Typical Day
It's 9:00AM and George sits in the coffee shop going over his schedule for the week. He's feeling refreshed because he's had the past three days off. Not only did he cross some chores off his list, he and his wife took a day trip to Napa. He could never have done this a couple of years ago when he was working five days a week (and then some) as a surgical technologist at the county hospital.
Much better scenery than the inside of an operating room (source).
Now, as an independent surgical assistant, George has more control over where and how much he works. Although he has to take care of his own insurance, vacation, sick pay, and retirement plans, being able to plan a few days in wine country makes it all worth it.
Today, both of his operations—a knee replacement and a scheduled cesarean for triplets—happen to be at Memorial General. George arrives at the hospital at 10:00AM. The knee replacement is scheduled for 11:00AM, so he has a little time to socialize with some of his colleagues before he starts.
Eric, a surgical assistant who George used to work regular rotations with, tells George he's on hour twenty of his shift. George gives him an exaggerated yawn and stretches his arms over his head. "Ah, yeah, those shifts can be killers. It's nice to get some sleep every once in a while."
Eric smirks. "Uh-huh. Must be nice."
After catching up with everyone, George heads to the OR,where he goes over the plan with Dr. Zimmelman, the surgeon performing the procedure. The surgical technologist wheels in the patient and George positions her on the table and drapes her. She's a forty-year-old woman who's in generally good shape, but years as an athlete have taken their toll on her left knee.
Once the patient is anesthetized, George makes the first cut. It's a small cut, since Dr. Zimmelman is one of the few orthopedic surgeons in the state who performs minimally invasive surgery. He's a pro, and so is George. The surgery goes well and faster than expected.
That and his patented after-surgery victory dance (source).
George closes up the incision, puts a dressing on the patient's knee, and then helps move her to the stretcher. If he has time later, he'll stop by to see how she's feeling—a habit that George got into a long time ago. He doesn't feel like his work is complete if he doesn't check in on the patients after surgery.
It's close to 2:00PM and George is about to get something to eat before the cesarean, but then Dr. Zimmelman's nurse comes racing around the corner. The doctor's going back in surgery because he just got an emergency case of a ten-year-old boy with a severely broken foot. Apparently he fell victim to the age-old problem of "rambunctious kid discovers bike ramps."
Dr. Zimmelman wants to know if George can assist. The cesarean is in an hour, but he knows there's another assistant who can step in for him. He rushes to the OR just as the surgery is about to start. It's a bad case, but after five hours of setting the fracture, controlling swelling, and casting the foot, Dr. Zimmelman's able to give a good report to the boy's parents. Exhausted, George helps to clean up the OR.
Later, George hears from the other assistant that the cesarean went well, and all three babies will be in the neo-natal intensive care unit for a little while until they gain more weight. He's glad to hear it.
It's almost 9:00PM. George stops by the athlete's room. She's a little groggy, but she gives him a smile and thanks him. He leaves, goes down the hall, and sticks his head in the little boy's room. His parents are at his bedside, looking very relieved.
George has missed dinner with his wife, but he knows she'll be up waiting for him. He'll tell her about the day, feeling grateful that he gets to do this sort of work. Tomorrow, he'll be at Dr. Plastique's Clinique to assist with Mrs. Robbins' third facelift adjustment. Something about that procedure always wigs him out. It looks like the person's a monster wearing a human mask. Blegh. It also doesn't quite give him the same warm-fuzzy feel as fixing a child's foot...but at least it pays the bills.