Thats What A Lung Is

Waking up before the sun is a rare event for most college students, however for this experience it was more then worth it. Today I got the opportunity to be in scrubs and watch an operation for the very first time. The people of the University Medical Center were kind enough to allow our class the opportunity  to go into operation room and watch various kinds of procedures. In the operation room we were paired with an anesthesiologist who spoke relativity good English and would answer any questions that we had.

Upon walking into the operation room, the first patient I saw was a man who was getting a catheter put in an artery near his right shoulder that would run to a device just below the man's skin in his chest that could be used to deliver chemo therapy through. I thought I would do okay with the surgeries being that my whole childhood involved crime scene shows and me wanting to be a crime scene investigator however you never know until you try. Watching the surgeons work, I got to see them lacerate the mans chest for the device and then cauterize the skin away. I was astonished at how much they cauterize the skin when making an incision, and how the surgeons work. They act so nonchalant about their jobs and even sit their and talk with everyone will the patient just lays there, thanks to the anesthesiologist of course. This first procedure was nothing to crazy, but a great warm up to my medical operation room career. 

I never truly understood what an anesthesiologist really did until I got to see the second patient being prepared for surgery. This man had suffered from cancer in his gall bladder that had been removed previously, but had now suffered from cancer on his sternum. In a room leading to the operation room the anesthesiologist prepared the man for surgery by giving his a muscle relaxer and medicine for pain. After the patient was "out", the anesthesiologist began by putting a catheter in the man's hand for an IV bag, and then an even larger on in the man's superior artery to allow for very fast blood and medication infusion in times of need. After these catheters were put in, another was them applied to the man's hand in order to be able to get a more accurate reading of the patients mean arterial blood pressure. After all of this had been completed as well as a few other minor tasks, the man was ready for the operation room. In the operation room was again the same surgeons from the previous patient, however you could tell the more advancement and severity of this surgery as twice as many nurses and on-lookers also came in.      

the surgeon began by again making a laceration to the skin and then cauterizing the skin away until he was able to get to he sternum. Once at the sternum the surgeon finessed his way around the area, cauterizing more skin, he then used almost what looked like a mini hedge clipper to cut away the patient's ribs from his sternum. Taking out the sternum, everyone gave a little cheer, and the surgeon even examined his wonderful work, however this was not the end of the surgery. Once the sternum was removed, I got to see one of the coolest medical things I have ever seen. With the sternum removed you had a clear "window" like opening to the mans middle chest and organ. As he laid there you were able to see his lungs expand and contract as he was breathing. I stood there in awe as I got to see human lungs in a living person functional. Sadly, our time was up to leave at this point and I did not get to see any more of the surgery. I couldn't thank the school enough however for that wonderful opportunity of getting to see surgical procedures first hand.

 The anesthesiologist was very welcoming and informational with us. I got to learn a lot about what medications are given before operations. What the anesthesiologist must look out for during surgery, the life of an anesthesiologist, and even how some of the machines work. This was the first time in my life that I actually felt like a medical student and it was so surreal.