One of the most interesting experiences for me during my time at Rush-Copley Hospital in Aurora was the opportunity I got to watch an open heart surgery. The experience was tremendous because I do not think I will ever get the chance to observe a procedure like this again unless I go to medical school.
To be honest I was scared I would not be able to handle watching a surgical procedure because I am NOT a blood person (hence why I went into pharmacy and not med school). But I kept thinking about how the patient could not feel anything and that if I closed my eyes now I would never be able to observe this in my life again. I was able to stand directly at the head of the surgical table looking down at the whole procedure. If the patient's eyes were open and head not masked by towels, they would have been staring up at my chin which was about a 16 inches from their head.
I have a new found respect for surgeons, doctors and nurses as the procedure took 6 hours with no bathroom breaks, snack breaks or stretch your leg breaks. There were 2 surgeons, 2 doctors, 2 nurses, 1 anesthesiologists, 2 cardiac/respiratory machinists, and 1 pharmacy intern (ME) in the room along with the patient. The medical team stayed calm throughout the whole procedure with little that phased them. Each member knew exactly what to do, where to be and how to communicate effectively making the surgery room function like a well oiled machine with little room for error. Any abnormality was dealt with smoothly and concisely.
The room was more sterile than a bottle of bleach. Every instrument, counter top, machine, tube, etc. was sterilized and could not be touched by anyone but the surgeons who had on sterile gloves or breathed on by anyone as everyone had to have masks on as well as full scrub gear (caps, gowns, shoe coverings, etc). There was no way even a piece of dust could exist in the room.
I asked the surgeons how they stayed focused for 6 straight hours and they said that they live for these kinds of moments. They do the procedures the same way each time to ensure accuracy and precision. They portrayed a sense of calm while operating, even at the most critical moments as if they could not be shocked by a ghost passing through.
Every piece of equipment, every glove, every medication, every incision, every change in air pressure, etc was accounted for to ensure the patient's safety and well-being. Even when the patient's heart and lungs were no longer working for the body but a machine took over, the machine was monitored by two individuals every second as to match its function as closely as possible to the patient's physical function. The patient's lungs collapsed as the machine needed to oxygenate the blood since the heart collapsed as it needed to be drained in order to be worked on. The patient's body had to be cooled down in order to preserve cell function in every tissue and organ while the heart and lungs were "off". It is as if the surgeons must turn the body off for the procedure, do a full tune up and then bring the person back to life.
The surgeons had to cut open the heart to replace two heart valves, harvest some arteries from the patients leg and create a bypass for one of the arteries that supplied blood to the heart but was now blocked. Some actions seemed so crude, such as the cutting of the sternum bone and separation of the rib cage, yet most of the procedure was a scientific art , such as the sewing and placement of the valves so that they fit exactly with the rest of the heart muscle.
I used to think that surgeons were overpaid and over glorified for what they did but now I understand the time, money and care that goes into their work. They spent a great deal of effort making sure every precaution and extra step/effort to make sure the patient would not only have a fighting chance to live but would live as long as possible without complications. Watching the heart and lungs brought back to life and kick in again for the patient was beyond words.
The worst part for me was watching them sew up the skin because it reminded me too much of Silence of the Lambs movie but I got over it as I realized that this patient was going to survive thanks to everything that was done.
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