I realized this morning that my work has taken me through the entire lifespan. I’ve watched my patients take in their very first taste of air as well as expel their last lung-full of breath. My patients’ ages have been measured in minutes and seconds as well as decades. I’ve work with patients who weighed ounces and others who had enough pounds for several people.
It’s 7:15AM and I’ve been in the hospital now for over an hour. I’m writing this to capture what happens on the day of surgery when someone donates a kidney to a person they love.
I left my patient (the donor) about 45 minutes ago in the pre-op holding area with her mother. It is worth mentioning that the recipient is the donors father and the mother’s husband so the mom has two people to worry about for the rest of the day.
I tried talking with the mom to explain how the day would go but I realized my words couldn’t break through the thin veil of panic she felt for her family. This fear is instinctual and reason alone cannot penetrate its effects. The only way to loosen its grip is through touch & familiarity and that is what the other family members will provide for the next fourteen hours.
My friends are setting up O.R. 14. My friends have trained for this case and have done this kind of work for years. As they set up the trays of steel instruments and move around the room’s equipment, they catch up on life since they left each other last night. They joke and gossip and talk about the upcoming weekend while struggling to recall the last. They’re calm now but when things happen, they happen fast and my friends are the best I’ve ever seen.
This room has light beige colored tile on the walls and a black floor with speckles that I think were put in to help camouflage dirt. It has three huge swing-arm mounted lights that I believe were designed to replicate the pure brightness of the sun. Nothing about the operating room table looks inviting. It’s narrow so the surgical staff can be as close to the patient as possible and we use a strap to hold the patient in place.
I can’t imagine any warmth being conveyed from that damn leather strap.
The table is sectioned and can be manipulated in many ways. By the time the incision is made, the patient will be on her side and flexed in a way that I am incapable of describing but will allow the greatest exposure possible to the left kidney.
Once the donor is draped,…
(to be continued because I have to go to the operating room now…)
