Ok- officially it’s Day 6 as its gone 2am. But let’s start with the important things. It is NOT the 5th of March. I have come in from an evening out and what I wanted more than anything else in the world was a cup of tea. My milk is due to be out of date on the 5th of March. It is currently the second of March and I am not impressed by my milk’s standard of offness. In fact I am actively pissed off. I really want a cup of tea! Couple that with the microwaves inability to heat anything but the plate I’m doubly unimpressed. Shame, I’ve had quite a good day.
Today started early with the 8am ward round. After that Friend and I headed to theatre. Today was set to be an interesting cancer case. It was indeed a very interesting case. An interesting ten hour case. Having arrived at theatre at 9.30am we saw the patient arrive anesthetised. The complicated neck dissection, removal of oral tumour, creation of pedicle flap from radial forearm to cover buccal mucosa and coverage of forearm with abdominal graft was both absolutely incredible and a thorough test of stamina. I don’t think I have stood for five hours straight since working in a bar. Which, technically should make me well practiced. But after a lunch break at 4pm (not my idea of a timely lunch), to refresh the by now quite exhausted surgeons, I finally got to help! Yay! I spent most of the first six hours at first watching, then having my view gradually obscured by extras scrubbing in, then out of desperation sketching the backs of everyone’s heads as I couldn’t see anything else. It was very sweet that everyone was impressed with the sketches. I wouldn’t call them good by any means but I don’t think surgeons are often sketched in action. And it’s nice to have in the memoirs. After ‘lunch’ (I would definitely call it tea, if not supper), I got to scrub in! Mostly as all of the SHOs had been exhausted from assisting with the first six hours. I was the proud holder of a completely superfluous retractor for the last three hours. This was mostly a vascular anastomosis by a surgeon with the most amazing tremor I have ever seen. But he did it.
I don’t know if I was more impressed by Tremor Surgeon (who brilliantly is also in art and medicine is another line to pursue)’s ability to do microvascular anastomosis, or my ability to stay upright. I have had a spate (well, I say a spate, it’s been pretty constant since I started scrubbing for surgery) of FAINTYNESS. I despise the faintyness. I want to be a surgeon. If I can’t stay upright, I can’t be a surgeon. If I can’t surgeon, medicine holds little appeal to me and I’d probably run off and be an artist. Or an Ornamental Hermit (but that’s another story). So, facing the prospect of scrubbing, in the full knowledge that I’m ‘a bit fainty’ combined with the pressure of a new and illustrious group of people, I bravely went for it. And it worked! Despite the little voice in my head. “Are you sure you don’t feel just a bit funny?”, “You feeling a bit cold? Could that be a faint??”, “ You’ve been scrubbed for over an hour now, how are you not feeling it? The urge to lie down, the hot and cold, the sickness and embarrassment?”. Well, FUCK YOU brain! I win! I assisted and am very chuffed. Even if it wasn’t anything impressive, it’s a little victory. Me one, brain nil.
That aside, it was a tremendously interesting surgery. There was a buccal malignant tumour, so that was excised (the whole inside of one cheek), plus a neck dissection for nodes. Then a radial forearm flap used to reconstruct the buccal wall and an abdominal graft to cover the defect in the wrist. The big-wig surgeons rotated (Mr C did the neck dissection) with one hardy SHO doing six hours straight. We noticed you , Legend SHO! It was all a bit fantastic.
So, having assisted from 4.30pm to 7.20pm, the two Regs were closing and I asked if I could go. As it was 7.20pm they gave me that look of ‘Why are you still here? Don’t you have a social life to get to?’. Brill. I had a social engagement at 8pm at a comic shop off Leicester Square, where an old friend of mine is hosting an exhibition. So I ran home, changed, put in contact lenses and chucked a couple of carrots and an apple in bag. Then realised that I may not be able to afford booze so ran to Budgens and bought a four-pack. Hopped on a bus and arrived with party in full swing.
It was so great to catch up with old friends. And made a couple of new ones while i was at it. It is very interesting to see the culture difference. Having been for a drink with The Team the night before, stood awkwardly but politely in a white-collar bar, worried that I looked terribly out of place in my top and trousers, with little but sweet small talk. Then today, slumped in a comic shop in an old paratroopers overall and a t-shirt with the words ‘Invisibility Shirt *currently deactivated’ on it, befriending everyone who came past, feeling right at home, and the booze was free. Is this culture shock? And I’m from East London. All I did over the past two days was to see two bits of East London. I suddenly really feel for people not even from England. This place is crazy.
To my friends: I love you all. Where ever you are in geography or time, thankyou for always making me feel at home.
So, black tea in hand, microwaved chicken in the bin, feeling of wander and accomplishment in the bank, I have completed my fourth sketch in the series. I think I can be let off this one as it is now 2am, having been go since 7am. I promise that, since I have a lot of tomorrow off I will use the time super-constructively and delivery a proper portrait, as per the brief. Now sleep.
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