So...highlight of my summer so far...interning in the OR at Cardinal
Glennon. I am having the time of my life.
Back in May, I knew I wanted to volunteer or do something at a hospital this summer. And my preference was a children's hospital since I want to go into some type of pediatric medicine. I applied to several places and contacted people at each place, and it eventually became clear that Cardinal
Glennon was going to be the best choice. I ended up being assigned to the recovery room on Monday mornings (my only free weekday). I had no idea what the recovery room was at first. My best guess was that it was somewhere that kids recover. I quickly learned that it is where kids are brought after surgery, and it is also referred to as the
PACU (Post Anesthesia Care Unit). I also quickly learned, much to my delight, that what I would be doing there was a lot more hands-on than I expected. The nurses are incredibly friendly and constantly go out of their way to tell me what kind of surgery was performed, what medicine the child is being administered, why they are reacting a certain way, etc. I hold babies, comfort kids, fetch blankets and ice packs, talk to parents, transport patients to their rooms, pick out stickers and tattoos, and help the nurses administer medicine. I've been able to do things like listen to a defective baby's heart beat and examine patients after they come out of surgery. I absolutely love it. But that's not the best part...
I had also decided I wanted to shadow a doctor this summer. So during my second week in the recovery room, I asked one of the nurses if she knew of how I could contact someone about shadowing a doctor at
Glennon. I was thinking of like a one-time experience of following around some doctor on one of the inpatient floors. Well, I ended up getting an internship (or as close as you can get to one) in the OR every Monday afternoon. It has been an incredible experience. Last week was my first week in the operating room. I stood in on a cleft lip repair and composite skin graft on a 6-month-year old baby by the very well-known Dr.
Carstens. At first I was timidly standing about 4 feet away from the operating table because I didn't know how close I was supposed to get. After a few minutes, Dr.
Carstens turned to me and urged me to come closer to get a better look. For 3 hours, I stood a foot away, at the head of the operating table, watching Dr.
Carstens and a surgical resident operate on this little baby. He explained what he was doing along the way. I asked questions and intently watched. The three hours flew. Today, I stood in on three operations. The first was a hip aspiration on a 5-day old baby. This surgery was interesting because I got to watch the whole process from the very beginning- from the sobbing mother tearing herself away from her child to the administration of anesthesia to the first incision to the baby finally waking up. The second surgery was a hernia repair and circumcision on a one-week old baby by Dr. Kumar. The third surgery was the most thrilling. I cannot believe I had the chance to stand in on it. The head nurse of the OR gave me permission to observe it and said I probably wouldn't see anything like it for a few years because it was such a rare case. Dr. Kumar and the rest of us had to go down to the NICU for the surgery. We entered this small NICU room with the tiniest baby I had ever seen. There were machines everywhere. I am used to seeing lots of machines in the operating room, but there were an incredible amount of machines and equipment for this tiny room. This baby was only 14-days old and had been born prematurely with gastroschisis. This is an abnormal opening in the abdominal wall, and in this case, the bowels of the baby were exposed because they could not properly fit within the body. Several surgeons, a surgical resident, nurses, a respiratory therapist, an anestheiologist, and me (9 total) crowded into this small room. It was silent as the surgeon starting cutting off parts of the bowel and examining the rest. I was toward the back at first but was eventually urged to come closer to get a better look (something I am still getting used to and am incredibly grateful for). I could not believe I was being urged to come forward with such a crowd of people craning to see what was happening. I ended up getting a front row view. The surgery was fascinating. They eventually concluded they need to come back tomorrow or the next day to check on the damaged parts of the bowels, which will determine the fate of the baby. It was a thrilling day. I came home and started telling my family about it all. When I finished talking, my mom said, "You are glowing." This is one of the most exciting things I have had the chance to experience in my entire life.
The other amazing part about working at Cardinal Glennon and in the OR...Everytime I walk into that hospital or step into one of the operating rooms, I am filled with the most overwhelming sense that I am right where I am supposed to be. Becoming a doctor, especially a pediatric surgeon, is a long and difficult road. I could not be more excited though. God has me right where He wants me.
