The entire procedure, performed by Dr. Dickhaut of Nacogdoces Medical Center, typically takes about one hour. Ben and I arrived at 7:15am, prepared with the medical team (which consist of small talk, shaking hands, Q & A, etc), observed the surgery from 8:20 to 9:05am, and was home just before 10:00am. The patient was a seventy year old woman, large build, mostly inactive, and had been experiencing related pain for the previous five years. Other people in attendace was Billy Bobo, who is our Program Director's husband, and he was largely responsible for what we learned because he explained a lot of the procedure while the physician, assistants, and nurses were all busy on the patient. Something special to point out about the patient is her medial femoral condyle had been recieving a majority of the brunt forces from rubbing with the tibial plateau, which in turn, caused an excessive build-up of bone along that tibiofemoral junction. This may me known to some as Wolff's Law. From the anterior view of the x-ray, there was definitely some medial angulation of her femur, and the cause of the anomaly is unknown; whether it was a result of her poor posture, her weight, a prior incident, etc. but it definitely contributed to the complications she'd been experiencing.
As soon as the drilling began, the smell of the room was immediately filled with diseased bone, and bodily fluids. It wasn't that bad, but it was definitely strong. The room was also freezing cold. It was at 55 degrees. I asked the nurse, "is it normal to have the rooms' temperature so low?" She replied the room was kept very cool at the Physician's discretion, but normally, a lot of operating rooms are probably kept cool to prevent the proliferation of unwanted germs, which warm temperatures could contribute to.
Another interesting observation about this operation room is there was music blaring throughout the procedure. At first I didn't notice it, but then I caught a glimpse of the nurses in the corner jamming out, and then it dawned on me, that there had been music playing the entire time! Now, I'm not the biggest country music fan, but I believe it was either George Strait, and Ben, who is a country music enthusiast, believes there was some Garth Brooks, too! Nevertheless, we went through the whole CD, and the nurse again told me, this particular quirk was also the Physician's request.
And finally, the typical bedside conversation was not what I expected it to be. The topics discussed could not be anything further from anything medical related. The topic of the day, was the BCS!!! Yes, college footballl; which seems appropriate since our football team is on the verge of winning a National Championship, as well as all the recent action in college football nationally.
In the end, the procedure was a success, and there were no complications. To my suprise, the patient is expected to be up and walking with no ambulatory aid as early as tomorrow! I thought that was incredible, seeing how she was just being banged, and drilled on not too long ago. But the explanation was that her bones weren't being broken, nor were there any repairs of any sorts taking place - simply a replacement, a total knee, that is!
I just hope I never have to undergo this procedure.
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