Grumpy Gills Reporting Live (barely...)

Yes, I am going on my 13th hour without sleep. But, with all the exciting weather induced activities abounding, closing my eyes seems a distant thought (yeah, and if you believe that one...well, you know...)!

Ever notice how Californians react to wet weather? It is ludicrous! You'd think by now, most Californians would realize they have to wear their brains today...but nooooo....

So, I got to work at 7:02 a.m. today. Wednesdays are my early day. We had Grand Rounds, which is an educational opportunity for the Docs. They have to attend 30-40 hours of continuing medical education hours each year in order to renew their license to practice medicine. Didn't know that, didya? Stick around kid...you'll learn something new almost daily in these here parts of the universe.

Anywho...due to the inclement weather, only 25-30 medical peoples showed up today...and we normally have 130-140 attend! Well they missed a really interesting talk. I learned that Dr. Nuss invented the "Nuss Procedure." I even got to watch a rather graphic video of the Nuss Procedure being performed on a boy of about 9 or 10 years of age.

So what IS the Nuss Procedure? I'll tell you in my unprofessional laymen terms. Some folks (mostly males) are born with this concave indentation in their chest cavity and their sternum rests or pushes against their vital organs (important parts like the heart, lungs, duodenum...etc.). Well, they used to hafta do all these zipper looking incisions on people giving them that Frankenwienie look and good ol' Dr. Nuss said..."I think there's a better way!" Now, how or what inspired him to come up with what he did, is beyond my creative juices. But, I'm working on a postulation.

Moving along...those faint of heart and allergic to graphic details should skip on down the road and return tomorrow to a new posting.

You brave three souls remaining are rewarded with my less-than-graphic narrative. Dr. Nuss inserts this metal rod (which kinda looked to me like part of the insert you put into a filing cabinet to hang file folders...the long thin metal frame part that has etched ends which you can snap off to fit the depth of your drawer...) from one side of the rib cage, bending it, to go underneath the sternum bone, to pull it up to where it needs to be, and then threads it to come out on the other side of the rib cage. There's a handy gadget called a "bender tool" which looks more like a crank for an old crank-style ice-cream maker...and it actually bends the nuss rod (I guess that would be what it is called - or should be).

I hafta tell you! Watching these physicians work on a child and yank bars through body cavities is quite the knee-weakening event. They then take these butterfly looking metal fastners and "sew" the rod into place on the sub-dermal skin layer.

Casually, Dr. Nuss comments, "when the proper positioning of the sternum has adjusted into the correct placement, we remove the bar under local anesthesia...it is a simple outpatient procedure...." Well, the before and after pictures were quite dramatic in improvement...but that bit about "simple outpatient...local anesthesia..." was enough to reduce my bowels to water!

I really do love my job. It is amazing to see the technology and advancements medical science has made (by the grace of God, grant you).

My postulation - So, I have to wonder...one Thanksgiving, was Dr. Nuss in the kitchen watching his wife "dress" the turkey for their holiday feast?...Was he inspired by the skewering and sowing one does when they truss a bird for baking? What I watched was not unlike the trussing I refer to. Simply amazing.

Oh gee...Thanksgiving IS just around the corner. Sorry if I ruined it for any of you with that visual! Must be the lack of sleep causing such insensitivity and gross anatomy stories.

Well, there you have it from my tired brain.

I shall never look at a skewered bird the same again!

Signing off - Grumpy Gills!