Brag, brag.

[DocBot]

So, I just had to tell people: Today I had my hand in another persons chest, holding the beating heart. This is NOT something many people get to do in their lifetime (no, not even doctors, unless they're thoracic surgeons ofc). This was during the thorac-op day which is included in the cardiac internal medicine course, I attended 2 bypass operations and a valve replacement.

I'm so high on endorphins right now

well, just wanted to share (brag about) that with you guys.

 

[Birdy]

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo that is uber kewl!!!

so could you see it moving in ur hand?

 

[waterproofbob]

wooooo very impressive DoccyB
must be a real buzz to do stuff like this as a doctor.

 

[thatbloke]

The next part is: "I wonder what happens if I poke this?" "O look his leg moved! isn't that funny..."

 

[elDiablo]

...I had my hand in another persons chest, holding the beating heart...

*turns green with envy*

 

[Nanor]

Today I had my hand in another persons chest, holding the beating heart.

Heh, I got the imagery of Doccie B doing some sort of Ninja moves were he rips out their heart and shows it to them.

Congratulations Doccie B! If I ever have a heart attack I'll come panting to you!

 

[Tetsuo_Shima]

Nice! Glad some people have the stomach to do that sort of thing, I'd probably freak out and faint. Disturbs me, hands inside bodies ... Touching internal organs and stuff ... Urk. But congrats, Docius Botius! That kind of position must hold an incredible amount of responsibility, I couldn't hack the pressure.

 

[DocBot]

so could you see it moving in ur hand?

yup it was pumping away merrily, it was just atger open heart surgery and before they took away the rib rectractor and closed it all up

 

[DocBot]

well the heart part isn't bad at all, that just gave me a kick .

Now blood squirting (like when you attach the heart/lung machine and pierce the aorta), that's slightly off-putting. But you get used to it

Also it doesn't smell as much of blood as I thought it would.

 

[Traxata]

is it a 'bad' smell the first time you witness internals ? or is it OK ? unless there's something wrong i doubt it'll be a 'pleasant' smell

 

[DocBot]

is it a 'bad' smell the first time you witness internals ? or is it OK ? unless there's something wrong i doubt it'll be a 'pleasant' smell

Well it doesn't smell much at all from the chest, it smells just like ... meat, maybe? And blood smells a bit "iron-y", if you haven't smelt that already.

Internal organs are the same. What smells bad is when they are opened. Stomach contents, bile, intestine contents, etc. Or of course when they start do decompose.

 

[Ronin Storm]

Nice going DB. You'll be a full blown surgeon before ya know it!

 

[Traxata]

well, i know what bile smells ( and unfortunatly tastes like >.< )

Bloody Horrible

and stomache contents ... well there you have the smell of vomit, so i can guess that if while in surgury you accidentally cut the stomache or something, it can become rather pongy quickly

but the whole surgery thing never has bothered me, there was at some point on BBC2, a recorded brain surgery to remove a tumor, i sat through that quite happily, but i guess its a little different when you actually see it in the flesh

 

[Nanor]

so i can guess that if while in surgury you accidentally cut the stomache or something, it can become rather pongy quickly

I'd say if you accidentally cut something you're not supposed to, the smell will be the last thing you're worrying about!

 

[Cookalarcha]

Sounds like fun!

 

[Taffy]

I wanted to be a doctor, until my Grandpappy told me about how, during the Second World War, they had to burn through pilot's skin to get at the broken bits, because there weren't enough scalpels to go around. He told me that he still smells the stench of burnt and rotting flesh today. He also told me about the Aberfan disaster. He was there, pulling dead children from under the slag, whilst also having to organise the evacuation of the area and working out where to put all the kids. Ah, the joys of being a CMO. I was put off the idea of being a doctor after this.

However, what you did sounds very cool! Are you going to be a heart surgeon, or is it just part of getting to know the human body?

 

[DocBot]

deciding what sort of specialisation I'm getting is way off in the future

So what I did was attend a thoracic surgery; a bypass operation (this is part of our internal medicine course), and then I just asked, "can I feel the heart?" and they said "yes of course"

However, just because you're a doctor doesn't mean you need to be a military doctor, I hope you're aware of that ;P. Also, burning through stuff instead of cutting is pretty common. Burning flesh smells more or less like burnt hair, so it's not that bad.

edit: although of course what you do is see sick people, not healthy, happy people. And that is a bit offputting, I agree. Although sometimes you MAKE them healthy and happy, and that's quite worth it, methinks.

 

[Taffy]

Although sometimes you MAKE them healthy and happy, and that's quite worth it, methinks.

That must be a magic feeling. I'd place a bet on you feeling this a lot in your life. Must be very satisfying watching a previously ill person walk out of the hospital fit an well, all thanks to you (and the care from nurses, of course).

 

[Sephiroth]

can i assume that shouting "AND SQWASH!" isnt something your allowed to do?
and so what? you get a fair salary and get to do cool stuff?
grrrr some people get all the luck

 

[DocBot]

grrrr some people get all the luck

Yes, because it's all about luck

I'm not done yet, there's plenty of opportunity for failure (i.e. this next exam; on everything we've learnt since november), and it's generally not easy. Although getting in was a bit lucky, agreed.