I cannot remember which heart murmur goes 'potato, potato' and which goes 'Doctor Who, Doctor Who'.

....to everyone who commented and helped with my transgender presentation! I did it on Friday, and I got a really good response - lots of sensible questions and thoughtful discussion afterwards. Also, I got an Excellent for it, which goes down on my med school record. Hurrah!

Well, that took longer than it really should have done. ( Cut for talk of needles )

Nothing quite like it for getting you really muddy.

I walked over the field to the hospital today, to shadow the lovely alan_mcleod in the clinical decisions unit, but I had a bit of a disaster on the way. There is a very slippery bit in the field, where you have to get across a ditch, and I lost my footing and did a brief Bambi impression before falling in the mud and slicing my hand on a metal pole. Fortunately, I know where there is a very nice doctor, so I limped into CDU and whimpered plaintively at Alan, who dressed my hand and made sympathetic noises. I did manage do do some work then (wrote up some fluids, interpreted a blood gas and clerked in a patient) before it was time to go home. So, we walked back across the field, and eyed the ditch dubiously. Alan decided to try to fix the bridge (made of wooden pallets) across the ditch, and almost managed it before he fell headlong into the mud. I only laughed a bit, honest, when he sat up and blinked at me looking like the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

And then I tried to get across, and sat down squelch in the mud.

We are both home now, relatively intact and with our clothes in the washing machine. Tomorrow I will ring my GP and find out about my tetanus status, because I can't actually remember if I'm up to date or not.

Oh, the glamour of medicine.

Hi peoples :-)

Having discovered a distressing level of ignorance among doctors about transgender issues, I've decided to make my presentation on Friday about it. I know I'm doing psychiatry at the moment, but I'm not suggesting that it's a mental illness, just that it can be a huge exacerbating factor that's often dealt with very badly by ward staff. I was chatting to a young F to M patient the other day who was amazed that I actually understood what he was talking about and that I asked what pronoun he preferred me to use when writing in the notes. (And when I did so, with the requested male pronouns, I discovered that everyone since his admission had called him 'she' throughout. I was quite cross.)

So, I need to present sensitively on a subject I confess I know little about. Does anyone know any sources (websites, journals etc) that would be a good place to start? And if anyone's willing to share any personal experiences about experiences in health care (especially, but not exclusively, in psychiatry or psychology), that would be enormously appreciated.

Comments will be screened (I've clicked on the screening button now to make sure I don't forget) as I know some of you are further along the process than others might or might not want to discuss issues publicly. If you want to share this with any friends that might have an opinion, please feel free.

Thank you! *squishes*

And a hangover to match. choccy_mouse had rather more than a wee dram of whiskey last night. We had a very silly noisy time. There are probably not many people who would react to this level of drunkenness by digging out some 16th century music and playing it on recorder and violin, but then we are not 'many people'.

Now I have to do a presentation for Friday. I had probably better start it tonight, alas.

Endocrinology makes my head hurt. Also, I cannot be bothered to cook anything, but Do Not Want pot noodle.

Happy birthday, slightlytookish! I hope you're having a lovely day xxx

Birthday wishes and drunken snuggles to my bestest friend choccy_mouse! I know it's technically past midnight, but it's still her birthday in America. So that counts.

I have a tidy house! It was in such a state that I was at a loss where to start, but she turned up wielding bleach and mops and we set to work and it is so lovely. It has inspired me to be all domestic; there is a delicious-smelling casserole in the oven and all the washing up is already done. Thank you, heidi_cat, you are my bestest girl.

Also, this afternoon's lectures were cancelled so I have had a lovely day in the warm. I'm all on my own this week because alan_mcleod is visiting his mum, but I don't really mind - I have lots of revision to do and a new Mercedes Lackey book to read (my guilty pleasure) for when I've done it. And I am going to live off the aforementioned casserole all week, with crusty bread and cider.

When we get to 2110, and all of us are texting our good wishes from our cryogenic pods, I wish to remind those of you in the first third of my mobile contacts that I have already wished you Happy New Year for this year, and therefore do not have to do so again.

I may or may not be drunk.

Hello everyone! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas! I had a lovely time; it was a bit strange without Grandad and I missed him very much, but it was still really good to see my family, especially choccy_mouse. There was, predictably, much silliness. alan_mcleod also came for Christmas Day and Boxing Day, which was very nice indeed.
I also met my new nephew (well, second cousin really) Luke, who is very small and snuggly and says 'RAAAAAA' rather than crying, which is quite hilarious. He was copiously sick in my cleavage.

Meanwhile, I have been being a domestic goddess! When I was doing my Christmas shopping in Nottingham, I saw a poster in the window of White Stuff (my favourite clothes shop) offering a hamper of cordials and fizzy fruit drinks and a £20 voucher for the best mince pie. Not one to pass up a challenge like that, I enlisted my trusty Nigella book and took in a frangipane mince pie, which get rave reviews whenever I bake them - and lo! I won! Admittedly I don't think they had many entries, but still, I am rather proud of myself! I took them a tub of mince pies when I went to collect my winnings. And look!

( My hamper! )

I also baked two Christmas cakes, to cope with the onslaught from my family, particularly my dad and alan_mcleod (who is practically family by now). They love Christmas cake, and I love baking, so it's a very happy arrangement! I am rather proud of my decorations this year, although I know the leaves are ivy and not holly. I thought I had a holly cutter, but alas, no. I may have to invest in one in the January sales.

( My cake! )

ETA: The yellow bits on some of the leaves are actually sparkly edible gold powder! They don't look so good on the picture, but I promise they're pretty in real life....

Everyone's gone home now, and we have a brief couple of days of peace before people descend again for New Year. I may or may not be spending it with family, but I am at least doing the cooking for my parents' dinner party. I went to the local farm shop today and came back with guinea fowl and venison and chestnuts and apples and Madeira and porcini mushrooms, om nom nom. I love that shop; I shall go there far more often when I live in Nottingham again one day.
For now, though, I think I shall go and curl up with my knitting and watch Stephen Fry on Who Do You Think You Are (the genealogy documentary). I hope you're all having a lovely time!

It's a bit of a tradition for me to post this poem by Thomas Hardy on Christmas Eve. For me, it sums up the sanctity and magic of this night - it's a night where you can truly believe that anything is possible, and the normal rules don't apply. I make no apologies for repeating it this year.

( The Oxen )

I have lots of other things to share with you, but for now I'll leave it at that. I'm off to Midnight Communion now - I wish you all a blessed and magical Christmas.

Does anyone who doesn't have a paid lj account want one? LJ have given paid account holders a $10 coupon to give to our friends towards updating a non-paid account to paid. Alas, it can't be used to renew an already paid account.

I have ten of said coupons to give out - you're welcome to them if you'd like one, just leave a comment here :-)

Also, we got signed off for our block today and the block coordinator told me and K that we had come top of the class and all the consultants had said how good we were! And that was before we gave them the chocolate bribery :-)

They would both find out what they were getting for Christmas, the nosy buggers. And then Santa would be very displeased with them.

My mum heidi_cat is brilliant. This is generally true at all times, but she surpassed herself at the weekend. She was singing with her choir in the Market Square in Nottingham, when they were confronted with a protester of some sort drowning out their singing by banging a pan with a wooden spoon. Now, I'm all about the freedom to protest a cause, but the protesters had had their 20 minute slot and the choir had listened politely to their banging-of-pans. Most of them stepped aside to let the choir sing, but this one girl had no grasp of common decency or manners, and was determined to ruin things for everyone.
Mum's friend J, who works with teenagers with behavioural problems, stepped forward and confiscated the girl's wooden spoon in the manner of schoolteachers everywhere. The girl stood sheepishly for a while, and then decided she wanted her spoon back, so she sidled up to J (who was still singing!) and asked for it back. 'You can have it when we've finished,' said J, and the girl promptly lunged at her and grabbed her glasses off her face.

Now, my mum left the police 30 years ago, before I was born. Apparently, though, the old instincts are still there, because apparently she doesn't remember moving but suddenly found that she had the girl in an armlock and was restraining her whilst reclaiming the glasses. And then she had to talk the community support officer (a not-quite-policeman) through reporting criminal damage when he didn't know how to do it. And then, she dusted herself down and went back to singing 'Jingle Bells' in her fluffy Santa hat.

My mum is the bestest in the world and I love her very much. If I am half as cool as her when I grow up, I shall be very pleased with myself.

Happy birthday to the lovely brighty_18! I hope you have a lovely day, sweetheart xxx

Thank you, werewolfsfan, brighty18, dreamdustmama and slightlytookish for my snowflake cookies! They are so pretty and now I want to bake some just like that :-)

My flu is improving - the temperature has gone away now; I just have my annual Cough Of Doom which had better not turn into bronchitis like it usually does. I don't think I'm infectious any more, anyway, so I'm going back to work tomorrow. I'm still pretty exhausted, but hopefully an early night tonight will sort me out.

My kitty was so adorable today. I wanted a cuddle, but I felt really tired and achy so I wanted to go back to bed. I scooped her up off the chair and she was all soft and sleepy and went 'mrrrrrr' at me, and then settled down on my tummy for a nap. Baby girl :-D

There is Christmas cake in the oven. The fruit has been soaking in brandy, port, rum and cherry brandy for a fortnight, and now it smells very delicious indeed.

Made for me by the lovely alan_mcleod. At least being poorly gives us time to do stuff, if it doesn't take too much energy! Getting out of bed is problematic, for example.