Work
Monday I was on call in casualty for the 2nd time and this is the on call that scares me compared to covering the wards and mostly being called to maternity which is my day job. I worry in casualty about patient presentations we don’t often see at home (stab wounds) and things we see at home but manage differently here eg. no on site specialties to refer to.
The day job Monday was busy and I didn’t manage to leave until gone 4, getting back into casualty at 4:30. Casualty was busy and we had an emergency Caesarean too, so I only got a few hours rest all night, then almost straight into theatre again the next morning. I got a couple of hours sleep Tuesday afternoon before going out. Back to work for another busy day Wednesday, then got asked in the afternoon if I could cover the casualty on call that night too as my colleague was sick. The call wasn’t so bad compared to Monday with fewer already waiting to be seen when I arrived and trickling in steadily and manageably until around 10pm. I was up twice in the night to do reviews and see two new patients, then set my alarm and got up at 6am for reviews and to organise transfers out for referrals made the previous evening but the nurses had already sorted it. Thursday and Friday were fairly normal, but I ended up going to theatre last thing on Friday and leaving late. There were also phone issues so I was unable to contact our referral hospital switchboard or the ambulance service switchboard and had to use the contacts I had in my phone to find out who was on call and call cellphones, and call the ambulance station supervisor to arrange transfers.
The following week I was due to go to East London to do some training on Caesarean sections Monday to Thursday and I expected to be working at the weekend. But I got put on call Monday and not the weekend so rearranged it for Tuesday to Friday with the option to go in on the weekend too if needed. Then because I did my colleagues on call shift for her last Wednesday, she did my Monday night call for me, so I was able to drive down to East London Monday evening.
I got and to Frere Hospital Tuesday morning. There was an intern on labour ward trying to get 10 caesars under her belt for sign off so we had to take turns. Tuesday, I watched the first one, assisted in the second, then assisted and took over for the last couple of stages of the third and fourth. Wednesday there were four cases so she did number one and three, and I was to do two and four. I actually managed to do the whole of my case from start to finish so was really chuffed with that. A fourth degree tear meant my second case got pushed back, so I stayed late as I wanted to do it. Then it was found the patient was anaemic and needed transfusion before operating so we waited for the blood, until the anaesthetist decided we could go ahead with the blood on its way as long as there was minimal bleeding and it was quick ie. the more experienced surgeon would be doing it, not me and I would assist. It turned out to be a far more complex case than anyone was expecting and ended up being converted into a hysterectomy so we were there hours. Thursday I watched one; then had my turn to do one but only the second half as it was imperative the baby was delivered quickly; then the next which was also going to be mine got cancelled. Friday, neither of the elective cases turned up but I did the twin case postponed from the previous afternoon, then assisted in two emergency cases for fetal distress and one for cord prolapse. Although I was assisting, I was doing far more than in the past, and pre-empting my colleague’s actions going through the steps in my mind like a mental rehearsal. So I actually feel quite confident compared to how I imagined I’d feel after so few.
Life
After a couple of hours sleep Tuesday afternoon, I went into Mthatha for dinner with Sandra. We bumped into someone she knew from East London in the restaurant by chance so he joined us too. It seems everyone knows eachother when I got out to restaurants with people in Mthatha and East London. I stayed with Sandra then we got up early Wednesday morning to run before work, and I’m glad I did as I ended up doing a surprise on call that night and therefore not able to train in the evening or next morning.
I noticed fewer giant millipedes this week, but a few smaller brown ones. This is also the week of huge black beetles.
Friday I drove to Queenstown, where I’d be staying with a friend of a friend for a marathon on the Saturday. I got there quite late on Friday and went straight to bed with another early morning (4am!) wake up. The marathon was fantastic but certainly didn’t go smoothly (see race report below), and then we all spent a lazy day in the garden and living room before going to someone else’s house for a big braai in the evening. I met lots of new people and had a good time, everyone here is so kind and hospitable.
Sunday morning after breakfast, I took myself on an impromptu game drive in a nearby reserve. It was absolutely brilliant! I drove around by myself for 2.5 hours and didn’t see another human or vehicle the entire time. I spotted giraffes, zebras, ostriches, baboons, springboks, impalas, another large antelope type thing, a tortoise, and rhinos. I was staring to my right at where some baboons had just gone having run across the road in front of me; then glanced to my left and saw three rhinos so close, looking straight at me. I gasped and exclaimed “oh my god, rhinos!”, which startled them, them having startled me and they trotted to hide behind some trees. My phone had overheated and was so slow to function so I didn’t get a good picture when I had a perfect clear view but just one through the trees. I was so pleased to see them as on my safari in Kenya about 10 years ago, rhinos were the main thing we were disappointed not to spot, and kept thinking we’d spotted some then realising it was yet another hippo.
I drove back home Sunday afternoon for work on Monday, then down to East London after work on Monday for my training at Frere Hospital. I stayed with Karen and her family for the week and we did some running (of course!) and she and Dean were my saviours when it came to my car saga (see below). We went out for dinner Friday night with an extended wing of their family and I had my first fish and chips in months.
On the weekend I raced a 5km Saturday and a 10km Sunday, and my car saga continued. In a way, the breakdown was lucky because it stopped me driving back on Sunday afternoon, and mid afternoon when I’d have been halfway up the N2 in the middle of nowhere, I got feverish, and started rigoring, and felt nauseous and headachey with a really bad stomach. Monday, I was unable to get to work as I was stranded in East London and spent all day on the sofa feeling sick as a dog. But then my car was finally sorted at 16:50! So I stayed another night to drive back at 4am the next day.
Car saga continues:
To catch up, I bought a car in East London and the dealership were going to register and license it for me but when they tried were told they couldn’t as I had an Mthatha address. So their colleagues at the Mthatha branch tried, but were told I had to go in person as I am foreign and had to apply for a traffic registration certificate. I went to the Mthatha traffic office after an on call one day and was told the traffic registration certificate can only be obtained in East London. I took a day off work as it can only be done Monday-Friday 8-13:30, and went along to be told, “Thankyou very much, we’ll send this off to home affairs and call you when it’s done. It will be working 3 weeks.” I arranged my Caesarean training in East London to correspond with the 4th week so I could collect it. I tried calling ahead in the 3rd week many times but no answer so went in Tuesday first thing and was told it was still with home affairs. They gave me a number to call in the next few days which turned out to be the same number I’d been trying which they continued not to answer. I went Thursday lunchtime and it still wasn’t there, and I complained about no one answering to be told the phone isn’t working and they’re receiving no incoming calls. So I gave up and went back to the dealership to get fresh paperwork transferring the ownership from them to my South African friend rather than to me. But it turns out the roadworthy certificate needed to license the car expired last week (good job I didn’t get my traffic registration certificate and drive all the way to butterworth to license it and find the roadworthy was expired!), so I’d have to drop the car in for that to be redone and be without the car for the day, but by the end of the day it would all be sorted. Then the car broke down! You really couldn’t make it up. I called my Breakdown Recovery who said they’d tow me to the nearest dealership but that the dealership would be closed by then so they’d tow me to safety and then to the dealership the next day. I looked in my rearview window and realised I was right outside a Hyundai dealership so managed to get it in there and wait until morning for it to be assessed and to hear the conclusion. Conclusion was a new clutch for a hefty cost but they were able to fix it the same day so I could drop it off back at the dealership I’d bought it from to go for a new roadworthy certificate and finally to get its license disc and plates. Now for changing details on the insurance…
Training
Monday: REST
Tuesday: REST
Wednesday: Easy 4 mile run with Sandra
Thursday: Unintentional REST (fell asleep at 4pm after being on call the previous night)
Friday: REST
Saturday: Twizza Bonkolo Marathon in Queenstown. The marathon started early at 5:30 and I had a marathon in my legs from 6 days ago. I was hoping for a sub 3:40 to get my C seeding for Comrades, but I wasn’t sure how it would go. The half marathon and marathon started back to back heading in opposite directions. The marathon course started with an out and back of around 13kms, and I was up at the front for about the first 3km. I was overtaken and then again at 5km. Then a third girl caught me. I’d met this girl before, beating her at Three Silos Parkrun in my first week in South Africa, and had also placed 7th to my 6th at the Sole Destroyer half marathon in September. The two of us caught up to the girl in 2nd and then the three of us ran together for a bit but we were pushing the pace and it was too fast, so I took a toilet stop around 9km and then restarted, running my own race. We passed through the start line after 13kms then down a tar road before turning right onto a dirt road where we saw the leaders of the half marathon coming back. Karen was there in 4th place, doing really well considering how sick she’d been the previous evening. (She went on to overtake and finish 3rd overall and 1st vet 40.) After a few kilometres on the dirt road, we were back on tarmac, and at 18km I promptly fell over grazing my left knee, both hands, and my right thigh, hip and chest. I picked myself up a bit winded and washed my wounds then carried on. A few kilometres later, I desperately needed the toilet but we were now well out of the bush and in wide streets with big houses and posh schools. I ended up walking for a kilometre until I found some suitable bushland, and being overtaken, dropping down into 5th. After stopping, I felt much better and began climbing the mountain with lovely views of Queenstown. Then we were back down and into town and I caught my new South African running nemesis/friendly competition ahead of me. We were then back on the dirt road and retracing our steps up the last tarmac hill. I was exhausted and came in just over 4 hours in 4th place.
Sunday: REST
Monday: REST
Tuesday: Recovery 5km run with Karen
Wednesday: Unintentional REST as stuck in work until 9pm
Thursday: REST
Friday: REST
Saturday: King Williamstown Parkrun, my 109th parkrun, 42nd different parkrun course, and 6th first female finish in a row. It was an undulating course, mostly on grass at the golf course, but it wasn’t until I uploaded the run and looked at the elevation that I saw how pronounced the hill actually was. It was a lovely race, and there was quite a crowd visiting from the two East London parkruns. The photo of the 5 of us with our back to the camera could have been better if we’d exposed our tshirts as between us we had on an apricot, a red 50, a black 100, and a green 250. Just missing the purple 25 volunteer shirt and the elusive 500! Tia in this photo holds the record for the longest parkrun streak, having run something like 260 in a row without missing a week!
Sunday: Lightning Fast 10km Race
So called because the course is supposed to be conducive to PBs with an overall elevation drop. But it was warm, and 10km is not my favourite race distance by any stretch of the imagination, and I had back to back marathons in my legs. I was hoping for around 42-43 minutes but ran a 44:38, finishing 8th, and my new nemesis (see above) passed me around the half way mark to finish about 30 seconds ahead of me. It wasn’t what I was hoping for and nowhere near my best of 40:20, but significantly better than my last 10k in August.
Dr G Personal Training 