A Healthy Dose of the Christmas Spirit

We have had a bit of a strange run up to Christmas this year. It has consisted of snatching moments of Christmas joy whenever we can. This is the first Christmas where one of us will be working throughout the festive period and we're hoping it doesn't happen again! 

Fortunately, working as a doctor seems like a very worthwhile pursuit even when everyone else in the world seems to be on their leisure time. It's reminded us of the Master Healer and Teacher who never takes the day off from us, and who is constantly on-call to listen to our needs. Focusing on Him puts everything in perspective during this Christmas season and always. 

Luckily we have managed to find some "down-time" and decided to take the train into Birmingham (a 40 minute ride away from where we live) to sample the delights of the German Christmas Market that's around Victoria Square each year. 

Birmingham has recently been voted among the top ten most exciting destinations for 2015. Please bear in mind that this is a list put together by "Rough Guides" and we're not entirely sure that this isn't just a list of "Rough" places. However, Harriet loves Birmingham (Ben likes the middle bit but thinks the rest of it is... not great) and  would be very happy to take you on a tour of the dark and dismal areas. Just kidding, we'd show you the nice bits... or bit. Either way, they have a bostin' (see translation) German Christmas Market every year which could compete with any in the country. Or in Germany, we reckon. 

Admittedly, we only spent about an hour wandering around the market because it was "Baltic" (Ben's favourite word to denote a mildly chilly temperature) even though we were wrapped up like Michelin men.  See the picture below for reference - particularly appreciate the way the beautiful Christmas lights are reflected in the Tesco Express windows. Classy. Come visit Birmingham. 

In retrospect, though, we probably should have foregone the over-priced hot-dogs of the German stands and purchased cold pasta salads in a plastic dish from Tesco itself. We could even have got a meal-deal. Twice. Each. However, we can thoroughly recommend the chocolaty-marshmellowy-things that were a bargain 50p each. Yes, we mostly paid for air but that air tasted particularly sugary. Which we like. As you can tell by the expression on Ben's face: 

 

But the most important thing about the Christmas Market in our eyes (most people would probably say the beer) is the wonderful way in which they try and extract money from unsuspecting parents as they round the corner and get hit by the lights and sound of a carousel. Nothing in Harriet's mind could be more exciting. 

Look, have you ever seen someone so happy?

And here's Ben enjoying it too:

Admittedly, he was less impressed with this: 

Overall, our hour spent in the freezing cold looking at over-priced stuff sold by Polish people masquerading as Germans turned out to be surprisingly Christmassy. 

And despite our need to make a joke out of it, it was lovely to spend time together and remember the love that is what Christmas is all about; whether that's love for Birmingham, marshmallows, carousels or family. 

Whatever you're doing this Christmas, we hope you find time to spend reflecting on happy moments spent with those that you love. Enjoy making memories! 

Here's something we'll be reflecting on this Christmas, we'd love you to watch it: 

Merry Christmas!!! 

420

For the last four months I've been on my first Foundation Year One (FY1) post - my first job as a recently graduated doctor. 

I've had the privilege of working in Burton Hospital on the General Surgical team. As a member of that team I've been carrying round the bleep (pager) with the number "420". As long as I was covering 'normal jobs' (which means looking after patients on the ward) I was carrying this bleep. It was only during this last week on the job that one of the Senior doctors on the team, who is originally from Pakistan, mentioned to me that my bleep number "420" is synonymous in India for frauds, deceivers and cheaters. I've still trying to get my head around whether I should feel offended that this fact was jokingly shared with me as being appropriate for myself. 

In some ways, I can definitely see how I started off as a bit of a fraud! It felt odd to call myself a doctor, and stranger still to hear other people say it. Moving on to my next role within the same hospital, I guess I will feel a bit like that again. I've learned my surgical job, I know the team and the role. I even got to know some of the 'regulars', who may have ongoing surgical problems and have had more than one admission over my time as a surgical FY1. My next job is going to be another learning curve. It's a different role, team and expectation to meet. It's even a different 'type of patient' to those I encounter on the bright and friendly surgical wards. 

I'm really grateful for the things I've learned on surgery and for the people who have helped me. I've had some senior doctors and nurses who have been exemplary. I've loved interacting with all of the other members of staff. Best of all, my peers (especially the girls!) have made it a lot of fun and have really shared the things they've been learning which has made it all so much easier. It's amazing when you can ask a colleague about something you've never done before that seems tricky and they can clue you in quickly and make it seem totally doable. I've laughed until I've cried (literally) over conversations shared. It's been a fantastic first team! 

Just a Few of the Highlights: 

• Participating in Surgery: Cholecystectomy, Laparotomy, Appendicectomy, Hernia repairs. Learning has been quite "hands on" at times! 
• Good feedback from Seniors - because everyone loves the occasional pat on the head. 
• Learning that when you get bleeped the first question should always be "Are you sure that this is MY patient?" (explanation: we get lots of bleeps as the nurses always have lots of questions and they sometimes don't have a lot of time to work out who it is exactly that they need to get hold of - it can be quite confusing as we carry different bleeps when on-call etc.)
• Knowing that anyone who comes to A&E with "Abdominal Pain" will inevitably become a surgical patient - which makes it easier to anticipate how many there are to see on a night shift. 
• The "mystery meat" in the food left in the fridge in the Doctors' Mess for the on-call teams. 
• Being on the wards for the moment of silence at 11:00 on 11/11/14. 

I'm excited (and nervous) for my new start as a Medical FY1 tomorrow! Wish me luck!