Once again, I go on mentor visits every Monday and Wednesday at Medical City Plano. While I was unable to go on Monday the 3rd because of an illness/school commitments, Wednesday’s mentor visit more than made up for it.
Wednesday’s patient rounds were incredibly informative; my mentor taught me about the markers and different elements of the daily labs he requires for post-op patients. He explained to me the relationship between the CA-125 cancer marker and hemoglobin/platelet levels. He also printed me off an article on procalcitonin, a serum biomarker that both he and I had no prior knowledge of until it was included on the labs for a post-op patient with a respiratory infection.
After rounds, we headed to the operating room for a typical surgery with a unique twist. The patient had undergone a prior ablation to correct menstrual bleeding, yet it failed 2 years later. This is where Dr. Heffernan comes in: his surgical talents were required to correct the situation and diagnose what had caused the ablation to fail. After an endoscopic review of her anatomy, we found that both fallopian tubes were incredibly dilated and tense, which required a hysterectomy with ovarian preservation. The final diagnosis found that this and dysmenorrhea caused the unsuccess of her ablation. Overall, the surgery was incredibly successful, resulting in an equally successful mentor visit.
