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.
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