An afternoon in the OR

It's been a sad, but interesting case. Yesterday I was able to complete the initial nutrition assessment on a patient who had colon cancer. She's 49 years old, and this is the first time she's ever stepped foot in a hospital; she has no PMHx. Today my rotating R.D. and I checked in with her and her sweet family again to explain the TPN formula we calculated for her that she'll be on post-op. Hours later, I was able to observe her colon resection surgery in the OR. The surgeon and nurses were so helpful during the surgery, explaining to me what they were doing, and their observations. The tools they had in the OR fascinated me. Gone are the days of regular scalpels, now there are ultra high-heat scalpels that cut by burning! It's brilliant. Everything remains sterile. Anyway, at first, the surgeon began laproscopically, but he ended up having to cut the pt open because the carcinoma had spread so extensively. They even let me touch the cancerous mass after they had removed it all! It was a little smaller than a racquetball (just harder), with smaller cancerous clusters engulfing the tissue.

It's been really neat to be able to see her from Day 1 and be able to monitor and follow up on her throughout her recovery. We'll see how things progress.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend, guys! :)