AndyRoo Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 Andy _ have to say I had guessed before I got to bottom of your text what you were going to say. Patients make laugh when I am about to do certain procedures like ear syringing or removing sutures and they say " have you done this before?" I want to cackle loudly and rub my hands together gleefully and shout " no you're my first" . But I resist the urge I'd probably go ahead and say it, but I have a very sardonic, warped sense of humour. "Nope. First time. Good luck!" Although, just for nursing feedback - I once had to have an MRI on my brain because I was having some bizarre symptoms (turned out to be related to depression) and at the end of the scan the nurse touched my arm lightly, gave me a thin smile, and said "take care then". Which as everyone knows is the universal translation for "You've got 3 months, tops." I got back and said to the OH "...she basically said I have a brain tumour! I could see it in her eyes!" The very worst part was the fact that they gave me a copy of the scan on a disc which I immediately threw into the computer and started gasping and pointing to the screen while saying things like "Oh my god! Is that a shadow? Does that look like a shadow to you?" I think the OH was ready to have me permanently sedated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapdragon Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 We used to be heavily into Living History re enactment. Several times we met p with people in 'ordinary' life and told them what our hobby was and they'd exclaim....'Oh I have a friend who is a re enactor...maybe you know him; big bloke with a beard'! Anyone who has been involved knows that they are ALL big blokes with beards Generic assumption again, AndyRoo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alis girls Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 The problem is whilst cackling loudly I have the urge to in my best Kenneth Williams voice shriek "I'm mad - mad" if patients knew how much paper work we have to do and protocols etc for each thing we do they wouldnt ask silly questions. The other one people ask is which Cypriot village OH's family come from in case they know his family. No good saying its the house at the top of the hill with shutters - they all have shutters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alis girls Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 Andy = my sense of humour is dark and sardonic and slightly sick. NHS makes you like that. I once shocked OH as I was telling him about a patient who had gangreous toes and when nursing colleague went in the toes had dropped off and were no where to be found. She concluded cat had eaten them We found this hilarious. My OH was shocked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyRoo Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 Andy = my sense of humour is dark and sardonic and slightly sick. NHS makes you like that. I once shocked OH as I was telling him about a patient who had gangreous toes and when nursing colleague went in the toes had dropped off and were no where to be found. She concluded cat had eaten them We found this hilarious. My OH was shocked. Oh, you've no need to explain to me about the NHS dark sense of humour: my sister is a charge nurse who used to work in A&E, and I have several friends doing similar (nurses, doctors, paramedics etc.). One of my paramedic friends unfortunately had to attend a horrific scene a few months back at a car crash with several fatalities. Apparently a pole had gone right through one of the poor people's heads!! He told me that to relieve the tension a few people made the joke about a splitting headache... several of our friends gasped when he said it. I think I was the only one who 'got it'. Perhaps because I have studied counselling and psychotherapy, so I understand the need to decompress when you see something like that. I am thinking about trying to get all my qualifications to train as a paramedic too - I am just not sure I have the stomach for it. That being said I have been told by several people that in a real emergency my personality 'flips' somewhat and I become completely focused and unfazed by the 'drama' etc. I was once told by a psychiatrist that it is 'common' for people who suffer with bad depression to remain perfectly calm in an emergency... perhaps it's because we become good at shutting ourselves off from what we feel and compartmentalising them. I also have a couple of friends who work in the porn industry. Needless to say having heard some of their stories I am relatively unshockable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alis girls Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 I also suffer chronic depression and tend to go into "nurse mode" in emergencies but inside I am a bundle of nerves. A pessimist in an optimists body is how I describe myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyRoo Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 I also suffer chronic depression and tend to go into "nurse mode" in emergencies but inside I am a bundle of nerves. A pessimist in an optimists body is how I describe myself. I like that analogy! To slightly amend a phrase that my friend uses: I am my own Kryptonite! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
