Bad Oeynhausen

Our day trip to Bad Oeynhausen was one of my favorite days of the program. We visited the Heart and Diabetes Center. When we arrived, I got to see an open heart surgery, which was my first ever surgery. I has to dress in scrubs and crocs and wear a hairnet and a mask over my face to enter the operating "theaters." Then I got to see them prepare the patient and begin the surgery. I got to stand behind a screen with the anesthesiologists. They cut open the chest and then used a saw to get through the breastbone and then when they got to the heart, they used this big metal clamp to hold the chest cavity open. It was pretty intense. They hooked the patient up to a Heart and Lung Machine (HLM) and so they eventually stopped the heart and it was pretty eerie. No one in the room seemed to care though. Afterwards, we had a lecture on artificial hearts which was really interesting. Then we went upstairs and met patients who actually had them. One patient had a laminar flow heart pump so he had no pulse. It was a really interesting day.