The Power Couple

June 12, 2015

I think I look good in Scrubs

            I witnessed a hysterectomy today, it was the first one I’ve seen since coming to India and it was extremely cool. The woman had two tumors growing on either side of her uterus and they were becoming malignant, the only option left was to remove the uterus. There I was in the operation room, about to watch the woman get her spinal tap and the most amazing thing occurred, the woman reached out her hand to me. I don’t know why I felt happy that she held my hand for support, but it’s a moment I will never forget. Once she was unconscious the operation began. Dr. Jeremiah and her husband were the surgeons on the job and it was fun to watch them work together. At certain points, I could tell that they were arguing about something related to the surgery. Most of the time, however, they worked together as if they were one person. If you think Beyoncé and Jay Z are a power couple, then Dr. Jeremiahs are a super power couple.

The surgery took much longer than I expected, we were in the room for two hours but I didn’t mind it was fun watching. It was my first time seeing a uterus in its natural state size, it’s still amazing to think that that small organ holds tiny humans in it. Dr. Jeremiah would occasionally describe to me what she was doing and would gesture for me to come closer to get a better look inside. Sometimes I would see other organs pop up, but I could never identify what they were. I’m very thankful that I am not scared of blood because there was a lot of blood everywhere. They use cotton cloths to soak up the blood so they were all these bloody cloths everywhere. During the surgery, the anesthesiologist’s phone rang multiple times and he would talk on the phone like he wasn’t in the middle of surgery. I found the situation to be hilarious, no one was bothered with the fact that he was on his phone, so I guess it was a normal thing. Afterwards, the nurses provided the surgeons and I with snacks and tea, it was great.

Day 13 in Trichy and I’m loving the time I spend watching surgeries.