MY FIRST SURGERY!

So this week I started working in the hospital. Let me tell you, the way they do things in Spain is much different than in the US. In the US we are super precautionary about everything being sterile and hygenic. In Spain, it seems like they are much more lax about it. They don´t use gloves as often and aren´t neat about taking blood. For all you back in the states, be happy with our health care. It is much better quality than we think. Maybe our system isn´t perfect, but nothing beats the quality.

My first day was in the ER. It was actually pretty boring. In Spain, you usually go to you Health Center first and then you get referred to the hospital. So you would think the ER would only have exreme patients. No. People don´t feel like waiting to go to their Health Center so they just come straight to the ER for anything...

We saw a lot of people just not feeling well, feeling dizzy, nauseous, etc. We saw a lot of blood work being done, shots administered, etc. We did see one guy have a seizure which was pretty cool, but they weren´t too good about telling us exactly what happened. So needless to say I was a little disappointed with my first day...

The second day however...I was not disappointed at all! I got to see my first surgery. This was one of those pivital moments that I think changed my life.

Let´s start from the beginning. Yesterday I was in the Neonatal department. This is where babies who are born prematurely go. They are put in these glass boxes with all these wires hooked up to them helping them breathe, eat, etc. They are so tiny! Their little hands are the size of the pad of my pinky finger. To see them breathe and move is like watching a miracle in real life - you can´t believe it´s actually happening. I wanted to hold one, but I was afraid to ask (also afraid to hold one a little).

There was this one infant who was very premature. He was born at 24 weeks. This is 12 weeks early. He was born almost a month ago and was still only 2 lbs. Insane! We got to read his file and found out his mother was on coccaine and weed when she was pregnant. This infant had a twin, but it died two days after birth. It was a miracle this one was still alive. They did an ex-ray of the baby and found a mass in its abdomen. The doctors decided the baby needed surgery. We asked if we could watch the surgery and they luckily agreed. We were so excited.

We had to stay an extra 2 hours to watch this surgery but I personally didn´t care. I wasn´t going to miss this opportunity. When it was time to opperate they had a large transportation machine to take the baby to the OR. We followed them, unsure of what our place was. We didn´t even realized that we walking straight in the operating room. I´ve never seen a surgery in the US, but I can imagine the protocol is much different than this. We had to ask what we were supposed to wear. A lady took us to a room to change our scrubs, put on booties, a mask, and a cap. I looked like a surgeon. It was awesome. While we were standing in the OR waiting for the surgery to start, I was starting to get nervous. Everyone kept telling me horror stories of the first time they saw a surgery and passed out. I really didn´t want that to be me. I was starting to psych myself out. I just kept telling myself to relax and not think of it as a little baby, but more of a science project. This really helped. Finally they started the surgery. We weren´t sure where out place was so we kind of stood in the back. I couldn´t see anything. I wasn´t sure if I was grateful for that or not. One of the nurses motioned for us to get closer so we went around but stood behind a table. I could see the baby, but I couldn´t really see what they were doing. Then she told us to still get closer. This was when I stood right next to the surgeon. This was the moment of truth. I saw the intestines all out and expose, and unlike a normal person I was facinated! My first thought was ¨That is awesome!¨ I wanted to see more. I watched wide eyed, absorbing everything and wanting to ask a million questions. It was frustrating that I didn´t know what was going on because 1. I don´t know the medical lingo/medical backround. 2. I don´t speak Spanish! Jessica was trying to translate for me, but I still lost bits and pieces.

What they did was they felt through the whole intestines to look for a mass. They didn´t find anything so they made a hole in the skin and pulled a small portion of the inestines through that hole. They then closed up the first incision they made, then sewed the part with the small intestines hanging out to the skin. Apparently this is a common procedure, but not common on a premature baby. They did this because the baby was having trouble desiccating. With this procedure he could desiccate into a bag.

The surgery lasted about 45 mins. which is pretty short. After I came out of the OR I felt like a million bucks. I wanted to call my mom and tell her I didn´t care how much it cost, but I didn´t have my phone on me. This made me feel 100% about becoming a doctor. I was always a little unsure because I´d never seen a surgery and didn´t know how I would react to gross things, but this sealed the deal. I love surgery. I love medicine. And I no doubt want to do this for the rest of my life.

Today we went back to see the patient and he was doing much better. He looked so much healthier. He no londer had a swollen abdomen and the nurse told us he had been desiccating much better. As of now they won´t do any more procedures. I hope he makes it.

Tomorrow I go back to the OR. I can´t wait!