*Cue the music* (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-ImCpNqbJw)
Although this was my last week in NYC, I went about my week just like any other week.
On Monday, I went into office hours to see either new or post-op care patients, many of which were similar to cases I've described earlier in the program. However, one case I wanted to note (and the one I took notes on) was one woman who had a skin graft, but she also had an arterial ulcer. The ulcer restricted blood flow to the region where the graft was placed, which led to lack of healing and necrosis of the graft. I also learned that we can distinguish this from a venous ulcer due to the lack of edema--and if she had a venous ulcer, the graft probably could have healed a bit better.
Tuesday and Wednesday were both OR days. On Tuesday, I observed two cases: an abdominal hernia repair and tumor removal with facial reconstruction with a flap. In the first case, the surgeons performed an open hernia repair--a relatively quick and simple procedure, especially when compared to the second case. Although I didn't see much, the bulging tissue was removed and a mesh plug was used to cover the hernia site. They sutured the mesh (a biodegradable polymer (P4HB, or poly-4-hydroxylbutyrate)) into the surrounding tissue and called it a day.
In the second procedure, it was a similar case to the very first operation I saw. ENT had to cut open the patient's mandible, remove the tumor--which, in this case, was his ENTIRE tongue--prep the flap, transfer the flap up, reconnect some vessels, and close up. It's always an awesome case when someone's head gets cut open. The tongue was also surprisingly small (sorry, no pictures).
Wednesday procedures were simple cases, including another hernia repair and a skin graft placement. Nothing special to note here.
Thursday and Friday were spent in the lab working. On the bright site, I learned how to pull tails to isolate collagen. Yay science.
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