Thanks to my cardiac perfusionalist friend, A.J, and Dr. M, I had the wonderful opportunity to observe an open heart surgery at the Aga Khan University Hospital a few days ago. I have observed two open heart surgeries back in Canada but the one I observed here was for an 8 month old baby, who was diagnosed with a congenital defect termed, Tetraology of Fallots (TOF). Most of my nursing practice has been centered on adults as I had always believed that I was not emotionally ready for pediatric nursing. This, therefore, was my first pediatric exposure. TOF is a collection of four (tetra) defects of the heart. Without going into too much detail, all this basically means is that the baby is not receiving oxygenated blood to nourish her vital organs. When any cell of your body does not receive oxygen or nutrients for a long period of time it dies, obviously.

I am amazed by the facilities at AKU, especially in the operating room. There are 10 operating rooms and two are reserved for cardiac surgeries. The equipments being used during the surgery were state of the art and within best practice. The surgeon and his fellow were knowledgeable and up to date about recent guidelines and practices. I know this because I had the chance to talk to them after the surgery about the surgery. Also, during the surgery they were explaining to me what they were doing. The cardiac perfusion team was highly capable! Maintaining a child's perfusion is not easy but they were able to wean the baby off of the bypass machine with ease. All in all, I was impressed!

The female doctor arrived in the operative room holding the baby. I would rather have had the mother come in holding the baby but this was not feasible or advisable due to infection control practices. The operative room had already been prepped and sterile field set up. However, the mother was present with the child up to the time the child was taken into the operative room for psycho-social support. When the child entered the operative room, I become emotional. The baby appeared to be so small and helpless. I completely understand that this surgery needs to take place in order to save the baby’s life but I could not help but feel that we were torturing this child. My mind was then overcome with questions about life and the purpose of it. This happens to most, if not all of us, when we witness someone suffering or if we ourselves are overcome with adversities. It is too bad that some of us, including me, do not reflect on life on a regular basis but instead wait for moments like these. However, I am a firm believer in the fact that one does not know ‘good’ if he/she does not experience the ‘bad.’ Ask me later what I mean by this.

As the surgery commenced, a drape was set up over the child’s head so as to separate it from the rest of the body. It resembled more like a curtain. Therefore, the surgeons only had the surgical field to work with. When we prepare the individual for surgeries while they are unconscious and even during the actual surgical procedure, we often forget that there lies a human being just like us. We are more prone to this during the surgical procedure when there is a drape over the head. Even though the individual has no understanding or memory of what took place, respect and dignity for human life should be maintained at all times. Sadly, I had observed total lack of respect for the human body during a surgery some time back. The body part that was not being operated on was not covered. Whether the body part is a leg or an arm makes no difference. If the individual was conscious and lying on the surgical table, would they not want themselves to be covered? Should you then not treat the body with the same kind of respect when the individual is unconscious? I would certainly hope so!

Some people call me ‘weird’ because of my interest for watching surgeries. They even call me a vampire because I love blood. Everyone has the right to voice their own opinions, but allow me to voice mine. Watching surgeries and nursing is one of my many ways to get closer to the Creator. It is through learning about the human body that I appreciate the magnitude of the Creation. I know that my simple mind will never understand nor comprehend the Creator as He is higher and greater than all that exists but at least I am provided with a glimpse and for that, I am always grateful. How the human body functions with all of its intricate details just blows my mind because, in my opinion, that is a manifestation of the Creator. That is the Artist’s masterpiece. Such magnificence! Such excellence!