Week 6 - Leigh Slyker

 It is at this point in immersion, as we are preparing to head back to Ithaca, that I am realizing just how desensitized I have already become. While I was not particularly squeamish going into this program, the number of operations I have seen has had a significant impact. Things to which I used to react so viscerally now do not have such an effect. This is of course not to say that I'm losing interest in the things I'm seeing. In many ways, I am more interesting in the goings on during surgery. Since the initial shock value of surgery has faded, I find we are able to ask better questions, pay better attention during the most important parts of the procedures. Still, with this amount of desensitization in such a short time frame, I can't imagine how a medical student must feel after so many more hours in the operating room.

On a more personal note, this week my mom had a lipoma, a benign tumor made of fat, removed from her hand. She was worried about the procedure, of course, and I was worried for her. Yet our concerns where wholly different from each others. She was most concerned about the procedure itself. Worries about the anesthesia, about the surgeon, about the pain medication they were going to give her, and whether she would need it in the first place. On the other hand, I had no concerns about the administration of local anesthesia to her hand, nor the removal of a small subcutaneous tumor from an easily accessible area.  Besides, I was confident that the surgeon, who specializes in operating in the wrist and hand,  would not incur any additional complications.

After seeing so many patients through the clinic, OR, and back in the clinic, the things I have most often seen as lasting issues are infections due to issues in post-operative care. As such, I was most worried that my mom would not be given adequate instruction in caring for her wound as it healed. That is the main reason I am glad I could be present, both at the time of the operation, to make sure I understood what needed to be done after the operation, but at home to help her work around only having one hand. I cannot deny that a nice aspect of immersion has been being close to home, especially if it means I can keep my mom happy and healthy after some small health issues.