so here's the continuation

so here's the continuation

i wrote this exactly a week ago. and i have completed the required number of major and minor operation assists. things did not go as planned but i finished everythign nonetheless.

by now, i have assisted 5 major operations and 2 minor procedures meaning i am 3 minor operations away from completing the PRC requirement of undergrad operations assisted for my license (every student nurse has to have at least 5 major and 5 minor assists aside from the other requirements to be eligible for a license). but the college, as merciless as it is, requires students to have a minimum of 10 major and 10 minor assists (a total of 20) to be able to complete the undergraduate program. the good thing is, however, we can complete it anytime during the entire course. with the PGH being our base hospital, completion is guaranteed. mahina na ang 20 assists. normally, naeexceed pa yung required.

anyway, if things go as planned, i'll be able to finish everything by thursday.:)

i'll try to recall in as much detail as possible every case i was able to observe.

first case

OB-OR delivery room

c-section

diagnosis: multiple congenital abnormalities

i was among the people who arrived earlier so i was assigned to the OB-OR which usually had really early cases. at that moment i wanted to curse myself for being too early. too early for my own good. the thing was they give you room assignments and just let you be. leave you there without so much specific instructions as to what exactly you were going to do upon arrival at the operating room. without the comforting (and at times annoying) presence of a clinical instructor constantly, religiously whispering instructions and reminders at the back of your neck, you feel kind of lost. me? i was sh*t scared! i didn't know what to expect from a caesarian section. and no matter how many times i tried to brace myself, no amount of bracing could calm the nerves. my heart was pounding, my head was throbbing along with it in a constant ominous duet. i wanted so badly to back out. yun bang parang gusto mo na lang mamundok at magtanim na lang ng kamote!

so i entered the operating room, did the obligatory pleasantries to the nurses on duty and followed an order to scrub. scrubbing is the act of preparing yourself for contact to an all-sterile field. it involves vigourous hand scrubbing with a brush (that could literally scrub your skin red) and 7.5% betadine solution, gowning (putting on the OR gown) and donning gloves. it's more complicated than you think. you have to be extra cautious and mighty vigilant about sterility. a slight doubt, hint or contact to an unsterile surface and you'll be stoned to death! really... ok no, but you'd either be yelled at by the doctor and or scrub nurse or be stoned to death. or in worst cases both. but in any of the situations you'd have to live with the stigma that comes along the phrase "scrub-out". and i tell you, the stigma is too real, the experience traumatizing that many a nursing student have lost hope in life because of it. just a reminder, whatever you do when in scrub, eat, drink and breathe sterility! for your own sake...

after scrubbing, (my first time ever to scrub) the patient was already on the table apparently anesthesia-loaded. the scrub nurse, the one i was supposed to assist, was busy preparing all the instruments, so for the first few minutes i was on one corner trying to make myself scarce. praying that it should all end. the next thing i know, i was called to come near the OR table and they were already cutting the patient's abdomen. things happened real fast. one moment they were on the skin, and then they were dissecting layers of fat the next. another moment still, and they were already taking the baby out of the mother's belly. remember that scene from the alien movie (i just can't remember the title, i'm not good with movies)? it was a lot lot lot like it. apparently, the baby they took out had an incredibly huge head and a bunch of other congenital anomalies. remember fabella? it was fabella on a whole new different level, bloodier but still the same characteristic stench of amniotic fluid, one that sticks to your clothes long after the procedure is done.

eww... now i can remember its smell as i type this.

so after they have taken off the baby, they took out the even alien-er looking placenta. (i am seriously nauseous now). a mass of dark red, slimy, jelly-like flesh. it was all weird seeing it come out of the abdomen. then afterwards, came the long and boring process of suturing the abdomen. the whole time i was actually imagining what could happen if the patient suddenly awakens and sees this huge opening on her belly. or perhaps the sight of the opening wouldn't bother her but the thick layer of FAT would.

when the procedure was finished, my head was throbbing inredibly that i had no other intention but to get out of the operating room. and i did. since i was at the hospital already, i went and sought medical opinion regarding the headache i was having continuously for 3 days for fear that it could be a tumor or something. no definite diagnosis was made. but i was advised to take medications.the headache resolved. meaning i am tumor-free. after my first operation assist, one thing was sure, i do not ever want to go under the knife. thank God.