Freedom
II.I.III
FREEDOM
I expected to be overwhelmed once I was finally out of quarantine. And in a way, I kinda was. Turns out, Mr Vladimir had taken a week off and we barely had any patients. Of course, that meant we wouldn’t have any endoscopies or surgeries either.
This proved to be the perfect way to transition back to normal life. Somehow, it seemed like for once the universe was in my favour. In fact, over the course of my three-month rotation, not only was I out for a full two weeks, but Mr Vladimir took an entire month off. This ended up being the most relaxing rotation ever. When he was away, my day at work would finish before it’d even start, leaving me with plenty of time to help out other house officers with their workload and actually enjoy my life.
First off, I had the opportunity to be a tourist in my own country. I finally had time to explore more of Gozo – something I’d barely done, despite living a couple of hours away from the island.
I’d swim on most days, go on a couple of hikes every week, and even started visiting some cultural and historical sites, including the megalithic temples of Ġgantija – among the oldest prehistoric temple structures in Europe. I quickly realised why Gozitans were so possessive, and so patriotic, about their tiny jewel!
I also started focusing more on my health. I got myself a gym membership and the second I stepped in, one of the personal trainers couldn’t stop eyeing me. Whilst at first I thought he had a crush on me, I quickly changed my mind the second he came up to me. “Bro, your posture sucks!” he said, cordially. Just like that, I ended up working out under his supervision. We focused mostly on back exercises to rid me of my very unpalatable hunchback. We’d start off with some stretching (something I’d always forego) and then move on to muscle-strengthening exercises. I’d always be on the verge of crying, throwing up, or both – having always been used to doing things my own way. Be that as it may, by the end I could finally say I had something close to a straight(ish) spine.
Add to that the quality time I’d spend with my flatmates and the other junior doctors, and it was practically the best life. We’d order takeout and go out for dinner on most days, we’d go to the beach every other day, and we’d occasionally go out for a drink or two. Who the hell knew doctors could have a life outside of hospital too, huh?