today i went to theatre. was still fairly traumatic to get out of bed despite the extra hr i got. someone showed me down 2 theatre, the scrubs i was wearing were blue tartan and plain blue trousers. also a very attractive green hat that looked like a shower cap made of paper and shoe covers that were similar but smaller and blue. 1st saw a gastroscopy which surgically wasnt that interesting but the camera was really clear so cud see exactly wat was goin on. i didnt expect to be able to tell which bit was what. then i watched a femoral catheter being resited. this old geezer had fallen over in the bathroom the nite before and a fireman had to get him out. and in the process he ripped the catheter out. the type they use for dialysis. as the surgeon was done for the day, the nurse i was with showed me to a different theatre after i had a cup of tea. not a fan of aussie tea. its not bad, but not great either. have switched to hot chocolate. This one was a c-section and the nurse said 'do u want to scrub in?' which i did. so i spent about 5minutes washing my hands under instruction from two nurses of how 2 do it properly and then how to dry hands remaining sterile, then put the gown on, which takes two people. gloves r very tricky to put on as you have 2 have your hands inside the sleeves still then pull the gloves over the cuffs and then pull your fingers out. i ended up wearing 2 pairs of gloves as one of the nurses got the wrong size out for the surgeon and he didnt want to waste them so i wore them. since i was sterile i got to play with the equipment without making it dirty again. then got to be one of the ppl standing next to the surgeons while he was doin the op which was very interestin and really really gross. i have no idea how he managed to get the baby out through such a small incision. i dont know why he didnt make it a little bit bigger cuz they were then tugging on all sides of it to make it as big as possible. it was another good op to see as you could see all the layers of the skin and muscle that he cut through. i didnt really do much cuz it only takes one nurse to scrub in and hand stuff to the surgeons but it was good to get a closer look. the baby was a boy. Then i went to lunch and had a hot chocolate and a ham and cheese croissant which wasnt bad last time, but this time i had it toasted, and i mite want one evry time im there now (Hudsons, in reception of the hospital). After i finished talkin to you on msn the other nite, i walked home and cut across the gardens cuz i was a bit tired. and i saw a massive squirrel! like 3x the size of a normal one so it dawned on me that perhaps it wasnt a squirrel. it was quite friendly and nearly came all the way over to say hello. but then wen i turned round, two blokes were a few yards away surrounded by about 50 of them! he said they were possums which i thort they mite be but i wasnt sure cuz i had actually never seen one before! i mite go bak to the garden tonight as its right opposite the nunnery and see if i can see them again. they were quite cute and i think i got over excited. im following someone called gill tomorrow, the stoma therapist who will show me dressings and things. the only things i get squeamish about are colostomy bags and the stuff i have to aspirate out of NG tubes. i think its the smell that goes with it. everythin else is fine. but not sure if i want 2 work on a colorectal ward. it is much more interesting than i thought it would be though. sarah xx