A sudden tide of fury and confrontation.

So yesterday, I heard from a friend some awful things have been said about me.

phew..

Note, this paragraph is old: I saw my first appendectomy (appendicectomy) today, and it was pretty!

Learn! Organs! Eunuchs! Gym! Work! Taxes! Aye aye aye..

My friend Allan tipped me in the general direction of this fantastic website! It is essentially a website that borrows University level lectures in audio, video, and note format, and puts them out there, for us to listen, watch and read.

Total Abdominal Colectomy

Witnessed my fourth abdo surgery today, a total colectomy. Found this video, and while this TAC is done laparoscopically (key hole or minimally invasive surgery) a lot of the techniques and tools implemented (such as a harmonic diathermy scalpell) are the same or similar.

Bitesize neurology

Just wanted to share this little gem of a video with you guys, take 5 minutes out of your day to understand a little better how our big old heads work won’t you?

Phew, late night revision..

So in just over one week we have an exam on the topic of the NMC Code of conduct, and I finally got down to the nitty gritty of it properly tonight. Had a few revision hours on it so far, but every one of them has seemed to simply be me sat with a pile of terms, a dictionary, and the excellent book which I would recommend to other student nurses; Becoming a Nurse in the 21st Century.

Public Toilet Rant + Gordon Brown’s “new NHS” Rant

You know what I’ve been thinking about lately – how f**king dumb is the design of your average public toilet?

Modified Radical Mastectomy, L.D. the main guy, Jeff Hawkins, n’stuff..

First up a teaser for a surgical video on radical mastectomy. This is not for children, and not neccessarily for you, kind of depending if you are into surgery and all that stuff..

Lasek (laser epithelial keratomileusis) or Lasik (Laser-Assisted in Situ Keratomileusis)?

For a while I have been thinking about having the so-called laser eye surgery done, to make my vision as close to 20/20 as possible. I would love to not have to wear glasses. I mean, granted it’s become part of who I am to some degree, there are sports and activities where glasses are an absolute nightmare. Gymnastics + glasses = not so great. Parkour + glasses = not so great either. And simply laying on my side watching a movie can be a pain in the ass, when the glasses start digging into the temples.. not so great my friend, not so great.. It’s one of those big things in life though, screwing around with eyes is not to be taken lightly. In addition, I had a lot of problems with my eyes as a child. Something or other causing my eyes to constantly weep under the strain of any kind of light. I am not sure if that means I for some reason can’t have this type of surgery done, contacts are certainly problematic for me, causing much of the same commotion, with runny eyes, and constant irritation. I guess a consult with experts in the field would be my best bet..

Anyways, my options seems to mainly be LASIK or LASEK (PRK).

LASIK is roughly the following procedure:

1. A flap is created in the cornea of the eye

2. An excimer laser is used to remodel the corneal stroma

3. The flap is put back, and left to stick to the eye by it’s natural adhesive properties

4. Some precautions are took (e.g. antibiotics, goggles, etc), and within a few weeks everything should be sorted out.

LASEK is not so invasive (..apparently):

1. The outer corneal layer is scraped away

2. An excimer laser again rstructures the corneal stroma

3. The corneal epithelium must now grow back on it’s own accord

Although The LASIK apprently causes slightly more risk due to the incision into the cornea (risks like a dislocated corneal flap), I think this seems the best option, with the improved vision regained quicker, and the procedure healing faster. In either case I guess I should go have a consultation or two and see if I can find a surgeon I feel comfortable with. I guess the issue of the price is also worth considering..

If you are interested in understanding a little more about it wisegeek.com has a handy little introduction.

Peace, Serene Fox

Mmm.. Brains..

So I’m not going to go into detail about the subject, though, suffice to say, I find brains very intriguing – definitely the most interesting organ we got, in fact the whole nervous system is something of a marvel of our highly complex bodies. You can say what you want about the steady reliability of the heart, the liver’s ability to regenerate, and the skin’s amazing healing powers, but no other organ defines us like our brains. It is who we are and it is who we can become.

I recently finished reading through Katrina Firlik’s book Another Day in the Frontal Lobe for the second time, and that really says it all. In my past seven or so years as a fully fledged adult, there has only ever been that one book I have read more than once. It’s essentially what the cover says – a book about neurosurgery from the point of view of a neurosurgeon. Firlik writes in a very “pally” way, kind of like she is telling you these strange trivial secrets about the neurological OR and community in person. The book sticks to a minimal proportion of jargon, all of which is explained in comprehesible terms. In truth it’s more of an entertaining read than an educational one, although if you’re a novice like me, you can pick up some new tidbits about that chunk of neurons we keep hidden deep within our skulls..

Another book I can’ refrain from recommending while talking about brains is Jeff Hawkin’s book on intelligence, simply called On Intelligence. This gem is less about brains and more about the mind, mapping out a way to think about how intelligence works exactly, the second part of the book emphasising how this theory can be applied to work in the area of artificial intelligence. Saying that, it does discuss in depth the physiological way a brain functions, using these facts to illustrate how his theory may be applied in real life. Jeff, the creator of the palm pilot and founder of Palm has in more recent years cofounded Numenta, which may be of more interest to people with an inclination to work with artificial intelligence.

Anyways, if you are interested in brains, wiki the names or use the links, you might find something interesting.. And if you want to drop me a line about similar stuff I might like – go for it!

Serene Fox

PS. Thanks to illuminati-news for the use of their brain image..