Day in the Life: Heart Surgeon

Okay, 6:00 a.m. m., just in time. It is the story of my professional

life

, arriving at the hospital in the dark and returning home in the dark. We had surgery this morning. We operate most mornings. This morning we will be performing open

heart

surgery on a patient, a minimally invasive repair of the mitral valve through a small incision in the side. Ready to go. Patients are nervous before open

heart

surgery. It's quite understandable. But I always tell them that the important thing is that I'm not nervous. Hello good morning. Good day. So you... showed up, huh?

That's half the battle. Simply showing up is half the battle. Yes. Is everything ready for today? It's how we talk about it in the office. Let's work to fix your mitral valve. Passing by the side? We will make a small two-inch incision in the side. Yes, everything is favorable for that, yes. Just like we talk. So something happened last night that I need to know? There are no major problems, no. Yes, Ok. Well, let's go down to the ICU, and we can check the patients there. Well, good morning everyone. What's the plan? The plan is to get the tubes out today and maybe keep the wires another day and send it up.

Can you go up today? Yes. Ok very good. Any problems we should solve before going to the operating room? No sir. Not agree. Very good. Very good, have a good day. And I'll catch you on the floor after surgery. Alright. Thank you. The operation is like a well-choreographed ballet. Each one knows their role. The technicians, the scrubbers, and the perfusionists who operate the heart-lung machine, all of these people are very sophisticated. Everyone knows exactly what to do. So the environment is very controlled. It is really nice. In fact, we listen to music. Now, the type of music we listen to is always a question.

If it were up to me, I would listen to classical music. But I have many twenty- and thirty-somethings who, if they listen to classical music, get bored. So to keep them happy, I listen to rap or hip hop and a lot of pop music. If you do something 1,000 or 10,000 times, you will get the sequence in your mind. And then all you have to do is be prepared for unexpected circumstances, which in a case like this, would be very, very unusual. Okay, so I have these special magnifying lenses on loops called. And it allows me to see the inside magnified 3.5 times, so everything looks very big and very close.

And it helps us evaluate coronary valves and arteries. Well, we're done. The surgery was over, everything went well. We were able to fix the patient's valve through a small two-inch incision. It was stable the entire time and I am completely satisfied. So now let's break the good news to the family. Well, everything turned out great. Yes, we are done. The operation was pleasant and smooth. Everything went well, okay? The nurses will give you complete information about what to expect once you see you in the ICU. Marvelous. OK? I'm aware of. Very good. Thank you very much Doctor.

And we'll talk later. Very good. Okay, well, the first case is over and completed successfully. So I'm quite satisfied. One thing about heart surgery is that every day is a new day. It is exciting. I have never been bored a single day in my entire career. All in all, it is a pleasure and honor to operate on patients and be entrusted with their care.