A is for Airway....and Anaesthetics

I had had several apprehensions before starting Anaesthetics....and I had experienced EVEN more doubts prior to this when I had heard more than one individual proclaim their love for the specialty.

Perhaps it is true when they say pleasant surprises happen when you are least expecting it. Because my first week on the placement so far has been anything but unpleasant. Fair enough, I did come across a fair bit of grilling on my very first day and very first theatre session, but the amount that I took away from it surprised even myself.

And, taking into account the fact that I was still pretty much riding on my wave of vacation fever when I started last week, I had to say that the patience and effort that these wonderful beings poured into helping me grasp the core points around the topic was definitely much appreciated. At the end of last Friday, I had reverted from a Cardio Fangirl to an Anaesthetist Wannabe. Pretty much sold. No further persuasions required.

Okay, I kid. The door is pretty much still open to me, and at the moment, the anchoring heuristic in me still sides the matters of the heart (pun intended) strongly. But it was moments like last Thursday where Lynn and I had had a very productive afternoon session brushing up on our Gen Med knowledge and our systematic approach (or maybe lack of) in handling emergent situations, that struck a significant chord in me and made me realise.....that moments like these...moment like these are what drove me to endure the hours of trawling the hospital, of being ignored or chastised as liked, of tearing hair out prior to exams.....and of potential identity crisis when work commences....and that at the end of the day, there is nothing else but this that I could imagine myself possibly doing.

I will miss Anaesthetics when it is all over. And maybe in another 3 weeks or so, I will have reverted back to the broken, bitter, ill-tempered med student scurrying around A&E when you next check this space.

But for the moment, in customary ABCDE approach, let me just say.

A is for:

- Airway

- Anaesthetics

and - Alyssa being strangely happy for the first time in ages.

Sensory Lab

So much has happened since the last post.

For one, the dreaded farewells and customary bidding of Goodbye to Kch came and left, with less drama than anticipated. At that moment, it did seem apt when my own words rang true, that things were only as drama as you made them out to be.

Then the inevitable embracing of a new academic year came and went as well, amidst suffering from bouts of drowsiness and jetlag between Prescribing, Handovers and Case Histories.

And on the first weekend of all of us being reunited back in Londontown, what else was there to do but continue with the coffee-hunting adventures.

This time, our destination was Sensory Lab:

The latest Australian cafe to take London by storm. Or, as 'Time-Out' would put it, 'Great Coffee finally hitting Oxford Circus by way of Melbourne'.

Much thanks to Jane again (my Coffee-Hunting partner in crime - in spirit of course) for introducing us to this second Melbourne-based brand name. The first being St. ALi which we had visited and absolutely adored.

The ambience was slightly less appealing than it's sister branch in Clerkenwell, but later, Daisy and I came to love the countertops and window seats overlooking Wigmore Street, which allowed us much entertainment in way of people-watching on a rainy, windy afternoon in Londontown.

And of course, not forgetting the main point: The Coffee.

My Latte was awesome enough. And as Lynn pointed out, so was her Flat White, and YL's Cappuccino. Slightly stronger, I might add, than St. ALi's brews, from what my uncultured taste buds could recall, but definitely a gem of a place to add to our Coffee-Hunting adventures.

And with the string of Melbourne-based cafes that are jetting over the miles to land on this part of the world, it seems that life can only get better from here. Here's hoping that this final year will be filled with more laughs, wonderful memories and perfectly crafted espressos amidst coffee beans from over the world.....besides the best company in the world, of course.

Sensory Lab

75 Wigmore Street

London W1U 1QD