School History With Blood.
1. I think most girls have experiences with blood when we encountered our first period. So do I. But, I am not going to talk much about menstruation here. Haha.
2. At first, I never thought to be in my position today, hmm I mean, on my way to be your doctor. I thought I will not have good time with blood. Well, some people can't see blood otherwise they may collapse. Surprisingly, that's not the case for me. So far, alhamdulillah.
3. I started playing with blood during high school for biology class. If I'm not mistaken, my classmates and I were instructed to perform some experiments with blood. Few of my friends fainted. Although I didn't fancy Science or Biology much before, experiments were what I was looking forward to.
4. No, I didn't have experience with any frogs, mice for experiments. I feel more comfortable to cut human beings compared to all those animals. And I tried slaughtering before, but nope nope I just can't.
* do you know that mice is a plural form of mouse?
No Meat For Me, Before.
5. I stopped eating meat since primary school when I witnessed cow slaughtering for my aunt's wedding's food preparation. But, I return as meat lover when I was in first year in Czech. Wanna know the reason why?
Learning How to do Blood Taking.
6. The smell of blood is irritating some time. With a good face mask, I am doing good insyaAllah.
7. I learned more about taking blood during my second year. I had Physiology classes and during Hematology lessons we need to use our own blood for all those experiments - erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), full blood count (FBC) yada yada. Hehe, I am not sure if you understand these but if you are interested to know more, I would love to explain.
* hematology = hemato- (blood), -logy (study of)
* ESR = how long the red blood cells take to sediment in one hour (to measure inflammation)
* FBC = to know amount of blood contents
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| Example of blood results. |
8. In Czech, venipunctures are tasks for nurses. Venipuncture simply means to puncture a vein to withdraw blood or insert drugs/fluid into the veins. Some patients there allow students to do venipuncture, but usually we do it among each others. :)
Blood and Surgery.
9. The most bloody surgery I've observed was the one involving bone marrow. I don't remember which procedure it was. But, just for our general knowledge, surgeons will cut open our body with the help of electrosurgery, this equipment actually looks like a pen but with ability to cut, coagulation our tissues. So, you may expect clean floor of operation room / theater in most cases :)
In some operation, you just can't avoid blood everywhere.
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| Like a pencil. |
10. Blood, for me is like our identity. Blood can be used to trace lost family members and even for police investigations. In health sector, so many things you can discover in the blood. From red blood cell, you may know if you are anemic. From white blood cells, you may confirm any infections that cause you to be febrile (fever). You can check why you may have high tendency to bleed from the platelets.
11. You may suspect something wrong with your organs as well from the blood - heart, liver, kidney etc. There are markers for them.
Blood Donation.
12. Please donate your blood if you are eligible. Your blood cells will be fully replaced in a very short time, at least 8-12 weeks. But, no worries, most of your donated blood is plasma (fluid) which will recover within 24 hours, faster if you maintain your hydration - drink a lot before and after donation.
13. Malaysians living overseas for certain countries within certain period of time are not allowed to donate blood. Yes, that's me. It is so frustrating to know. Refer HERE for the criteria to be a donor.
Blood Taking in Hospital.
14. I feel guilty to ask patients "May I withdraw your blood?" in the middle of the night. But, that's doctors' job to keep track the progression of patients by checking blood regularly.
15. It is easier to find good veins on male patients, just they complained about the pain more compared to female patients.
16. It's hard to withdraw blood for patients with kidney disease and after chemotherapy, especially old patients - tiny veins. Not to forget, patients with peripheral edema - swollen limbs, so hard to find good veins.
17. You are in trouble if you prick yourself with a needle used for other person, even though he / she may not have any general disease . Who knows they may have one - the not-yet-manifested?
p/s - I am going home tonight for few days break. :D Pray for my 6 hours bus journey crossing Banjaran Titiwangsa :D
HUSM, Kelantan, Malaysia
161208
