this is my first ever experience to perform a minor surgery... circumcision... before the surgery i was actually diagnosing patients in the medical part of the mission... i was with mark while he was getting the bp of the patients i decided to also check on a few patients as well as prescribe them medicine... it was my first time to write a prescription as well so i guess this is my first introduction to pharma as well... it seemed odd as first because we were now dealing with real people instead of the cases or fictional patients that we get in class... it was also odd that we were sort of flying solo as well because the doctor who was in charge told us that we could handle the cases and if it gets too complicated then we should consult him... to hold such a responsibility over other people could be overwhelming but since the medicine we were prescribing wasn't that dangerous we eventually got the hang of it... when we ran out of patients we were now asked to join the surgical part of the mission... mark and i were both hesitant at first because this was a very different field... one mistake and we could alter another person's anatomy forever... i thought it over and said to myself that if i don't gain any experience in this field how can i ever make it as a real surgeon... so i went up to fred who was stitching up his patient and was about to finish... he said i was next after him... so i waited until all the instruments were ready and there in front of me lay my first patient... i had a more experienced partner to guide me through this first patient... he showed me how to sterilize the area and how to inject the anesthetic... lidocaine... i have fear of poking other people with needles that is why i asked him to do it for me... but when it came to the real surgery he showed me how to cut the prepuce and up to where it should be cut... so i did... it was easier than what i initially thought... for the suturing we were to apply simple interrupted sutures... he showed me how to start the suture and then i took over... three sutures was enough to close up the wound and there wasn't much bleeding which was good... after applying the bandage the surgery was over and successful... it was a different feeling afterwards... it wasn't fear anymore but excitement... wanting to succeed in another surgery... it's like craving for more achievement... unfortunately there were no more patients... but i told mark that i wanted to try more to do more and so we decided that we would be there for the next med mission of FILCHIMSA... Gabaldon on may 18 to 20... really looking forward to helping out more and gaining more experience...

i know this is a different way of posting for my blog... usually it would be less narrative and more insight... but i guess after a hiatus of almost a year... i need some warming up hopefully i'll be able to get back my way of writing soon... by the way there is a photo of mark and i in our scrubs... i guess i can't wait for the day that we actually can wear it as surgeons...