Medical Training

I scrubbed in for the first time yesterday. It was a laparoscopic cholecystectomy and my task is to hold the laparoscopy. Just that but then it means standing static behind the surgeon and make sure the camera is focusing on the other 2 laparoscopic instruments inside the abdomen, which only means me turning into squid for the umpteenth time. I am now annoyed with orthostatic intolerance, now that I am done with marching stuff, who needs orthostatic intolerance anymore?definitely not when u are given the rare chance to scrub in but oh well. I got to see everything clearly and for the first time, I caught everything explained by the surgeon.

There's a particular patient today. A very old woman, barely holding to her life after her aortic aneurysm ruptured. The doctor explained everything from the mechanical ventilation, to the dialysis with lines from subclavian vein, to the ABG. Basically almost everything. When we came to the part DNR, I began reasoning. I mean, she is super old and then boom! aortic aneurysm rupture = death door. But they dragged her away from that but she never wake up again eversince. With my shallow thinking, I think what's the point of keeping her, because I think to live to such an age, most people would be happy to just go peacefully without having to deal with tubes in and out of your orifices and man made orifices just to buy a lil bit more time. Most people, me included, will think it's best to let her go. But then as I was stepping out of the room, looking at my notes and racing all the informations we just learnt about, it got to me. The patient, although is comatose and is on DNR order, still serve her function. Excellently. I have to admit that she is useful. Because she's like that, I got to learn precious knowledge. It's really humbling. Thinking that a comatose patient can still provide something in such a state, there's no reason why we the healthy living one can't be as useful.

I know I can't remember the names of all the patients that I have ever meet, all the patients that are willing to let me see and touch them, all the patients that bear with my lousy history taking. But I shall always be grateful for them. =)