Surgeons share their craziest work stories
Surgeons have to witness some seriously fucked up shit, including crushed spines and dying children. They have to make decisions that could end up costing someone their life.
But what is it really like to be a surgeon? These work stories might give you some insight as to what surgeons have to deal with.
A man was in his garage rearranging things when an overhead storage shelf fell straight onto him, crushing his spine. The damage was immense, but not enough to kill him. He was rushed to ER with his wife and I was called in. He couldn't feel his legs or arms, and we immediately operated on him. It took 3 1/2 hours to repair his spine. Unfortunately, he is now confined to a wheel chair.
As well as being on call, I work at a clinic. I had a consult with a future patient of mine, but her problem was very unique. Part of her brain was in the very first stages of death, which is scary if you think about it. She would've been dead, or at least unable to perform simple functions, if she had waited a few days because of the increase in size of dead tissue. I operated on her 2 hours after the consultation. She survived with the small dying portion of the brain removed.
As well as being a full-time surgeon and working at a clinic, I teach and guide people who are in residencies (you do this after medical school depending on what career you're pursuing). A few of my residents were helping with an operation, and I asked one of them if they can hand me a tool. I told them: "Go around the patient, don't give it to me over the patient." They didn't listen and ended up bumping the operating table and dropping the tool over the freshly cut region. It wasn't a big deal because it was sterilized and not sharp. I had to talk to him after the operation, though. If it were a scalpel or other sharp tool, we would have had bigger problems and he probably would not have been there anymore.
Another one of my residents was being guided by me. He was doing a good bit of the operation very well, which I applauded him for. However, when he cuts into the brain, he immediately has a panic attack and I had to take over, or else the patient would have died. He almost cut too deep into the part we were operating on (parietal), which caused a lot of bleeding (too much). I told him to take it easy and remove himself from the operating room for the rest of the operation. I was not disappointed in him, because he was one of my better residents. It was a mistake that I had thankfully prevented, and people are not perfect. He did not make any major mistakes like this one again.
Was performing operation on a baby which had internal bleeding in the brain. I kept the baby alive for as long as I could because the bleeding would not stop, but it was already too late. Unfortunately, the baby died.
This is one of my better memories, and more recent. A woman just had a stroke and needed an immediate operation done, so I was called up. I got into my car and drove there. Usually, I go on a road that is 40 mph. I was going 60 and I was stopped by 2 police squad cars. One of the officers walks up to my car and asks why I'm going 60, and I told him that I have to do an operation right now or else the patient dies. Straight to the point. I was escorted at 70 mph with sirens blaring. The adrenaline rush was huge, I felt like the president and it was one of the best moments of my life. The patient lived, and isn't in a wheelchair. I recently met with her for a routine check-up and she is doing very well!
I take my hat off to those guys and gals performing life saving operations everyday.
