Lady Cadaver...

Busy day today - in at 9am to pick up my locker keys and get my skeleton, which took all of two minutes of the two hours allocated! Then off to the jab clinic to be told my jab hadn't reacted and I'd have to come back for a stronger one tomorrow. Then off for a coffee where I had a good old chat with some people I already met and some who I'd seen around but not spoken to. In some ways the free time is nice as it's a chance to chat.

Then onto what for me has been the highlight of the week so far. Some of the group had been out clubbing the previous night so the thought of seeing a dead body wasn't doign their stomachs any favours! I'd seen one before but not as close up as today. We had a great introductory talk from one fo the anatomists, who answered all our questions, and explained some of the rules that everyone had to adhere to. By the time we got towards the end, one of the other groups already had the covers off their cadaver (dead body) so we all turned and gasped!

Anyway - then it was time for our cadaver to be uncovered. Peter did it a piece at a time - first the stomach, then the pelvis and so on - each time explaining what organs were there and answering all the questions. It was all a bit gory at first but I think most of us got acclimatised fairly quickly and were donning gloves to have a feel of the various otrgans that had been cut so they could be taken out and examined.

Then the chest was revealed, and I thought I detected a silicon implant! Peter confirmed this, and said that the woman had had died of cancer and in spite of a mastectomy (the implant was part of reconstructive surgery) it had spread into her body and killed her. It was absolutely fascinating to see all the bones and muscles and how they joined together, and also to see all the quadriceps and so on as more than just a page in the anatomy text book where there's a sketch. Peter also moves the relevant parts to show us the ovaries.

Then we helped turn the cadaver over and looked at the back muscles and the backside - including layers of fat and the various gluteus muscles. Peter highlighted the sciatic nerve and again - it was fascinating to see this close up. It really was going to be an amazing resource for learning about the human body - many UK universities don't have a dissection room. I'm going to be down there on a regular basis. Finally we got our lab coats that we had to wear at all times (except for some bizarre reason for this introductory session!).

It was now lunchtime (someone had a sense of humour when timetabling this) and a lot of us bought chicken sarnies and things but were rather put off when someone suggested it looked a bit like the cadaver flesh. Undeterred I continued to eat! Apparently the smell of formaldehyde makes you hungry.

The afternoon session saw us meet up with out tutor who ran through some formalities and had a bit of a chat to get to know us. Then onto a sort of ice breaker type activity that was one of the better ones I'd been to - and actually brought out some themes about group learning and stuff while still being quite entertaining.

Anyway - that was the first "real" day where I actually felt that we got going on the course as opposed to just admin stuff. All in all thoroughly enjoyable!

My Mum is Younger Than Me!

Monday night - St George's!

You go along for a full on piss up chance to meet your fellow students and bond and what happens? Not all of them turn up. Well, to be fair, a decent number did, and more arrived as the evening progressed. Anyway - I picked out a couple of familiar faces (Luke and Crystal) and sat down with them and some second years.

Main item on the agenda (apart from drinking at ridiculously cheap prices, although still not much cheaper than a pub I know in Walthamstow) was to allocate mums and dads. George's has a great system whereby you get matched up with someone in the year above who firstly has to buy you drinks but also cooks you a meal at some point, but probably more importantly also is there to advise you on the year and give you tips about the best books and so on. I now have a 19 year old as a mum! She was great, and while she had to leave early, she spent ages chatting with me about the course and any concerns I might have, as well as swapping contact details. Thanks Harriet - and good luck with your placement :-)

I'm loving George's - everyone is so friendly. Last time at uni the year groups didn't mix much, whereas I got chatting to a real mix of people from all years and they were all lovely people and couldn't have been more friendly. Big up to Chetan, Tom, Sarah, and various other second years who I met but whose names I've forgotten, inlcuding a 37 year old (see - nearly as old as me!). My year group is great too and I'm not feeling remotely like the old bloke who doesnt' fit in.

Then home on the bus to Sutton (nice - goes from 2 minutes from George's to five minutes from home) and then up early to get in for my jabs with Group A. There were a fair few hangovers there! It was a first come first served thing so I was glad I got there a bit early as it was taking about twenty minutes per person and it took the last people there about two hours to get seen I think. Sadly the gym office was shut so I didn't get to join but I'll do that today. So much to do - got to sort out my council tax exemption amongst other things. Another short day today - photos - and then we get stuck into some group stuff and go to the DR (dissecting room) tomorrow.

First Day at School

Well after strugglign to find my satchel I headed off to St George's in the pouring rain. Not a great start, and I cursed the fact that I hadn't left early enough to get a coffee before heading into the lecture hall. Lots of people welcoming us and introducing themselves, but in many ways a frustrating day - I think we were all keen to get on with the course whereas we spent a lot of time filling in forms, getting info on the structure of the course and so on.

Best bit really was chatting to everyone and getting to knwo them - George's places a great emphassis on peer assisted learning, which basically means everyone helping each other out, and in any case I like getting to know people. I seemed to mix in well enough - I was a bit worried beign a fair bit older than the majority but it didn't seem to be an issue

Tonight we get to meet our "mums and dads" - George's buddy system to make us feel more at home. I ghave to say it sounds great, it just feels weird thinking of a mum and dad who'll probably be younger than me.

The rest of the week looks like more admin tasks - pictures being taken, locker keys distributed and so on. I guess it's necessary but I'm champing at the bit to get going on the course proper :-)

Student Physio, Boogie with a Suitcase

Been a while since I blogged - been busy preparing to start my physio course, which I do in just over 24 hours! So I've finally decided to read the welcome pack that came from St George's about a month ago, and fortunately there's no surprises in there - it's mainly a load of stuff about student charters, dtaa protection act, and how to get a library card etc etc.

Can't say I've really been having a boogie with a suitcase, it's only a few miles away so I don't have to pack, but the student physio bit somehow reminded me of M's "Pop Music" song (it's really "Radio Video"). I have a weird mind like that. What do you mean you'd noticed?? ;-)

This week I've done a bit of spin and body pump - back to squats and lunges properly - if without weights, but not much else. Spent a lovely day with Jogblog where we combined our pizza making talents to make the following (plus garlic bread which is still in the oven).

That's a flat bread in the frying pan - still can't get the chilli strength to work though, which is annoying.

This weekend I've mostly been having a major tidy up and sort out of all the things that'll never get done in a million years once I start at St George's. Am I excited? You bet I am!! :-D

Fruity Rides Again

Right - time for a big catch up. What's been happening in my life?

First of all - the knee. It seems to be holding up okay. I've done a body pump class (minus the squats and lunges, doing step-ups onto the step instead) and also been going on the spin bikes and gradually building up my times and resistance from 5 mins to 20 mins. I'm booked in for a proper spin class tomorrow morning too, although Mel knows abut my knee and I'll be taking it easy.

I've also been swimming, which has introduced me to a new gym member who I shall call "Swan Vesta Man". I have no idea what his name is, but he's about six feet five, is very thin - like ridiculously so, and has red hair - so tends to resemble a swan vesta match. He also has a pierced nipple which let's face it looks weird. It might look okay if he had a decent physique but he makes Mr Muscle look like an Adonis, so it's not really the case.

Food - I've been rather stuffing my face trying out new breads and also pizza. The latest creation was a mushroom, caremelized onion and feta pizza, which can be seen below.

Those ruddy birds have been shitting all over my scooter again. Trouble is I have an allocated parking space and it just so happens to be under a tree where the birds go to roost or nest or whatever they call it in bird circles.

Only problem is, they seem to visit a curry house on the way home. I mean - look at that big splodge down the side of the bike - that's not normal for a pigeon to do all that amount of poo unless it's had a serious amount of Chicken Madras. It's either that or there's an albatross living in the tree or something :-(

This morning I went back to Croydon College where they wanted to speak to me for marketing purposes. As I did so well in my exam (polishes halo) they wanted to use me to publicisse the college. I wouldn't normally be that fussed, but I did like the teacher so I thought I'd say lots of nice things about him as I think he's like me - he won't always toe the line on college policy and goes with his own judgement based on years of teaching.

Anyway - I met up with marketing peep, who was very nice, and not at all smarmy like I expected, and she took me up to the bio lab to have my picture taken with the skeleton. We couldn't open the cupboard where it's kept at first, so after battlign for ten minutes we got in, and then I said that actually we didn't study human anatomy as part of the A level, so it wasn't quite relevant to my A level, although it was to physio. They went ahead anyway, and there may well be pictures of me in the local paper examining a skeleton. Because physios need to check out the spinal alignment of skeletons. All that lying in a coffin in one position all day can give you dreadful backache you know ;-)

Then - onto the interview, which was really just asking what my story was, how I'd found the course, what I'd liked about the colleg and so on. I also found out (which I hadn't been told!) that I got one of the top ten scores in the country for my A level.

Final news - thanks to Jogblog I now have my own web doman - I can be reached at

iain@fruityreindeer.com

Great name for a web design company eh? Almost as daft as Shiny Octopus FFS ;-)

Now I'm just off out to meet a friend who's back in London for a few days and who I haven't seen for ages. Will be good to have a catch up over a coffee or seventeen!

Buillding Back Up

Right - well after a week of resting the knee, the stitches came out, and I could go swimming, which was my first allowable exercise since the op. SO off I headed to the pool for a gentle try out. To be honest this turned into a sauna session, but there's nothign wrong with that, didn't want to overdo it on my first trial, so I did 4 lengths, went in the sauna, did four lengths, went in the sauna, and so on. All seemed well, although a little achey the next day.

Then a few more swims over the next few days, including one where I did 20 lengths, and then off to the physio yesterday who seemed pleased with my progress and gave me some more exercises to do. He also let me have a go on the exercise bike and that seemed to go well too. With that in mind, I decided to do body pump this morning.

I started by speaking to Mel and saying I couldn't do squats or lunges and we worked out somethign I could do that involved stepping up onto a step, which was part of my physio exercises so killed two birds with one stone. It was great to be back exercising too. We also chatted about doing spin, and Mel said I could just do the first bit of a class and then leave eif it was too much for my knee. I'm going to give the spin bikes a go tomorrow and see how it goes, and then book in for a class next week if it doesn't hurt. I'll be using low gears and not doing much standing though.

Then into the pool for a bi more of a swim and a sauna where I talked physio with a woman who'd just had a THR (Total Hip Replacement).

It's great to be back exercising :-)

RIP Jane Tomlinson :-(

Okay, so this blog is usually about me, and most of the time is light hearted, but today I heard news that saddened me greatly. Jane Tomlinson has died. If you don't know the name, you've probably still heard of her - she was diagnosed with terminal cancer seven years ago and told she only had a few months to live. Did she lie down and die quielty? Did she f**k!

Jane not only raised over £1.5 million for charity, but she spent her time making the most of every day she had left, pushing herself to accomplish numerous marathons, various long distance cycle rides (like 4000 miles across America) and an Ironman Triathlon. I'm sure many others were touched by her approach as much as I was.

Condolences to her family, and I'm sure she'll be remembered by many people for a long time. She truly was an inspiration.

Jane's New Charity Page