Things are going pretty good out in AZ. This past weekend two of my friends from PA school flew to town. We really had a good time. Amanda flew in Thursday night. We stayed up until about 10:45 talking. (My bedtime on work nights is between 8 and 9). I was also on call that night. I should have known, I got a page at 11:45pm waking me up once and then called into work at 1am Friday morning. Didnt end up coming home until about 12noon the next day. Thankfully I got a nap in because I was working on 1 hr of sleep. Jaime flew in Friday night and got here about 11pm. We went out Saturday night which was fun. We all realized we are getting to darn old for this and it is much more fun to sit around at home/sports bar and talk rather than do the club/Scottsdale thing. Saturday/Sunday day we spend the day by the pool.
Work has been crazy busy as always. We have done some really exciting cases in the last few weeks. One that comes to mind right off is this sweet little 14yr old girl. She has Myasthenia Gravis which is a disease that basically makes your muscles weak. She was unable to handle her own secretions and was on a ventilator. We were called to take out her thymus. This is an organ located in your chest, around your heart, that helps build our immunity. The thymus produces a hormone that plays a role in her disease and by us removing it she would hopefully be better. Unfortunately, I did not see her before her operation. I did however get to assist on her case. It was AWESOME. We cracked her chest open with a sternal saw and exposed her heart/lungs to remove the thymus. It only took us about 3 hours but it was probably one of the coolest cases I have seen. After the surgery, I went to check on her the following day, and she was completely awake but still on the ventilator. She was writing to me asking me things. I sat there for awhile with her and she was just the sweetest thing. She asked me for my name because she wanted to write a thank you. Then she asked me how to start the letter because she wasnt sure how to address an envelope. Later that day I went back to check on her and Dr. G, the surgeon came to check on her as well. By this time her tube was out of her mouth but she was barely talking. He walked in and I told her that he was the surgeon that did her operation. She looked straight at him and just whispered Thank You. I almost lost it, I had tears in my eyes. It was heart wrenching. Everyday I saw her and she improved each day. One day I went to see her and she was having trouble sleeping. I told her to shut her eyes and just rest. She said she wanted me to sit with her and hold her hand. I sat for alittle bit and rubbed her head while she closed her eyes. I could have stayed there all day. She was discharged from the hospital today. She is up walking/talking and doing great. Before surgery she was unable to look certain ways and was losing grip strength in her hands and now all of that is slowly returning. I cant wait until she comes for her post op appts in our clinic. Shes one of the cases that makes the crazy hours and crazy schedule of my job worth every minute.
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