{"id":12902,"date":"2026-04-29T12:22:41","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T00:22:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/?p=12902"},"modified":"2026-04-29T12:22:41","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T00:22:41","slug":"subconscious-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/29\/subconscious-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Subconscious"},"content":{"rendered":"

My general surgery list came as a bit of a surprise to me yesterday.<\/p>\n

That particular surgeon specialises in thyroid surgeries, but instead our list was filled with more run of the mill things like gallbladders and hernias, typically described as a list of rats and mice. Mind you, the average age was around eighty, and all had at least one serious coexisting illness, so there were some challenges for us. I had to hold my junior accomplice back from a number of clever interventions she had read about and was keen to try. My modus operandi can best be described as \u201cgetting over heavy ground lightly\u201d AKA following the KISS principle whenever possible. I generally find the best outcomes result from doing the basic stuff well, rather than over complicating things. The enemy of good is better, as they say. (How many aphorisms have I managed to squeeze into this post so far?? More than you can shake a stick at I\u2019m sure.) Anyway, it did mean I was free to go and help with a red bell alarm coming from the theatre next door, which was the real deal, with CPR in full swing on my arrival. (Diagnosis TBC, likely anaphylaxis.)<\/p>\n

We all worked hard to get through the list, and we were only running half an hour over our rostered finish time when we phoned the recovery unit for a space for our final patient, at 4:30. Unfortunately, as so often happens, there was no room at the inn, mostly due to bed block in the rest of the hospital. This sort of delay is sadly open ended. At first, the rest of the team stayed with us, but as time went by, they gradually dispersed until only one nurse was left behind with me and the patient. By that time, the patient was sitting up and chatting with us, had had a drink of water and an ice block and had borrowed my phone to ring her daughter and assure her that she was fine.<\/p>\n

The nurse then asked me, are you humming a particular song, or is it just a random tune? Well, I had no idea that I\u2019d been humming at all, and vociferously denied I\u2019d been doing any such thing, but in my heart I knew I probably had been. I think it\u2019s something I do quite often, while being completely unaware of it. I remember one anaesthetic technician telling his colleagues that he knew when I was anxious or unhappy about the way a surgery or anaesthetic was going, by the way I stopped humming.
\nSimilarly, earlier on in the day, I was chatting to our heavily pregnant Duty Anaesthetist, when she said to me \u201cThere\u2019s no way I could balance on one leg like that! I\u2019d have tipped over onto the floor five minutes ago.\u201d Once again, I had no idea I was doing my balancing exercises at the time. It\u2019s something I\u2019ve taken up to improve my chances of longevity, since a hip fracture after a fall is a common coup de grace for little old ladies. But it wasn\u2019t supposed to be something I did anywhere beyond the privacy of my own home.
\nI guess while neither of these things is as bad as something truly antisocial, such as picking my nose or scratching my arse, it\u2019s still embarrassing. In some ways, humming could potentially be regarded as even worse, as I\u2019m sure some people would regard it as noise pollution, whereas you can always look the other way from arse scratching.
\nI do feel somewhat aggrieved that my mindfulness training hasn\u2019t curbed either of these mindless actions. Surely if I was aware of everything going on all the time then I\u2019d know I was doing it? Maybe I should just be grateful I don\u2019t get real complaints, just interested questions interspersed with the occasional passive aggressive comment.<\/span><\/p>\n

For another point of view, AI thinks my strange behaviour is actually to be commended:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Although, to be fair, this is the same AI that gave me the following cryptic crossword advice this morning:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My general surgery list came as a bit of a surprise to me yesterday.<\/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-12902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8Ukf-3m6","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":30,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2018\/08\/01\/lessons-from-cambridge\/","url_meta":{"origin":12902,"position":0},"title":"Lessons from Cambridge","author":"Interloper11","date":"August 1, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Things that are good with the NHS: Everyone is very lovely. The ODAs\/ODPs are efficient and very helpful. Surgeons understand that blood loss is due to surgery, not anaesthesia. Things that are bad with the NHS: 0800hrs list briefing; list finishes at 18:15! No thanks! Anaesthetic rooms. I don\u2019t know\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7102,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2021\/11\/13\/old-scheduling-email-23-june-2017\/","url_meta":{"origin":12902,"position":1},"title":"Old scheduling email 23 June 2017","author":"Interloper11","date":"November 13, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Probably less than a year\u2019s \u00a0worth of these to go! We\u2019re on the final stretch! From: Kirsty Jordan Sent: Friday, 23 June 2017 2:49 PM To: Wellington Anaesthesia All Staff Subject: Rudolph \u00a0 I\u2019m Kirsty, the red nosed scheduler, today. I\u2019ve had a tiny red spot on my nose for\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6287,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2021\/03\/15\/if-life-gives-you-lemons\/","url_meta":{"origin":12902,"position":2},"title":"If life gives you lemons…","author":"Interloper11","date":"March 15, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"There\u2019s a tendency in medicine to describe the size of things in the body in comparison to citrus fruit. Thus a uterus, either pregnant or with tumours such as fibroids, might be the size of a lemon, an orange, or a grapefruit. (Once it\u2019s bigger than a grapefruit it\u2019s described\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":727,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/16\/best-wishes\/","url_meta":{"origin":12902,"position":3},"title":"Best wishes","author":"Interloper11","date":"October 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"My regular private list is happening without me today. Hope it goes well (but maybe not\u00a0too\u00a0well).","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2907,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2019\/07\/18\/everyone-loves-reruns\/","url_meta":{"origin":12902,"position":4},"title":"Everyone loves reruns","author":"Interloper11","date":"July 18, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019ve been under the weather since getting back in the country on Monday, some sore throat germ plus PTSD from the cricket. So, here is an old work email trawled up from my sent emails to keep you \u201centertained\u201d \u00a0 From: Kirsty Jordan Sent: Friday, 12 December 2014 2:05 p.m.\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7819,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2022\/04\/26\/in-a-pickle\/","url_meta":{"origin":12902,"position":5},"title":"In a pickle","author":"Interloper11","date":"April 26, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Wanting a meat free sandwich for lunch today, I had the choice between \u2018cheese and gherkin\u2019 or \u2018vegetarian.\u2019 Not being a big fan of pickles, I went for the latter, only to discover upon eating it, that it too was filled with quite a gratuitous superfluity of gherkins. Why? 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