First day in the OR

Wow, I really like how they planned out my internship, starting me out in the worst possible place, the ER, and moving to ICU, which was exactly half as stressful, and now the OR, which is a tranquil reflecting pool.

OK nurses reading this, stop laughing at me!

The morning scrum was unintelligible to me, but I sensed some very kind people around me.

Literally no one was rude to me all day, amazing.

Susanne gave me a pair of OR shoes since I'm her size, and Helga took me under her wing all morning, passing me off to Anja at 10.

Our boss, Christoph, is a character, telling me if I voted for Trump I'd be excused right on meeting him. OK then.

I met the azubi, Kiara, she seems like a sweetheart and is articulate. Azubi is the word for paid intern, if I got that. Christoph asked her what she thinks of the OR and she said, "I miss the time with patients." He threw back his head and cackled in utter nonprofessional repulsion.

Wow, some nurses really hate patients.

The awkward thing for me, about the OR, is the fact I cannot wear the outfit outside of the OR. If I want to go get my lunch, I have to actually change my clothes from green to blue. So, a real hassle if I want to go make a phone call in private, e.g.

I planned it right and only had to change from green to blue once today. I snuck back into ICU to ask about Herr W and the super nice azubi from the ER, Maik, seemed happy to see me, and told me the patient is still there. OK. I still think about him every day.

Anyway, my first OP of the day, I was so stressed my hands were in a cold sweat and I was trembling. This guy lay there so calmly, about to go under, how can he be so calm? Oh, he's done this before.

The anesthesiologist "the boss of the OR" came in, said "Good morning, and good night" (haha) and knocked him out.

Then I watched doctors wrest a metal plate out of his leg with screwdrivers, chisels, and lots and lots of brute force. I was amazed how little blood there was.

Helga taught me so much on day 1, how to use the computer to see the patients of the entire day for the 3 ORs, and how to read the acronyms to see what would be required. LM - larynx mask.

Seeing, for the first time, the intubation of a real patient kind of freaked me out. Seeing them gagging coming out of narkose was difficult.

The good nurses helped me read the monitors.

Some of the doctors seemed to enjoy an audience, and told me to come around for a better view. Yah, I know by now, not too close to the blue stuff. Blue means sterile.

The last patient of the day was a young man who needed his clavicle shredded to "make room" for something never explained to me.

It was the most gruesome thing I've experienced, but perplexing cuz I don't know why they did it.

They took a machine tool resembling what you use to drill railway tunnels into hillsides and bored through his bone, super heated so I could watch the flame shredding bone up, and then pulverized with another tool (fraense). They ripped up his bone so thoroughly I wonder if he'll ever be able to use his right side again.

And the smell.

Horse people all know that smell - when the horsey dentist comes and power-saws away the teeth of the horse. Burning teeth and bone smell the same.

I stood there 30 minutes in that smell watching the screens showing in way too much detail what was happening.

Absurdly, the doctor took a phone call in the middle of the procedure! A private call! How is that possible? Isn't anything in life sacred from phone interruptions?

At one point Kiara's lead nurse told her to mix two medicine bottles. I'd done that earlier today with Helga. Kiara stuck the two bottles together and nothing happened. She sat there silently miserable, not wanting to interrupt.

The nurse came over and helped her, re-sticking them. OK, now we both know what to do when they don't mix.

Kiara said to me forlornly - in ENGLISH - "I had one job."

I stifled a laugh and said in German, "How do you know this phrase!"

We aren't allowed to talk, so I didn't press. A few minutes later I remembered they used that line on Big Bang Theory, which is popular with the kids in Germany. I told her I was impressed.

I coughed as silently as I could all day long, into my mask.

My eyes were burning all day long, I think because of the mask, I was breathing "over" my eyes all day.

It's funny, with mask and "hat" on all day, being introduced to everyone like that, where you can only see their eyes and do not even have hair to help recognize/remember, I'm doing my best, but wow, this is rough! So you find other clues like, "Pearl earring girl" and "Grey eyebrow guy."

I was so excited to tell J about my day, but he ran away at the start of the drill-machine story.

The OR is full of happy smiling nurses and doctors working in harmony.

I realized when I prepared infusions and meds today they were actually going into REAL PEOPLE for the first time. Yikes.

I look forward to what is to come.