Thursday was our last day shadowing in the urology department. I thought back to how I had felt about urology before shadowing in the department, and I realized that my mind had changed drastically. I no longer think that becoming a “Pee-Doctor” is lame, or that spending 8 years specializing in the prostate was strange. Never judge a book (or a medical specialty) by its cover.
Today we were watching a nephrectomy (removal of the kidney) for a patient who had a LARGE tumor (5-6cm) on their left kidney. Unlike the partial nephrectomy we saw on day 2, the surgeon clamped the artery first and then the vein. This way, the kidney would be mostly drained of blood before it was taken out of the body of the patient.
Saman and I underestimated how exhausted we were from the rest of the week, and by the time we were in the OR we were falling asleep standing up. The surgery was about 4 hours and we took observations and asked questions about the procedure, which was mostly done by our resident friend Sarah.
After urology, I had to go to English tutoring with Dr. Moya. I found her in the ER, and she was overwhelmed with an incredible amount of new patients. “Let me show you an interesting case” she said, leading me into a patient-room. There was a woman with the worst jaundice I had ever seen: her skin was a dark yellow-brown color, and her eyes were bright amber where they should have been white. Dr. Moya told me that this patient had not had any symptoms other than abdominal pain and the jaundice, but she suspected pancreatic cancer: a cancer that is very difficult to diagnose. I was amazed at Dr. Moya’s intelligence and her way of talking to patients in a compassionate, yet straightforward way.
I hope to continue to learn her secrets and understand what it is to be not only a great physician but a great person. Even without understanding all of the language, I can tell she truly cares for her patients and they love and appreciate her even more.
Anna-phylactic Shock 