Nurse Days

Wednesday, March 8, 2000

Today was my second day of med-surg and I was assigned to I.B., a 64-year-old woman admitted yesterday for cholecystitis and scheduled for a cholecystectomy this morning at 10:15. What a strong woman! She was more comfortable with the fact that she was having surgery than I was with the fact that I was going to watch. She said she had no idea she was having problems until yesterday at breakfast. "I was eating and I started feeling funny. I just thought I had a bad case of indigestion and thought the ER would just give me something for it and send me home, but I guess they want to keep me now. I just want to get it out and go home." She was hooked up to a Demerol PCA pump, but the night nurse said she hadn't used it at all. She didn't use it while I was there, either.

I took her up at 9:45 and they wheeled her into the recovery room to wait for the doc. I went into the ladies lounge and changed out of my scrubs (you have to wear the ones they provide) and put on my surgical cap, mask and booties. The surgery started around 10:30. The doctors were doing a laproscoopic cholecystectomy. It only took about ½ hour to free the gallbladder and extract it through a hole in her abdomen. When they pulled it out it wobbled like a little sausage. It was so cool! They had two televisions in the room where everyone watched what was happening. There were two doctors, a scrub nurse, another nurse, me, the anesthesiologist, and two med students in the room watching the procedure. It was a bit cramped, but it was something I'll never forget.

After the surgery, I.B. spent about 45 minutes in recovery, then I accompanied her to her room where she rested quietly. I had to check her vital signs q15 minutes until I left at 2:30, at which time she was still sleeping.