What a way to spend the last day of N7 clinical,
Shoulder to shoulder between 2 doctors performing a triple bipass (CABG).
After the chest was opened and the pericardial sac opened, I was allowed to reach inside, sliding my hand between the pericardial sac and the pericardium, until I was underneath, and then I lifted this warm and heavy heart up from the cavity while it continued to beat, and I held it in my hand!!!!
WAY COOL!!
I am still in awe of the whole experience.
This is how Jane G. and I spent our last clinical day!
It took over an hour to get the patient prepped and the room ready. The doctors came in at 0800 and the heart was in my hand at 0845.
The surgery was completed at 1200.
Good Luck to all on your finals!!!!!!!!
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6 comments:
Thanks Bonnie ! That is an awesome experience and hopefully everyone can have the same clinical experience ! =)
awesome bonnie. what a terrific opportunity. if i got to do that, i'd probably end up quitting and applying to med school. i'm curious, what was the most noteworthy difference between a live beating body and the cadavers you disected in anatomy?
INCREDIBLE!! You should take that as an outstanding compliment to your level of competancy - remember in the beginning when we were all told that we would be challenged at the level of their confidence in our ability?? You rock!
Thanks guys! Dan, the most noteworthy difference between this guy and the cadavers, was......... HE WAS ALIVE!!!!
also, he was not stiff, cold and smelling like formaldehyde and he didn't look like beef jerky. His heart reminded me a HUGE chicken thigh, you know, with the fat all over it. The heart was yellow (covered in fat) exceprt for where the right atrium is. It was kind of purpley/red. The right side of the heart was on top and the left side was in the back. It weighed about the same as a 1000 ml NS bag (this man is obese), but was shorter/ fatter than that. If you held it too tight, you could see it throw a PVC on the EKG monitor. Whoa, that is a lot of responsibility! The Dr. showed me all of the arteries that were blocked and showed me where they were going to attach the great saphenous vein and left internal mammary vein to bipass the blockages. They had a TEE (trans-esophageal-echo) down his throat and we could see all of the valves working. He had some calcification on the aortic valve (will probably give him grief later). We were allowed to walk around in the OR throughout the whole proceedure (don't ever turn your back on the sterile field) and look at all the doins and goins on. We checked out how they were collecting his blood, washing it and keeping only the RBCs mixed in with NS to give back to him.We hung out with the anethesiologist and checked out all of her equip and meds and stuff. I asked a TON of questions! You can learn a lot when you are together in a room for 5 1/2 hours. When I first walked in, one of the circulating nurses said, Bonnie Boss! You helped me out in Chemistry class(that was in 2002 for crying out loud)She had just passed the boards and this was her first surgey with an RN behind her name.
After they had put him to sleep and had intubated him, they put in a Swan ganz catheter (I was standing right next to him). I asked, "Is he supposed to be able to feel this and move around?" They said, No, he is completely paralyzed and sedsted" Then I said, "Well then why is he moving his arm and jerking everytime you push the catheter?", and they said, oh, you're right, and they had to explain to him what they were doing and give him more meds. They said that he is a fast metabolizer.
I hope that you all get to see one of these surgeries. Remember that they do open hearts at Dameron and St. Joes when you get to N7.
How exciting, Bonnie! I told my husband also. Did you sign up for that?
Blessie, I did not sign up for it. It is an opportunity that you might get in N7 if they have an open heart surgery at Dameron or St. Joes, your instructor will send 2 students to go see it. Not all students get the chance. Our instructor first eliminated anyone who had missed a clinical.
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