We arrived in Bonn Monday morning from Paris just in time
for class…sort of. (Sorry the entire class was over an hour late Professor
Waltz) Later that evening, we visited the organ factory in Bonn. I never really
put much thought into the way organs were made before. After visiting the
factory, however, I gained a much greater appreciation for these instruments.
Hours and hours of countless effort are put into just one organ. It was also
obvious how passionate our tour guides were about their jobs. If I were in
their shoes, I would find it very rewarding to offer people such magnificent
instruments. After the organ factory, a group of us were on the hunt for a good
place to grab dinner. To our surprise, we came across an older married couple
at a bar that said they would show us to their favorite beer garden. The couple
ended up sitting down and eating dinner with us. They told us stories about
where they were from and places that they love to visit. These are the little
moments that I have loved the most about this trip. It doesn’t get any better
than being able to sit down with some locals that we just met and have a beer.
On Wednesday, we traveled to the Hildegard Museum. I was
fascinated with Hildegard’s story and visions. Hildegard is really the first
significant woman in the history of medicine that we have talked about so far.
She was named a doctor of the church by the Pope and seemed like a pretty
awesome lady. I admired how independent she was, doing exactly what she wanted
even with some criticism. I would like to do more research on her life to try
and study and better understand the paintings of her visions. After lunch, it
was finally time for the infamous Rhine cruise. I had been looking forward to
this day for a while and I was not disappointed in the slightest. The views of
the rolling hills and vineyards from the boat were gorgeous. I have never seen
so many castles confined to one space before in my life. It seemed as though
every five minutes there was a new castle in view. The ride was so relaxing I
ended up falling asleep for a short time. After we hopped off the boat, we made
the trek up to the top of the hill where Rheinfels Castle stood. I cannot
believe we were walking around a castle that was built back in 1245…that just
blows my mind. I loved walking through the narrow corridors, I felt like I was
in a movie such as The Hobbit. The view from the top of the castle was to no
surprise beautiful as ever and I felt on top of the world.
My visit to the hospital on Thursday was incredible. I went
into the day hoping I would be sent to watch cardiovascular surgery, but I did
not expect for my wish to actually come true. I was able to see not just one,
but two open-heart surgeries! The first surgery was a mitral valve repair and
it took a little over 4 hours. I have only seen minimally invasive surgeries
such as laparoscopies in the past, so what better ways to accustom myself to
open surgery than see an entire chest get sliced open. I have to say that
watching the ribs get sawed away and then pried open was not the most pleasant
experience in the world. Once the chest was open, there, in front of my eyes,
just about a foot away from my face was a beating heart. I couldn’t believe it.
I had to keep reminding myself where I was. Before preforming the repair, they
made the heart stop beating and used a heart-lung machine to pump blood through
the woman’s body. The surgeons then repaired the damaged mitral valve by cutting
out extra valve leaflet tissues, and then input a ring to reinforce the valve.
Unfortunately, I do not believe the surgery completely fixed the issue. The
anesthesiologist told me before the surgery that he did not think it would
work. After the repair was made, the anesthesiologist took a look at the
ultrasound and stated that it did not look much different than before. After
completing the procedure, the surgeons did not have to shock the women’s heart
to beat again; it just naturally started to on its own. I then watched them sew
up the chest, which was even less pleasant than when they cut it open. The
surgeons had to use all their power to push the chest back together. Metal
wires were then shoved through the bones of the ribs in order to tie them back
together. I couldn’t believe what I had just witnessed, and then I was on to
the next heart surgery. Since the first surgery lasted so long, I arrived to
the bypass surgery about halfway through. The man that was undergoing the
procedure was overweight and had a lot of fat buildup around his heart. The man
needed a double bypass and from what the surgeons said, it seemed to go
smoothly. The surgeons were very helpful and took the time to explain every
step they were taking. They were also very laid back and jokingly told us we
were in the splash zone at one point and to back up. I could see the lungs of
this man, and since he was a smoker, his lungs were filled with black lines
throughout. The surgeons worked even harder to bring the man’s ribs back together
than the woman in the last surgery. It hurt me physically to watch and the
surgeon made the comment “He is going to feel some back pain tomorrow.” I have
done a lot of shadowing in the past, but this day topped every other experience
I’ve had. It was incredible to witness open-heart surgery in another country
and compare the way they carry out procedures compared to the United States.
On Friday we went to the Cologne Zoo where my dream of
touching an elephant came true. Elephant’s are one of my favorite animals and I
have always wanted to ride or touch one. It was so awesome that we were able to
go behind the scenes where even some people who work at the zoo are technically
not allowed to go. The baby elephant melted my heart with how cute it was. The elephant
we were able to feed seemed so happy every time it would get a piece of bread
from one of us and it felt so funny as it scooped it up from my hand. Again, I
don’t understand how I got so lucky to be on this trip. We have experienced so
many things that most people will never experience in their life.
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