Hello good people of hive,
I hope we all are in sound health.
Will I Ever?
This is a question that goes hand in hand with,
Can I Ever?
At every new step we take in life, a part of us always brings up a doubt against the feat we desire to achieve.
I remember those days in primary school that after performing excellently well both in my grades and position in a particular class; at the entry of a new class, I always ask myself;
Can I ever reciprocate this masterclass performance in grades?
Oohh, this boy was not in my class and now we are here together;
Can I ever outclass him in grades and position?
It is always there to breed doubt but guess what, when you do the necessary things you are meant to do, you always end up victorious and satisfied at the end even if you do not get to outclass him or her.
If you read my introduction, I guess you already know I am a student doctor still under learning.
I just finished my CTU ( Cardiothoracic Unit) postings.
This is a surgery unit in the hospital, cardiology is regarded as their sister counterpart in Medicine. They are specifically related to cases of the thoracic (chest) region of the body such as Pericardial effusion, abdominal mass, lungs related problems e.t.c
On Friday, I got to witness my first surgery in the theatre.
The patients presented with cases of Anterior neck mass and pericardial effusion.
Calm, yes , calm, forget the big name,
Pericardial effusion simply means that there is fluid in the pericardial cavity/ pericardium.
The surgery aims at draining the fluid since it is not meant to be there and will be a risk factor to other disorders if allowed to stay longer.
IN THE THEATRE ROOM PROPER
The theatre is the most sterile room you can see in the whole world. This is because patients are opened up depending on the surgery in the theatre and so devoid of the first protective layer that the nature confers on humans, the skin.
Without the skin, microorganisms can easily enter the body and start their disastrous activities and the theatre tries as much as possible to prevent this from happening.
If you look up although it is not very visible, the board over there contains information about the patient, surgeons, nurses, anaesthesiologists and instruments that will be used in the surgery.
The theatre also has a dressing room just before the theatre door where the technicians and students change their normal wears and footwears before entering the theatre.
Does it mean you cannot enter the theatre with any cloth you like?
The answer is an absolute YES; the theatre is not an accepter of every dress. Above all, the theatre accepts clothes that are Comfortable, easily discarded and easily washed; we call them SCRUBS.
The theatre accepts footwears that are simple, rubber-made footwears ( Not leather) and does not make noise as you walk.
Yes,the theatre does not accept that your big shoe you were to occasions.
It just accept your CROCS as we call them.
Also, you are not allowed to display that your new wonderful haircut or newly braided hair that you made in the theatre; you must cover your hair before entering the theatre door.
This is because hair is very dangerous when it falls into a place not meant to be.
Not long after we all changed in the dressing room, the consultant came in and was ready to attend to the first patient who presented with anterior neck mass.
The surgery started well, the monitor was in place and the whole instruments were ready.
The consultant explained few things to us such as the diathermy pencil, how to read the numbers in the monitor which were representing the blood pressure, respiratory rate, mean arterial pressure e.t.c
Then, he commenced the surgery and finished it perfectly. The neck mass was sent to the laboratory unit for investigation.
This will tell us what the mass was exactly.
Hopefully, it won't be malignant.
The consultant rested for an hour and was ready for the next patient who presented with pericardial effusion.
This one took longer unlike the first one.
The surgical procedure here was thoracostomy.
Take a chill pill and calm down, it is not a big grammar😊.
Thoracostomy simply means that an opening has to be made in the thoracic region, just a small cut through which a tube will be connected to drain the fluid in the pericardial cavity.
Below is the chest x-ray of the patient, although it will not make sense to you if you are not in this field but atleast you can appreciate the fact that the two sides are not exactly the same; the left side( in anatomical position) seems to be filled with something you do not know and that is the fluid we are meant to drain in the surgery.
The surgery went on well indeed and the consultant did a good job closing it up.
Now back to the context topic;
Can I Ever?| Will I ever be??
All the periods this surgery were going on, I was in the theatre observing all that was going on;
Starting from the first cut with the scalpel to the gradual opening using the diathermy pencil to the suction to the removal of mass and then to get the tube inserted and the rest of other activities there;
Do you know all that came to my mind?
Samuel, will you ever be able to do this??
This is a very big question to me because it is one I cannot give the answer,
Not then,
Not tomorrow,
Not next year, but maybe,
by next 5years.
The cut and surgical procedures sent cold chills all over my body, my hands were vibrating even when I was not the one holding the scalpel talk more of you handing the scalpel over to me.
I rhetorically asked myself,
"seems I will remain in the Medicine unit where I will not be responsible for surgeries but rather do more of investigations and treat my patients with medications till they get better"?.
But still, we never know what the future holds, who knows maybe tomorrow, I will change my mind and will get to answer the life changing question that comes at every new step we take and this time around for me, the question is,
Can I Ever Be Able to Perform Surgeries??
PS: All pictures used are mine
Also published here