The first surgery was relatively informal, more of a biopsy than anything major. It did not require the da Vinci, and is the first open surgery I’ve ever observed under Dr. Heffernan. Because the nature of the surgery only requires minimal vaginal tissue to be exposed to the open air, preserving sterility is not the most prominent focus, and I was able to look more closely at the patient and actual procedure than I have for any others in the past. Dr. Heffernan encouraged me to sit close to him and the patient as he excised the HPV infected tissue from the patient’s cervix, giving me an incredible vantage point to observe from. The surgery itself was rather grotesque and bloody, and while that may sicken many, I was completely unphased by it all.
The second case I sat in on was a robotic hysterectomy with ovarian preservation. The patient had been diagnosed with enormous fibroids, too big to the point where she needed to be opened up in order to remove the uterus. While I had to head back to school before I could hear the final verdict, the patient will likely will have a good prognosis following her hysterectomy.
