heart.

this picture was taken moments after watching an open heart surgery. 

specifically a coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG).

and all i have to say is...well...

to be perfectly honest there are no words.

i was in awe the entire time. 

 to think of what we as people, doctors, and nurses can do to

save, prevent, and improve peoples lives through medicine is astonishing. 

from where i was standing i saw someones sternum be sawed open.

i saw the pericardium opened.

i saw a person's beating heart.

right in front of me.

i saw this person's heart be stopped.

given new "life" if you will

and then beating again.

just like it knew what it was meant to do. 

it was incredible.

i couldn't help but tear up.

i was seeing something only a handful of people see in a lifetime.

to explain this procedure a little better this is what happens.

the cardiac surgeon makes an incision down the middle of the chest and then saws through the breastbone (sternum).  

the heart is cooled with iced salt water, while a preservative solution is injected into the heart arteries. 

before bypass surgery can take place, a cardiopulmonary bypass must be established. 

plastic tubes are placed in the right atrium to channel venous blood out of the body for passage through a plastic sheeting (membrane oxygenator) in the heart lung machine. 

the oxygenated blood is then returned to the body. 

the main aorta is clamped off (cross clamped) during CABG surgery to maintain a bloodless field and to allow bypasses to be connected to the aorta. 

during CABG, a healthy artery or vein from the body is connected, or grafted, to the blocked coronary artery. 

the grafted artery or vein bypasses (that is, goes around) the blocked portion of the coronary artery. 

this creates a new passage, and oxygen-rich blood is routed around the blockage to the heart muscle.

that's my small and very very simple version of what happens.

i wish i knew more about it which is why i am so happy that i am a student.

i can ask so many questions and so many are willing to answer.

standing there watching all of this happening in front of me made me realize something.

i could do this.

i was watching experienced nurses help aid the cardiothoracic surgeon in the procedure.

this is something i could work extremely hard for to accomplish in my life. 

the possibilities as a nurse are endless.

and that was shown to me that day.

which made me so excited for this career that i have decided to receive and work so hard for. 

in just a few short months i will be a nurse.

which now, to me, has so much more meaning than it did a week ago. 

- h 

for those who have a stronger stomach...here's a very very brief look (considering surgery is anywhere between 4-10 hours) at what i was able to watch here.

and for those who would much rather see nicely drawn images that have absolutely no blood click here.