THE SIMPLE THINGS

 I miss my simple former life.

When the most challenge I had was passing exams. When I could decide to not go for lectures for a day and just get much needed sleep. When I chose whether to go home on many a free weekend or just hang out with friends.

When I had at least four meals daily (Yup I'm like that). When I'd visit friends in their rooms in the hostel, chat all evening, plan for events we'd attend.

SICKLE CELL DISEASE.

I am going to be very direct with this issue.

I have just completed my rotation in the department of medicine and fortunately/unfortunately I was specifically in the Clinical Haematology/Oncology unit. We deal with blood issues in people, in a nutshell. And the one blood disease that cracked past my hard emotional exterior and deep into my emotional core, is the Sickle cell disease(SCD).

SCD is a group of inherited blood disorders. The commonest type is the Sickle cell anaemia(SCA),

SAVED🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

 So this happened almost two months back...

I had just finished evening rounds at about 11:30pm and was returning to my room to retire for the night, praying that I wouldn't be called back to the wards for anything. Got to the floor of the building and met about three weirdly dressed suspicious-looking men whispering to one another in Yoruba. Mine isn't so good so I'm just gonna write out their conversation in English.

"Where are the others?!"

"They said they are on their way here already"

"They better hurry. It will soon be midnight as we planned earlier"

My piloerector muscles jumped immediately and I felt the blonde hairs on my skin rise!

I'M BACK!!!😃😃😃

                                                                           

So I've been in this crrraaazzzzyyyyy unit I'll talk more about later, where I totally lost any other life outside medicine. I have passed through some crazy postings during my houseman-ship year here at LUTH, but this was on another level!

Mother's Day 2017

Yesterday was Mother's Day. And it sucked, for me. Big time!

For many reasons.

My mother is late. Has been for five years now. My beautiful mum....

And then on top of all that, I was still ill. After almost two weeks of running unending tests and taking endless meds and injections and being indoors without working! Because I was practically forced into sick leave!! Which was the reasonable thing to do by the way. Now you know, I can be a workaholic.

SUBSTANCE ABUSE.

We'll call him Michael.

I was in my fifth year of medical schooling when I first saw him. It was an unusually uneventful day at Federal Neuropsychiatry Hospital Yaba where I underwent a large part of my Psychiatry posting. We,  my classmates and I, we're deciding among the patients on the ward who to present to our teachers for the end of posting examinations.

Then Michael walked past us.

We stopped talking and turned to follow him with our eyes. At about 6feet 2/3inches tall, INCREDIBLY "yellow-skinned", with just the right body build and this...spring...in his step, he was a gorgeous guy!

CLUELESS...

It's just truly funny how much

You get to know people

Especially when you need their help

And they turn their backs on you

Plenty excuses

You're saddened 

And you feel so alone