Greetings!
It starting to really set in that I'm already at the rear end of this trip. I have experienced and learned so much here, and to realize that I only have a week to go is really starting to bum me out a little bit. But I think if I crack a few jokes and really reflect on what I've been up to and put everything I have into this next week, I think it will top of a wonderful month here in India :D
If you haven't caught on already with all the puns, I saw a hemorrhoid surgery today, and boy, was it fascinating. And kind of not something I really would like to pursue as a career any time soon. I actually didn't know how extensive hemorrhoid surgery was until I witnessed this one. It was disgustingly cool to see the anatomy of a rectum, and Dr. Johnston (the general surgeon at Janet Nursing Home and Dr. Victoria's husband) was very good at explaining exactly what he was doing and why. They have to dilate everything, and then remove all the hemorrhoids, which takes some extensive cutting etc, and then place a very uncomfortable dressing in and around the whole thing. Luckily though, no stitches are involved. All I can say is, stay regular folks, and catch those hemorrhoids early.
Besides that I also saw a sterilization procedure of a female by literally "rubber banding" the Fallopian tubes! The procedure took literally 30 seconds. It took longer to set up the surgery than it did to actually do it, I was pretty impressed. I was also impressed by how something so simple is so effective. The rubber bands that section off a small loop of the tube cause a sort of fibroid to grow there making it so no ovulation can occur. It is reversible too if the person so chooses. A pretty nifty family planning procedure if I do say so myself!
Otherwise, I witnessed a very busy OP day, but still managed to ask Dr. Victoria what her most interesting case was, and this is what she came up with:
Dr. Victoria had a young patient come in who had regular cyclic abdominal pain, but never had her menarche (first menstrual period). Dr. Victoria did an ultrasound, only to find severe bleeding in the uterus - and no cervix! So this young girl was having her period the whole time, but had no way of clearing anything out. I asked what became of this girl, and Dr. Victoria said all she could do was clear all of the hematose out of the uterus, and that this girl can never have children. She also told me that she would never get married, as many families with eligible batchelors want their sons to marry women who can continue the family line. I asked if it was possible at all for her to get married, and Dr. Victoria replied that if the man already has children, or if the family doesn't mind she can, but she said that these instances are rare. This made me sad, as this is definitely not the case in the United States. This is just another example of simple differences in cultures.
This case led me to ask about adoption and egg donation in India. Dr. Victoria said adoption is an absolute last resort, and that couples prefer to have their own blood related children than adopt. Egg donation is very rare as well for the same reasons. I found this interesting, and again attributed it to a difference in cultural values.
Speaking of culture, I was able to spend some time with the nurses in reception today! Usually Dr. Victoria takes her lunch break for half an hour and sends me to various places in the hospital to see things while she eats, such as the OR or labor room. Today there wasn't anything going on though, so she just sent me to reception. Boy did those nurses have a ball. Not only did I have to take pictures with all of them on their phones, they made me sing and record it, and wanted to look at pictures of my family, Boone and Appalachian State University. So I complied and they thought all of the snow was really "super" along with Boone and campus, and agreed that my cat Lucky is not in fact a cat, but a tiger because of his size, and now thinks that all american cats look like tigers. On top of that they have been trying to teach me some simple Tamil phrases, such as "hello" " goodbye" and "yes I have eaten". I only remember hello and goodbye though, as all the other phrases they showed me will take a bit more memorizing.
Here is a picture of me with a few of the nurses. One is Rahila, and the other is a reception nurse I met today who did not give me her name, but was very nice.
Besides my shadowing today, it was a rather quiet day, though the four of us did grab ice cream tonight after dinner which was quite delicious.
Tomorrow at the "crack" of dawn Alex and I will get to see a kidney transplant! So excited!
I will let you all know how that goes!
Poitu Varen! (thats goodbye in Tamil)
It starting to really set in that I'm already at the rear end of this trip. I have experienced and learned so much here, and to realize that I only have a week to go is really starting to bum me out a little bit. But I think if I crack a few jokes and really reflect on what I've been up to and put everything I have into this next week, I think it will top of a wonderful month here in India :D
If you haven't caught on already with all the puns, I saw a hemorrhoid surgery today, and boy, was it fascinating. And kind of not something I really would like to pursue as a career any time soon. I actually didn't know how extensive hemorrhoid surgery was until I witnessed this one. It was disgustingly cool to see the anatomy of a rectum, and Dr. Johnston (the general surgeon at Janet Nursing Home and Dr. Victoria's husband) was very good at explaining exactly what he was doing and why. They have to dilate everything, and then remove all the hemorrhoids, which takes some extensive cutting etc, and then place a very uncomfortable dressing in and around the whole thing. Luckily though, no stitches are involved. All I can say is, stay regular folks, and catch those hemorrhoids early.
Besides that I also saw a sterilization procedure of a female by literally "rubber banding" the Fallopian tubes! The procedure took literally 30 seconds. It took longer to set up the surgery than it did to actually do it, I was pretty impressed. I was also impressed by how something so simple is so effective. The rubber bands that section off a small loop of the tube cause a sort of fibroid to grow there making it so no ovulation can occur. It is reversible too if the person so chooses. A pretty nifty family planning procedure if I do say so myself!
Otherwise, I witnessed a very busy OP day, but still managed to ask Dr. Victoria what her most interesting case was, and this is what she came up with:
Dr. Victoria had a young patient come in who had regular cyclic abdominal pain, but never had her menarche (first menstrual period). Dr. Victoria did an ultrasound, only to find severe bleeding in the uterus - and no cervix! So this young girl was having her period the whole time, but had no way of clearing anything out. I asked what became of this girl, and Dr. Victoria said all she could do was clear all of the hematose out of the uterus, and that this girl can never have children. She also told me that she would never get married, as many families with eligible batchelors want their sons to marry women who can continue the family line. I asked if it was possible at all for her to get married, and Dr. Victoria replied that if the man already has children, or if the family doesn't mind she can, but she said that these instances are rare. This made me sad, as this is definitely not the case in the United States. This is just another example of simple differences in cultures.
This case led me to ask about adoption and egg donation in India. Dr. Victoria said adoption is an absolute last resort, and that couples prefer to have their own blood related children than adopt. Egg donation is very rare as well for the same reasons. I found this interesting, and again attributed it to a difference in cultural values.
Speaking of culture, I was able to spend some time with the nurses in reception today! Usually Dr. Victoria takes her lunch break for half an hour and sends me to various places in the hospital to see things while she eats, such as the OR or labor room. Today there wasn't anything going on though, so she just sent me to reception. Boy did those nurses have a ball. Not only did I have to take pictures with all of them on their phones, they made me sing and record it, and wanted to look at pictures of my family, Boone and Appalachian State University. So I complied and they thought all of the snow was really "super" along with Boone and campus, and agreed that my cat Lucky is not in fact a cat, but a tiger because of his size, and now thinks that all american cats look like tigers. On top of that they have been trying to teach me some simple Tamil phrases, such as "hello" " goodbye" and "yes I have eaten". I only remember hello and goodbye though, as all the other phrases they showed me will take a bit more memorizing.
Here is a picture of me with a few of the nurses. One is Rahila, and the other is a reception nurse I met today who did not give me her name, but was very nice.
Besides my shadowing today, it was a rather quiet day, though the four of us did grab ice cream tonight after dinner which was quite delicious.
Tomorrow at the "crack" of dawn Alex and I will get to see a kidney transplant! So excited!
I will let you all know how that goes!
Poitu Varen! (thats goodbye in Tamil)
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