This week was an interesting one. I was in anesthesiology with Daniel. Anesthesiology is exciting because you get to see many different kinds of surgeries. Each day is different and you never know what you will see. On Monday, we saw two cholecystectomies, or gallbladder surgeries. They went in laparoscopically and removed the gallbladder. The surgery only took about 1 1/2 hours. The anesthesiologist would intubate the patient after they had put them to sleep. It is trickier than it looked. It is a very small opening so it is difficult to get the tube down the trachea. During the surgery, the anesthesiologist didn't really do much. She just sat there, reading her book. Every once in a while she would give some more meds and check the monitors. After spending a week with anesthesiologists, I know for sure that I do not want to go into anesthesiology. It would be exciting to see different surgeries everyday, but they don't have a very good relationship with the patients. The only time they see them awake is right before the surgery and right after. Then, they send them off to the nurses to take care of. I want to take care of patients. I want to be able to have a good relationship with them. That is also a reason why I'm not sure I want to do surgery either. I know surgeons do get more face time with patients than anesthesiologist, however.
We were able to see a few other surgeries. We saw a hysterectomy, Left hemicolectomy, and a few knee replacement surgeries. In each surgery, the anesthesiologist did about the same thing. A lot of the time they would be on their phone, computer, book or they wouldn't even be there. They would leave for about 45 minutes to go for a coffee break, while the nurse monitored the patient for them. It seemed like they didn't do anything, but they actually have to make sure the patients vitals are okay, make sure they stay asleep, and make sure they don't move. I am grateful that I was able to learn more about anesthesiology and what the field consists of.
During one of the cholecystectomies, the surgeons were talking to Daniel about why we were here (in Portuguese so I didn't really understand what they were saying). I was able to understand some words in Portuguese and I could get the gist of what they were saying. They started talking about the Lisbon temple that was being built. The surgeons didn't know what is was or what the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was. Daniel finally had to say mormons and then they understood. What they said next surprised me for a split second. When we told them we were mormons, they said "Oh so you're polygamists?" This moment was a perfect missionary opportunity. We were able to explain to them that we are not polygamists anymore and that is an old practice. That wasn't the first time I had a doctor ask if I was a polygamists because they found out I was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Each time I had to explain to them that we no longer practice polygamy. It got me thinking about why people automatically relate the Church with polygamy. It was a part of our history that took out to the rest of the world because it was so outlandish. It was something that was not considered socially acceptable, so it was remembered. I'm grateful for this opportunity to teach them about what we believe. Even if it was only for a few minutes, I was able to educate them more and share a part of the gospel.
The rest of the week was extremely fun! We had a cooking class where we learned how to cook tradition Portuguese dishes. The food was delicious and we all got to bond even more. Food brings people together and I strongly believe that. It is one thing that everyone has in common. We all have to eat. A lot of the memories I had from this experience was when we were out to dinner, talking and laughing the entire time. Hopefully, when we all get home, we can continue to get together and bond over some homemade Portuguese food.
We went sailing today as part of our excursion to Lisbon. We went to a really fancy restaurant for lunch. I felt extremely under dressed. People in Europe never look sloppy. I rarely saw someone in leggings or athletic clothing. They always look their best in public. I think Americans can adopt this practice more. We should look our best when going out. We shouldn't look like slobs all the time. Clothes can be comfortable and stylish at the same time. This is another practice I want to adopt when I get back to the states.
This week was a great week. I am grateful for my friends and for the doctors I was able to work with. I don't want to go home! Once this is all over, I will look back on all these memories and treasure them forever.
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