SurgeXperiences 321

Updated 3/2017 -- all links (except to my own posts) removed as many no longer active. and it was easier than checking each one.

This makes my 9th time to host SurgeXperiences since it began July 1, 2007.  The first season I hosted twice, the second season three times, and this one makes the fourth this season. 

There have been very few submissions for this edition, so I’m going to honor the ones who have hosted SurgeXperiences.  Many thanks to each of you.

The blog world being what it is, I suppose it should not be surprising that several of the past hosts have either retired or are infrequently posting.  I miss them.

• Surgeonsblog (no longer posting, but old ones still available for reading) – check out his Limerick edition of SurgeXperiences or sample his other posts.
• IntraopOrate (rarely posting these days) – check out her post on “pet peeves”
• Counting Sheep (who’s site doesn’t even come up anymore)
• Papermask (posting infrequently)  -- check out his post “Pssst! Pass it on!”
• Marianas Eye (last post November 2009) – check out his “funniest OR experiences” edition of SurgeXperiences
• Cut on the dotted line  (last posted Feb 1, 2010, but let me refer you to this one – second chance)
• Made a Difference (has posted at that blog site since Oct 2009, now blogs at Coppola:  A Pediatric Surgeon in Iraq, less on surgery and more on military/support issues) – check out his “Full Metal Scalpel: The love-hate relationship between surgery and war” edition
• The Chloroform RAG (blog has gone private, invitation only)
• Amanzimtoti (last posted November 2009, but can be found on twitter)  -- check out her post “Collateral damage”
• Vitum medicinus  (has not posted in 2010) – check out this post “The best part of spending two weeks with medevac? Not what you might think.”
• OpNotes  (no posts since April 2008) – check out this one “The problem with laparoscopic training”
• “The scalpel is mightier than the sword” (this blog has been taken down)
• Just Up The Dose  (no posts since October 2009) – check out this post “When it's someone you know”
•  From Dupont to Abdoun  (no new posts since April 2009) – check out this post “Before and After”

Perhaps the above blogs will become more active again.  One can hope.  In the meantime, many remain active and I hope will continue:

• other things amanzi (one of my favorite blogs) – check out these two posts “compassion fatigue” and “dogma”
• Reflections in a Head Mirror (another favorite) – check out his post “Time”
• Buckeye Surgeon (another favorite) – check out this non-surgical post of his “Believing in what you do”
• Notes of an Anesthesioboist (anesthesiologist who is a marvelous writer)  -- check out this post “When Your Life ALMOST Flashes Before Your Eyes”
• Aggravated DocSurg – check out this post “If they could only all be taken to Rampart Hospital”
• The Sterile Eye  (love your photos and history lessons) – check out this old post of his “Surgical history”
• Life in the Fast Lane (written by several ER docs in Australia) – check out this post “Minor Injuries 003”
• Scalpel’s Edge (Posts infrequently due to the birth of her third child and her thesis work.  I do still have contact with her via twitter.) – check out her post “Mechanics and Surgeons”
• scan man’s notes (Posts infrequently, but active on twitter and Facebook so I still have contact with him.)
• Dr D J’s Surgical Adventures (a surgeon in India) -- check out this post “Voldemortish experience?”
• Unbounded Medicine – recent post highlights “Violinist having surgery while awake and playing”
• Jeffrey MD  (remains active as he makes his way through medical school) – check out this post “Why Bother Learning Something We’ll Lose?”
• The Sandman  (rare posts, but check out this one – a change of plans and A Veritable Madhouse)
• Education of a Knife  (this medical student who is leaning towards surgery continues to blog) – check out this post “My patient died”
• survive the journey (a Cushing’s patient who bravely posts a “365 days with Cushing's”) --  check out her post “Transsphenoidal Surgery: Comparison of Techniques”
• Frankie’s Hideout (recollections, complete with flashbacks and derogative collioqy) – check out this post "You're Not Really A Doctor If"
• Adventures of a Funky Heart (an adult congenital heart survivor) – check out his post on his scars “Battle Wounds (NSFW)”
• Vagus Surgicalis (last, but not least as he is the founder of SurgeXperiences) --  check out his post “mischief in theatre”

 

Here are a few from folks who have not been host.  These posts are good.

Michelle, the Underwear Drawer, writes “the ballad of the unsung hero”

Many people probably saw this already, it was printed in The New York Times on April 9th, but just in case you missed it, I thought I should give it a little bump:  Doctors Remove Ammunition From Soldier’s Head

The reason I'm posting this is not because it's one of those "Ripley's Believe It Or Not" medical stories (even though it is), but it's because if anything redeems the much maligned field of anesthesiology from the jaws of modern day television, in which we are all portrayed as lazy, unfeeling, drunken, drug-diverting billionaires who don't give a shit about our patients and leave whenever the going gets rough, it should be a story like this.

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Kerri, SixUntilMe, who is now a mother of a health baby girl.  She wrote this post before the C-section:  “Diabetes During the C-Section: Here's the Plan.”

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Dr. Howard J Luks, an orthopedist asks In Reporting Symptoms, Don’t Patients Know Best? - Do docs downgrade complaints?

This is a very serious issue... and it comes up for discussion with our residents every now and then. A while back there was a young man in the emergency room of our institution. He claimed the CIA was after him and they injected him with a substance that made him pass out... When he woke up, his shoulder hurt and he had soiled his underwear. I was called because I was the attending on call for our department. My resident immediately dismissed all his complaints and was upset that he was called for a consult in the middle of the night. After I settled him down, we had a little talk...

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Dr. Benzil, Women Neurosurgeons blog, has a nice post on transplant and the neurosurgeon.

One of the things I love about blogging is how a link leads to a link leads to a great story.  SurgeXperiences 319 (available here ) related a link about Steve Jobs and his liver transplant. Most neurosurgeons spend a part of their residency learning the ins and outs of brain death testing-a critical link in the transplant world.  At first it may seem gruesome and unnatural ….

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SurgeXperiences is a blog carnival about surgical blogs that occurs every two weeks. It is open to all (surgeon, nurse, anesthesia, patient, etc) who have a surgical blog or article to submit.

Here is the catalog of past SurgeXperiences editions for your reading pleasure. If you wish to host a future edition, please contact Jeffrey who runs the show here.