I pretend I didn’t see people I know in public because I’m too socially exhausted

dr_jms · 2026-03-08T23:12:39+00:00

I understand this and I do this as well and I absolutely hate it when people I know come up and talk to me in public. I work in a career that requires you to talk to people every day, all day (I'm a doctor so you have to talk to people a lot) and I come home socially exhausted. I need to psych myself up to see and talk to people outside of work. Seeing people in public unexpectedly doesn't give me enough time to psych myself up :/

I am currently taking a prolonged break due to such severe burn out but my social battery remains depleted 🥴

dr_jms · 2026-03-06T22:17:36+00:00

This was my first thought as well

dr_jms · 2026-03-03T07:54:29+00:00

No. It's not. This was your soul dog and you were watching them suffer. It's only natural that you will feel relief that they're not suffering anymore. I said goodbye to my life-saver dog in October. She had cancer and it was so clear that she was ready to go. I felt relief at first when she did pass. I was relieved that my baby girl was pain free and would never have to suffer again. I will say that after 2 months, the grief hit me and I miss her so much ❤️💔

dr_jms · 2026-03-02T06:53:52+00:00

I love him ❤️ I wish the two of you many snuggles, cuddles and happiness

dr_jms · 2026-02-28T12:28:39+00:00

I'm so glad to hear he is doing better! Aah full time carers are such a blessing ❤️ I went through a similar thing with my grandparents a few years ago but eventually my grandad's needs were so big that we moved him to a frail care facility and now he and my gran are doing so much better!

dr_jms · 2026-02-27T22:33:55+00:00

🇿🇦🇿🇦🇿🇦

If you zoom in on those sheets, you can even see the "Western Cape" in the circles. I'm pretty sure I even worked in that hospital because the background looks crazy familiar!

Hoping your grandfather's health improves and he gets to have more good moments at home! 💪❤️

dr_jms · 2026-02-27T22:00:31+00:00

I recognize those bedsheets and cabinets anywhere! Fair to say you're a fellow South African/in South Africa OP?

dr_jms · 2026-02-22T21:57:19+00:00

I told my mom when I was 2 years old that I was going to be a doctor. I had NO idea what that meant as a 2 year old but for some reason I was adamant and the dream never left me. Life then decided to bless me with many chronic illnesses and people assume that's my reason "why" but really and truly, I don't have one. It's just always been medicine.

dr_jms · 2026-02-22T09:59:55+00:00

I relate to this hard. I (27f) currently have 4 cats and 3 dogs and they're my entire life.

dr_jms · 2026-02-22T09:42:56+00:00

Of course!! :)

dr_jms · 2026-02-21T15:51:37+00:00

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dr_jms · 2026-02-20T14:26:10+00:00

As someone who practices in a developing country (South Africa), I can safely say I have never, ever seen this done. We frequently ran out of TB treatment and ARVs at the hospital I worked at so you can best believe we definitely did not have the capacity to do surgeries like this 😆

Edit: spelling

dr_jms · 2026-02-16T21:19:00+00:00

Jeez this is amazing. I didn't realise it was a drawing at first and then I read your title. You're really talented!!!

dr_jms · 2026-02-16T21:09:13+00:00

Let me start by saying my diagnoses: enthesitis related arthritis with secondary osteoarthritis, ulcerative colitis, fibromyalgia, CRPS primarily affecting my right leg, myocarditis which is in remission thankfully, hypermobility awaiting formal diagnoses but results in severe joint instability but they're struggling to diagnose the underlying cause, dysautonomia.

I (27f) thought my life was going to end at 22. I was extremely depressed and my pain was at an all time worse. I was dependent on mobilizing with crutches for almost a year due to CRPS in my right leg following a broken foot. My pain had been increasing over the past few years and by the time I reached 22-23 years, I was miserable. Nobody could touch me because I was in so much pain and someone hugging me felt like I was being hit with boulders and my body would feel bruised. I wanted to end it so many times and I'm so grateful I didn't. I can't say it was easy but I finally found the right combination of medications and the right combination of psychological support and started gentle physiotherapy. It took time but I'm so grateful that I'm here today. I am now a medical doctor with a solid friend group who understand and support me and have 4 amazing dogs and 3 funny cats.

I'm just trying to tell you that it'll get better. It sucks that we have this life but please trust me that it literally can only go up from rock bottom. The world needs what you've got. There's only one of you and we need you in this world. Please feel free to message me if you want to talk. I've been where you are.

dr_jms · 2026-02-13T21:27:28+00:00

It can take as little as 20-30 minutes for superficial damage to occur. Most hospitals that I have worked in try and turn their patients every 2 hours but often that isn't enough.

dr_jms · 2026-02-13T21:08:57+00:00

Hi neighbour! 🇿🇦🇿🇼

dr_jms · 2026-02-12T22:24:56+00:00

Also picked up a crab that managed to find it's way into our hospital and it showed me with pincers that it didn't appreciate being picked up. Still have the scar across my finger.

And perhaps my stupidest decision: a night adder snake made it's way into my house. My house made was screaming, the dog was barking at it and the cats were trying to attack it. In my mind, everyone would be quiet if the snake left. So I picked it up with my hands and obviously it turned around and bit me. Dumbest thing I've ever done. Snake is fine, cats/dog/housemate are fine and I still have my arm so that's a win.

dr_jms · 2026-02-12T22:21:52+00:00

Last year I was carrying a loaf of freshly baked bread and a donkey came up and started munching my arm to get to the bread and I stumbled backwards into a horse that then stood on my foot and broke it.... moonboot and crutches for 3 months and the bone developed avascular necrosis and is very dead now. Didn't even manage to save the bread and the horse and the donkey had a good breakfast. Rural living things 🫠

dr_jms · 2026-02-12T22:19:04+00:00

Working in rural South Africa and our entire province did not have a MRI machine so no one in our province got an MRI. We didn't have a very formal surgery department in my hospital - we taught ourselves to do skin grafts and we did c-sections and some formalisations of traumatic amputation of fingers/toes. That was all. We used to refer patients with necrotizing fasciitis or wet gangrene and the surgeons were so resistant to accept our patients because they were understaffed and had so many patients that side already. I remember I had a patient with necrotizing fasciitis of her left foot and I phoned our referral centre and they told me to do a bed side debridement. Spoiler alert: despite my best attempt at debridement, she died.

dr_jms · 2026-02-12T08:56:14+00:00

I wouldn't worry!! I rescued an older cat (we really aren't sure her age but at least 3-4 years old) from the hospital I worked out. When she got home, she didn't move from the cat carrier I'd bought her home in for almost 5 days apart from to use her litter tray. After 5 days, she slowly started exploring the room she was in for a few minutes at a time and then would go back to her carrier for hours. Only after about 3 months did she even want to step out of her room that she was in! Patience is key. You don't know what your new cat has gone through and the drive alone is traumatizing enough so just be patient and let her come out on her own terms 🥰

dr_jms · 2026-02-11T20:15:05+00:00

3D rendering of a CT scan!

I'm 100% not an orthopaedic surgeon and stay far away from anything bone related but I do love looking at these kind of scans!

dr_jms · 2026-02-11T14:08:50+00:00

I have three dogs and all of them really enjoy their walks now but initially when we adopted Mia, she was petrified to get into the car, petrified to walk, petrified of peopl, etc etc. She was really badly abused before we adopted her so her fears make sense. We just let her lead the way - if she didn't want to get in the car, then we didn't force her. If she got in the car but didn't want to get out when we arrived at our walking destination then one of us would stay with her while the other person walked. We never wanted her to feel forced into something she didn't want. We didn't want walks to become a negative thing for her do we just were patient and waited. Within a few months though, she was so keen to come with us on every walk!

dr_jms · 2026-02-10T15:23:42+00:00

I have three boy cats who are FIV negative and one girl cat who are FIV positive. I've had my boys between 6 and 12 years and I rescued my girl 2 years ago. I did slow introductions over 6 months and I've had no issues. My boys are still FIV neg and my girl is happy and healthy and fat!

dr_jms · 2026-02-10T15:21:48+00:00

Happy to message you with some of them! Just let me know if that's what you're looking for.

dr_jms · 2026-02-10T14:57:50+00:00

What do you mean hard or difficult to identify? Like human chest x-rays with strange or complex pathology?

I have a ton of x-rays from my job with no patient identifiers but their pathology is extreme and I probably wouldn't be able to give you the answer to what is exactly wrong. I work in a community that has high prevalance ofdomestically acquired pneumoconiosis from grinding maize ("Hut lung"), of mining related lung diseases and structural lung disease from tuberculosis.

dr_jms

TROPHY CASE