OR Rotation

My OR rotation was February 4, 10, 11, and 18. My first day, I picked to go watch a couple of vaginal hysterectomies. Since I have had one myself, I thought this would be fascinating. All I kept thinking was how glad I was that I had no idea what was happening to me when I went through it. I was glad however at how private they keep the operating room during that type of operation. They cover the windows so people passing by can't just look in at their own leisure. The patient is completely draped except for the head and that place of the body that is under-going the operation. That made me feel better. I have been imaging being spread eagle on an operating table, completely naked with the whole world gawking at me. Whew!

My second day, I had to do a case study which means our instructor gives us a list of possible patients to choose from and we pick one and follow them from pre-op to post-op and then visit them the next day. I picked a 44 year old who had a double mastectomy. This was incredibly difficult for me. I teared up twice during my following her around. The first time, when she kissed her husband good-bye to go to the operating room, and the second when her dad was telling me that her little boy (who is 5) wanted to bring his back pack and sit by her bed all day until she went to sleep and then he would go home. I could imagine Jacob saying the same thing. The surgery itself was not describable. When I went to go see her the next day, she looked like a completely different person. She had a great attitude and told me something her dad had told her when she first got her breast cancer. These are words to live by: "You have no right to be mad at the Lord. He has suffered much more than you." I plan on remembering that.

My third day was spent in a few different places. I spent an hour in pre-op and an hour in post-op and then 4 hours in PACU (post anesthesia care unit = recovery). I can tell you that watching person after person wake up from surgery is not something that I really enjoyed all that much. Some of them are in so much pain. Some of them think that they just took a nap and haven't gone into surgery yet. Some fight and struggle when they are waking up. The worst are the little kids. They are the quickest to leave, going to their parents as soon as their breathing is stable. The hospital believes that they will do much better being with their parents and staying calm. I agree with the philosophy.

My fourth day is Tuesday. I am scheduled to be in the OR again. I'll have to fill you in later.