Post sponsored by me finally washing and putting on the bed some new bedsheets
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Surgical tech here - the cases I was assigned to today were one of the ones done under local - numb the operative area, chop off some superficial stuff, stitch up, and move on. Patient is awake, not sedated, just numbed. Some patients really don’t like that even though general anesthesia would be WAY overkill for these procedures, and one of my patients was nervous as absolute fuck - dude was a wreck. Like probably the worst I’ve seen to date in his ability to cope with what we were about to do.
Worst was it’s a tedious case - Mohs procedures, so basically we take a specimen, send it to lab, wait for like 40 mins for confirmation that the wound edges are clear of cancer cells, then close.
So, while I was scrubbed in, I went full distraction mode - asked his favorite music, and played that through my cellphone while we were working; told every stupid dad joke under the sun, shared stories about silly shit I’ve encountered in the past, got him telling some of his own. Normally during that middle waiting-for-lab phase we’ll frog-hop cases into another room, or use that time to take our lunch or something - with this dude I just stayed in his room and bullshitted with him until his result came back (clear on the first pass, thankfully!). Last part for the closing is more of the same - just kept him talking. By the end of it he was actually laughing, and not just nervous but actually having a good time. We wrap things up, give him his discharge instructions, and send him on his way - he thanked everyone in the room, then pointed at me and gave me a shoutout, said I made the whole experience so much better than he was expecting / than it could have been.
Warm and fuzzies cranked up to 11!
99% of my cases involve general anesthesia, so I get pretty much zero interaction with my patients, cuz they roll into the OR, I barely have enough time to say hi before they get the sleepy drugs, and we get to work.
Was a real treat to have the opportunity to make that big a difference for someone!
Two things, quick one first: how do you play music on your phone if you’re scrubbed in? Like, can you touch your phone?
More important one:
That’s so fucking awesome. Medical professionals like you really help the freaked-out among us.
Not the same level of thing, obviously, but I have a bad phobia around blood draws. I don’t like shots, but I can deal pretty well. But blood draws just fully freak me out and I don’t know why. Same reaction I’d have if you tried to have me a black widow spider. The worst part of it, for some reason, is the location. It hurts less in the crook of the elbow, but psychologically, that’s the worst spot for me.
Had to get blood drawn today, and my PCP and all her nurses know how I am with this. I take it like a big boy, but I’m fully seething on the inside. I don’t freak out or panic, but I sit there and just have to close my eyes and make myself breathe, because I will legit forget to breathe.
Today, two nurses came in, and one kept me talking the whole time. Random shit. Talked about tattoos and car trouble and bills. Complete distraction technique, and it helped so much. The pain isn’t the issue, and other places have offered numbing spray. I mean, sure, that’s nice. But that isn’t the problem. The problem is that my fight or flight is kicking in. This doctor and the nurses get that, and they went the extra mile. It was amazing.
Sadly, I’m going to have to change doctors soon. I’ll really miss them.
how do you play music on your phone if you’re scrubbed in? Like, can you touch your phone?
Mohs are way less involved than most surgeries - typically the setup starts well in advance of the patient arriving, to include scrubbing in (surgical hand wash, sterile gown/glove) at which point you’re right: I can touch ONLY my sterile field, so no phone. Unless the phone is set up to use voice commands - my last phone was, but I only ever used it like twice, so I never bothered on my current one.
Mohs procedures use like 4 instruments and only a handful of supplies, so I didn’t even start opening anything until the patient is in the room - they do all the preop consent and stuff in the room for Mohs, which takes way longer than my setup - so I have a couple minutes to help with things like taking vitals, which is when I get talking to the patient, and when this one mentioned how extremely anxious he was. Music preference was asked then, and I got it started playing immediately after. Then the gloves went on, at which point the phone is off limits.
That’s really interesting! Thanks for explaining. How often do you play music for your patients? I’ve never had a doctor do this, but I haven’t had a lot of procedures
Almost never, cuz by the time I usually see the patient they’re a few minutes away from being unconscious, and are being dog-piled by a pit-crew of nurses and anesthesiologists. I’ll turn around for a quick hello, then return to setting up my sterile field so everything’s ready for the surgeon.
Mohs cases are a totally different world: the case itself is super simple, so I have a lot more autonomy due to not being preoccupied with the setup, which takes all of about 30 seconds. I don’t like to just stand there waiting for the doc, so I’ll usually just butt into whatever my scope as a tech allows, which usually means taking vitals and making non-clinical interventions like tackling their anxiety by distracting them with stupid jokes or music.
I’ve only had a couple of opportunities to do something like that in the regular OR.
Badass — thank you for the explanation!
I just wanna say this is cool :) I got nervous throughout medical procedures recently, and having someone talk to you - even about arbitrary shit like the weather - can go so far :)
This is amazing!!! It was the anesthesia nurse for me at my last surgery who made me feel perfect about everything - you matter so much more than you realize!!!
I have balls-scrunching anxiety.
So any kind of public speaking means I shit my pants.
I gave a presentation today & I only got scared shitless at the beginning. After those first 2mins, things went well.
Mind you, I had previously left mid-way from one such presentation with the same people, making a stupid excuse.
Felt nice.This made me happy today
It is a big thing but feels like a small thing in the scale of things, but watching 10,000+ people in my relatively small city come together in support of various unions across the province has got me on a good high.
I organize a few co-ed soccer teams. My Tuesday team all said whether they would or wouldn’t play without me having to nag anyone, which is always nice.
At work, a project I’ve been leading for what feels like an eternity just crossed the second last hump and most of my efforts towards it are done (for now until something explodes.)
Apparently the fediverse enjoyed a silly meme I made, which is always nice as I like to try to contribute to this place.
When I went outside to feed the forest friends this morning, a blue jay with injuries that I had been hanging out with that was missing for a few days showed up.
I’m going to ride that high all day.
Edit: my dojo loaches, friendly eel-like fish always give me a laugh. They eat too fast and swallow air so inevitably they get gassy. Whenever I see one’s back end floating up when tbey rest I know the next thing they’re going to be doing is swimming up and down in the tank until they unleazh a stream of fish farts.
And they let you pet them.
It was chilly and rainy most of the day. Had written it off as a do-nothing afternoon/evening and then I got word that I didn’t get a job I’d applied for. I knew if I just sat around I’d be miserable, so I got on some warm biking clothes and headed out for a ride. Still bummed but glad I tried to do something to better my day rather than just feeling despondent.
Today has yet to impress. Yesterday, however… I was driving to work, when I heard news that the bridge I take to work was closed due to a multi-vehicle accident. I was literally at the intersection where I turn onto the street leading to the bridge when the traffic report came on. I ended up going through the intersection rather than turning. I took a half-hour detour along the same streets I cycle on in my free time, taking in the autumn colours and not worrying about traffic (there was none as it’s a reduced speed zone and people suck). Ended up going through our downtown, past all my old haunts, and eventually found my way to work. After all that, I was only three minutes late. My only regret is that I didn’t bring a coffee with me when I left the house.
One of my plants is blooming for the first time. I was treating it for mineral deficiencies just a few weeks ago so it looks like it got what it wanted and is very happy now.
uncommon succulent blooms, plus the ones that rarely blooms. Strelitzia blooms(not reginae) are always a treat, because they are harder to make bloom the common one.
I vaccumed and also remembered to get the cob spider out of the bath and thankful I only got it’s web since they hunt and kill silverfish.
Creepy looking spider >>> Silverfish, hands down
I tried out CachyOS with the new Cosmic DE and realized it gave me better performance with a game I play than Bazzite.
what are these
I saw a red squirrel at work today at a close range.
I saw my first red squirrel last week! Really cool moment
Got home from work
Dog.
Today’s my last day at this job before starting a new job on Monday. In addition to making the rounds and discovering how much people have appreciated my time and will miss me, one of my favorite people I deliver to gave me a painting she had made for me that will now be the first decoration at my new desk.
