Swine flu continues to spread in my neck of the woods and has certainly changed the way we have functioned as a practice this week. It lead to an odd experience for me, something you don't see every day as a GP. Being on-call yesterday, one of my jobs was to take swabs from some of the suspected cases. To do this we work in a designated area and have to wear a mask, gloves and apron. The paperwork is a nightmare..... takes much longer than the swabs themselves. No that didn't surprise me..... what did, was opening the door to call the first person in, to be confronted by a sea of faces, all also wearing facemasks. It was quite surreal. Like something out of a bad science fiction movie. Not the stuff of everyday suburban general practice.Still, on a personal note, it's been good for me to be pushed out of my comfort zone and thrown in to dealing with this. It's had a good effect on our team too, it's pulled everyone together in a sort of wartime spirit.
The other shock this week was the death of Michael Jackson. Whatever you thought about him, no-one could deny the guy was a musical legend. In years to come, it'll be one of those, "where were you when you heard the news?" type moments. A bit like when Elvis died, or Princess Diana. I rememember when Elvis died, we were just about to go on holiday. I was about 11 and woke about 4am (we were due to leave very early) to hear my Mum crying and saying "we can't go now!" She was a big Elvis fan and was really upset by the news. Luckily my Dad talked her round and we went away, but the memory has stuck with me.
Funny the things you remember.....
Well have a great weekend - see you next week.
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