I got picked up in Kalamazoo by a man on the telephone. He gave me a quick wave but made it apparent he was on an important phone call. I waited patiently as my uncle spoke "Did you check his crit?", "What did the vascular surgeon have to say about it?" "Uh huh" "Okay, Bye". Not five minutes had passed when his telephone rang again "Dr. Pratt", he answered efficiently. He motioned for me to follow him into the pick-up lot at the airport. I dragged my suitcase into the crisp air, and followed him to his car. I expected something nice, maybe a BMW or a Lexus. He is a surgeon after all. But no, I was led to the passenger side of a sleek 2016 Corvette Stingray. This car cost more than my college tuition. I tried to make it a little less obvious that this was the most expensive thing I have ever touched. Once he was done talking on the phone, we got to know each other on the 25-minute car ride back to his house (ahem) I mean mansion. He owns 300+ acres in rural Kalamazoo with a wife, two kids, and four dogs. After a long day of flying, I was getting ready for bed and lavishing the fact that I could sleep in. Then, my uncle called upstairs and told me that he was going in on a Sunday to do a Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) on an emergent patient. He asked me if I was in. I'm always in. I set my alarm for 5:45 AM and, once he showed me how to use the coffee maker, I was down for the night.
Waking up was brutal. It is summer vacation, after all. I threw on some yoga pants and a tee shirt because I would be in hospital scrubs all day. I threw on some comfortable tennis shoes and headed downstairs. My french vanilla coffee was brewed, and I felt excited, nervous and ready. We hopped in the corvette once more and began our journey through the day.
0700-Follow Dr. Pratt to the CICU, which is the cardiac intensive care unit. It has seven beds, and they are all full of people. Old people, young people, talking people, and sedated people. The one thing I had never done was interact with people. I was nervous, but they all smiled at the young blonde girl in the corner. Once he was done rounding (about 2 minutes a patient) he sat down and did computerized notes and approvals for over an hour. This was the least interesting part of the day.
0900-Follow Dr. Pratt into the surgical suite. He showed me the patient's cardiac scans. There was a lot of calcification which meant it would be a difficult procedure.
0930- After procuring some PPE, I walk into the surgical room. There are 3 Nurses, a Surgical Tech, a perfusionist, a CRNA, and a body draped with sterile dressing and iodine on the table. Dr. Pratt comes in after me because he has to really "scrub in". I get to stand on a stool next to the anesthesiologist so I can see ALL of the action. I was no more than two feet away from the surgical site.
1045-Thanking the good lord that I haven't passed out yet. Advice: Don't lock your knees.
1130-There is a beating heart right in front of me. It's amazing and weird and I'm oddly hungry given the situation. Advice: Don't eat breakfast because it will make you hungrier
1230-Dr. Pratt is closing the sternum and skin. It is quite possibly the coolest thing I have ever seen. Once he's done, he de-gowns and I follow him to go see the family.
1300-This is what I'm most scared of. I didn't think I was a "people" person. The family surrounds Dr. Pratt and I. He delivers good news: they made it through the surgery. The bad news: It would be touch-and-go for a while. The family graciously accepts this news. As we walk to the elevator, one family member follows us and says "Bless you for what you do." I had chills. This was by far my favorite moment.
1330-We check in on a trauma patient that needed a cardio consult. Very sad situation.
We headed out around 2 P.M. (Because it was Sunday) and I can say that I am EXHAUSTED. I can't believe that I'm alive right now honestly. It's 10:24 PM and I'll be up and at it again tomorrow morning. I can't believe how incredible this opportunity is. I'm enjoying every moment.
When we got back home, I decided to take a much-needed bath to rid myself of travel and hospital anxiety. Then, I almost fell asleep on this lovely porch while improving this website's mobile features. What a day! I'm ready for bed...Zzzzzzzzz
I hope that you will stay tuned as I deliver day-by-day updates!
Emily
