Uniklinik

Last week we had the pleasure of visiting the Uniklinik, a hospital in Bonn, where we got to go and observe surgeries.  The surgery I watched was a spinal fusion.  The patient had previously had his lower vertebrae fused together with a metal brace consisting of a variety of screws and wires.  One of the screws was poorly inserted during the first surgery, so the surgeon's mission was to fix the screw and possibly extend the brace further down the patient's spine for stability.  When I walked into the operating room, I was immediately greeted by the stench of searing flesh from the surgeon's cauterizing tool.  I didn't have breakfast that morning, so all I could think about was eating a juicy filet of steak.  The surgery itself was honestly kind of boring to watch.  It was going to last 10 hours and was very slow moving.  I was only in the room for the first two hours of the surgery, so I pretty much just watched the patient's back being cut open and the different tissues surrounding the spine cleaved apart.  Luckily for me, the anesthesiologist was extremely friendly.  He gave me the run down on his job and the methodology behind every action he took during the surgery.   We had previously covered the cardio and circulation chapters in physiology the weeks leading up to the trip, so listening to the doctor proved to be a great opportunity to reinforce my learning.