his dear girlfriend - both of whom had just come back from travelling all around Australia by campervan. By 11pm, my body clock refused to maintain open my eyelids, and with goodbyes, I wished them luck as they were leaving back for Europe the next day. I hope I manage to stay in contact as they are such interesting and genuine people. One day...a trip to Europe will call me. [Hopefully sooner, rather than later!]
Last night was the defining night of my week as I ventured out to a Women in Investment Banking Cocktail Evening...held at Zinc at Federation Square. It was more than I could have ever hoped for; inspiring, motivating and exciting. I felt my heart beat with eagerness as think of the challenges that lay ahead of me - I can't wait.
While there I also made a new friend...well at least someone I hope may become a friend. A lovely girl in third year at Melbourne doing Commerce/Science who shares some very similar interests to me! We were determined to talk to as many people there as possible, so with a glass of orange juice in my hand, and a glass of red wine in hers, we somehow ended up alone in an impassioned discussion which attracted two charming representatives from UBS to our sides!
After a very very long chat with both of them...they wanted to stay in contact, giving me a hope that maybe if they liked me, someone doing the hiring in the future may also! One of them was an ex-Melbourne Uni student who has done exactly what I hope to do...i.e Straight Commerce, no honours = graduate position in IB!!
I know it's a big challenge for me to attempt to get a job with a single commerce degree....but I thrive on challenges, and if he did it, I know it is possible.
So that leaves me where I am now- determined and passionate about my life...as well as desperate to hit the books so my average is as high as I can make it [within the realms of sanity!],
But most of all - I am so damn thankful....that some of the most amazing people in the world, label me....as one of THEIR friends.
-Sophie
BEFORE I start this particular post, a big shout must go out halfway around the world to a very good Scottish buddy of mine, young Ewan of Edinburgh fame. Ewan's final assessment of my blog was that it was "highly entertaining, apart from the depressing bits." I scratched my chin for thirty seconds and wondered if that was a compliment or not, then realised that Snakes on a Plane couldn't buy reviews like that, so thankyou buddy!
Getting back to Uni - now I'm about 85% cured (no coffee, no chilli, no undercooked meat, so that rules out pretty much every hangover cure known to mankind) - has not exactly been an easy task. Whilst I've stood still from weeks two through five inclusive, University has most certainly been moving, and very rapidly too. If this wasn't made clear before the Wednesday that I returned, it certainly was clear as the proverbial crystal afterwards.
I sauntered over to Chinese - slightly late, as is my wont (well I am coming over from Union House) - when I bumped into my good friend Emma, waiting for her own Chinese class. We chatted, caught up on the latest, talked a little, and then, without any sort of warning, she dropped the dreaded T-word. (Not "Thatcher" or "Transition Department First-Year Blog", but close). "So, Jez", she said, "are you ready for the vocab test today?".
Ten minutes later, the poor Chinese teacher recieved a piece of paper with empty spaces for questions one through ten and the Chinese Characters for "I was sick". (And, bless him, he even corrected it. Lucky vocab tests aren't worth anything in the final writeup.)
Later on in the Wednesday, I went back into the Asia Centre for French class, appreciating the irony of France's abusive colonial history in Vietnam and French classes being held in the Asia centre somewhere between Japanese and Arabic. I casually pulled out my lunch (spare time on Wednesday is at an absolute premium for me), made sure I had my chopsticks and French books with me, opened the door and suddenly felt my stomach dissappear through the floor. In front of me, there was a bunch of silent French students with their noses buried in the same page in their grammar books, a sure sign of only one possible thing; a subjunctive test. I pulled my best puppy-dog face at the teacher (a move that probably works better when executed by a woman but there you go), the wonderful, humane and easily-flattered (and just as easily misspelt) Maryse (Marise? Marys?) who immediately took stock of the situation and pointed at the door.
"Off you go!" she said, in French. "Find a good cafe and a good book and I'll see you in an hour!".
"I know nothing?" I asked, snapping up my copy of Papillion.
"Nothing about what?" she replied. "I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about!".
I didn't need to be told twice. I now have the opportunity to be as equally ill-prepared as everyone else on Monday, although I did have an hour off French class and a wonderful apple scroll to show for the experience.
The other two subjects have been different in terms of catching up with them. Maths has been alright after an initial project scare thankyou mainly to Marty Ross (a favourite of Rick the Blogger)'s easy-to-follow subject notes on the web (something probably best referred to as "LectureLite"). Engineering has been a whole different kettle of fish; I did not do Chemistry at school and I missed out on a month of Materials lectures at University, which puts me behind the eightball on two counts. Materials is harder than staying awake during a stats lecture in any case; in mine, it's nigh-on impossible. This two-week break coming up is looking like slavery but I guess it's a price that has to be paid after missing coursework like that.
In Other News, I have just had my gastroscopy earlier today (and this is the part that I am writing post-anaesthesia, so apologies if I fly off the pixies from time to time). Down at the hospital earlier today, I reacquainted myself with one of my favourite Politically Correct terms, which managed to manifest itself in my Gastroscopy-Made-Ezee guide kindly given out by the Austin Hospital. It's a sign of modern times that you no longer roll around in agony, nor do you scream blue murder anymore, but instead you May Experience some Slight Discomfort. I would love to see the reaction on the faces of birthing mothers when they are asked if they are feeling some "slight discomfort", in the same way that navy recruits may feel some "slight nausea" or Robinson Crusoe may suffer from some "slight solitude". Memo to hospital: next time my stomach hurts post-gastroscopy, my stomach hurts; I am NOT experiencing some "slight discomfort!".
That said, everything seems ok now. It doesn't quite feel 100% right, but it doesn't hurt either.
The actual procedure itself went without a hitch. I sat down in the waiting room with my French stuff, to discover someone within twenty years of my own age; the white hospital gown with peek-a-boo back section is a sure pointer to next season's fashions; and, best of all, I had a nurse with a decent sense of humour. (Me (post IV-insertion): "Oh, that was pretty painless. Mind you, I guess you insert about a hundred canulas a day." Nurse: "Oh no, just beginner's luck."). Best of all, the drugs worked an absolute treat and I woke up feeling exceptionally snug and warm in my hospital bed. Naturally, I shocked them all with the speed of my recovery and was bouncing around my water and sandwiches before too long whilst the patient beside me was being wheeled in from his procedure.
"Thank God. I haven't eaten since eight this morning", I said, "and I'm famished."
"Oh, you got the top end?", he said, (we share the centre with colonoscopy patients). "You lucky, lucky bastard."
"Mm." I replied. "Hope they wash the camera in between."
"Hey", he said, "I don't particularly care. That's for your benefit, not mine." And before long, as you do in a hospital, we were into a full-blown discussion about our respective procedures and ailments. I just wish that mine would hurry up and go back to being fully cured.
Anyway guys, I'm off to b-e-d... take care
best wishes to all, jez.
Having a 'calm blue ocean' moment right now - Matthew's brother is talking to me on msn. He's very nice and everything, but he's doing a Psychology degree and he's incredibly in to it. He tries to turn everything into a psychoanalysis session. I was telling him about something and suddenly he launched into standard procedure: "Why does that make you feel that way? Why do you think you are responding in that way?" etc. Instead of telling him to stop trying to be my psychologist, or tearing out my hair, I calmly set my status to 'Away' and closed the window. Quite proud of myself.
I made my first friend at uni last week. It sounds pathetic, and it probably is, but it seems that the lack of friends is making up for itself in this one person. Too bad he's packed up and left, on exchange for the semester. It was he who I was running around uni with in the middle of the night - we've only met three times, but already we've had so many adventures! I seriously did not think that there was so much to do in Melbourne until we tried to do as much as possible in only three meetings.
Classes are going better this semester... I actually like them! I just finished my first Literature assignment for the semester.. it was agonising, but it's done. Alas.. there is a big (40%ish) essay due for all of my subjects just after my birthday. I have a feeling that I won't be partying as much as I might like.
Well, this was a somewhat bland and almost pointless entry - I'm off to Richmond to have dinner with my father and (bleh) step-sister, but I'll post something sparkling, interesting and substantial soon!
After missing the first week back at uni because of the Chicken Pox, you would think that due to your ability to fly/return to Melbourne after being pretty much grounded due to sickness for a week, you would be well enough to mostly get back to things as normal on your return, right??
Yeah... kind of......not really...
No.
On Sunday night I made my way to Sydney Airport and nervously boarded my flight, leaving behind the city I had been in for the past 2 or so months trying to relax and become a little more at peace with myself, and flew back to Melbourne. I was greeted at the airport by my friend, who drove me back to college where I dropped off my stuff and was bombarded with:
"You're back!"
"Where have you BEEN the past 4394395439 days?"
"I heard you had the Chicken Pox!"
Etc. etc. Word travels fast when you live in a donut haha.
Anyway, I went back out to my friend who was waiting in the car, then we went to a restaurant at Crown for dinner, then to Strike bowling, then we came back to my college and watched Wedding Crashers...That movie seems to just drag on a lotttttttt. I then crashed and forgot about unpacking as I was exhausted and still had not much energy from still getting over the side effects of the Chicken Pox.
I went back to uni the next day on Monday. My first lecture for semester 2 was Genetics & Evolution, which I’m not minding at all...the other subject I’m doing- Working With Animals, is definitely my favourite though. At the moment we have an ongoing group practical assignment, where each group is assigned a pregnant rat, then we monitor the mother and the pups from birth till weaning...it's amazing how much they grow in only one week!! The lectures have also been really interesting too, they've been on things like forensic entomology, animal behaviour, dog training, animals used in quarantine, in which the 2 speakers bought in their dogs which each were trained to signal smuggled objects in different ways- one passive, which sits when it smells something and the other one was active and digs at (more like rips open!) the box or whatever the object is contained in.
You're probably thinking "Why's this meant to be such a bad return??" Well I haven't told you about Wednesday onwards yet.
So there I am sitting in the Rowden White Library (affectionately known as the "Rowdy" lately it seems), using the computers because my laptop can be a tad evil at times. Of course I got sidetracked and followed the clearly posted signs' rules which scream in block letters "PLEASE DO NOT STUDY" or something likewise, and log onto MSN to chat to a friend. Then my phone receives an SMS, it's my best friend from back in Sydney:
"Hey, I’m not really good at talking at the moment so that's why I’m not calling you, but my mum passed away last night...hope to talk to you soon, love Danielle."
All of a sudden nothing else mattered, I don't think I even bothered logging out and closing everything I had open, even my university email. I suddenly felt extremely nauseous and was trying to avoid breaking down into a mess in the middle of the library, so I ignorantly pushed into the queue to get my student card back and did what felt like a space walk out of the library exit, feeling like I was floating but only just...waiting to come crashing back down to face the reality of what I had just been told. I somehow got downstairs, not caring for everyone staring at me as I walked like a disoriented zombie, tears rolling down my face and my bottom lip quivering as I struggled to contain an emotional eruption. I didn't know where exactly I was heading, all I knew was I had to be alone. I have discovered that's something only recently that I have resorted to- needing to be alone for a bit to come to terms with anything that may have come to me as a shock. So I floated back down Royal Parade completely oblivious to all in the world except my poor poor Danielle, whose family history/background isn't exactly fairytale material to start with. I walked into college, up the stairs to my room and dumped my bag, made a quick trip to the bathroom, then walked back to my room...I could feel it coming any second...I felt little all of a sudden again; I felt little and dependent. So I sent a message to one of my friends telling her what happened then she came to my room. I couldn't hold it in any longer- out came all those tears and the sobbing. It's funny how humans are so dependent on each other, and how much our emotions can be tweaked with by another individual, or something that has happened to another person.
So after letting out all my tears and calling my parents and another friend to cry to them some more, I decided, as I had learnt from past experiences this year, to not let something that's gotten me down to stand in the way of other things which would make me happy. Wednesday night I went to the St. Hilda's ball at the Metro on Collins St.
It was a fun night and the bands were quite good. I'd just seen the Exploders at Byron Bay at Splendour in the Grass, so I knew a bit of their stuff and was able to sing along to a song. I met some new people, lots of them were ex-ressi's of my college, and one was a resident at Ridley before it closed, but he got kicked out in his second week there :S!! The last band were really good, they did a medley of every type of song imaginable which went on for a good 20 minutes or so. The group I was with (there were about 9 of us) went absolutely nuts when Livin' On A Prayer was played, it was so much fun to be able to get out with people who only want to have a good time and not worry about anything else at all. I was able to take my mind off things for a while at least which I appreciated. After the obligatory 3am stop-off at Hungry Jacks, 3 of us piled into a cab back to college and went to bed.
I have no uni on Thursdays, and I couldn't start my work experience the first week back because it was still being finalised i.e.- times, days etc. I woke up on Thursday and went to cough- uh oh. It seems all of a sudden I couldn't cough, talk, or hardly MOVE even...not good. So Thursday was spent in my bed, not a good place to lie awake in when there is so much on one's mind! I was still feeling pretty down by the night, with absolutely no appetite at all so I decided to take the next day off and go to the doctors. Boy did I not know what I was in for.
Friday morning: I woke up, showered, forced half a pear down my throat (by now I couldn't even swallow water, let alone food), and trudged to the tram stop outside and caught the tram to Brunswick to go to the doctors. After a 1 and a half hour wait, I saw a doctor who took one look at my throat and said
"WHOA!"
Not the most pleasing/assuring thing to hear from your GP. Apparently my throat looked rather abstract. (I hadn't looked at it yet)
So there we go. I was diagnosed with severe tonsillitis and was given my doctor's certificate, drugs, advice etc. then came back to college and got the phone call saying when Danielle's mum's funeral was. I was distraught that I had to miss it- as much as I was close to doing so; I was, in reality, in no state to fly let alone get out of bed. So I rang my mum and asked her a favour, and got a huge bunch of flowers delivered to the funeral. I'm glad my friend understood the situation because I would have been on a plane in a heartbeat if I physically could have :(.
I spent the next days taking my antibiotics, lying in bed and turning up to uni with a scarf furiously wrapped around my neck. It was pretty bad, having no energy from not being able to eat nor drink and being all dosed up on antibiotics. A week passed and my script ran out and I was still no better, and losing lots of weight...I think I lost almost all my muscle mass that I had before from water polo. I was weak, starving, thirsty and depressed. Bahumbug. So I ventured back to the doctor, this time waiting for 2 and a half hours. I saw a different doctor this time...
"Wow... That's nasty!"
Thank you, kind sir.
He then went on to explain how if I kept on going on the way I was till Friday, I’d have to go back for blood tests and penicillin injections (ugh!). BUT he prescribed me to stronger antibiotics...MUCH stronger- 2000mg a day, 4 tablets a day on an empty stomach!! The regular dose is around 250mg.
"You might feel a bit sick after you take these." Thanks, 'Doc. He was right too. I went home with a rather large bulky box, containing 50 (!) extra strong narrow spectrum antibiotics for my tonsillitis, pulling a face every few minutes when I painfully sipped on my water bottle to keep my throat and the golf ball sized tonsils that were blocking my throat moist. The worst part was sleeping, because I couldn't breathe through my nose which was blocked so this meant I had to breathe through my mouth which in turn dried out my throat, and I would wake up every few hours in EXCRUCIATING pain trying to swallow to moisten my throat, ahhhhhhhh!!!
So pretty much, my first 4 weeks of uni were spent either in bed or... at uni. It was only a week or so ago that I felt slightly well enough to swallow a bit more than a quarter of my food, put some much needed weight back on (I felt like half a toothpick), and...Return to water polo!!
I went back to water polo training last week and I was so happy to be back. Even if I had to do a lot of intensive swimming straight away, which made me feel how much fitness all my illnesses had made me lose. But even so I was able to train, and I was happy to be back in the pool throwing the ball around because this sport is such a big part of my life and strangely enough I wouldn't mind if I was doing it all the time. There was one point where I was training or playing water polo every day and I loved it...I love having something I can enjoy so much no matter how demanding it can get.
In my first game back last Thursday, we won and we also tied this Thursday and I got the goal that evened out the score to 3-3 from a few metres back on the wing so I was pretty happy with that. Yay! Also, I’m going to the Australian University Games in Adelaide from the 24th-30th September in the water polo team! I’m so excited and I’ll be able to represent Melbourne University at something I love all of the time, because well you know studying can drag on a bit at times, especially writing out the genotypes of tens of little mutant flies :P
Speaking of sport representation, last weekend I also played chicks footy on Saturday for my college. We won 14-1 (I think?) against Newman, and then we lost to Hilda's, who then went on to win the final, so we don't feel too bad about our efforts! On Sunday I went to a Collingwood (yes! Collingwood! And I support the Sydney Swans all the way!) game against Carlton with a friend who works for Collingwood. I sat amongst Peter Hellier and Eddy Maguire too. I must admit it was rather funny seeing Eddy's face when Carlton was thumping Collingwood for a while!!
After the football I then went to the State Netball and Hockey Centre where I played mixed netball for Melbourne Uni. It was so much fun and I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season, it's so much more relaxed unlike the last 9 years that I’ve been playing girls’ netball! I scored in the first quarter too, because I had to fill in for goal attack until she arrived haha. After the game I came back to college and had dinner, and then we went out as a college to the Brunswick hotel to support the footy boys' efforts in the grand final that morning, which we unfortunately lost to last year's premiers St. Mary's. That was also a pretty good night but I was so tired on Monday morning at uni because I didn't sleep till about 4am!
So today I went to uni at 9.50 to do my rat prac recordings as I’m the Tuesday person, then I waited around in the library reading an article on the Chili Peppers (whom might I add I will be seeing in both Sydney and Melbourne!) in the Rolling Stone magazine, and on Wolfmother. Then I went to my Working With Animals lectures, where we learnt about the sheep industry, then animal behaviour. We watched a pretty funny video of a gorilla trying to get an apple floating in the water out with a stick hahaha.
Oh by the way I also went and saw my college's production of Guys and Dolls...which was awesome..Especially the band, they sounded so good together. I've also been on various "retail therapy" trips with 2 good friends from college- Chrissy and Mel, and also a Melbourne "sight seeing day" where we walked through St. Paul's Cathedral, Federation Square, and even went up the top of Rialto Towers which presented us with a truly beautiful panoramic view of Melbourne which I never knew could be possible, or hadn't appreciated before as I forgot that just because you can't see the ocean in the CBD in Melbourne doesn't mean it's not there..just not in as close proximity as I'm used to back home in Bondi!! One night Chrissy and I even went to Max Brenner at Melbourne Central where we had the BEST.WAFFLES.EVER. !
Tomorrow I only have one hour of class so that's a relief as I’m still a bit sick with a cold and REALLY exhausted! Thursday morning I have soccer training, then I’m going trail riding for my working with animals prac which I’m looking forward to, then that night I have a water polo game, Friday is a 3 hour genetics and evolution prac, and I have a PowerPoint assignment due too which I’m about 1/4 of the way through, but that shouldn't be too bad. Then on Friday night my college has its Booze Cruise aka- W.A.N.C aka- Annual Nautical Cruise or something along those lines which should be awesome. After the cruise docks I’m meeting up with my water polo team in the city for a bit of a bonding night. FINALLY Saturday morning I’m playing soccer for my college, and then I’m just going to relax. Overtired-ness is not a good thing! Oh well...I hope I can finally have one day back at Melbourne this time round where I say... "I'm not sick anymore!!”
Hope everyone is having a good second semester so far, and good luck for any mid-semester tests...I’m kind of freaking out although I know I shouldn't be :p
Lara
EDIT: I forgot to add, I went to work experience last Thursday at Birds Australia! I never imagined the amount of work that goes into preparing field research, even volunteer programs! I came home with lots of information and the co-ordinator of their main project at the moment asked for my number, so hopefully I'll be able to venture out with the team on a field trip one day soon!
I've spent most of last weekend and this week completing the animation 'Angry Man' for the U-Film fest, rather than doing homework. It started to get a bit irritating in the end, sitting in front of computers for so long, and felt relieved when I finished it on Wednesday. I think that it will be one of the stand-outs at the festival - not the 'U-Film' for 2006 but won't be forgotten by those who see it.
That night at our formal dinner I played a piece by Chopin on the piano, with a slight headache from what I believed at the time to be just a few late nights and staring into a computer screen for so long. We also had another guy recite some of his poems, and I felt kind of guilty that my extent of concentration at the time could not hold out to listen to them fully.
By Friday morning I had a massive headache, which delayed me getting to my lecture on time. I fortunately had a doctors appointment later that morning and was diagnosed with a sinus headache. I decided that day that it wasn't too bad and I didn't need to take anything. Unfortunately this changed by Saturday where the headache would just not go away, making me feel drowsy. I got some drugs from the chemist and they made me feel a little better, and let me get a little amount of homework done. The rest of the weekend I slept.
As I'm saying so often - everyone seems to be sick, I know of quite a few here at College, but on a different par one guy broke his leg serverly on Saturday, had surgery and will be on crutches for about 10 weeks. This presents a problem for him as he would thus have to quite often walk up and down the stairs just to get around, which won't be easy. So as the only first year student on the first floor of college, I've been asked if it would be ok to swap rooms with this guy as to make life easier for him. Now I'm going to be right next to the student kitchens!
LAST Tuesday I was booked in for a mid-morning gastroscopy. For those of you unaware of the delicate intricacies of this pleasant procedure, it runs through as such; Patient is sedated via an IV, Patient has local anaesthetic sprayed down the back of their throat, barely-conscious Patient has dirty great flexible tube put down their throat to see inside their stomach and digestive tract, Patient wakes up and has a cup of tea and biscuits. The Good Doctor told me that some people just have it done without the sedation; I told him that it wasn't really something I was willing to try; he told me to go and make myself comfortable; I, not being greatest person with All Things Medical, picked up a good book and headed straight for a long, extended getting-to-know-you session with the toilet.
Back in the waiting room (heater near the front, TV stuck on the "Today" show) we all sat down and waited for our names to be called in turn. I hauled out the massive tome that I had brought with me; an exceptional and exceptionally famous, not to mention somewhat controversial, autobiographical book called Papillon ("Butterfly"). (I take great pride in the fact that a French Minister once attained the declining standards in modern French society to the wearing of miniskirts and the reading of Papillon. Being unable to wear a miniskirt, I settled on just reading the book instead). The French-speaking Vietnamese man opposite me instantly recognised the book, having read it in French, and we started to talk about the various ins and outs of it. I was later talking to my fifteen-year-old sister and casually mentioned that she might like to read it, now that she was fifteen, although it is a little 'mature' at times. She turned, straight as a die, and answered that she had already read it when she was 10! This hit me for six as I began to mentally tote up the amount of adult themes mentioned in just the first hundred-odd pages. (For example, if you were going to smuggle 50,000 francs in notes to a Southern American penal colony on your person, where exactly would YOU hide it?).
The people at the hospital decided to stick me at the back of the queue as I was the youngest patient there by a margin of roughly fifty years, and, as I was being picked up at one o'clock, I had no issues with that. Eventually (halfway through Mornings with Kerri-Anne, no less) I was called, asked what I would like to drink after my procedure (tea, coffee, Milo, water), and shown through to a bed. From there it was time to change into the peek-a-boo hospital gown, be tucked up into bed, and have the IV put in (for those of you who've never had one done, it's not a painful thing but it is a strange feeling). After what seemed like both an eternity and not long enough I was wheeled into the theatre to have the procedure done.
The nurse (who, it turned out, nursed with Mum back before I was born) sprayed the back of my throat with some local anaesthetic, before propping in a don't-you-bite-that-camera mouthguard, and the sedative was injected in through the IV. I felt the sedative starting to take effect, but at the same time I remember thinking that it wasn't really doing all that much, and I have a clear memory of the nurse saying, "More (insert sedative name here)." The last memory I have is of me trying to say something whilst they start to put the tube near the mouthguard and then next thing I knew I had woken up, slowly, in the recovery room.
I gave an experimental swallow and took mental stock of my stomach. My throat didn't hurt at all; and what's more is that the unpleasant numbness from the local anaesthetic had disappeared too. My stomach felt fine and so did my aesophogas (sp?); instantly I felt like food. After downing a tea, some water, and some sandwiches I stood up (a tad giddy, nothing too bad) and made my way back over to the waiting room.
Mum came to pick me up and then we went over for my results. We walked over to see the doctor, who greeted us with a slightly wry smile.
"What were the results?"
"No result, actually", said the doctor. "You didn't respond well enough to the anaesthetic and so we decided not to go ahead with the procedure." You're kidding me, right? "Not at all." He showed us the piece of paper with the little box, "Diagnosis", filled in with the sentence, "Patient uncooperative to procedure.". I couldn't believe it. All that effort and a whole day off and to no effect. I'm going back again - for a much stronger drug, fingers crossed - on Thursday to get it done. At least I'm better and back at Uni now.
The drug wore off completely within about two or three hours. Speaking to other people who've had it done, they told me that it took them between a day or two to shake it off and had little or no memory whatsoever of the procedure. Dad reminded me of how, when Nanna had all the teeth in her head taken out under gas back in the forties, she had woken up in the middle of the procedure; perhaps drug-resilience runs in the family. I'm just glad they didn't press on with the gastroscopy. In the finish, it fell to Grandmother to summarise the situation with a sentiment that was also expressed by a member of Kim's family (in the nicest possible way, of course): "How could they possibly even THINK that a sedative would ever shut him up? They'd need at LEAST a general for that one!". Onya, Gran. How's that for a vote of confidence?
Anyway, guys, best of luck with all your mid-semester projects and all;
jez
It is wonderful to c some fellow readers. ( satisfy my "selfish need", :) )
anyway, it is a site for all the new uni students. Feel free to write about ur problem or discuss things.
One more thing, Let's all meet together at one lunch time (all bloggers and readers?)
something fun to do.
That i should feel depress?
Intro
This essay will show why I should not feel depress even though I sometimes think my life is boring. I will also rebut the idea of feeling depress due to the use of inefficient time. In addition I should acknowledge how lucky it is to have my current life.
Body
One source of my depression is that my weekend is really boring as I stay at home for the weekend and there are not many activities to do at home. However I can choose to do interesting things such as call friends and family, play sports and etc. I have the power to change the situation.
Another source of depression is that I waste too much time on a daily basis and it is against my hardworking philosophy, which makes me feel sad because I believe putting in a lot of hard work would help me to become successful in life. The proof is that I obtained a good mark at school due to my dedication to my school. I want to keep this dedication up. So if I don’t work hard, I feel I would be just an ordinary person in the future and this thought makes me unhappy. But relaxing is a must in life because it helps to refresh the brain and it would help me to be more efficient at studying. Besides I am not a robot and need to have a limit in working. So I can relax and have fun. However I can push this limit and by doing so I would improve my endurance at working. So I will increase the chance to succeed as I would put in more effort than other people. But this would make me become heartless as this is an obsession of power. I would not be prepared to share time with love ones similar to workaholic depicted in the movies. My life would become meaningless because it is against my meaning in life, which I learned from the book “Tuesday with Morries”. I want to love my family. For these reasons, I should not feel depress about the time usage, instead should feel happy to do so.
A reason why I should never contemplate about depression is that my life is wonderful, My family loves me and provides me with everything I need. Studying at the University is fun as there are lots of activities to do.
Conclusion
I should appreciate my life and look for the positives in it. I should not feel depress.
One last thing, i just realise i have gained positive things from this exp too. I learned to share my feeling and express my love towards my family members. I am much more intimate (hugging, saying loving words) with them now. :) u got to understand i am a chinese to appreciate this change.
I will talk more about this massive trauma (depression) later when i finish my assignment. Sorry. Good news is i overcome it.
Stay positive. (bloody hard to do when u feel depress, but got to move on to feel better) :) :):)
Please answer everyone!
How are you finding second semester compared to last? Are you enjoying it more, or less? Have your thoughts about your course or the university itself changed? Be specific.
I'll write my answer up in week or so.
Ingredients:
One Person, lots of medical equipment that goes "beep", a virus (although some bacteria will do if you've run out), a bottle of pills, nearby toilet and lots of daytime television
Preparation time:
Three Weeks
This, young chefs, is one of my favourite recipes and I would dearly like to share it with you. We don't tend to bring it out all that often, due to the lengthy preparation time, but when we do, it certainly causes a stir with both the taster and the whole family! When administered properly, the taster will subsequently progress to a diet of water, air and The Bold and the Beautiful. WARNING: Ingestion may cause health issues, resulting in symptoms such as nausea, pain, death and gastrolyte addiction.
METHOD
Day One: Preferably taking care not to contaminate others, infect yourself with virus. (Bacteria is a little more difficult here as you do have to actually consume it). Totter around for a while, waiting for virus to take hold. In order to maximize introduction of virus to best effect, place yourself in a public, formal and embarassing situation. (I would recommend national television). Hold on tight! You're in for a rough ride!
Day Three: Purchase a Public Toilet Map Of Melbourne and quite possibly some softer toilet paper and a few good books. When on the bus or in some non-toilet accessible situation, keep your concentration by repeating an anagram to yourself. (My personal favourite is Sit Quietly Under Incredible Relentless Tension, but you can make your own up). Make sure to miss intermittent days of University attendance throughout this period in order to jeapordise (sp?) studies.
Day Five: Feel better. Must just be food poisoning.
Day Seven: Feel worse. Spend half-an-hour of dinner at girlfriend's ensconsed in the bathroom (see post "Sick, sick sick"). Maybe it's not food poisoning.
Day Ten: After a restless night spent with stomach in knots, decide that Enough Is Really Quite Enough and march straight down to the very friendly local GP at Melbourne University, who says that You Probably Have Giardia (a not unreasonable diagnosis as I did get it in China) and Here's A Prescription for some tinidazole, and in the meantime you should carry out an Extremely Embarassing Pathology Test. Text parental unit as to the results of said visit to GP. This will lead to two very ironic text messages throughout the day; one is unrepeatable here and the other reads, "Got your drugs Jem, love Mum, xx". There is a first time for everything.
Day Twelve: Quite obviously the Tinidazole didn't work. Go back to GP to find out exactly what went wrong. The GP really doesn't have any idea either, so it's now down to the dreaded b-word; Blood Test.
Here it is necessary to add your own twist to the recipe. I would personally recommend almost vomiting on the tram after eating a lollipop, but you can put your own twist in here if you like. Idealistically this should end in a trip to the Emergency department of the hospital. (Allow four hours waiting in Emergency Department for Incubation).
From here it is difficult to continue in the same vein without some level of monotony... so I'll just quickly run through what else happened instead. Basically put, I went back to the hospital on Monday (Day Fifteen), to have (after another four-hour wait) a drip run through me, some more blood taken and an ultrasound done - with no abnormalities, thanks be. The queue in the Emergency department runs in a number of sections; Really, Really Urgent (ie Ambulances), Really Quite Urgent, and Not Really Urgent At All, and I, not having vomited or passed out, was therefore lumped straight into the third category, and I can safely confirm that I have never felt such hatred towards infirm old ladies with fainting fits before in my life. Despite the (necessary) wait, might I add that as soon as I got in there, the staff in the department were exceptional, fast and thorough, and they did their best to hurry me through the department.
The rest of the week was something of a monotonous, depressing blur; I was down to eating a few bananas and a small, small bowl of rice a day and as a consequence, I had absolutely no energy to speak of whatsoever. Basically put, I lowered myself to the level of lying on the couch all day watching midday television. This is somewhat embarassing to admit in an open public forum, but I became a Dr Phil addict. Dr.Phil tends to work on the Supernanny principle; that it's always comforting to know that, out there in the world, there are always going to people far more incapable and utterly stupid than yourself. (In fact, most of them seem to be in politics). I even slipped to the point whereas I watched - in dribs and drabs - Dukes of Hazzard. If that movie was any worse it would be a suspected cause of brain cancer.
Although it wasn't exactly life-threatening, I can't help but to tell you just how depressing that week was. I couldn't smile - didn't have the energy, even if I wanted to - and all I could do was just sit there. I wasn't up to socialising at all but I did start to feel lonely - which of course came around in a nice vicious circle because the last thing I felt like was having company. It took until Saturday, just over a week later, till I started to feel a little better, and able to communicate and walk and talk like a real human being again. Normally being such a buzzing, active person, I couldn't help but to try and tell you what a horrible experience it was to be so... infirm, dependant and useless. Anyway, I came back to Uni for the first time last week (to be greeted, naturally, with more work than will be humanly possible over the next month or so) and I'm still not %100; caffeine seems to make it flair up again for some reason or the other; we think it's probably a stomach ulcer. Oh well - I'll find out for sure when I have the gastroscopy next Thursday.
Don't work too hard -
jez
ps- Soph, Kim, thanks for your support during that tough week. Really, you guys, you're both magic, it was truly invaluable.
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