MY FIRST ODONTECTOMY

I don't even know how I should start..

I'm not going to blind you with pictures of dead human body parts, and bloody this and that, because I'm pretty sure that nobody wants to see what I pulled out of someone's jaw today. The important thing is that I did an odontectomy, and I actually survived it even without make-up on. Hooray!

Meet Surgery Dad, and my lovely assistants!

I was really anxious about this case for months. The odontectomy just kept getting pushed.. and pushed.. and pushed, until it just happened. At the perfect time, it just happened.

I was supposed to carry out the procedure last March, but when the school calendar was adjusted, so was the surgery cut-off. I could have done it during the summer term, but since the Surgery Sis Clinical Instructor wasn't on duty that term, I decided to wait until the first semester started, so that I could do it under the CI whom I discussed the case with, and I also wanted her to "see what I can do". When the first semester rolled around, the Surgery Sis got a promotion because the original Surgery Dad left the institution, so she had to send me over to the new Surgery Dad to perform the case..and my oh my-- the new Surgery Dad is actually a fellow of the Philippine College of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons.. and please, PCOMS is my goal in life.

Yeah, that's basically the story of how a series of weird events paved the way to a day I'll remember for the rest of my life. Oh so dramatic. :)

I was really a mess last night. I was nervous beyond what words could describe. Of course, I couldn't tell anyone about it, because I didn't think that I'd be understood. I was cozying up with a copy of Contemporary Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery by Hupp, in an attempt to give myself some sort of a final coaching(?).

LAST NIGHT. The night before my odontectomy.

The first time I held a forcep the summer before I turned Clinic 1, I just knew that an Oral Surgeon is what I want to be. Last night, I was pretty much swallowed up by fear-- What if I do something wrong? What if the anesthesia doesn't work properly? What if I incise incorrectly? What if I don't elevate well enough? What if I break vital structures? What if Surgery Dad has to take over the case? -- Really, legit concerns. I was really scared.

I know that this sound really egotistical, but more than actually making mistakes intra-operatively, I was scared that I'd realize that Oral Surgery isn't for me after all, or that simple extractions are the only thing I can do properly. I'm normally very chill when it comes to school-related matters, sometimes even too chill for my own good, but I can honestly say that I've never known myself to be 100 shades of nervous for an Oral Surgery procedure.

Thankfully, I got some sleep last night.

I went materials-shopping last saturday in Manila, and I came across these disposable surgical gowns. I bought two, and decided to try one today.

I've never used this type of protective barrier. I only knew that it was used in the dental clinic set-up when I learned about it from my friends studying at NUS. Apparently, they can come to school in formal attire, and just put one of these things on, and attend to their patients. Cool, isn't it? I wish I had taken a picture of me wearing mine, because I felt really cute in it. It's not for everyone, though; not for every day, either. It was fun to try on, but that's about it.



At this point, I was wearing my uniform, my scrub suit on top of that, and the blue gown thing over it. Without the gown, I'd be wearing just the scrub top. We'll be switching to white coats soon, so you could stay tuned for that, yay!



The surgery went pretty well. I was still scared to death, but I tried my best not to show it. I had the perfect two assistants ever-- Kim (Clinic IV), and Felice (Clinic I). I was really impressed with Felice, because she had just entered the Clinical Division a week ago, but she was really enthusiastic about assisting on an odontectomy. She got the go signal from Surgery Dad, so everything was cool.:)

Oh, I wasn't the only doing an odontectomy this morning. On the chair beside mine, was Marvin (Kim's boyfriend <3), and his lovely assistant, Justin, with their patient, who is actually a co-clinician of ours. I won't say who, for the sake of patient confidentiality-- and at Perpetual, we're actually really big on patient confidentiality.

DA BOYZZZ

Now that I think about it, our odontectomy morning almost felt like a Guys vs. Girls thing. Hahaha! Our chairs were so close to each other that Justin and I bumped into each other a couple of times. It was really great having a so-called odontectomy seat mate, and it was extra great because it was Marvin. Our cases were similar, and we progressed almost at the same rate. Surgery Dad had to watch over two surgery kids, but he made sure that both cases were well-supervised.:)

I found performing the surgery a little physically-demanding. Some halfway through the surgery, I felt that my butt and my lower back were sore, almost as if I went trigger-happy at pilates. It could have just been the nerves, or the lack of proper sleeping hours, or even something as simple as bad posture. At least I've realized my mistakes now, I'll be able to correct them the next time I go in for another odontectomy.. One day..

Anyhooo.. I learned so much today. Skill-wise, of course, I could go on and on and on, but I guess one of the biggest take-aways from this entire odontectomy thingy is that it's okay to be afraid. I started out shaking and ten seconds away from peeing in my pants. Normally, make-up makes me brave, but for some extremely bizarre reason, I just didn't bother putting anything on, and only realized it when the surgery was done. 

I didn't have mascara, but I had Kim, who helped me to see the light at the end of the scary tunnel of performing a scary procedure for the very first time. I didn't have lipstick, but I had Felice, who gave much more meaning to the importance of speaking words of love, kindness, and encouragement. I thought that today would fall under my no makeup = horrible day general "Rule of Life", but no. Today was an exception. Today, I felt beautiful. Even more beautiful than whatever cosmetic could ever make me feel. Successfully completing an odontectomy played a huge part in it-- but my friends. Oh my friends. 

Corine Magenta.