what does {LOVE} look like: {plastic surgery}

For the last 2 days Emily and I have been posted in the E.N.T. (ear/nose/throat) department. We had been looking forward to this department all week, as the other students with us were able to go see surgeries. I was simply excited for something different than our usual sitting in a corner waiting for someone to explain something. However my excitement got the best of me.

We were brought down to the OT (operation theatre- what they call an operating room in India) right away on our first day and were given scrubs to change into, sandals to wear, hair nets and masks and then ushered into the OT. I was doing okay at first and then I quickly became clammy, feeling sweaty and cold. I stepped out of the room collected myself and attempted to go back in. I was only in the second surgery for a little while, but even before any cutting began when I decided I could not handle surgery. I knew what was coming and even that made me feel sick. I felt sick to my stomach and on the way down the hall to change I thought I was going to black out. I began to tear up while changing back into my clothes to head up to the outpatient department. I was upset with myself for not being able to handle it since I had been looking forward to it all week. My frustrations were eased when about 15 minutes later Emily joined me in the outpatient department unable to make it through surgery either.

The doctor in the outpatient department was very friendly and he talked with us about his first time in the OT as well and how he too felt lightheaded, as if he was floating on a cloud. He gave us some good tips on how to make it through surgery, such as eating a good breakfast, having some sugar to keep our blood glucose levels high, chewing gum and having something to smell, like lotion or perfume on our wrists if the smell of the OT was getting to strong. He really wanted us to be able to experience the operation room and we were determined to make it through.

We both got up this morning with the mindset that we were going to be able to stay through surgery this morning, making sure we ate even before going to breakfast. I even took some meclizine hoping that would keep my stomach at ease and some tums. I packed gum, Swedish fish, almonds and some nice smelling hand sanitizer to help me get through surgery.

It was the same routine once we got to the OT department as the day before, receiving scrubs, a hairnet, mask and some flip flops to wear. We both put on our full garb hoping that today we wouldn’t be making a fool of ourselves having to leave the operating room.

And you will all be happy to know we made it through the entire 3hour surgery!!

There were times in which I was grossed out and I sat down once, more of a precaution to avoid the nausea/lightheadedness from occurring, but for the most part it was such a cool opportunity! It is on the list of one of the best things thus far that has happened on my India trip.

The operating room in the India is much different in the US. We would not be allowed in the OR in America. I was surprised when we went in with open-toed shoes, no gloves on and had not washed our hands, plus I am battling a cold and was still allowed in. The operating room door was left open most of the time and people were in and out constantly. We learned later that there is less concern over postoperative infections in India and that if they were to occur they would most likely not be sued as a doctor would in the U.S. I was thankful for these differences so I was able to see the surgery up close. Emily and I also became the official photographers of the surgery since the surgeon wanted pictures taken throughout. I was glad that we were able to play some role in the whole process even if it was a small one.

FYI: For those of you who do not want to details of the surgery, I recommend scrolling down to the pictures/skip the next 2 paragraphs- I promise it is not too gory but I can relate to those with a weak stomach so I figure I should warn others out there like me that I’m going to describe the surgery below.

The surgery that we were apart of was for a man how had a very large cancerous tumor on his nose. Basically his entire nose has become this large black bumpy growth. The plastic surgeon removed the growth and then proceeded to cut a section of the man’s forehead to be rotated down to become his nose. At first I thought the plastic surgeon would just take a skin graft of the forehead to cover the nose, but once the tumor was removed and there was pretty much nothing left but the middle cartilage of the nose I realized they would most likely need more than a skin graft. The surgeon literally cut all the way down to the skull of the forehead a shape of the mans nose, which he had traced on an ACE bandage and cut out to be a template for the incision on the forehead. I was amazed by this process and had to ask what they were going to do with the gapping hole on the man’s head. The surgeon laughed a little and proceeded to tell me he would pull the skin back together… this was a bit gross sounding to me and watching it was a little worse. He had to pull the skin up and detach it from the scalp to be able to pull it far enough for the two edges of the hole to meet. All I could think of was this man was going to have a major headache later, while the surgeon joked that the man was also getting a forehead lift.

After the forehead miraculously came together and was stitched (which I also thought was cool since I’ve never seen stitches be given) without surprisingly giving the man a unibrow the skin/muscle graft was rotated down and stitched to the nose. By the end of the whole process I was amazed that the man looked pretty normal, beside the obvious stitches and that he had been bleeding here and there. Part of the graft was left over the bridge of the nose where skin had not been removed. This graft area was not stitched to the face and was wrapped in what I understood was someone else’s skin; the doctor said it was from his skin bank… I have no idea and did not want to ask questions. All I knew was that the skin would work as a biological bandage keeping that graft alive in case they needed to use it for any other type of repair over the next 3 weeks during recover.

So I made it through surgery! I do not think that I want to become and OR pharmacist by any means but I did really enjoy myself. The human body is absolutely fascinating. I am for sure adding this experience to my list of things I have loved about India. Each day I am finding more reasons to enjoy myself. I am thankful for the unique things I have been able to experience while in here.