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?

Look, Mom! Free time!

Of course, it's not really free time. It's just down time. I have to be here from 5 am to whenever, but I'm rarely actually doing anything. Right now, I'm checking my e-mail and studying for oral exams before conference at 9.
Here are the actually fun things I've done lately:
1. Bought new clothes. The "mall for rich people" across the street from my apartment was actually having really great sales. I now have some new professional clothes from Banana Republic and Anne Taylor.
2. Watched movies: The Dark, Hoodwinked, and A History of Violence. A History of Violence was really very good, but watch out for two soft-core porn scenes. Other than that, Viggo Mortensen does a great job of playing a really complex character and eliciting sympathy even as his character does some pretty awful things. The other two movies were fun but nothing too special.
3. I found this Achewood strip entertaining: http://www.achewood.com/index.php?date=07172006

Congratulations to Micheal for knowing that smoking may cost you a leg or two. Don't do it, people.
Medical Question of the Day: What is McBurney's point?

I passed!

Yup, I passed Step 1. Big sighs of relief all around. I've just gotten back from celebrating at Grumpy's with my classmates. So far (with 33 scores still to be reported), we have a 97% pass rate this year. Don't worry -- I drank enough to celebrate for you, too.
Answer to last post's Medical Question of the Day: Veins are harder to fix, because they're thinner. Sutures tend to just tear out of them.
Medical Question of the Day: What common lifestyle factor causes most limb amputations related to peripheral vascular disease?

5am to 7pm

That's right, folks. Those are the typical hours I spend at the hospital for the next 8 weeks. And compared to the time the interns and residents spend, it's a picnic. This is why only crazy people go into surgery. It has been fun for the last couple of days, though. Actually dealing with patients is a lot better than learning random and useless facts.

I took Step 1 and survived, but I won't know whether or not I passed for another couple of weeks. The USMLE people are evil like that. If I didn't pass, I will probably blow something up. (Just something small, though -- like a soda bottle, not a building.)

Everyone should watch this flash toon: http://www.weebls-stuff.com/toons/Animator+vs+Animation/

If you watched it, pat yourself on the back. Good job.

Today's medical question: Why are injuries to veins worse than injuries to arteries?