James O'Brien

I swear the children’s books in the waiting room of my local medical centre today were the same ones I read as a child, all those years ago in Dr Stewart’s waiting room. The only apparent difference between then and now was the absence of “The Three Little Black Boys” (it was the 60s, after all) and the presence of a copy of the “Sydney Star Observer”. That one of the books was marked as costing 2-cents was an indication it was a post-decimalisation publication at least.

I’ve spent a fair bit of time in doctor’s waiting rooms over the last few days. Some are good, some are not so good. Surry Hills is good. The staff and the doctors are friendly, and even if they sometimes run out of chairs, the waiting time is generally not too bad. It was the same on Saturday at Bondi Junction. I was in and out very quickly. Darlinghurst was a bit of a drag yesterday, having to wait a couple of hours until I could see a nurse or doctor for a fairly simple bandage change.

Things are coming along nicely on the recovery front. Even though I now have a massive bruise on my arm where the drip was (not a good look in Surry Hills), my wound is itchy which is a good thing, apparently…

The itch of a healing wound is caused by the growth of new cells underneath the old scab. New skin cells would be growing underneath there, and as they form a new layer of skin, then the scab becomes more tightly stretched over this zone of activity. This can make it feel itchy. The itch sensation for burn survivors may be a tingling feeling caused by nerves re-growing, or from dry skin caused by the lack of natural oil production since oil glands may have been damaged or destroyed by the burn. As the nerves grow and start to receive and send messages, they may create that itchy feeling. The skin in this area will be a lot less thick than everywhere else, so these new nerve cells will be under a lot more pressure.Most people say that itching is a sign of healing. It is best to avoid itching of the wound. If it becomes too much of a problem, speak with the doctor or nurse. They may order medications by mouth or some topical cream to help make this more tolerable

Like most blokes my age I need a medical emergency or crisis to convince me to see a doctor. Thus, it’s not that often that I spend time in waiting rooms. I’m making up for it now in spaces with a need for these daily dressings. Thanks to things like Twitter and Google+, and having the Kindle Cloud Reader on my phone, I can keep myself mentally occupied as I wait. What did we do in the old days? Did we really read all of those terrible books and magazines.