Week 3: Pratt

This week I shadowed Dr. Nasser Altorki, a professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery and the Director of the Division of Thoracic Surgery. I observed him perform several ___. One patient was extremely interesting because she had very-widespread cancer but was still undergoing invasive surgery. She would normally not be a candidate for surgery, however her cancer had responded very well to chemotherapy and apparently her physician thought she had a good chance at survival. The patient underwent and esophagectomy followed by a jejunostomy. A jejunostomy is making an artificial opening in a part of the small intestines to allow feeding tube placement. Throughout the surgery, Dr. Altorki explained exactly what he was doing and what organs were in the line of sight. He mentioned the patient had a relative who was also a physician, who pushed for the surgery to happen. I wonder how often something as simple as personally knowing in the medical field can alter someone’s entire course of treatment.