Categories > Celebrities > Panic! At The Disco > A Heart On The Mend
Ch.2: Fix you
Faith stared at the board. She only had one surgery that morning, a 57 years old woman with lung cancer. It should be easy, she said to herself. Just put a tube in her pleura and that’s it. Maybe she should add powder too to prevent the fluids from collapsing the lungs again, or tetracycline. The blood tests weren’t that great, but she would use local anesthesia.
“Why do you always get the easy ones?” Dr. Frank Iero startled her, sipping his black coffee. Faith felt ill at the smell.
“Cause Wentz is an asshole who doesn’t let me do laparoscopies.” She deadpanned, taking a deep breath to shrug the sickness away.
“I’ll trade you mine any day!” Frank chuckled and emptied his cup. He put a hand on her shoulder sympathetically before walking away.
Faith rolled her eyes and went to scrub in. The patient was already in the OR and Dr. Bryar, one of the anesthesiologists, was sleeping her.
“Local, right?” Dr. Bob Bryar asked and Faith nodded.
“Where is my intern?” She asked, looking around the room. And as on cue, William ran inside.
“Sorry, sorry.” He said with a sheepish smile. Faith looked at him blankly. “I got caught up upstairs by Dr. Wentz.”
“Scrub in, Beckett. You’re the only one helping me today.”
“Awesome!” He couldn’t stop himself from saying and went to wash his hands. Faith shook her head and checked on the patient one last time, muttering what she knew by heart and making a mental note of the right spot to put the tube in.
10 minutes later everything was ready and William was happily injecting the lidocaine.
“5th space, mid-axillary line.” He repeated while he infiltrated the anesthetic. Faith looked at him, guiding his hands.
“Okay, skin ready, go for the muscle now.”
William pushed the needle further in, making sure to avoid the intercostal artery. 30 seconds to let the lido work…
“Okay, let’s do this…” Faith said taking a blade. “Get tweezers and help me, Beckett.” The boy did as commanded and separated the skin after Faith cut a hole right between 2 ribs, dissecting skin, fat and muscle till she reached the pleura. “Culture tube…” She asked before poking the pleura with a needle and get a sample. “Okay, pleural tube.”
As soon as the tube was inside the patient’s lung, the fluid started coming out, dark red and thick, as malignant fluids were supposed to be. Faith sighed and told William to start sewing the woman’s wound, to make sure the tube was hermetic and that it wouldn’t move.
That’s when one of the alarms went off.
“What’s wrong?” Faith asked Dr. Bryar, who was checking on the patient’s stats.
“She’s desaturating.” Bob said and Faith saw the numbers that indicated how much blood oxygen the patient had fall from their normal 100% to 80… 70… 60… “I’m intubating.”
The woman’s heart rate started going up making another alarm go off. William froze.
“Beckett, close that wound now.” Faith insisted. She was ready to perform CPR, but if the wound was still open, it could cause the air to get inside her chest making it all worse. With trembling hands, William finished sewing and the nurse put a wet bandage on it, sealing it completely.
“V-taq.” Bob said and Faith started heart compressions.
“Dr. Ashley?” A pale William said. Faith looked at him as he pointed at the tube she had just put in her lung.
“Blood.” She muttered. “The patient is bleeding, Bryar! Beckett, go get Dr. Iero now, he’s in OR 5.”
Easy ones, huh? Faith thought after William ran out of the room.
.~
The drain flasks were almost full when Faith cut the sutures that held the tube inside the woman’s chest and pulled it out. Frank was there, helping her get the patient cleaned up. The vasoactive drugs, the compressions, the adding of 3 liters of saline in record time… everything she did had not been enough. Everything she did couldn’t keep the woman’s lung from collapsing and burst, making her literally bleed to death.
“Thanks, Frank.” Faith said, more in a way of dismissing him than in a grateful one, but Frank knew. He gave her a small smile.
“Don’t let it get you.” He said before snapping his gloves off and left the OR.
“Beckett.” Faith called out to the intern standing beside the computer. “Get the patient’s chart and write what I’m going to tell you.”
What a nice way to start a Monday.
Faith stared at the board. She only had one surgery that morning, a 57 years old woman with lung cancer. It should be easy, she said to herself. Just put a tube in her pleura and that’s it. Maybe she should add powder too to prevent the fluids from collapsing the lungs again, or tetracycline. The blood tests weren’t that great, but she would use local anesthesia.
“Why do you always get the easy ones?” Dr. Frank Iero startled her, sipping his black coffee. Faith felt ill at the smell.
“Cause Wentz is an asshole who doesn’t let me do laparoscopies.” She deadpanned, taking a deep breath to shrug the sickness away.
“I’ll trade you mine any day!” Frank chuckled and emptied his cup. He put a hand on her shoulder sympathetically before walking away.
Faith rolled her eyes and went to scrub in. The patient was already in the OR and Dr. Bryar, one of the anesthesiologists, was sleeping her.
“Local, right?” Dr. Bob Bryar asked and Faith nodded.
“Where is my intern?” She asked, looking around the room. And as on cue, William ran inside.
“Sorry, sorry.” He said with a sheepish smile. Faith looked at him blankly. “I got caught up upstairs by Dr. Wentz.”
“Scrub in, Beckett. You’re the only one helping me today.”
“Awesome!” He couldn’t stop himself from saying and went to wash his hands. Faith shook her head and checked on the patient one last time, muttering what she knew by heart and making a mental note of the right spot to put the tube in.
10 minutes later everything was ready and William was happily injecting the lidocaine.
“5th space, mid-axillary line.” He repeated while he infiltrated the anesthetic. Faith looked at him, guiding his hands.
“Okay, skin ready, go for the muscle now.”
William pushed the needle further in, making sure to avoid the intercostal artery. 30 seconds to let the lido work…
“Okay, let’s do this…” Faith said taking a blade. “Get tweezers and help me, Beckett.” The boy did as commanded and separated the skin after Faith cut a hole right between 2 ribs, dissecting skin, fat and muscle till she reached the pleura. “Culture tube…” She asked before poking the pleura with a needle and get a sample. “Okay, pleural tube.”
As soon as the tube was inside the patient’s lung, the fluid started coming out, dark red and thick, as malignant fluids were supposed to be. Faith sighed and told William to start sewing the woman’s wound, to make sure the tube was hermetic and that it wouldn’t move.
That’s when one of the alarms went off.
“What’s wrong?” Faith asked Dr. Bryar, who was checking on the patient’s stats.
“She’s desaturating.” Bob said and Faith saw the numbers that indicated how much blood oxygen the patient had fall from their normal 100% to 80… 70… 60… “I’m intubating.”
The woman’s heart rate started going up making another alarm go off. William froze.
“Beckett, close that wound now.” Faith insisted. She was ready to perform CPR, but if the wound was still open, it could cause the air to get inside her chest making it all worse. With trembling hands, William finished sewing and the nurse put a wet bandage on it, sealing it completely.
“V-taq.” Bob said and Faith started heart compressions.
“Dr. Ashley?” A pale William said. Faith looked at him as he pointed at the tube she had just put in her lung.
“Blood.” She muttered. “The patient is bleeding, Bryar! Beckett, go get Dr. Iero now, he’s in OR 5.”
Easy ones, huh? Faith thought after William ran out of the room.
.~
The drain flasks were almost full when Faith cut the sutures that held the tube inside the woman’s chest and pulled it out. Frank was there, helping her get the patient cleaned up. The vasoactive drugs, the compressions, the adding of 3 liters of saline in record time… everything she did had not been enough. Everything she did couldn’t keep the woman’s lung from collapsing and burst, making her literally bleed to death.
“Thanks, Frank.” Faith said, more in a way of dismissing him than in a grateful one, but Frank knew. He gave her a small smile.
“Don’t let it get you.” He said before snapping his gloves off and left the OR.
“Beckett.” Faith called out to the intern standing beside the computer. “Get the patient’s chart and write what I’m going to tell you.”
What a nice way to start a Monday.
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