Heartbeat

Let's work!

Heartbeats cap 3–  Let's work!

– Okay everybody let's have some fun! Follow me!

I take a deep breath and exchange annoyed looks with the girls, since they are almost bursting out laughing seeing how unhappy I am with being in the same group as Dr Thompson.

Dr Tremblay takes us to a room and before he can open the door he stares at us with a serious look. 

– Okay, guys, I know you are only starting your way to become surgeons but you are doctors already. You made the Hippocratic vote, so please remember to treat everyone with nothing but respect and kindness. What you are about to see here is one of the most advanced cases of facial reconstruction. We are about to give the man behind this door a new face. He might not have a human appearance now but he is a human.

We all gasped when he mentioned a facial reconstruction and were glued to every word he was talking about the case. 

– So, quietly, we are going to enter this room and I'll ask you guys questions to decide who is going to present the case and follow the patient the days after surgery. 

– Any questions?

– Yes sir, please can you say when the surgery is going to happen?– Joe asks and I roll my eyes. 

– In twelve hours, but don't worry, you guys can't scrub in on this one, only watch from the gallery if you have good behavior. – Dr Reynolds answers and I exchange a look with Jack and the girls. We can't help but giggle seeing his embarrassment. Well, that's what he deserves… 

We enter the room and Dr Tremblay introduces us to Mr Davin, a red-haired 31 year old guy who had a bad day and a bad decision that resulted in a deep burning resulting in a disfiguration on his left half of face, including part of the nose. 

– Hey Mike! These are our new interns, it's okay if we teach them about your case? I'll choose one of them later to help to prepare you for the surgery. 

– Of course. Nice to meet you guys. 

We greet him with smiles and waves, and Dr Tremblay clears his throat. 

– Okay, let's start our little game. We are going to do a facial transplant on Mr Davin because of a third degree burn. What are the main indications to a facial transplant other than burns?

Selena is the first to raise hands:

– Cancer extirpation, trauma, congenital birth defects,and in some cases, face transplantation may improve patients basic functions like breathing, swallowing. 

– Excellent, Miss Quintanilla. And what are the main difficulties we have to cross before making a transplant? 

Joe and I raise hands in seconds, but Dr Tremblay  let me talk thankfully, and I answer: 

– Besides compatibility we have to choose carefully the donor because of the facial structure we have to take in consideration, most likely we will choose a donor with similar face structure even though the muscles and face bones are unique and will make the face look different in the patient. So we also have to give a patient a huge psychological support to avoid an identity crisis. 

– Excellent, Miss Carter. Now, Mr Thompson, answer me how long the procedure can take and what are the steps? 

– It takes between 12 to 24 hours depending on how long It takes to remove the face from the donor and If you are going to transplant ears and nose. The first step is removing the donor's skin and mucosa in an adjacent OR meanwhile in the other the patient is being prepared. In Mr Davin's case,  this means they are going to remove his original skin on the right side of his face and left everything ready to put his new face on.