Unforeseen Consequences

And so continues the ongoing saga that is my clinical (hah! I wish...)

This week I'm up in Operating Theatre (or better known as OPSuite). There is a whole bunch of operating rooms where doctors work their magic in cutting up the human body and fixing it with the most advanced techniques known to humanity. Actually, it's a lot more primitive than I thought.

Having read many a sci-fi book and watch many a medical tv show, what actually happens in operating theatres is quite eye opening. I mean sometimes it gets downright brutal. For one operation, the surgeon had to get to the gallbladder (I think; I don't remember clearly), so he uses this soldering iron thingo and basically burns his way to the desired level. "Burns" is the correct wording here. One hand is holding a small clamp and the other holds the soldering iron. He grabs a piece of soft tissue and basically slashes it away, cutting deeper into the body. Scratch that, "burns" is that correct, "slash-and-burn" is a much more accurate wording. You could even see the smoke swirling around inside the human body. Since he's accessing the body through small holes which are plugged up with instruments, I have no idea where the smoke goes. Maybe it just floats around until the body absorbs it through diffusion. Another example is when the surgeon is trying to put a large steel nail into a patient's neck of femur. It had been fractured and the nail holds the bones in the correct position to heal. After several minutes of drilling and screwing fruitlessly, one surgeon suggested hitting the nail with a hammer, since "it will bend to the left" or something. I thought he was joking, until he picked a hammer and started smashing the nail like Thor smashing with Mjolnir (check Norse mythology; its fun). It looked so brutal but apparently the nail was going the right way, so the surgeon continued smashing away.

To be honest, OPSuite is kinda boring, since I can't really do all that much. I have done a bit of screening, doing real time x-rays for the surgeons, but I'm just a student. Other radiographers have to be nearby to make sure I don't kill the patient or muck things up. But it is interesting. I mean, getting to see surgery up close is quite cool and learning all these new things, it makes up for the boring moments.

Also, working there reminded me of the dangers of hearsay. A few of the other students didn't have the best experiences up there, due to conflicts with the senior radiographer up there. However, I never experienced anything as bad as the stories they tell. I know that he can be pedantic, and that's probably a reason why the other students don't get the best experience, but I can't really say anything bad about him. If anything I'm expanding my knowledge of the profession of radiography thanks to him. And as such, this presents the dangers of hearsay. Just because someone else says something about someone doesn't mean that it's necessarily true. Shades of Wild Swans, I know...

Just finished Half Life 2 Episode 2. It is amazing, an excellent example of game design in the swamplands of PC gaming. It also has a commentary track and you can listen to the developers and voice actors talk about the process of creating the game and why they took the directions that they did. It's very enlightening. It is a first person shooter, but it's definitely a series that everyone (at least every serious gamer) should play. There's a line in there that was spoken by one of the characters "Prepare for unforeseen consequences". That line is just in my head and I can't get rid of it. It was so well delivered. Now I have to wait for Episode 3.

Now I'm off to take a nap. Those lead aprons I wear to protect myself from the radiation are so fricken heavy. My shoulders are burning in agony. I might down a few painkillers.