Yo estoy sangrando.

Last week was SICU for me.  Got off to a rough start.  Felt lost. Floundering. Treading water....in the ocean...in the middle of a storm.  Finally, after analyzing for the hundredth time why I felt so lost, I came to the understanding that in Mexico, patients of this degree of sickness, such as the ones I was currently trying to manage, would have been dead months ago.  Realizing this, kind of calmed me down.  I could stop being so hard on myself, because there is no reason that I should be adapt at something that I've never handled before.  Being steady on my feet once again, and feeling as if I was on solid ground again, the remainder of the week went much smoother.  I could have used more time in the SICU, so much to learn, but alas Monday came once again and it was time to move on. 

This Monday I switched to the Burn Unit.  It sounds scary, but to be honest I was really looking forward to it.  Burns is also something that I've never had the opportunity to deal with and manage personally.  An area with lots of potential for learning, and new experiences.  Yesterday there was no OR time scheduled so it worked out that I got more or less a days introduction to how the service works.  And then I got to spend all day today in the OR.  And I think I found a place for me.  You can expect a typical OR to be freezing.  But for a burn patient the OR is kept warm, quite warm.  I was scrubbed in and felt the sweat start to bead and trickle.  It brought back fond memories of my OR days in Mexico.  The surgery itself, I have to be honest and admit was a bit humbling for me, as a few times I had to pause and simply think, Oh My....Wow!  Burn surgery has been the most brutal form of surgery I have yet seen, Mexico and in the States.  I knew what I was in for, but that couldn't prepare me for actually seeing it.  Let's just say that last night I was going to rewaterproof my danskos and ended up running out of time.....and today, I was really wishing I'd taken those five mintues to work some wax into my shoes.  There is currently only one burn surgeon at Westchester, and I'm liking working with him.  In the OR, he'd show me how to do something, then hand over the materials and say, "now you do it." So I got to do a lot.  It would be very beneficial time wise, especially in those with extensive burns.  We could be working in two areas at once.

I've also made connections with a Dr. Blood.  Which means...The return of Captain Blood!  No, just kidding.  hehe  Dr. Blood is a funny Irish surgeon no longer practicing surgery, and therefore has kind of taken myself and two other students under his wing, offering us extra education meetings.  It's the type of attention that we would be completely foolish to pass up.  It's also extra beneficial for me.  We meet in the Tauma/Critical Care offices and therefore encounter the directors of the department.  So hopefully I'm replacing that face they knew from a couple weeks ago of the girl that caused trouble.  But even without, I'd still enjoy Dr. Blood's lectures. 

Hasta!