Monday is nice because classes are never required (which means I watch lectures at home) and usually get the week off to a good start with a morning bike ride and a good old VHS. This week started off with Star Wars. It's pretty dynamite. Then the whole day was spent writing a research proposal for a summer project. I'll (hopefully) be working with a congenital heart surgeon looking at the impact age at operation and relationship between aortic dilation and aortic insufficiency for patients who have undergone a Ross procedure. It's some pretty cool stuff. A couple weeks ago I shadowed this physician and got to observe my first ever open heart surgery. It took about 6 hours or so and was wildly interesting. Part of my proposal:
The Ross procedure, first described in 1967 (3), is a surgical procedure for the treatment of aortic valve disease in neonates/infants, children, adolescents and adults. The procedure involves replacing the native diseased aortic valve with the patient’s own pulmonary valve. The pulmonary valve is then
replaced by a homograft. The Ross procedure is an attractive option for aortic valve disease because
the pulmonary autograft has a proven durability with high rates of freedom from reoperation, the
potential for autograft growth (not capable with mechanical or bioprostheses repair) to match somatic body growth, the ready availability of a graft of appropriate size and freedom from anticoagulation throughout life (1,4). Disadvantages include putting two valves at risk from a single valve disease, possible pulmonary homograft stenosis/replacement, potential dilation of the neo-aortic root complex (annulus, root and sinotubular junction), neo-aortic insufficiency and reintervention. The pulmonary autograft is believed to be susceptible to dilation due to the increased pressures placed on it in the systemic circuit. Other procedures where a pulmonary valve is placed in the systemic circuit (the arterial switch procedure and the Norwood procedure) have both seen neo-aortic dilation (5).
Tuesday: tried to get caught up on lectures. Started the Endocrine/Reproduction sequence here at school. Menstruation is cool, but not that cool.
Wednesday: more of the same.
Thursday: anatomy lab. Probably the best part of first year medical school curriculum. Dissected the sacral plexus, looking for the usual: nerves, vasculature and an occasional muscle. The best part of the lab must have been when I used a 2 foot hack saw to saw through the vagina, bladder, rectum and sacral vertebrate effectively splitting the body into right and left halves. That and "milking" the remaining feces out of the rectum surely were the highlight. Later that evening we were supposed to go the temple but poor weather dictated otherwise. Ended up having the usual dinner with the Edwards, but not without a stop at Ann Arbor PTO (my new favorite thrift store). I snagged a great find.
Friday: back at school, had a patient presentation of uterine fibroids. Doesn't look enjoyable. Kind of glad that I don't have a uterus or ovaries and the resulting complications that might ensue.
Friday Night: well, this hasn't happened yet, but I've been looking forward to it for some time now. Day 1 of Insanity. More to come on this later.
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| My new $5 Blazer. |
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| Mmm. |
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