Today was the first day of interning at the WakeMed hospitals with Dr. Lawal! After being briefly introduced to gastroenterologist Lawal, along with his peers, I quickly transitioned to witnessing two intricate colonoscopies and an endoscopy.
Prior to those procedures, the patients are transferred to a pre-operative room; physicians begin to examine the primary organs of the human anatomy – heart, lung, and intestines – to determine if they are unaffected by risk factors, including the use of tobacco products. If the patients consume alcohol or tobacco products, they cannot undergo procedures.
In the intra-operative room, both colonoscopies were performed on the patients who developed liquid bile on the peripheries of the colon (which comprises the long intestine), which, fun fact, contributes to the colour of human by-product waste – crazy, am I right.
Dr. Lawal and his peers used a mechanism, the colonoscope, a tubular device that goes inside the colon and cleanses out the bile, extracted into a large container; the machine, most notably, uses a cold/hot snare to rip colon polyps (shown below) that could build cancer. It is best to have the polyps removed at an early age as opposed to when the patient is older, given their polyps will be harder to treat over time.
The patient, however, is not actively conscious given he/she is placed under anesthesia, a treatment that prevents the patient from feeling pain during procedures, including colonoscopies or surgeries; doctors assign patients to wear masks during the procedure in order to effectively anesthetize them.
An endoscopy was performed on a patient who contracted liver disease as a result of consuming large quantities of alcohol. Dr. Lawal used a gastroscope that was placed through the patient’s esophagus, to the stomach, and to the liver. Polyps, once again, were removed to alleviate the spread of liver disease and extract the cancerous infection.
In the post-operative room, the patients recovered from the anesthesia. Dr. Lawal and his fellow physicians reviewed the colonoscopies/endoscopy with the patients to deliver the news. The patient who underwent an endoscopy shortly went to IHop after; even though he wanted a margarita, he was simply denied that request, hehe.
Look forward to seeing more procedures!
– N