The Work

Bi-lateral hernia wasn't to bad. It takes a while but not too
long. It was nice to have the air-conditioned on me :o) we use it in the OR
because of all the lights and long gowns and heat. With this patient there
were no complications or anything dodgy. Just get in on the right side right
above the groin area, then switch to the left side and do the same.

Second man down was for a hydrosol, an enlarged testicle filled
with fluid. Sometimes they get so large the man can't walk because his
testicle is so large! I mean bigger than a bowling ball!!! Sometimes they
think it's manly. . . Anyway he was down on the table and we were opening
his testicle and Dr Bond said it wasn't a hydrosol after all, it was a bad
hernia that had gone down into his testicle and so we ended up operating on
him for a hernia, cutting just above his groin and pulling his intestines
back up into the correct abdominal area. Things went smoothly and I wasn't
board yet. There is so much to watch and look at. I can look at the patient's
status on the machine, or I can watch the operation, get more things out for
the doctor or just pray. I like the idea that during the operation I am on
prayer station. Even if I don't know exactly what to pray for I know that
the Holy Spirit can hear my prayers and do something with them. So the
patient finished up nicely and was sutured up. Before we finished with him
though he was reacting to the Ketamine that was given and he was a bit
fisty, so I helped to hold down his arms and if he tried to move his head
around, rolling it and stuff, I held it down too. Always something in the
bloc!

The third runner up for surgery on Monday was a mastectomy. I
felt a bit of attachment to this woman right away when I went to met her to
take her to the bloc for prep. I had seen her before, she has been in the
hospital for a while, she had an abscess on her breast and it was removed,
she also had cancer and so her breast in general was removed, we were just
getting the rest of the cancer and breast off of her. What attached me to
her was her age and mannerisms. She reminded me of my Grandma who died a
year ago last summer. She had breast cancer that developed into other things
and eventually took her life. This woman, like my grandmother, was cute; she
has a double chin and a big face. Right away I wanted this woman to be
comfortable and safe as if it were my grandma. I helped her get into the OR
and get bedidine up and all that good stuff, but all the while trying to
imagine it was my grandma we were going to operate on. It changes everything
if you imagine it is your family. The gentleness comes, compassion comes and
love shoots out of every pore when it's someone you love on the table.
Everything went well for her, as well as could be expected because the
cancer is already going to take her life, we were just trying to help her
anyway we could.

So that was all that was on the program for the day.