Thursday, August 04, 2005
50/50
Once apon a time, I was so in love with the idea of going into the medical field.
But that is a fairy tale now. I am too far away from that idea to make it a reality.
There were many reasons why I didn't pursue a medical career and many more why I could/should have. But in any case, there was a day that impacted me real hard.
I snuck into a university hospital and saw 10 operations that day. Wearing scrubs, gloves, a hairnet, and sanitary slippers, I was no more than 2-3 feet away from the operating table. Now, if you were ever to sneak into an OR (Operating Room), university hospitals are the way to go, since most people think that you are a resident intern trying to pick up a trick or two - I was a mere 18-year old with curiosity at the time.
Among the pediatric dental job (the poor kid was practically "Jaws" from the Roger Moore 007 movie after the operation), bone fracture operation, and the ocular muscle reattachment (fixing cross-eyedness), the most fascinating was the nose job and the corneal transplant.
The patient was a middle-aged man of large stature. Right before the surgery, he jovially told everyone that it was his 3rd nose job - to fix all the cosmetic degeneration of his nose every single time he had a nose job. No kidding, Michael Jackson - this guy needed to stop at some point. The funny thing is, he showed us an X-ray before he went under the knife. Except, it was a photo of his prostate exam. Wrong nose, buddy.
In any case, I don't understand the mentality of anybody who goes through with cosmetic surgery. Rather, it should be properly called "medical carpentry." As soon as the guy was on the operating table, the doctor took out a knife, chisel, and hammer. Clunk, clunk, clunk! The man's entire body shook at every impact the hammer hit the chisel. The worse thing was, since he was such a big guy, he came out of the anesthetics (or didn't even get knocked out fully). He kept on moaning - "Doctor, I can still hear youuuuu... Ahhh... You are hitting on my nose boneeee...." Yes, it scarred me for life. I was imagining an elegant art of cosmetic surgery, but it left me with nothing but an image of butchery and mad science.
I stepped out briefly to another OR where a frail Chinese lady was undergoing 7 hours of surgery - a corneal transplant. Using placental tissue, this lady was trying to restore her eye-sight. From what I had heard, she lost 80% of sight due to a chronic cateract. She was deeply under anesthetics and had endured a long time of being under the knife. The surgeon looked on with a magnifier, which displayed the area of operation on a big-screen monitor. Her milky cateract was scraped off and replaced with placental tissue, which was carefully stitched back on to her eye. It was amazing - to think of the technology, the result of the operation, and the strong desire this woman had to restore her vision. She had endured a lot, and she had soiled herself on the table. As a simple observer, it makes one wonder about the drama behind this frail frame that desired her sight at such an old age. The desire to live is amazing.
I continue to be amazed by the human body. It is one of the most sophisticated things nature has created. After such a strong experience, I was convinced that the will to live had a lot to do with our survival. Of course, the technical expertise is necessary to heal us, but the will to live has to equally match it in order to seek embetterment. It meets half-way at 50/50, I say. If you desire to stay alive, the technology will somehow catch up to try to meet that. If you don't have that will, even the most advanced technology can't save you.
Of course, that does not mean that those who desire to live will always survive. The medical field continues to face challenges, but it is a most respectable one for making our lives better, and simply life saving.
I turned away from the medical field for various reasons, but I am still fascinated and inspired by it, knowing that there are great people out there who practice altruism and sincerely do want to heal and save people. Respect.
The will to live is one of the greatest forces on earth.
But that is a fairy tale now. I am too far away from that idea to make it a reality.
There were many reasons why I didn't pursue a medical career and many more why I could/should have. But in any case, there was a day that impacted me real hard.
I snuck into a university hospital and saw 10 operations that day. Wearing scrubs, gloves, a hairnet, and sanitary slippers, I was no more than 2-3 feet away from the operating table. Now, if you were ever to sneak into an OR (Operating Room), university hospitals are the way to go, since most people think that you are a resident intern trying to pick up a trick or two - I was a mere 18-year old with curiosity at the time.
Among the pediatric dental job (the poor kid was practically "Jaws" from the Roger Moore 007 movie after the operation), bone fracture operation, and the ocular muscle reattachment (fixing cross-eyedness), the most fascinating was the nose job and the corneal transplant.
The patient was a middle-aged man of large stature. Right before the surgery, he jovially told everyone that it was his 3rd nose job - to fix all the cosmetic degeneration of his nose every single time he had a nose job. No kidding, Michael Jackson - this guy needed to stop at some point. The funny thing is, he showed us an X-ray before he went under the knife. Except, it was a photo of his prostate exam. Wrong nose, buddy.
In any case, I don't understand the mentality of anybody who goes through with cosmetic surgery. Rather, it should be properly called "medical carpentry." As soon as the guy was on the operating table, the doctor took out a knife, chisel, and hammer. Clunk, clunk, clunk! The man's entire body shook at every impact the hammer hit the chisel. The worse thing was, since he was such a big guy, he came out of the anesthetics (or didn't even get knocked out fully). He kept on moaning - "Doctor, I can still hear youuuuu... Ahhh... You are hitting on my nose boneeee...." Yes, it scarred me for life. I was imagining an elegant art of cosmetic surgery, but it left me with nothing but an image of butchery and mad science.
I stepped out briefly to another OR where a frail Chinese lady was undergoing 7 hours of surgery - a corneal transplant. Using placental tissue, this lady was trying to restore her eye-sight. From what I had heard, she lost 80% of sight due to a chronic cateract. She was deeply under anesthetics and had endured a long time of being under the knife. The surgeon looked on with a magnifier, which displayed the area of operation on a big-screen monitor. Her milky cateract was scraped off and replaced with placental tissue, which was carefully stitched back on to her eye. It was amazing - to think of the technology, the result of the operation, and the strong desire this woman had to restore her vision. She had endured a lot, and she had soiled herself on the table. As a simple observer, it makes one wonder about the drama behind this frail frame that desired her sight at such an old age. The desire to live is amazing.
I continue to be amazed by the human body. It is one of the most sophisticated things nature has created. After such a strong experience, I was convinced that the will to live had a lot to do with our survival. Of course, the technical expertise is necessary to heal us, but the will to live has to equally match it in order to seek embetterment. It meets half-way at 50/50, I say. If you desire to stay alive, the technology will somehow catch up to try to meet that. If you don't have that will, even the most advanced technology can't save you.
Of course, that does not mean that those who desire to live will always survive. The medical field continues to face challenges, but it is a most respectable one for making our lives better, and simply life saving.
I turned away from the medical field for various reasons, but I am still fascinated and inspired by it, knowing that there are great people out there who practice altruism and sincerely do want to heal and save people. Respect.
The will to live is one of the greatest forces on earth.
// posted by sakit @ 7:01 PM 
