Grand Rounds 4.08 is being hosted by Dr. Anonymous this week. Check it out - he’s hosting 2000 miles from his home. A grand job - don’t you just love the internet? Thanks, Doc, for including me in this week’s edition.
A grateful wink to RT 101 for the positive mention, and an acknowledgement of the collegial relationship that […]

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  The laparoscopic cholecystectomy (removing the gall bladder via 4 small abdominal holes)
  
If Sushruta could only see surgery today, his turban would probably be twirling. Even as recently as 20 years ago, who would have imagined having your gall bladder removed via 4 small sholes on your belly and being sent home later that day? Minimal pain? Minimal […]

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A stunning fall morning. Cool, crisp, and comfortable; the skies so, so clear. The weatherman predicts the high around 70 degrees. The air is so still - it’s hardly moving at all. It’s one of those days that makes you feel glad to be alive. You pat the dog, and kiss your spouse goodbye - what shall I […]

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Imagine going to work everyday and the only thing you can see on your co-workers’ faces is their eyes. Such is the parallel universe that is the Operating Room.
We all wear masks in the OR. It is for our protection, and yours. Surgery can be messy; “things” can splatter. And our germs are nasty; all of them. […]

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What really goes on in the Operating Room while you are asleep?
I get asked this question by friends and family all of the time. “Are they talking about me?” “Laughing at me?” “Commenting about my thighs?”
None of the above, really.
Conversations in the OR can range from sports to politics to gossip, or, no conversation at […]

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The pre-op holding area is a busy place.
Patients scheduled for surgery begin filing in on their stretchers at the crack of dawn. Each patient gets parked at a separate bay; the room fills quickly, empty slots being filled faster than a train station parking lot during rush hour.
Hustle and bustle, checking names and ID bracelets, charts and […]

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Giving anesthesia is an interesting calling.

It requires careful, dilligent planning and analysis to be able to sit back for a few hours in your chair at the head of the bed and appear to be doing nothing.
Anesthesia providers are the brunt of many jokes   - about how we read the newpaper, do crosswords, or basically sit down […]

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Breast cancer.
Two words that strike fear and horror into every woman’s heart. When a woman’s breast cancer requires a mastectomy, the effects on her self-image, her sexuality, her ego, and her soul can be devastating.
Mastectomy with immediate reconstruction is an option for women today and offers a viable way back from the disfigurement of a mastectomy. […]

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Having surgery can be scary. Having to have anesthesia can be even scarier. Fears of pain, waking up in the middle of the operation, suffocation, loss of control, bleeding, brain damage, death. All of these thoughts, individually or collectively, have raced through patients’ minds as their impending surgeries loom.
I feel that part of my job […]

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The spinal fusion.
Big time back surgery. By the time a patient comes to our OR, they have usually exhausted all their other options. They’ve been to physical therapy; they’ve had the epidural steroid injections; they’ve tried the alternative therapies (chiropracter, acupuncture); and they’re on all kinds of analgesics and muscle relaxants, to no avail.
They’ve been […]

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