I’m on Day 4 of shadowing and this experience keeps getting the better of me! Instead of being in the Physician’s Pavillion or the Surgical Center, I was relocated to a larger facility located in North Hills – larger offices, more patients, a surplus in technology, the usual.
Dr. Lawal had to make changes to his Friday schedule – instead of working with clients at the Pavillion, he had to continue medical procedures. Colonoscopies were way more prominent in today’s work than the first two days, which was not, shockingly, a surprise.
As I’ve analyzed more procedures, I’ve come to understand how prevalent gastric polyps are. I recall Dr. Lawal cutting out nine polyps in one colonoscopy, alternating between cold and hot snares. Most gastric polyps can be cancerous, which contributed to colon cancer for one particular patient. The cause of colorectal cancer is idiopathic and remains a mystery. Dr. Lawal had to perform a new surgical procedure, the colectomy, which is necessary to treat diseases and infections within the colon.
Colectomies are operations that extract all or parts of the colon to examine colorectal cancers or diverticulitis. Dr. Lawal performed a partial colectomy on the patient, which involves removing a segmental component of the colon (shown below). Dr. Lawal also defined hemi-and proctocolectomies, which require the removal of the right/left portion of the colon and the removal of the colon and rectum, respectively.
It’s been a blast getting to know Dr. Lawal for the first week in the Work Experience program. As we interact, Dr. Lawal and I begin to recognize our common interests, most notably, swimming and playing in ensembles. He’s a huge fan of Marvel superheroes as well – he really likes Doctor Strange, which I respect. Speaking of Dr. Strange, I’m going to see Multiverse of Madness later today! 🙂
– Nishant