Three Mystery Tools, Two Decomp People & a Council Meeting in the City

I’ve been living in a bit of a bubble the last week or so. I feel utterly exhausted constantly the reason for which I’m not sure if it is because I’m genuinely tired, the b12 tablets are not working or, self-diagnosed, I have some degree of Seasonal Affected Disorder. Just all round I have no energy for much at all, which is proving rather challenging!

Busy doesn’t even really cover it. We are the busiest we have been for a long time. I’m regularly feeling my Fitbit buzz to tell me I’ve hit 10,000 steps well before my working day has ended. Half of that is running lengths of the mortuary at the other hospital to either answer the phone or the doorbell which can be at either end. I try not to miss people so it often involves sprinting.

On Tuesday we had two ‘decomps’ to post-mortem, and myself with the other trainee were tasked with completing them. One was not as bad as the other, by not as bad I mean not as decomposed. There tends to be stages which range from just what seems to be a smell and a change in skin colour, to full on massive changes in the body. I won’t go into masses of detail as always, but I will say that I am rather proud of us coping with the smells that we encountered, plus we received some lovely comments from the pathologist who completed the post-mortem (comments regarding the work, not the bad smells). I do feel I will remember for a long time trying to remove a brain which is effectively mush. It really reminded me of an episode of izombie, you will know what I am talking about if you have ever watched that programme and I highly recommend you do if you haven’t.

Looking fabulous as always in a Tyvek suit and wellington boots. The end outfit is this plus an apron, sleeve protectors, gloves and a face mask.

On Wednesday, I attended a council meeting with the AAPT. It was the first real action I’ve had as Student Representative and I really had a great time. It was fabulous to meet everyone and put faces to names, plus everyone is just really nice and friendly which is only to be expected as a profession known to have a cheery disposition! Lots of things were discussed, and actually it was fantastic to hear about the latest goings on plus particular concerns with our industry. I feel like I have a thirst for knowledge and involvement in these things and I am so lucky to have the opportunity to be a part of the council. I also notably got to meet the organiser of the training course I will be beginning in February and he was really encouraging about working together going forward. I’m super lucky to have the support from my manager and trust in undertaking this venture and I hope this start means I can be involved with the AAPT for a long time.

Yesterday we had no pathologist available so could not do any post mortems, therefore myself and the other trainee cleaned nearly every door and wall in the mortuary in the morning, of which there are loads! Armed with a bucket of cleaning solution and cloths we went round scrubbing down all the surfaces we could. One thing I try to always tell people when they enquire about pursuing a career like mine is that a large part of this job is cleaning. I can’t lie, I’m not the biggest fan of cleaning but I do find that with some music, and/or a colleague to talk to, it’s actually quite a fun part of the job in a weird way.

My manager won an award this week! Congratulations!

This week we had the fabulous news that our manager had won an award he was nominated for in the category of Care and Compassion. We are so proud as a team of him winning this award and also how we work together to provide the care we do. This is largely in relation to the training we provide to nurses and others but also the hard work put in to provide the best care we can. Winning awards like this is great because it highlights the work done in the mortuary that people may not necessarily be aware of or want to think about.

Mystery Tool Number 3- what could they be for?

Today we have our Christmas meal out in the evening which I am looking forward to, and we are also exchanging our Secret Santa gifts. I’ll be sure to let you know what I get. For now, I’ll leave you with Mystery Tool Number 3!! Yes, they are scissors, but why do they have that rounded end and what are they used for? Current or past mortuary workers need not reply thank you! I hope you are all enjoying the festive season and have a good weekend.

MG x