So I admit...I'm officially the worst blogger ever...I just end up not finding the time that I would like to write about all of my experiences here. However, I couldn't pass up the chance to write about this past Thursday.
In fourth semester, students spend two full days at the hospital...and Thursday was my first day. I got up early, ate breakfast and popped my Dramamine for the hour roller coaster of a car ride to Princess Margaret Hospital in Rosseau, the capital of Dominica. I was a little anxious. I felt confident in all I had learned to prepare myself for the day, but being the first time...I had tiny butterflies :) We arrived at the hospital around 9 that morning and were given our assignments for the morning. There were different specialties that were sent to observe, including family medicine, OB-GYN, pathology, geriatrics, ENT (ear, nose, throat), anesthesiology, primary surgery, and post surgical rounds. I sat there anxiously awaiting my assignment...my first preference would be surgery...no luck...then anesthesiology...no luck there either...pathology?...nope...I began to worry about how much I would enjoy the day but tried to remind myself just to be grateful that I was going to follow around a physician that morning instead of sitting in class. I leaned over to my friend Diana and joked that we probably got stuck with OB-GYN (no offense to anyone that has that profession...just not really what I want to do all day). I ended up with ENT...but poor Diana got OB-GYN (she said she learned a good bit by the end of the morning shift...but she never wanted to see a vagina again). I wasn't pumped about the ENT assignment, but awaited instructions anyway. Then, a guy in my group that had been assigned primary surgery asked to switch to something they had an open spot in, so immediately I asked for his place in surgery and I GOT IT!!! I was SO excited!
We headed over to the OR, which was an experience in itself (note to all reading...hospitals at home can be annoying and frustrating...but we should all be grateful for he luxuries we have by where we live). I went to the ladies dressing room and changed from my "professional" attire and into what I think are some of the most comfortable clothes ever invented...SCRUBS. We were given hair nets, face masks, and booties...a quick overview of the patients we would see that day, and that was it...time to start!
The first surgery we saw was absolutely my favorite and it would be a shame not to explain it fully. The man having the operation had a bad fall previously and broken his femur (longest bone in your body...from the hip to the knee). At the time of the break, he had surgery to reset the bone and inserted a large steel rod to allow the femur to heal. Luckily for this man, his leg had healed very well, however, that meant that he needed another surgery to remove the rod. The surgeon made a 4 inch or so incision in the right hip, and then proceeded to jab back and forth with surgical scissors until the end of the rod was exposed. Once it was exposed, he used fancy pliers to pull on the rod to loosen it a bit. Once he finished with the pliers (with the rod visible from within the mans hip), the surgeon began putting his tools together. The long rod that was placed in the mans leg had a small hole in the end of it. The surgeon put a T-shaped handle onto a long steel bar with a hook on the end. He jabbed this into the leg a few times until he was able to get the hook of his tool into the hole in the rod in the mans leg. From there, it was a tug of war between the surgeon and this man's leg. Eventually, with probably 3 giant pulls, the rod quickly slid out of the mans leg....I know this seems kinda harsh for people that are squirmy...but i ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!!!...I've often wondered if I would like Orthopedic Surgery...so it was definitely awesome for me to witness one. It's amazing to me how brutal the surgeon was...made me think about how much pain people are in when they wake up...wondering how much of that is from the surgery and how much is from the surgeons method...?
I also saw a prostatectomy, removal of a foot nodule, removal of an epigastric hernia, and catherization of a man that had not urinated since Sunday (keep in mind that I went to the hospital on Thursday). Those surgeries were also exciting, but nothing like the femur rod removal...and that was just my morning.
After lunch we were sent to interview a patient and do a full physical exam. I was sent to the womens ward and met Octavia, a lovely 33 year old mother of 4. She was born with only one kidney and about 5 years ago, her kidney started to fail. She was a wonderful patient. We laughed and she told me all about life in Dominica...and amazingly, then asked me where I was from. When I told her South Carolina she said, "Greeenville, right?" which absolutely blew me away. She said she has a good friend that is going to Bob Jones University right now...small world huh? :)
Well, I better get in bed because it's one in the morning here and I need rest...but I couldn't resist getting this up while I had a few minutes....hopefully more awesome stories will come again soon.
P.S. Aunt Linda: I hope my descriptions don't churn your stomach, but I wanted you especially to know how my hospital day went. Also, I still had that pack of PB crackers you gave me...I took them with me and ended up giving them to Diana when she was feeling sick...so on behalf of her, Thank you for those!!! :) love ya!!!
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