best week ever!

Basically the last week of my OB/GYN rotation is what i am calling the best week ever. The dr i love got back from africa, and the hands on experience starting racking up...they managed to let me do entire procedures on my own (under supervision), when i basically stood there with a blank face mumbling, "are you serious right now?" they would simply look at me and say, "there is nothing you can do, i cant fix". In my opinion i could def do something that is un-fixable, but i have learned to never tell a surgeon he/ she cannot do something. Instead you want to continue to make them feel as if they walk on water, so in following with this credo, i preceded to do the procedure and allow them to think they could be god like and fix anything i screw up...

so by the end of the week, i had delivered a baby (vaginal ) - this is really more like playing catch with a greased watermelon than really doing anything special. The placenta was def the harder part, this is where i did screw up a little and the dr came to the rescue. (he later told me it wasnt my fault, it had to do with the patients high blood pressure, than my med student skills, or lack there of). Next was a D & C, this is def the easiest of the procedures, followed by a cone biopsy and another D & C. At this point i am starting to get more confident, and the next case is for a bartholin gland marsupialization.

just as a side note this is a procedure we have been talking about since i learned about it a year ago, first it just sounds really cool (actually very simple) and its incredibly disgusting. So clearly a job i am looking forward to...i have not seen the follow up care for the patient since the rotation ended, but i hope the sutures look good, since i put in a lot, and it was on her labia....oh well, the doc didnt make a comment about it, so hopefully it looked good. I was pretty nervous on this one only because its on the outside, and on her vagina so you know, i dont want to be the one who makes it look ugly....

the climax of the week culminates with a series of hysterectomies. unfortunately one of the women decided not to show up for her pre-op clearance and the surgery had to be canceled. because the next day is my exam, and i am not going to be able to scrub in on the procedure and make it to my exam at 10am, i thought all had been lost. then the greatest page ever came in, the OR scheduling nurse wanted to add on another surgery to her schedule for friday and asked if she would be willing to start her first case at 7am in order to squeeze in the new case right after. she agreed, then asked me if i would be willing to be there at 6:15 to prep the patient. I told her i would be ready, but reminded her i would have to leave since missing my exam, and therefore failing my rotation is not an option. She assured me i would be out in time to make it to my exam. the next morning i am there bright and early, ready to see the patient and scrub in, i reviewed the anatomy the night before and new the procedure cold. i have even been practicing my knot tying with dental floss i carry with me at all times. we get into the OR and the doc asks the surgical assist to leave, and has me assist. when the scrub nurse handed me the scalpel i just stared at it for a few seconds, i knew i was going to help - retract, suction and maybe cut a suture. So when the scalpel is now in my hand and the surgeon is telling me to cut, i had a temp blackout or absence seizure if you will. once the scalpel hit the skin, a calming sensation came over, and it was def GAME ON! for the rest of the procedure, she simply said, watch me and repeat everything on your side. I ended up doing the entire left side of the procedure. i even tied off a vessel that the doc cut because my angle had been better. let me just say leaving that OR and for the rest of the day if felt awesome!!

today i started trauma surgery and i am really excited, nervous and very anxious to start to routine....my hours basically suck, and i will work more in the next two months than i have ever worked in my life...esp because there is someone who is supposed to be working with us who decided not to show up, so the rest of us have to pick up the slack....so that means someone was getting screwed with the schedule, thanks to murphy's law, that someone is me....so for the next two weeks i will work a 40hr shift every other day. yes that is like working 3 full time jobs in a week....or roughly 120hr work week....but it will probably be longer, i am guessing after seeing the amount of patients and the responsibilities of the on call student....its going to be closer to 140...yes, there are 168 hours in a week, so i am guessing the 28 hours left over i am going to spend asleep! so if there are no posts, its that i have nothing to say, its probably because i am so tired i have lost the capability to communicate/type/ stand up/ think. On a bright side, i will probably lose those last 10lbs i have been trying to drop because i dont know if i will have time to eat. The other piece of info that i think is particularly funny, is that when you are an intern its technically (people dont always follow this rule, but its really bad it you dont) illegal to work more than 80hr in a week (averaged over 4wk). But dont worry, the med student doesnt fall into those regulations since we tech do not get paid and are not employees! yay for semantics :)