W33K SE7EN - HU4NG

In week 7, I saw my last surgery. The patient had an aorta with calcified tricuspid valves that needed to be replaced. A cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) was performed to prevent the heart from beating and support circulation through the surgery. The most astounding thing I saw in this surgery was the process of how the surgeon started from what looked like a mess of needles and threads and pulled the artifical valve in place, fitting perfectly, and once the threads were cut, everything looked magically clean again! Ah the wonders of thoracic surgery...

Through this Summer Immersion experience, I think that I have become much more de-sensitized to surgeries. Before, I had always been a little squeamish about blood and apprehensive about surgeries in general, but now I see them in a new light. It seems that after the surgical site has had antiseptic applied and all other areas are covered with sterile drapes, the little area of exposed skin actually looks fake! So it does not look as scary to cut into this piece of skin, and with a suction tube always present, there is little blood to be seen as well. In all the surgeries I have been in, the OR also had a light atmosphere where doctors and nurses joked around at times. I expected none of this when I first walked into an OR... perhaps I have been watching too much TV.