Day 14: Our third week started off with a one of kind experience from Big Beard’s Adventure Tour company for a snorkeling day at Buck Island National Monument. The island was made a National Monument in 1961 by John F. Kennedy along with the reef around the island all being protected by the U.S park service. The tour started at 9:30 a.m. with a boat ride to Buck Island where we saw two sea turtles and relaxed on the deck while the island approached, then the snorkeling gear was distributed and we jumped into the clearest water I’ve ever seen. For an hour we swam around, got comfortable snorkeling with our new gear and prepared to go to the coral reef that we were so anxious to see. Our tour guide, Danny, made sure everyone was comfortable with the crashing waves and floatation devices and we started the trail through the 10,000 year old coral reef. Not long into the tour, Danny pointed ahead and guided Abbie and me for a closer look at a coral shark that was swimming through the coral about 15 feet away from us. My adrenaline was pulsating through my body as we swam around the shark to continue down the trail of reef. Abbie and I continued swimming and discovering the reef for another hour, seeing two more sharks and two barracudas accompanying us in the reef. Once the tour was over, we sailed back to a beach on St. Croix for a beach barbecue and more swimming in the bright blue water. Overall, my second snorkeling experience was a great start to my third week of the internship.
Day 15: Dr. Moorman’s first operation of the day was a procedure for a woman’s left middle finger that had ripped tendons from a previous injury. He cleared most of the scar tissue from the joint and placed a temporary rod in her finger to keep the joint still in order for the tendons to heal properly (right picture). My first scrubbed in surgery was a left inguinal hernia removal and our second surgery was a scrotum hernia of an older man. Abbie and I both got to suture the patients with Dr. Moorman assisting us in the semi-nerve wracking task. The first day being in surgery was astonishing from a surgeon’s point of view and was such an amazing experience for Abbie and I.
Day 16: Tuesday was hectic as usual with seeing about 25 patients, mostly consultations for future surgeries that patients want. There were two keloid scar injections where Dr. Moorman uses steroids to slow down the rate of keloid scar growth and helps with tenders or itching of the scars themselves. Other patients were walk in consultations that want office procedures, like Botox, skin lesion removals or eyelid reconstruction. The day passed quickly though with meeting patients and assisting with patients in the office.
Day 17: Abbie, Dr. Moorman and I were back at Plesson Surgical Center at 8:00 a.m. for two more hernia surgeries and the removal of cancerous finger cell under the tendon sheath of an older woman that had a lump on her right middle finger. The other two hernia removals were both male patients that had large hernias growing in their groin area with their small intestine also in the sac of the hernia. Dr. Moorman cleaned up the hernia sac and pushed them back into the muscle tissue and used surgical mesh to keep the hernia from moving around in the groin area. Our day went by quickly and we ended the surgical day with watching another scary movie with Stefán and Dr. Moorman upstairs.
Day 18: What was supposed to be a procedural day at the office turned into an emergency wrist surgery at the hospital around 12:30 p.m, Dr. Moorman, Abbie and I had a three and half hour emergency surgery on a man that cut his left wrist while using a saw. All of us scrubbed in quickly and got to work on the 20 cm laceration that laid before us on the table. The radial artery was completely severed along with it being cut farther up the wrist toward the thumb; two out of the three flexor digitorum superficialis were completely cut and the palmaris tendon was 30% intact. Dr. Moorman sutured up everything that was lacerated and sutured up the skin with over 50 stitches being tied in the 3.5 hour procedure. The day was long and once we got home, Abbie and I fell asleep around 9:30, ready for the next day of procedures at the office.
Day 19: Getting to the office at 10 a.m the next morning, we had two procedures already scheduled for the day. One skin lesion removal and one blepharoplasty (eyelid lift) then we would at the beach for the remainder of the Friday. The procedures went by smoothly and we were back at The Buccaneer beach for an early dinner and a relaxing evening in the ocean.
Day 20: Our last Saturday on the island was one of the best and relaxing days we’ve had on the internship, although I was rudely awakened by Stefán by a prank involving shaving cream in my hair this morning, the day was still great. The rest of the day was spent back at The Buccaneer with snorkeling and tanning and a great lunch at the beach restaurant, The Mermaid. The third week has passed so quickly and as I approach my fourth week with Dr. Moorman and Abbie, I’m still so eager to see what we will learn from our last week of the internship.
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