Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

Today I watched my first ever surgery, a lap chole. The sight of the doctors puncturing the skin and the smell of burning through the flesh both made me uneasy. I was glad I was sitting down. I was also glad they never had to open him up. The part that I saw on the screen was cool though. It was neat to see the liver, gallbladder, small intestine, and fatty tissue so clearly on the screens. If you've never seen a laparoscopic procedure, the doctors stick two little instruments through the side of the patient's midsection. The instruments have multiple purposes such as holding, scraping, and cutting. The surgeon was very skilled at manipulating them and using them to gently cut away the gallbladder. After cutting the gallbladder away and tying off the cystic duct, the gallbladder was free and somehow made it out of the tiny hole in the patient's abdomen. I'm still puzzled as to how it squeezed out because it happened so fast that I missed it. Overall I have no desire to go back to surgery anytime soon, but it was an interesting procedure and a good experience!