1. There was an embarrassingly loud thump in the middle of a robotic nephrectomy (kidney removal) when my head hit the wall. Today, I fell asleep standing up. I don’t think the nurses believed me when I said I slipped.
2. I love that there are some cancers that we can cure by simple removal. Of course, the removal is not simple. And it’s painful. And you’re left without a kidney. But still…no chemo, no radiation, and normal life expectancy following. In the world of cancer, that’s not so bad.
3. There was a scary moment toward the end of the day when the surgeons had to act fast to stop a bleeding…the tumor had invaded into some important vasculature. These surgeons are awesome at their job, and how so many hands work so well all together in a small space is beyond my comprehension. When things were resolved, the attending stopped for a brief moment and held out his hand to his resident, and they shook hands over the body cavity.
anna in med school 