This year my placements have fell a little differently to everyone else's, with only one spoke placement and the rest of the time on my hub. When I first found out I was going to be spending the week in theatres I was over the moon, but, after being on the ward, and seeing some patients post-operatively, I have to admit I was a little terrified. I've never been queasy when it comes to blood and injuries; I've lost count of the amount of times I've been called to help my brother when he's done something saft and it's never bothered me. However, seeing these patients really made me second guess whether I in fact was queasier than I thought and whether all the incidents with my brother had just been fuelled by adrenaline. As my time on theatres grew closer I became increasingly more anxious and had worked myself into such a state, I was convinced I would pass out at the first sign of blood. Ooooh how wrong was I!!
The first theatre I went to was general surgery and I was thrown in at the deep end with a Delormes procedure and when the first smell of burning flesh hit me I was sure the next thing I would see would be the lights..as I looked up from the floor, but then I reminded myself to just breathe..and that was it. The fear literally fell away from me and I spent the rest of the week with my eyes peeled wide open, taking in every procedure in as much detail as I could, from minor lump excisions, to femoral popliteal bypass surgery. I visited a range of theatres including Vascular (handy as this is also my hub placement), Urology and Gynaecology.
The staff in Gynaecology were amazing. They were so welcoming and encouraged me to get involved, they were keen for me to learn which was perfect for me. I think I enjoyed this theatre the most as it was something that had really interested me during my Access course last year and my highlight of the week happened in this theatre. After observing a laparoscopic hysterectomy and BSO, the Sister took me and another student to a side room, laid out the uterus, cervix, fallopian tubes and ovaries for us to see and feel. It was absolutely fascinating and something I never thought I would do in my life. Seeing something like that so up close was just amazing and if anyone ever gets the chance to do anything similar, I would say absolutely just face your fears and go for it! I have had the best time this week, and the only regret is that it couldn't be a longer placement, although I will definitely be planning a return visit.
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