X-RAY surgery

Today, I saw two surgeries. The first one was about Hernia (may be 4th time? for me to see) and the second one was about infusing a string into the body from the heart side by using x-ray machine. I got to wear an apron to protect my body from x-ray machine. The doctor was using an infuser to reach some point, which I really couldn't understand that well. Today was the only day when I couldn't fully understand even though the doctor was trying his best to explain to me. I knew this day would come to me one day and today was the day. However, I experienced a lot of valuable things such as wearing an apron as other people do in the O.R. (being a part of them felt so precious) and getting this Hernia patch from the doctor.

This is Hernia Repair Patch. I was really surprised by how strong the texture of this material is.

This picture shows how the doctor was infusing the equipment.

This is how x-ray machine looks like. There was one doctor who was in charge of this machine all the time throughout the surgery as taking photos (like screenshots) and following the surgeon's instruction.

p.s. It was really interesting how both I and some doctors knew people who graduated from my school or even who attend my school now!

Today was another fantastic day!

2/25/2014 Shoulder Lipoma Excision

It was a busy day!

There were a lot of medical students who came to see surgeries. It was interesting to hear that they never saw the surgery before as medical students. I felt honored again to have this such opportunity as a high school student. Since the O.R. was full of people including me, I could not see the surgery right away. After a while, I was told to go into this room. There would be Lipoma Excision surgery. The patient had this big lipoma on the right shoulder. 

As I expected, it was awesome. The length of the lipoma was 20cm, which was huge one. I thought it would take a long time to get rid of it only based on the size. On the other hand, it took very short time to operate. It took only 20 minutes! It was crazy!

According to Procedure Clinic website, A lipoma is a slow-growing, fatty lump that’s most often situated between your skin and the underlying muscle layer. Often a lipoma is easy to identify because it moves readily with slight finger pressure. It’s doughy to touch and usually not tender. You may have more than one lipoma. Lipomas can occur at any age, but they’re most often detected during middle age.

Lipomas are:

• Located just under your skin. They commonly occur in the neck, shoulders, back, abdomen, arms and thighs.
• Soft and doughy to the touch. They also move easily with slight finger pressure.
• Generally small. Lipomas are typically less than 2 inches (5 centimeters) in diameter, but they can grow larger.
• Sometimes painful. Lipomas can be painful if they grow and press on nearby nerves, or if they contain many blood vessels.