Operating Room Adventures

Today I had the opportunity to shadow one of the cardiologists that I am working with this rotation. Typically, I only see him for morning reports at the very beginning of the day, but today I had the privilege of going around the hospital and seeing patients with him and attending any procedures that he performed.

Procedure #1: I was able to watch as he inserted dye into the blood vessels of a person's heart to see how blocked the blood vessels were. Then, he actually put in 2 stents - so cool!

Procedure #2: A lady had a pacemaker put in yesterday but it wasn't working quite right, so the physician was going back in to replace it. Visual image: I'm in the OR with a hair net, face mask, surgical gown, and radiation vest (very heavy) on. I'm standing near the patient's head (so I can have the best view) and the cardiologist is standing to the patient's side. Cardiologist makes an initial 3-4" cut into the patient's chest. Kind of cool. Then begins cutting through muscle (I think), and I start thinking "huh, this is bothering me more than I thought it would - maybe I should step back for a minute so that I can regroup." Excellent plan. I step back to the countertops and lean against them as I hear someone ask "Are you okay?". Next thing I know my eyes are opening and I'm laying on the floor very confused. At first I think I'm in heaven. Then I decide that my alarm clock is going off and it's first thing in the morning...but that doesn't fit. Then I realize that I've completely passed out in the OR - great way to make a good impression. Nurses are surrounding me - they pick me up and put me in a chair and wheel me out into the main area (the whole time I'm saying "I am SO sorry...I am so very sorry). I kept asking what happened and touched my head to make sure I hadn't busted it wide open during the process. I later find out that the tech that asked me if I was okay had caught me (thankfully, he was a pretty sizeable male) and then put me on the ground. Can I mention that it's only about 9am at this point? Therefore, the day's only just beginning.

Procedure #3: After about an hour, we've got another procedure where they're looking at blocked blood flow. I tell the cardiologist that I'd sit this one out if he wants me to (I'm still kind of woozy at this point and still have some chills) - thinking that the OR was the last place he would want me. He responded "nope, you've got to jump back on this horse." So I followed him in there and made it just fine (thankfully, this was a much less invasive procedure than #2).

Learned lessons from today:

1. Today was the first time that I've ever passed out. Usually blood does not bother me at all. So I have no idea what happened. It took Luke several minutes to actually realize I wasn't kidding when I told him what had happened (I had actually joked with him this morning that it would be awful for me to pass out today).
2. The cardiologist and nurses were so great - they made me feel better and said it actually happens more than you would realize.
3. Passing out looks just like it does in the movies - coming back to consciousness with the confusion and haze.
4. Everything happened a lot faster than I realized it would. I always thought that if I was going to pass out, I would really know it and have time to sit down and regroup. Within 1 minute I went from being not so sure to passed out cold.
5. There have been times through pharmacy school that I have questioned my career decisions. And I had to just continually rest assured in the fact that the Lord had clearly led me to pharmacy and that I was in this profession for a good reason. Those thoughts have even crept into my head the past few months. I praised the Lord today that He led me to pharmacy - because I could have never handled medical school and all of the surgery (not to mention insane hours).

I hope everyone else had a less eventful day than mine! Have a fantastic weekend!