Hospital Day 1 10-29-10

This week I spent my first couple of hours in Blantyre Adventist Hospital. I was very unsure what exactly they would have me doing. I discovered it would be a lot of observing. This in a way is disappointing but also good, hopefully over time of observing and asking questions they will allow me to do more. Even though there were not any hands on stuff I did get to watch things that I may never see unless I was in med school in the States. The first thing I got to experience was a 12 year old boy who has been fighting cancer since this summer. He came to the hospital in June for his first surgery, where they removed his skull and removed two brain tumors (one on the inside and a mass growing on the outside of his head). It has now been about 4 months of long recovery of chemo and lots of skin grafts. Now all he has left to show for it all is a wicked scar, a soft spot on his skull, healing skin and a small wound they are still trying to get healed. He has been coming to the hospital daily since his surgery, to have his wounds dressed and cared for. It was incredible to see the healing process and what it all looked like several months back. After redressing his wound I was then taken to observe the OB/GYN doctor for the rest of the afternoon. It was amazing to watch the ultrasounds and try to understand what was in the confusing sea of gray that is portrayed on the computer screen. Being able to watch an ultrasound and hear the heart beats of the fetus’ was so intriguing and incredible. The OB doc then took me to the operating theater to watch my first procedure. I got all prepped for surgery, which here means wearing crocs, a surgical gap and hospital gown. For those that know medical terminology, the procedure was a D&C (or incomplete miscarriage). The thing that most intrigued me during the surgery was how fast the anesthesia kicked in. Since I’ve only been on the other side of it, it was incredible to watch. Before the anesthesiologist even pushed the last of the drugs into the IV the patient was out and snoring. The moment the snoring began the operating theater was a bustle of activity as they got everything ready to go. The procedure was only 15 minutes long and I loved every minute of it.