Wednesday, May 22, 2013

May 20, 2013. J.Co and Jo


I was on duty as the adult physician for 48 hours starting May 20, 2013. Each duty contains 24 hours, with two resident adult physicians minding the ward and emergency room and the morning dialysis center. However, my partner for my first 24 hours of duty cancelled for personal reasons.

Upon endorsement of the in-patients from the outgoing residents, I thought that everything will be easy breezy. But I was just so mistaken. Being alone for the whole 24 hours of duty, every call was directed to me. I had to answer to different referrals of in-patients problems while juggling the buzz of the ER and dialysis center. Aside from this, since all patients are private, I have to refer to each patient’s attending physician via SMS or phone call to update on laboratory or procedure results as well as current status or complaints.

I have a very bad habit of ignoring breakfast. Upon waking up every single day, rarely do I have the urge of hunger.  I usually take a mug of coffee before I hit the road.  This is also the same reason I have gastric pains intermittently.  During my first 24 hours of duty, I did my no-breakfast routine since I didn’t expect to be busy.  Lo and behold, it’s already 2:00 in the afternoon when I noticed my stomach grumbling in complaint of need for food. How come I haven’t had lunch on time? Well, time flies when someone’s busy as a bee. But when I got to the call room to eat, I have just taken a few mouthfuls when the phone started ringing. Again. Multiple times. Multiple calls. Lucky me.

The day went on and I can liken my situation to a work ant. Focused only on work. Work. Work. Cliché, though, it is rewarding to lend a hand and take care of patients and attend to their needs. Spiritual or not, I believe goodness and karma travels back fast.

Ever ready and moving, I found that there are actually some perks travelling from my call room to the ward. I got to exercise my legs and breathe out heavily to ward off bad vibes. But I got to do this hundreds of times, I guess, that I got to the point that I am just dog-tired. Then my personal phone started ringing. It was my friend Jo. I must have forgotten that he’s supposed to meet me at the ER in the afternoon. Tee hee, the afternoon meet-up turned to evening, and I barely noticed the difference. He did call me beforehand asking if I like J.Co donuts and if I have any preference. I told him, just give me some milk tea and I can survive the rest of the day. I was so surprised when he came in and had a box of 6 pieces of sumptuous J.Co donuts! I almost wanted to cry out of happiness that I could bite into such delicious goodness without enduring the long lines of the much sought-after donuts. I even I asked him where did he buy it and how was he able to get hold of these precious donuts without breaking a sweat. So he told me that he had to wait in line, standing outside the shop, just to get them for me. To bribe me! He wanted to meet up for this medical thing he needs to accomplish. And what a bribe I got. I thought he forgot about the milk tea, and then he told me that he just opted to give me Gongcha milk tea, which is now a bit warm ‘cause of the travel time to the hospital. Ah! Heaven! I must be dreaming. I have been so busy that I didn’t even think I deserve a minute to eat and now I found my oasis.

Thanks to you Jo, I had a glimpse of happiness amidst the sorrow of lone duty during my first 24 hours. But then again, as a down side… I only got to taste my goodies at around 11:00 in the evening. Perks or no perks, I think I have one of the best jobs in the world --- with the one of bestest friends to go with it, “user-friendly” or not. 

J.Co Donuts: Top - Alcapone; Middle: Hi Lychee; Bottom: Avocado DiCaprio (my ultimate favorite!)
with my GongCha milk tea

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