Back to Work

Finally I was able to have a full day in the hospital. For the past month I would almost pass out in the hospital, or would be so out of it I couldn't even go to work. However, now I am in good health and was able to learn a lot. First, I did rounds with Dr. Bland. There were so many things to see . . .

There was a little boy with a tumor protruding from his right eye. He also had another tumor coming out of the right side of his neck. They are giving him medication to help prevent tumor growth, but there are mixed feelings about operating. You never know how bad the medical problems are here. You base everything off of the little you can see and feel. It is a known fact that the little boy will die. He will die from the tumor if they don't operate, but he also has a really high chance of dying on the table if they do operate. We will see what happens, but as of now they aren't going to operate. 

There was also this guy with a huge abbess in his lower abdomen. Dr. Bland had already lanced it open the day before, but he didn't get all the puss out. So, we squeezed and pushed all of the puss out. It was the most disgusting thing I have ever seen! A ton of puss had already come out, then decay and rotten tissue had to be pulled out of the wound. After we pulled out the tissue more puss came gushing out of the wound. Disgusting!! Yet really interesting to see.

After rounds we started operating. Danae had me scrub up for a hysterectomy. The lady had a polyp or a cyst in her vagina, which was sticking out of her cervix. She already had over 10 kids and didn't want anymore, so the easiest way to fix the problem was to take the whole uterus out. We weren't sure if the mass was cancerous or not. 

I was really nervous about scrubbing in because last time I almost passed out while I was scrubbed in and the patient was a bleeder. I had felt a little faint the day before and didn't want to have another scare. So Danae had one of the visiting German doctors scrub in with us. During the operation I had to sit down twice because I was feeling faint. However, this time I didn't run off to go lay down. I was determined to make it through. 

After talking about how I was feeling and postulating why it was happening Danae pointed out it might be the heat. (I knew for a fact that it wasn't the blood). Although there is A/C in the OR it is very weak and almost useless. However, it is still very much appreciated. I guess I have a low heat tolerance. I will be perfectly fine for the first hour of surgery, but I quickly go down hill after that. 

Danae explained how she was the same way and you get can get used to the heat. It was a relief to hear that. She told me stories about her struggles to get through it and was really patient with me. (She was also faint with blood). Now that we know what my problem is, we can work to fix it. Honestly, it doesn't help that the so-called easy surgeries I scrub in for are much harder then expected. First with the 4cm cystectomy that was really around 2 1/2 in and then with this operation. Her uterus was fused to its surroundings, so the operation took close to 3 hours to complete. 

Anyways, long story short, although I was faint off and on Danae still allowed me to do many things. She let me suture the fascia and subcutaneous layer of the hysterectomy patient. It was great! I learned a lot. If I wasn't scrubbed in then Olen had medical books out teaching me different things about sutures, anesthesia, or the operation that was currently taking place. I hope I have more days like this.