The Operating Room

Today, I was assigned to the operating room(s). There are 24 operating rooms all doing everything from heart bypasses, to knee reconstruction, to breast implants. I scrubbed in on an appendectomy, a skin graft on one of my burn patients from yesterday, a debridement of a MRSA ulcer the size of a grapefruit, and a lumbar fusion. It was exciting to say the least. I also followed around an anesthesiologist in order to do some endotracheal intubations. I had a blast, and learned a lot. The surgeons and residents were more than happy to explain and show me everything they were doing in their procedures. The surgeon performing the appendectomy was quick to remind me that a ruptured appendix could occur with one of my teammates, and that the SF medical handbook includes how to do a field appendectomy. The odds, of course, are slim to none, but after today I think I could pull it off if there were no way to get my buddy out, but I seriously doubt it will ever happen. After the OR, I headed back down to the ER for some faster action, and got in on a GSW to the right tib/fib which had bone fragments everywhere, but didn't bleed much. We simply cleaned it up a bit, pulled traction to put it back in-line, and put a cast on it to get him to the OR for surgery. Then right after that, a 17 year old who had fallen asleep at the wheel came in with an avulsion to the forehead with arterial bleeding. I pulled back the entire forehead for the trauma doctor to pinpoint which arteries the bleeding was coming from in order to tie them off. I could see the kid's skull, and he was alert and oriented talking to me the whole time, it was nuts. Also, of note... the hospital environment is by far the best workplace to meet singles. I've worked in a lot of places, but none had so much potential. WOW! Doctors, residents, and nurses- mostly type A's (like myself) and smart as whips in general. Now I just have to find one that wants to do missionary work. Once again I was approached by a young nurse (from the OR) who asked me out. This is a stange phenomena- getting asked out by girls. I think our society is changing tremendously if the female playing the pursuer is normal these days; maybe it's just my Southern upbringing.??? I have never had so many dates in such a short period of time, it's been fun, but I'm afraid that I still have not met my future wife, and I am still trying to hold out for when I finally meet Ann Coulter. Tsst. Wht a shame that this gal is still single. Anyway- more stuff later...