Friday, December 08, 2006

Surgery Observation

I had the most amazing experience yesterday. As a requirement for my master's practicum, I had to observe a cochlear implant surgery. So, yesterday was the day. I stood right by the surgeon as he implanted the device into an 8 month old little girl. I have been teaching deaf and hard of hearing children for years, but now I have finally seen the inner workings of the ear. The surgeon allowed me to look through the microscope several times. Half way through, the little girl's oxygen saturation dropped, so there were about ten minutes when things got a little tense. After re-intubating, things went back to normal. Prayers were definately answered.

Dr. Novak at Carle, along with the audiologists, were wonderfully gracious hosts and provided me with an incredible experience!

1 comment:

Michelle Quinno said...

Wow! Very interesting. I can't even imagine doing that!