(Not for the weak-hearted and not for those easily revolted with talks of shit. But if you feel like you’re brave enough to take the risk, do it at least when you’re done with your meal… on second thought, maybe hours after your meal.)
Opening.
Mr. Martin has this humongous block in his colon. We believe it’s right-sided. But, when we opened him up, it was in his sigmoid and it was adherent to his small intestine.
Not a new case. But this is what made it unique: lots and lots of sh*t!! We spent 1 1/2hours controlling it. After some time suctioning solid and undigested food, we came to that point where his poo was all liquid. That’s where the horror started. It spilled so fast that it flowed freely. Worse, it got flooded and we needed a pail to contain them all!
Fortunately for me, I was at the right side of the table where it was clean. Finally, someone thought of placing this corrugated tube with a large lumen where the poo can flow freely into a pail on the floor without disturbing our operative field.
Unfortunately, the guys on the other side of the table, Dr. O, and Dr. B1., had poo splotched on their crocs, socks and pants. It was one of those very rare occasions where I saw Dr. O infuriated and barking orders. On my side, Dr. H & I were quite clean. However, a certain procedure required Dr. O and Dr. H. to switch places. By this time, Dr. O had calmed down. I was testing to see if he was in a better mood. I can’t recall how I started it, but by the time I got it rolling, we were teasing how each of us reeked. The scene is reminiscent of Grade school banter in a playground.
“Ha! Nakaapak ng tae!” (He stepped on shit!!)
“Hindi ‘no! Inapakan ako ng tae!” (No! Shit stepped on me!!)
Closing time.
Dr. O and Dr. H scrubbed out. Later, Dr. H was looking over my shoulder to check how Dr. B1 and I are closing. Amoy tae. (Reeks of shit.)
In fact, we were so amoy tae that when Dr. H and Dr. O would pass by, it would be followed by a whiff of shit. That was bad. And we were wearing masks.
This post is tagged Medical Tales, surgery
