Hospital

I have spent the last week “stalking” the doctors as they perform their duties at the hospital. I must admit it has been very interesting. Last Monday, I discovered that Chad is a dangerous place for man parts. There were three men in the post-op ward who had injuries to their private areas. One of them had gotten it stuck in some sort of machinery. It looked quite painful. I feel sorry for any man who has to deal with those types of injuries.

            I’ve also seen something I will apparently never see happen in the States: the vaginal delivery of a breech baby. There hadn’t been many cases for the OR, so I was taking a break in the SM hut after eating lunch. Masa came in and told me there was a C-section in the OR, so I followed her over. The lady was already on the table when I got there and you could already see the baby’s feet. Mom must’ve already had kids because she was pushing like a champ. Danae decided that she was just going to let mom push, though she made sure to take extra precautions to ensure that the baby’s head wouldn’t get stuck in the birth canal. Baby came out fine although the cord was wrapped around its neck, but after cutting it off she started to squall. Danae was relieved. Evidently in the States if a baby is breech it is an instant C-section. I’m just thankful that this baby was ok.

            Last Thursday I was working in maternity. The nurse I was assisting asked me to give the patient some medicine using the IV in their hand. I’ll be honest, I haven’t actually had that much experience mixing medicine to inject or using syringes and such, so I kept looking at the nurse for confirmation that I was doing things the right way. Later, the nurse pulled me into the delivery room. She asked me a few questions about my experience in medical stuff (nonexistent) and my education. Then she told me, “Miki, when I ask you to do something, you need to act like you know what you’re doing.” I just about died laughing. It makes so much sense anyway, because you don’t want the patient freaking out about you not knowing what you’re doing, but I hadn’t really thought about it. And it reminds me so much of one of my Mommy’s mantras while I was growing up. She would tell me over and over again, “Pretend you know what you’re doing, and just do it!” I guess it is really good advice for the medical professions too.

            Then there was today. We had a relatively light schedule for the OR. The first two surgeries were quite uneventful. The first was suspected to be cancer originally, but it turned out to be a typhoid perforation in the gut which had spilled a little bit causing an infection, but then the perf had healed by itself. The second was also suspected to be cancer, but turned out to be an extremely large prostate with no cancer. I don’t know what makes prostates decide to get big on a whim. Like I said, Chad’s a dangerous place for man parts. ;)

            The third case was actually a little bit amusing. A man came in who had been stabbed in the butt, barely missing the anus. At first we thought maybe he had had a run in with a stick, but we were assured that he was stabbed with a knife. Then we thought maybe a woman got mad at him. Or maybe he was with someone else’s wife and the husband got mad at him. I really don’t know how he managed. Anyway, Maison had to give him quite a bit of ketamine (please forgive me, I don’t know how to spell it…) before the patient would let Dr. Rollin get anywhere near it. Even then we had to hold the poor guy down while Dr. Rollin stitched the wound partially closed and then packed it with betadine soaked gauze.

            The last case was definitely the most entertaining for me. A guy came in who had dislocated his hip five months before. Maison gave him a paralytic and some gas so we could work on him. Then Dr. Rollin climbed on top of the operating table while Dr. Olen held the guy by the hips on the table. And they reefed on it. But it didn’t work. So Dr. Rollin climbed down and Dr. Odee climbed on to try. This time both Dr. Olen & Dr. Rollin held the guys hips down. Still didn’t work, so one of the nurses climbed up to try, while the three doctors held the guy in place on the table. Unfortunately all of their attempts were futile. That hip would not go back into place. They were forced to give up and they plan on doing some sort of surgery on it tomorrow.

            Thus my first week in the hospital has been quite eventful and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s very interesting to see the different illnesses and problems that come through. It’s also been interesting to be inside an operating room. I must say, I think it’s a very good thing that the patient’s can’t understand anything we’re saying. These doctors have some very interesting senses of humor. But it’s been good. I think I might actually be able to be a doctor forever, although I can’t say that for certain. But I’m definitely open to the idea, and if God leads in that direction, I’ll go.

The enlarged prostate. It was probably about 2/3 of my palm.

Trying to put a hip back into place.