Lipo-sculpture and Changing Room
Friday, 5/26/2005
Saw a lipo-sculpture of the left breast. The patient was a victim of cancer. Also saw an articular remodeling of the right thumb. This patient suffered from arthritic inflammation, for which the surgeon, Mme Le Breton this time, removed a tendon from the thumb and re-implanted it, wrapping it around another. Hand surgeries are her specialty. In my sterile blue scrubs, I can be anywhere in the operating room except within 2 feet of the operating table or any of the surgeons and any gowned “internes” (residents) and nurses. My scrubs consist of blue short-sleeve shirt and pants, OR-only rubber shoes or shoe covers over my own shoes, a cap, and a mask. The changing room is Ally McBeal-ish—male and female in the same room, with lockers and hooks, blue scrubs, rubber shoes, caps, masks, mirrors, a sink, and disposal bins. Attached to this unisex changing area is a 15-m corridor and then an eating area with a microwave, where surgeons, internes, and nurses talk and smoke. Past this area is a door and a small room to wash hands before going out the final door to the Bloc Amulatoire, where outpatient surgeries are performed under local and regional anesthesia. Being in the Bloc Ambulatoire works out really nicely for me because since the patient is awake, I can observe surgery (really hard to come by in the US unless you know somebody) as well as observe patient-physician interaction. Also because the patient is awake, the surgeons are talking too much, which gives me ample time to digest the things they do say and ask questions. Fan-tastic.
Saw a lipo-sculpture of the left breast. The patient was a victim of cancer. Also saw an articular remodeling of the right thumb. This patient suffered from arthritic inflammation, for which the surgeon, Mme Le Breton this time, removed a tendon from the thumb and re-implanted it, wrapping it around another. Hand surgeries are her specialty. In my sterile blue scrubs, I can be anywhere in the operating room except within 2 feet of the operating table or any of the surgeons and any gowned “internes” (residents) and nurses. My scrubs consist of blue short-sleeve shirt and pants, OR-only rubber shoes or shoe covers over my own shoes, a cap, and a mask. The changing room is Ally McBeal-ish—male and female in the same room, with lockers and hooks, blue scrubs, rubber shoes, caps, masks, mirrors, a sink, and disposal bins. Attached to this unisex changing area is a 15-m corridor and then an eating area with a microwave, where surgeons, internes, and nurses talk and smoke. Past this area is a door and a small room to wash hands before going out the final door to the Bloc Amulatoire, where outpatient surgeries are performed under local and regional anesthesia. Being in the Bloc Ambulatoire works out really nicely for me because since the patient is awake, I can observe surgery (really hard to come by in the US unless you know somebody) as well as observe patient-physician interaction. Also because the patient is awake, the surgeons are talking too much, which gives me ample time to digest the things they do say and ask questions. Fan-tastic.
posted by R at 12:08 PM
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