A new passion

A new passion has surged within my veins. I have a desire to be the one performing surgeries. My shift continued on the male ward, and we had many new admissions this morning. Rounds took from 830 to a little after noon. After lunch we went back to perform minor surgeries. The first one required a debridement of a burn wound. A young boy had a seizure and fell into a fire that resulted in third and fourth degree burn on his left upper extremity. Dr. Stephen talked me through the debridement of this wound, and he worked on the more distal area as I worked on the proximal area. When you are in the moment, focused on a task, the gruesomeness of a wound is not as one would think. My job was to help get this poor boys arm cleaned up to the best of my ability. He was under ketamine, a short acting general anesthetic. After this surgery, I was able to assist an African doctor with a man who had been beaten. There was a gaping wound on his skull that needed cleaned out and stitched up. I observed the surgeon as he worked on the wound, and then bravely asked if I could try to suture some. He said of course, you are here for learning. He handed me the tools and then walked me through the process. I never realized how tough the skin is, and how much force is needed to make a stitch. It was a very interesting experience. The knot tying is also harder than it looks. I understood the technique behind the knot, but it was a matter of getting the knot as tight as it could be. With more assistance from the doctor we closed up the deep wound and got him back to the male ward. What a wonderful knowledge learning experience. Back in the male ward things had calmed down, and we made sure that everything was taken care of before we headed home for dinner.