Benjamin Bone Post #3

On Monday, I arrived to the West Bank surgery center at 6:50 A.M in Harvey because Dr. Wax had surgery scheduled at 7:00. Once inside, I changed into my scrubs, masked up, put on my head cover, washed my hands, and prepared myself for another busy morning. I got to witness two carpal tunnel surgeries and then the removal of decaying bone from some woman's hand. The carpal tunnel surgeries are fairly easy and quick to complete. I got to stand right behind Dr. Wax as he makes the small incision on someone's arm. He next inserts various sized metal rods to clear the pathway for his special incision tool which has a small camera on the end. The camera allows him to see inside the transverse carpal ligament and where exactly to cut it. Once he has located it, he pulls the trigger on the tool which pops up the blade. Using the projected image on the screen from the camera, Dr. Wax was able to create the small tunnel in the precise location on the ligament, relieving the patient of their pain. For the bone removal surgery, Dr. Wax had to make a fairly large incision in the hand and take out small pieces of the bone that looked really bad and were degrading. As he took each one out, he handed me the pieces to put on the table. This is something which I had never done before! One of the first pieces he snipped went flying across the room and hit the door of the OR! This really surprised me! I should have been wearing my safety goggles! After our cases at the surgery center, we then had to drive to West Jefferson hospital for another case. This case involved a 96 year old woman who had a femoral head fracture (where the femur meets the hip). We changed into new scrubs and prepped the operating room for her surgery. Dr. Wax had to hammer rods into her leg. He used a unique instrument that allowed him to line them up in a perfect triangle. Then he slipped screws onto the rods and drilled in the screws into her femur angled up towards her hip. During the whole surgery, he used a live X-Ray machine to make sure they were going in at the proper angle. I feel good about my internship because I didn't get grossed out or queasy at all seeing all the blood and bone! The surgery was a success. For lunch, we just in the physicians' cafeteria which was actually a lot better than you would think. The rest of the afternoon we spent seeing patients at the clinic. Our morning was so busy that I didn't get a chance to get many photos, but here is a photo of me in my scrubs and then in my clinic clothes from that afternoon. We usually finish our day around 4:45-5 P.M, most of which is spent up on our feet, so I have been very exhausted when I get home everyday.