First day in OT
Okay, so first of all, I have to clarify that OT stands for "Operating Theatre". He he.
Sibu's hospital gave me very little expectation on how the OT would be, but I had heard from Anis Suhana that it would be really cold. So upon naively pushing the doors marked "No Entry; Staff Only", a blast of cold air hits my face and my group members' faces, too - it was a starkingly different sensation compared to the heat of the Male Surgical Ward.
We took off our shoes at the dividing enterance - left to the female changing room and right to the male changing room. Jessie then told us to take the (rubbery...kinda like Crocs) slippers that had no name on it. There was no hesitancy in that order, I can tell you that, our feet against the cold tiled floor isn't a pleasant feeling. We then raided (too strong a word, haha) the cupboards for scrub gowns (is that what they're called?)...you know, the ones that Turk and JD wear in Scrubs.
After meeting the staff nurse in charge of the OT, we divided ourselves and went into the various OTs. I tell you, it's pretty amazing how the surgeons do it...the patient is lying there with like...a gazillion metal instruments holding this and that and the background beeping of the ECG, some radio music and the small chatter between the surgeon and his assistants and scrub nurses keep the OT not-so-silent.
I'd rather not divulge in the details of what happened inside the OT because this is a rather public blog (in a sense that anyone, including the lecturers) can read this, but after some 15 minutes, we went to look at a mastectomy being done in another OT where my other group mates were. I'm like 'Wow, so that's how they cut off someone's breast'. It's kinda amazing how the surgeons keep their cool while cutting someone open, and the patients didn't really bleed much at all.
We ended up staying for like...less than an hour because we had BST (bed side teaching) after that, so we changed back to normal wear and ran to the ward to meet our lecturer. Gosh, next time I hope I get to stay longer. I wanted to see how they close the wound.
Any how, today's experience gave me a great drive to study - especially anatomy. =_=
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