I held a guy's heart!

During a quadruple bypass (CABGx4) on Friday, it was my official job to hold the heart up and out of the way so the surgeon could access the vessels on the back of it. I also did some retracting and pulling of the rib cage and holding of various metal objects. It was very cool, and I only got snapped at a couple of times.

A few days before that, I almost passed out during a thoracotomy. It wasn't because of the blood or anything; I think my blood sugar just got too low. The surgeon made me lie down on the floor of the OR, and that was embarrassing.

Not much else has been going on, except that I slept about 14 hours last night, basically from the time I got home from the hospital 'til the time I had to go back this morning. Since I worked both days this weekend, I get next weekend off. I'll be hitting Fayetteville, folks, so I hope to see some people.

McBurney's point: a point between 1.5 and 2 inches superomedial to the anterior superior spine of the ilium, on a line joining that process and the umbilicus, where pressure elicits tenderness in acute appendicitis. (Stedman's Medical Dictionary)

Medical Question of the Day: If you have a patient with diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol who refuses to take more than one pill a day, which one of his three conditions should you treat to prevent a heart attack?