It is an incredulous feeling, witnessing a life being saved in front of your very own eyes. I was fortunate enough to witness an open heart surgery being performed.
The day started just like every other hospital day, breakfast and formal attire. However, I was not prepared for the atmosphere that I'll be put into later in the day. As soon as we arrived at the hospital, we were immediately put into the waiting room for the operating room for where they perform heart surgeries. We scrubbed in; hairnets, face masks, the whole she-bang. There was about 6 of us and they only allowed 4 of us into the operating room at the time.
We changed sandals at least 3 times before we were finally able to enter the operating room. The patient was already sedated and I was able to watch the whole preparation up close. The surgeon explained to us that they were removing a tumor from an artery and that the procedure would take no longer than two hours.
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| Alex scrubbed in |
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| Surgeons prepping for the Heart Surgery |
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| First look at the heart surgery |
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| Surgeries |
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| More surgeries |
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| Even more surgeries |
I cringed as the surgeon made the first incision; I've always dreamed of witnessing a heart surgery, however I had always fearful of how my body would react to seeing one being performed. But to my surprise, the more I watched, the more I became fasinated by how the heart actually looks as it beats, and how nonchalant the surgeons were as they opened up the patient.
What made the day most memorable to me is how well it triggered all 5 senses. At that exact moment, life felt surreal and that as complicated as the surgery might've been, the surgeons did a good job making it a stress free environment.
William Nguyen
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