Week 6: busy as a bee

Monday (2/18):

Besides being a little longer than usual, it was a normal school day. 🍎

Tuesday (2/19): Enmodes Meeting

Along with the other groups, my team (Sid and Adrianna) and I presented our ECMO problem to Enmodes. Our focus was to reduce the size of the attached oxygen tank and increase patient mobility. It went well. :) Because I got to go home early, I planned my Spring Break and knocked out some homework.
~Spring Break plan = Island hopping in Greece! 🌊🌞🌺

Wednesday (2/20): Day off, ja!

The BIMS students didn't have school today. I got to sleep in and stay/study at home. It was a beautiful day and I decided to start off my morning by going on a run near the Rhine. Even though I only ran a mile or so, I was proud for at least going to work out. 😊 I'm going to try to run at least once or twice a week to prepare for my leg in the Marathon Relay. (In April, I'm going to run ~6 miles in a relay in the Bonn Marathon! LOL, super excited!)

Thursday (2/21): Surgeries at Uniklink 💉

Today, I got to watch 2 super cool surgeries!

1. Removal of an infected hip replacement: At first, I was put in this tiny room with two doctors. They were busy with the patient so I didn't ask questions (aka, I had no idea what was going on). After watching the doctor insert long needles into the patient for ~45 minutes, I was concerned that was all I was going to see. Little did I know, that was just the beginning! Right after the doctor finished with the patient, the door at the back of the room rolled open and a big, spacious operating room appeared. The surgery lasted about 3 hours and involved blood splatters, extremely loud clanks caused by trying to remove the artificial hip joint (it took 2 of them to get it out!), and a great playlist in the background. During the last few minutes, the surgeon informed me about the patient's history, cause, and future treatment. I learned a lot. 😁

2. Cardiopulmonary bypass and aortic valve replacement: WOW. I arrived to this surgery and got to watch the last few minutes of the doctors putting the patient on bypass. Its insane how little they move their hands to make such critical cuts. I honestly could not believe I was looking down at a heart in an open chest cavity. Although I left before the surgery was over, I did get to see the damaged aortic valve that was going to be replaced. How cool!

Watching these surgeries was such a great educational experience. I was able to apply my knowledge of science and medicine in many ways, from being able to identify specific body parts to understanding what was being done and why. Today was a perfect example of why I love science and medicine so much. :)

Lets skip to Saturday (2/23): Soccer game in Cologne!

Although I had a physiology exam coming up, I decided to follow through on my plans to go to the soccer game in Cologne. (Can't be a bookworm my whole life!) Thanks to my host-dad, I was on my way to the game with knowledge about the team and its star player. It was a beautiful, sunny day and the atmosphere at the game was great! The team won 3-1, with 2 goals made toward the end of the game literally 5 minutes after the star player was subbed in #realMVP!

✌❤