{"id":12100,"date":"2025-09-08T23:31:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T23:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/?p=12100"},"modified":"2025-09-08T23:31:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T23:31:09","slug":"and-so-it-is-written","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/08\/and-so-it-is-written\/","title":{"rendered":"And so it is written"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some days when I\u2019m taking off my scrubs and putting on my own clothes in the changing room of whatever hospital I\u2019m working at, I find several pens in my pocket, when I started the day with only one.<\/p>\n

This is never the result of deliberate theft, I hasten to add, but I\u2019ll need a pen, maybe to write some drug on a medication chart, or fill out a prescription form, and discover I\u2019ve temporarily misplaced mine, in some random pocket of my scrubs perhaps, and so I grab whichever pen I can find lying around or in the supply cabinet, use it and then absent mindedly put it back in my own pocket. On other days, I\u2019ll be a pen shedder, perhaps lending mine to a surgeon who needs to write a quick op note at the end of surgery, which is never returned – the surgeon absent mindedly putting it in their own pocket in turn – or just by leaving it somewhere on the anaesthetic machine or on the drug cart while being distracted by some other task.<\/p>\n

I must confess that the cumulative effect over many months is a gradual but steady accrual of pens, all of which float around in the bottom of my bag, although often unable to be found at a crucial moment. Mysteriously, one or two of these pens will gradually dismantle itself over time, and I\u2019ll end up with random pen parts appearing whenever I\u2019m on the hunt for anything in my bag. Yesterday I found two of those tiny springs when looking for a lip balm, which meant more than one pen had dismembered itself in there, which was a sign I needed to do something about it. I tipped the contents of my bag onto the kitchen floor and ended up with eight intact pens and almost two pens\u2019 worth of parts. Unfortunately there was only one tiny white plastic doodad that didn\u2019t have a double amongst all the spare bits – probably choking a baby dolphin out in the ocean somewhere , or stuck up a turtle\u2019s nostril as we speak. In any event, it was impossible for me to make two entire pens out of the spares I had before me, so a difficult decision had to be made. I must choose between the blue or the black ballpoint. It was no contest, really – I\u2019ve valued black pens for as long as I can remember. It wasn\u2019t until this morning I asked myself why that was, and the realisation struck me: it was because black writing faxes better than blue. Yes, I am really that old. After a day in private I used to fax a copy of the theatre list to my billing person, so she could invoice the patients, and if I used blue ink, it was often indecipherable when she got it. I hate to think when was the last time I faxed something – we got rid of our fax machine over a decade ago, surely? Perhaps I am an elephant. No, not grey and overweight with big ears and a long nose (maybe that last part) but I have a long memory.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Child\u2019s play<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some days when I\u2019m taking off my scrubs and putting on my own clothes in the changing room of whatever hospital I\u2019m working at, I find several pens in my pocket, when I started the day with only one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8Ukf-39a","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11460,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/17\/aghast\/","url_meta":{"origin":12100,"position":0},"title":"Aghast","author":"Interloper11","date":"February 17, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"More troubles with my theatre scrubs this morning. Someone had tied an incredibly secure knot in the tie on the trousers I first grabbed. I only discovered this when I was trying to pull them up and could only get to mid thigh before they were stuck. I tried unavailingly\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/accordingtokirsty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/IMG_0521-300x247.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11913,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/05\/human-nature\/","url_meta":{"origin":12100,"position":1},"title":"Human nature","author":"Interloper11","date":"July 5, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Had a late start organised this morning for my list at the private hospital. Well, actually it was an early start for an afternoon list but we needn\u2019t quibble. It\u2019s a clear and cold wintry morning, and when I got into the changing room, this is what I found. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/accordingtokirsty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_2778-300x225.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8146,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/24\/identity-6\/","url_meta":{"origin":12100,"position":2},"title":"Identity","author":"Interloper11","date":"August 24, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"With all these recent examples of less than robust brain power, you may or may not be surprised by how long it took the penny to drop on one particular matter this week. I\u2019ve often wondered why I don\u2019t get more comments from patients when I do my post op\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/accordingtokirsty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/2FBCA86B-BCB6-46E8-A2C1-B42F079EB7B9-e1661380399252-225x300.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":841,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/29\/tell-me-why\/","url_meta":{"origin":12100,"position":3},"title":"Tell me why","author":"Interloper11","date":"October 29, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Thrombectomy count = 3 Awake craniotomy count = 2 Weather = a wet and cold 7 degrees! When it was mid twenties all last week! 13 people in theatre today observing the surgery, not including anyone who actually had a job to do, or the three people looking in through\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/accordingtokirsty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/C9758C99-CF63-4AA0-99EE-C12F0C1653E4-300x225.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9175,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2023\/08\/14\/chilled\/","url_meta":{"origin":12100,"position":4},"title":"Chilled","author":"Interloper11","date":"August 14, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Arrived at work today for my 15 hour shift only to find no scrub jackets to wear. We\u2019re only allowed to wear scrubs in theatre, not our own clothes, but there are generally plenty of pants and short sleeved tops available, although not always in a suitable size. If you\u2019re\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9948,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/03\/book-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":12100,"position":5},"title":"Book review","author":"Interloper11","date":"April 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"No, of course it\u2019s not a book review. 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