Week....?? Oh, it feels good to lose track!

Yikes! Another week has already gone by. AND the weather is divine! I can definitely handle 60 degree weather and the smell of earth. Course, Sioux City's earth has a bit more of the alcohol and urine stench than I prefer to take in, but even that is enough to make me smile. I actually do like this city ;-)


I'm focused on gastrointestinal (GI) diseases this week. I pretty much have a wing of the hospital to myself and then my preceptor checks my work at the end of the day. I love the freedom. My preceptor this week has a very specific way she likes things done, so she's harder to please than the other Dietitians. Regardless, I'm learning a lot and enjoying my time.


I've been able to observe quite a few different procedures this week. On Tuesday I watched a colonoscopy, which is an endoscopic examination of the colon and the distal part of the small bowel with a fiber optic camera on a flexible tube called an endoscope. The procedure is mainly used as a diagnostic tool for various intestinal/colon diseases. I also observed an EGD (esophagogastroduodenoscopy), which is a similar process to the colonoscopy, but is an examination of the lining of the esophagus, stomache, and upper duodenum with an endoscope placed down the throat. Most of the time, the patients are put to sleep, however, I witnessed both procedures be performed on a man who had insufficient lungs and could only handle so much anesthesia. It was actually hard to watch; and it actually turned out there was nothing wrong with him as far as the scopes could see. 


Yesterday I observed a small bowel function test. A woman had to drink barium sulfate, which is a contrast that visualizes the 
stomach and/or small bowel (which I'm told tastes terrible), and pictures were taken in 15 minute intervals showing the progression of barium through the bowels. This test is usually used to diagnose such things as Crohn's disease, cancer, polyps, and inflammation. 


Today I went to the wound care center at the hospital and they showed me the hyperbaric chambers. Certain diseases, such as diabetes or anemia do not allow blood cells to become supersaturated with oxygen at normal atmospheric pressure. By placing the patient in a hyperbaric chamber and administering pure oxygen, doctors can increase the amount of oxygen cells carried off through the bloodstream. Patients suffering from gas gangrene or flesh-eating bacterial infections can also benefit from the hyperbaric chamber's increased atmospheric pressure. Usually, the patient hangs out in the chamber for a couple of hours daily for a month or more so the procedure requires a level of commitment.

Lots to do yet tonight..

"A jug fills drop by drop"  - Buddha