Yes it's scary!
Yes there is lots of blood!
Yes I did pass out!
No DON'T read this just before eating!
My mildly embarrassing experience of observing heart surgery
Please note: this may well be a long post, so grab a cup of tea before reading!
Let me make something very clear:
I am not squeamish!
I have seen, guts, gunge, ooze, pus, blood, faeces (of a wildly wide variety), vomit, snot, rotting flesh. I have seen somebody accidentally slice their arm open on glass, have their tooth pulled out, have a very very long needle stuck into their stomach, (many times) seen an animal be born with and without help, cleaned a persons intestine (stoma bag)...... need I say more?
Never once have I observed or done any of these and felt even mildly funky and yet the simple sight of watching blood go through a tube was enough to make me all light headed and very suddenly fond of a lie down!
This is what happened:
I was given the opportunity to observe open heart surgery on placement, this was something I had been desperate to do since I had started. I was so excited the night before I couldn't sleep and was unable to entertain the idea of having breakfast that morning. The train couldn't go fast enough and my legs just wouldn't move me quick enough towards my ward. I was SO excited!!
I took my patient down to theatre, watched them be given a general anaesthetic that made them fall to sleep and observed cannula's, drains and tubes being plugged into them. I was then given a pair of blue scrubs, crocs, a rather fetching hat and a face mask and told to go and put them on and meet them in theatre. I did as I was told and quickly rushed back not wanting to miss anything!
The first thing that struck me when I walked in was the sheer amount of people in there: 2 surgeons, 3-4 nurses or ODP's, several anaesthetist's, a person operating the bypass machine, a couple of people at computer's (I have no idea what these people were doing!) and me with two medical students standing against the wall trying to not get in the way (and of course the patient!). Along with all the monitors, apparatus, trolleys and wires it really was a tight squeeze.
The first thing the surgeon done was the initial incision and then burnt the layers of skin and tissue until the sternum was visible. The smell of burning tissue is not pleasant, its similar to the smell when you singe your hair only slightly stronger and it lasts a little longer. When the surgeon was happy he then used a circular saw to separate the sternum which can then be pulled apart to expose the heart.
This all sounds very barbaric but really it wasn't, it was very professional and only the chest is exposed, the rest of the patient is covered in these green covers. This may sound silly but not being able to see the patient made it easier. However the atmosphere in the theatre was very very intense and because of the amount of bodies in there I had begun to feel a tad odd.
But in true British style I mentally told myself to harden up and concentrate.
By this time the heart was completely exposed and I could clearly see it beating. The patient was under a year old so the heart was about the size of a small plum and a reddy purple in colour. I was fascinated by this! I had seen a animal heart before from the butchers and hadn't really thought anything of it. But actually watching the heart 'in action' was amazing and added real substance to my A and P lecture on the cardiac system!
Then came the tubes attached to the bypass machine, I watched them be inserted into the veins and arteries connected to the heart and then saw the dark red (oxygen poor) blood and bright red (oxygen rich) blood ooze its way along the tube.....
And that was IT!
Suddenly my mind decided it did not like the idea that blood which was meant to be in the body was suddenly being carried away, put through a machine and then returned through a tube!
I broke out in a cold sweat, my stomach lurched, the operating lights suddenly became intensely bright and the ground felt like it was made of playdough.
"oh god no don't faint on the patient!!!" was my immediate thought and I forced my legs to move towards the door. Thankfully I made it to the anaesthetic room before the light headedness took over and I collapsed (with the aid of a lovely medical student) onto a chair.
To say I was embarrassed was an understatement! I was mortified!! However I was incredibly thankful that I had made it out of the theatre, it would have been 100 times worse had I not! I am also very grateful to the medical student who thought the whole thing was very funny and kept me topped up with water and assured me I had nothing to worry about!
On reflection and having got over the humiliation I felt I am actually very glad that this happened to me. You see it allowed me to experience what parents and patients must go through when they are in hospital. They are in an unfamiliar environment that they do not understand and have no control over, they can feel intimidated and lost. As nurses and nursing students this can be something we forget as we are exposed to it everyday and it becomes the norm. I will not forget this experience and will remember how I felt whenever I am talking to a patient who is anxious and has a lot of questions.
Since then I have been down to theatre again to watch a similar procedure and managed just fine. The very same medical student was there again and winked at me when bypass begun. I rolled my eyes and stuck my tongue out (which of course resulted in my licking my face mask..... yeah..... smooth) and turned my attention back to the man operating the bypass machine as he explained exactly what was happening as the blood ran through the tubes.
Until I write again,
Kimbers xXx
