We were told that today we would do more rounds with the vascular patients, but when we met with our 5th-years we learned that rounds happened at 6am this morning instead of 7:30 when we arrived. The rest of their schedule was filled with surgery so we were more than happy to accompany them. Dr. Piers was preparing for a femoral anterior tibial bypass surgery when we arrived and was stitching up the patient at 10:45 when we left for lunch, followed by class. The patient had several dead arteries in his remaining leg (as the other had already been amputated) clearly shown by his black big toe. Why did he have an amputation in the first place? SMOKING decreased his vascular function. Apparently having a leg cut off is not enough of a sign to quit smoking so he continued and now faces more surgery and more amputation. (*cough cough* Larry! aka My stepdad) Anyway, the procedure that took place was meant to bypass the dead arteries in his leg by cutting out the full length of a vein and inserting it into the top and bottom of the artery so the blood flows through the vein, which now acts as an artery. The overall goal of the surgery was to send enough blood flow to the foot so the amputated toe would have enough oxygenated blood to properly heal, if not, his remaining leg would have to be amputated.
After class, Sami and I took a cab to the mall which was about 10min away and costed R65. Since I haven't explained yet, R10 is about $1, but the exchange rate today was R10.8 = $1, yay! We bought our friend Adelle (we watched the two World Cup games at her apartment) a gift because her birthday is on Saturday and birthdays, regardless of the person, are always exciting! The malls here close at 6pm, which is very strange to me, but I don't make the rules, I just have to follow them.
Happy almost 4th of July!!
Day 2 of Surgery!
Day 2 surgical room set-up. The first one was much smaller with much older equipment.
Some of the aftermath
Against my better judgement, I decided to take a "selfie" to give an outfit reference to future students so maybe they won't be lost in a dark cave with a wet match as I was. We were given these white lab coats and all students wear them daily. The hospital is usually very cold because they don't heat the buildings here so long sleeves are a must. The other female students wear leggings (with a dress), jeans, khakis, etc with boots, flats, tennis shoes, etc. Basicaflly, as long as you don't look like a bum you're good to go.
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