Our next patient for the day was a child with hypertrophic pyloric stenosis, which is a condition in which the opening between the stomach and small intestine thickens. Naudia explained to me that this condition can cause the patient to have projectile vomiting that exits the mouth with such a force that the vomit is projected a short distance. For mothers, they can often get typical baby spit up confused with when the child is actually vomiting, but Naudia explained that projectile vomiting is very forceful and when it occurs, the mothers can typically quickly recognize that something is not right. Because the pylorus thickens, the food that goes into the stomach cannot pass through into the small intestine, so that is why these patients experience the projectile vomiting. In order to correct this problem, the surgeons go in and remove the thickening from the pylorus, so the patients can digest their food normally.
Once we were finished with this patient, we headed down to the ICU where we saw two very interesting cases. The first patient recently was recommended to transfer to Le Bonheur since Le Bonheur is nationally recognized for its neurology department and neurosurgery department. Because of the severity of this patient's brain tumor, the family came to Le Bonheur in hopes that the surgeons at Le Bonheur could work magic on this patient's condition. We did the anesthesia evaluation on this patient since he was planning to go back in surgery to have a craniotomy for tumor resection. Not only is this tumor in the patient's brain, but it also spread down onto the patient's spine, and seeing this patient lying in bed made me experience so many emotion for him. It truly is eye-opening to step into a place where kids just like me are experiencing life-changing events that are so difficult to comprehend. These families and patients are living in fear of not being able to control the circumstances God put them in, and it really made me think about how thankful I am for my health and my family's health.
After seeing this patient with the brain tumor, the patient in the room nearby also had a very interesting case that made me think about just how thankful I am for my health. Like the boy I just saw, this boy also had a brain tumor, but this patient's tumor resulted in paralysis of the left side of his face that caused that side to droop down significantly. Because of the patient's droopy face, the surgeons went in to make his face symmetrical once again. Because this wasn't one of Naudia's patients, we could only walk by the room to get a look at him, but this patient's face was completely open and exposed, and it was fascinating to see. The entire left side of his face was open, and you could see the blood vessels and all. While this probably would have freaked most people out, I found it captivating, and it left me wanting to see more.
Once we were finished with this patient, we headed down to the ICU where we saw two very interesting cases. The first patient recently was recommended to transfer to Le Bonheur since Le Bonheur is nationally recognized for its neurology department and neurosurgery department. Because of the severity of this patient's brain tumor, the family came to Le Bonheur in hopes that the surgeons at Le Bonheur could work magic on this patient's condition. We did the anesthesia evaluation on this patient since he was planning to go back in surgery to have a craniotomy for tumor resection. Not only is this tumor in the patient's brain, but it also spread down onto the patient's spine, and seeing this patient lying in bed made me experience so many emotion for him. It truly is eye-opening to step into a place where kids just like me are experiencing life-changing events that are so difficult to comprehend. These families and patients are living in fear of not being able to control the circumstances God put them in, and it really made me think about how thankful I am for my health and my family's health.
After seeing this patient with the brain tumor, the patient in the room nearby also had a very interesting case that made me think about just how thankful I am for my health. Like the boy I just saw, this boy also had a brain tumor, but this patient's tumor resulted in paralysis of the left side of his face that caused that side to droop down significantly. Because of the patient's droopy face, the surgeons went in to make his face symmetrical once again. Because this wasn't one of Naudia's patients, we could only walk by the room to get a look at him, but this patient's face was completely open and exposed, and it was fascinating to see. The entire left side of his face was open, and you could see the blood vessels and all. While this probably would have freaked most people out, I found it captivating, and it left me wanting to see more.