Gratuitous cat pictures

So I don't actually live with Nala any more, but I do go visit her from time to time - here are some of the highlights from my last visit.

Demon kitty eyes. Look at that winter coat fluff! :3

Kitty cuddles (under duress) also paws.

Like me, she's not a huge fan of hoppy beers.

Playing with the chair and a bit of paper. Also, dat tail.

And of course the cutest photo for last.

...I totally miss living with her.

Selected for Commonwealth Karate Champs!

Since going to the Commonwealth Karate Championships as part of the development squad 2 years ago I definitely feel like my sport karate has improved - so am totally excited to be going to Canada (hell yeah!) for this year's Commonwealth champs in October. What terrifies me is that I only have 10 weeks to train and will be spending a good 10-day stretch in HK/TW for another conference....eep.

A skirt.

I was particularly excited about this skirt. It's one I've wanted for a wee while now, and when it appeared for sale second-hand I pretty much snatched it up as fast as I could (being online and all, there was no physical snatching involved)

Then of course when it arrived, I felt like it matched nothing in my wardrobe and I was forever going to be stuck matching it with off-white and possibly dark purple. And then someone suggested red, and I came up with this. I'm pretty pleased with myself.

See: hipster glasses. Also, I think this is the first time I've ever worn that neckbow.

Continuity of care/the privilege of being there

Recently I experienced something that made me feel very privileged; I got to be there for someone.

Sounds weird, right? Like... that's what we do. We're there when people are sick, as they get better, as they come in and leave hospital - we're there, in the hospital. But with this lady's journey I was there for all the key turning points, from the moment she arrived on my ward until the moment that she unfortunately did not leave hospital. I was there to watch her recover from her initial injury, and there when she got more unwell. I watched her recover from the second setback, and told her off for not telling the nurses when she was in pain. I was the doctor who reviewed her and panicked and kept the registrar busy for 3 hours the Sunday she had a heart attack. I was there when we told her family that we couldn't fix her, with all our technology and fancy drugs and medical treatments. I was there two Saturdays later, two hours after her daughter returned from overseas, certifying her deceased. 

In the hospital, we usually don't see all of our patients all of the time. They get sick; they get better. They get reviewed, they get fixed by the nurses and their own determination, or you come into work the next morning and they aren't on the list. But for this once, I managed to be there, and it honestly felt like a honour.