Rough on the edges

I'm not an easy like Sunday morning person. I'm rough on the edges.

I don't want excuses, I want results. Mediocrity isn't accepted. 

Being compassionate with everyone is a must. You discriminate because of a religion, a skin color, a belief, a not so clean record, of clothes, of looks you get the fuck out of my unit. And, yes, I'm tough! If not I couldn't resist until now. I know what I want and I'm gonna get it. I'm going to dance my way trough life. 

Since I was a child some people doubted me : I'm to short, I'm to shy, I don't speak loud, I mumble if I'm scared, I don't come from an intellectual enough family (after whom standards?), I should lose some weight, I should stop wearing my baggy jeans, out with my nose piercing!, no red lipstick it will make visible my "stache" (seriously, from my high school class responsible who was a very very unprepared biology teacher and a bag full of communists ideology and speeches told me this). 

I've said "fuck you all" and left. 

I've done my thing as my "not smart/noble enough parents" thought me. I've been honest, fair, I've worked my ass of and I was strict as fuck! Of course this gets you into problems in an era where "political fairness" reins. But you know what? What counts is the life of your patient. You're continuously distracted, you're continuously tired, we ask constantly to much from you, you feel like you can't do it anymore? Then quit, probably you're not made for this job.

I'm so sick and tired to seeing doctors who don't care about their patients. It makes me sad and it helps me realize how lucky I was to stumble upon doctors who were also great human beings.

'cause for me a good doctor has to listen, feel and don't judge his patient. Then comes the knowledge, as essential as it's for me it's not the essence. 

Vietnam 2015

Montpellier, France, Mai 2016

Montpellier, Mai 2016

Far, Montpellier 2016

Addictology.2.'till I collapse

My first pregnant women on dope.

Tuesday 9 AM

Alo, Madalina, this is M... (the midwife) you have to go to HTP. There's a pregnant woman with a severe heroine withdrawal syndrome. 5 months. no follow up. Social status:disaster(no home, sex industry)..

Well, I'm in prison this morning so I cannot just leave like this. Then we have the ob-gyn staff. 3 consults and then I'll go.

No, you have to go now.

No, it will wait 'till 6 PM.


Tuesday 9.30 AM

Good morning, Madalina, here's L...(the psychiatrist) there's a woman at HTP. You have to go and see her ASAP.
F... you, I won't do what you tell me! As I've said, I'll be there at 6 PM, AFTER I finish my shift in prison and AFTER my consultations.

Tuesday 10.00 AM

Hello, Madalina, N.....on the line(chief nurse)
I've said 6 PM!!!
OK, could you at least give the ob-gyn some explanations on the phone.
NO, I cannot give directions without seeing the patient. What's wrong with you people!?!!!

Tuesday morning 10.30 AM

Hello Dr R this is the ob-gyn intern. May I ask you some questions??
What's the pb people, I'm working in prison, I have to see patients, how can I do this is everyone keeps calling me non stop??§!§§§
OK, do this and this and this...

Does she at least wants a substitution treatment?
Yes.
Okay I'll be there as soon as I can.

6 PM
I've met the patient.
I've went to see her every morning and evening before and after work.
12h working days.

After 4 months a healthy, beautiful, bundle of joy was burn.

Mme H respected our "deal" made in that hospital room at 7.00 PM.

I'll trust her and respect her as a patient and a human being. I'll help her find a home and have access to decent health care.
In exchange regular medical check ups, no drugs and no working on the streets. We shook hands and then I knew that we both have no returning.
No one believed in us. We've had to make it! Against all odds and misconceptions.
Because we were outcasts and we knew how much means an open heart and a smile.

She did it! She was shining with her baby in her arms.
And that day I've felt in love with my 3rd job: pregnancy and drugs!

Prison break 3. Death and all her friends.

We all know that this could happen.

It happened to my colleagues (nurses and doctors). They all have their graveyard. We all have it,as doctors.

But I remember precisely how it happened to me.

12.02 (I was thinking of going out eating something but still had some paper work to do). Phone rings. A nurse answers. She immediately screams in the medical unit : “We have a patient who hang himself! Fast, fast!”

12.04 We took the emergency backpack and we’ve started running on the empty hall ways. The doors from one sector to another one we’re opening so slow. We were running... The doors were slamming back after our passage. 1.2.3.4.5.6.7. doors and 2 floors.

12.10 He is in the “new comers” wing. Second floor. We split. Take the stair it will be quicker. I jump 2 stairs at a time. Second floor. Full of people. I couldn’t see their faces. I could just see the patient, lying down, not moving and the sheets hanging by the window bars.

12.15 A person was already doing the CPR. The patient was not moving, I didn’t have a pulse. He seemed ... We continue the CPR. We don’t want to loose him, we don’t want to call it, we cannot loose him, breathe God damn it. 1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10.11.12.13.14.15.16.17.18.19.20.21.22.23.24.25.26.27.28.29.30 1.2. “all hands off the patient!” again and again and again! God if you can hear me, if you are there, please, don’t let him die! At some point I think I’ve realized I cannot do anything and that he was gone.

“ ... and the hardest part was letting go, not taking part ...” (Coldplay).

12.40 The ambulance arrives. They try to intubate him. They call it off.

I don’t remember doing the way back to the medical unit. I think I’ve cried but silently as the nurse student was in shock. When I’ve arrived to the medical unit everyone knew what happened after the look of my face. I got hugs and everyone kept on saying that we did everything possible. He would have done it any how sooner or latter. Somehow, it didn’t comfort me. How could it?

It was my patient. I did everything. He died, hung, in a prison cell, alone. Young, too young, had a family.

I felt weak. I felt Small, Guilty, Inefficient. He shouldn’t have been dead.

And then I realized he was not my first and he will not be my last. Because I’m a M.D. and sometimes you can simply not save them. It’s just that the whole system is wrong. I dislike prisons and any kind of structure who uses the abuse of power. Maybe this man didn’t belong in prison. When abuse it’s the only way of justice death and all of her friends come along.

And I am tired but I won’t give in (or at least I’ll try).

“ Cause sometimes you just feel tired, 

  Feel weak, and when you feel weak, you feel like you wanna just give up.

  But you gotta search within you, you gotta find that inner strength

  And just pull that shit out of you and get that motivation to not give up

  And not be a quitter, no matter how bad you wanna just fall flat on your face and collapse.

   Till the roof comes off, till the lights go out 

   Till my legs give out, can’t shut my mouth. 

   Till the smoke clears out. 

   Am I high? Perhaps I'ma rip this s*** till my bones collapse...

...I will not fall, I will stand tall.” (Eminem)

  

 So I hope that he’s in a better place. He would have done it sooner or latter prison or not prison. I have a bitter taste though. See you at a bitter end (Placebo).

And oh I do not fancy your life “dramas” as I know that worse is and always will be possible.

canicula.1q84

Ca sa inteleg adevaratul sens al cuvantului canicula m-am mutat eu in Franta?
NU!

Ca ma topesc ca o inghetata pe canapea, sa transpir iesind de la dus, sa fac alergie, la propriu, m-am mutat eu in Strasbourg?
NU!

Si atunci va intreb eu pe voi WTF??!! 41° toata ziua, 35° grade noaptea! How am I suppose to sleep? How am I suppose to function working all day long without air conditioning? Nu v-ati fi asteptat la asta de la un spital din Franta,nu? Ei bine realitatea este cruda si inflexibila : nu este aer conditionat, avem doar ventilatoare care recircula doar aerul cald (deci, eficienta zero) si lucram cu halatele din bumbac peste hainele de strada. DAR avem dus la munca!  Este, dom'le, ca trag cu urechea si cu ochiul toti colegii de sex masculin (cu exceptia celor gay si poate a celui transexual?!) nu mai conteaza. Oricum in momentul in care iesi de la dus esti acoperit de transpiratie, so why bother? (cred ca pe varianta asta functioneaza pacientii mei care isi imagineaza ca, fiind uzi in permanenta nu mai am au nevoie de dus ca doar si ala tot cu apa sa face, macar transpiratia e moka).

In afara de canicula asta infecta am si vesti bune.
De la inceputul lui mai am inceput sa lucrez si la spital, pe addictologie. Finally I am payed for doing the specialty that I was trained to do. And I'm loving it in all her complexity, addictology is the QUEEN! When I am not doing this I am at prison break. Everything advances as planned. Soon I will conquer the world!


Meanwhile I am saving money for buying a car (asta dupa ce mi-am dat seama ca ma pot descurca perfect si fara voiture, mai putin cand sunt de astreint si sunt totusi de astreint o saptamana/5). Deci, desi nu imi face nici o placere deosebita  sa fiu eco unfriendly by buying a new car it seems that I don't have a choice.


In august plec in V A C A N T A. Atat de bine ilustrat e cuvantul asta de hit-ul Madonnei :




Plec D O U A SAPTAMANI I N T R E G I in Vietnam! My feet are itchy already! I haven't been on a trip since Mai, S(LOVE)ENIA si Venice (blearch, o sa scriu poate vreodata un post despre cum mi-a displacut profund Venetia si despre cum SLOVENIA KICKS ASS).

Asta daca nu o sa ma descompun pana atunci, din cauza caldurii.

Intr-o zi ma intorceam de la Prison Break, cu tramvaiul, si eram foarte concentrata in unul de cursurile de addicto : cred ca era cel despre complicatiile hepatice ale exogenozei cronice. Si cum aveam castile in urechi, eram concentrata in lumea mea in mod :"vizualizare 3d a cirozei hepatice". La un moment dat mi s-a parut ca barbatul asezat pe scaunul din fata mea incearca sa comunice cu mine asa ca imi scot castile din urechi si intreb, politicos, "pardon?". La care omul ma intreaba daca asta este meseria mea, sa ingrijesc "aceste" persoane. I-am raspuns obosita si mandra ca : "Oui." La care acel necunoscut mi-a zis admirativ si cu ochii plini de bunatate : "C'est ca l'humanité!".

Si atunci m-am gandit cu bucurie ca o umanista idealista pasionata de literatura si-a gasit manusa perfecta in adictologie. No regrets.

O sa revin in curand, sper, cu o postare despre Slovenia si Venetia. Si poate despre Portugalia (I am deeply in love with this country and with her people).

So see you latter alligator!

prison break 1

It's all about love, about not judging, about being equal to yourself and to others.

It's all about anger, despair, (broken) trust, scattered dreams, broken families, lonely people.

It's all about rude people, punks, immigrants, outsiders, dreamers, pranksters, firestarters.

It's all about getting out of your comfort zone, about trust, about giving another chance when everyone turned their backs.

It's about learning how to get attached every fucking time, about giving a penny, about (maybe) saving a life.

I am a doctor and I use words like "fuck", "shit", "awesome", "dick head" and other very non catholic/orthodox (depends where you're standing) expressions every day.

I am a "prison doctor". I have fun every day with my guards, with my patients, with my colegues because we love our job.

I am who I choose to be day by day.

My favorite joke is answering to the question : "Where are you, Mada?" "I'm just getting out of jail".

I like to party, I love my job but above all I love my patients. I would do whatever it takes to help them. I am not delusional, I am not Jesus, they cannot be saved but they can be helped. And they need help.

Most of the people don't get it. Why did I choose to work there with the "scumbags" of our society?

Well, for several reasons, one of them would be that I don't think that I am better than they are?

Are you better than them? No, I don't think so. You cheat, you lie, you're greedy, you're arrogant, you're working for money, you're lazy, you're a little bitch in your everyday life, you're racist, you're envious. No one is perfect!

What would you do in their situation? Maybe the same! 

Do you know how it's like to lose everything? You don't! They do!

" All this talk about equality, the only thing people really have in common is that they are all going to die!". (Bob Dylan)

So I come as I am in front of them. They try to impress, to seduce, to make me scared ... in the end they are trying to get some emotions from me. 

Now is it good to show emotions to your patients? Maybe, maybe not. 

Addiction is a disease. Addiction is bad and rotten and vicious and...almost impossible to get ride of. It's normal to reject it if you don't try to understand it. 

"Doctor, you will not leave like the other doctors right, after 1 year!" 

"Well, I still have a long road ahead of me, I don't know if this is my final destination :)"

"At least you're honest."

"Always."

It's impossible to explain the joy of every morning when I have to go to my work = prison is my happy place.

I also work in a private practice. It's not the same. I am stiff, I wear my smile and my pretty clothes, I am polite and professional with my Colgate smile. The difference is that in prison break I am free to express myself! At the practice my patient is my client = master. And I hate it, ooooh how I hate it!

It's like having a split personality : switching again and again and again.

It's my choice. It might not be the good one. I could be wrong, I could be right but I stepped out of my comfort zone a long time ago and I became happy.

I think is important to speak about it because it concerns all of us. Putting people in prison is not a solution. It just makes things worse (imagine a person "without person" and a criminal/rapist/drug dealer in the same cell for some months). Look at the "savages" living on their islands/in their forests : justice for all without extreme measures or with measures socially accepted by all the members of their community. And then look at us : "Uuuu, criminal, he was in jail!". Yes, he was because he has stolen food from the supermarket. How much our politicians are "taking" day by day? 

So, yes, I choose my patients. I'll be there when they wanna go!

You don't know their stories so stop judging and GET HUMAN!

I try to understand my patients trough music :) So I will leave you with my top 11 tracks :

1) Ozzy, junkie 

2) RHCP, Don't forget me         "... I'm the rainbow in your jail cell..."

3) Gogol Bordello, Alcohol

4) Eric Clapton, Cocaine

5) Pink Floyd, Have a cigar 

6) The velvet underground, Heroine

7) Black Sabbath, Sweet Leaf

8) Guns n' roses, Mr Brownstone

9) The rolling stones, Sister Morphine

10) John Lennon, Cold turkey 

11) Cypress Hill, Hits from the bong

*

Pictures taken this year in Berlin, in March! I fucking love this city! Freedom of speech!

le hasard

1. 21 years old, female, south africa, 2nd time in prison break.

    "Dr. I have to ask you something :)!"

    " Yes :) ?"

    "Do you know God?"

    "Well I didn't meet him yet but I heared about him."

    "Do you have a religious belief?"

    "Uhm, I am ortodox but I ... I don't know, I believe in a higher force."

    "But do you go to church?"

    "... not really"

    "I am an evanghelist and I have a gift, I have to tell you something...I have to spread the word."

    "Ok, you can tell me."

    "God have spoken to me, the world will end."

    " :) of course, it's also written in the bible :)"

    "Yes, but it will end soon and I have this gift, I have to spread the word."

    "Aren't you afraid that people will believe you're crazy?! if you say you talk to God?"

    "No, I have a mission."

    "Yes, we all do miss, but you seem to have a difficult task to complete."

She was standing in front of me, beautiful, smart, free, a true believer. I envied her for one moment. It seems difficult to envy someone who's in jail right? But the thing is that she is ... free. :) And, no, I don't think she's crazy.

2.  45 years old male, north africa, 45th time in prison break.

     "Hello Dr. ca va?" ( I always find very funny this question)

     "Yes, ca va and you?"

     "Well, great, I'm going out in 2 months! :)"

     "That's great news!! :) Do you have plans for outside?"

     "Yes, go outside and get a job and then get my family back!"

     "Hm, you know that it won't be easy."

     "Yes, it will, because with your help Dr. I will stop smoking weed, I used to smoke 15 joints/day, now I'm at 3/day but I cannot stop by myself and it ruins my life (starts to cry)."

      "Well I will ask you some question, you will be honest, and we will succeed!"

It turned out that he had a social phobia and a paranoia and that weed was his auto-medication.

I've started a treatment and I'm confident.

Where there's a will there's a way. And he wants to quit, and I'm there to support him.

:) I love my job! So many interesting people every day!