Christmas is a time that I absolutely adore, but I do know many people that utterly hate it. While I love this time of year, I completely understand that it can be a really hard time for people. I would like to start this seasonal post by asking anyone who is struggling over the festive period to reach out to their friends and family who I’m certain will be more than happy to help them, and if you don’t feel that you can do that then reach out to anyone, myself included, because I’m certain help can be found even in the darkest places.
As you may have seen, we had our Christmas meal last week which was brilliant and exchanged our Secret Santa gifts. My Santa obviously knows me very well with my Harry Potter, mustard colour, fur and fox themed gifts. They’re perfect! The food and evening was brilliant and just the best time.
Secret Santa knew me very well….
I was lucky enough to have Thursday and Friday before Christmas off, big plans turned into quieter plans which was no bad thing and it meant I had time to catch up on sleep and various pre-Christmas tasks I needed to do but in my own time. I was so tired last week that I made some stupid mistakes at work I still feel terrible about. I’ve gradually learnt that I cannot do my job well if I’m tired or compromised otherwise in any kind of way so will try to ensure I don’t feel like this at work, at least try to prevent it as much as possible.
Yesterday evening I sat with my poorly little gerbil Alastair who died tucked up in a fold in my jumper where I was trying to keep him warm. He’d been looking unwell for a few days and I think I knew this was coming soon. I wanted to mention this, not only to show that I am not immune to death and I had a good cry when I realised he had died but also that pets are one way in which we can experience death in our everyday lives. Especially with tiny animals, they’re not in our lives for long but this teaches us to appreciate the time we do have and understand that death is a normal part of life.
Poor little Alastair had a good life, grew old and died peacefully.
The last week I reached the milestone of 70 brains! I had aimed to do 100 in my first year as a trainee APT but I think 30 in the next 9 days is a tad unreasonable even if it is a busy time of year!! For those who don’t know I’ve kept a count since I started of how many brains I have removed. This is not necessarily a count of how many eviscerations I have done, either due to the fact we don’t always remove the brain or that I may have done a brain for someone else who has opened the abdomen. I think a post about when we do and when we don’t remove the brain might be interesting for the future so let me know if that’s something you would definitely like to read about.
70 brains removed! My little post it stuck to the wall next to my desk.
Lastly, no responses to what Mystery Tool Number 3 was so I’ll assume you all knew and it was obvious! They are bowel scissors! The curved tip of the lower blade is to ensure the edges don’t get caught when cutting through the bowel and open it exposing the mucosal surface inside. The reason why we do this sometimes is to show the pathologist this surface and therefore any inflammation or indications of illness or disease that might be there. The bowel could be examined for diverticulitis, colitis or other diseases in this way and those named are the ones I have seen so far. The bowel is opened, washed thoroughly of it’s contents and laid out for the pathologist to examine. I’m hoping once I’ve done this a few times I am able to imitate my boss who can do this with no mess and display it perfectly laid out for examination.
Mystery Tool Number 3 Revealed! Bowel Scissors!
I will leave you all with a final reminder that this is a tough time of year and to look out for those who need any extra help or assistance in the coming weeks. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all, I wish you all a peaceful and enjoyable time however you decide to spend it. Also I spare a thought for those who work over Christmas, particularly those who keep the NHS running 24 hours no matter what day of the year.
MG x
Mortuary Gem 
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