We Need To Operate...STAT!

Well, it's been some time, right through to the new year in fact, and the new year brings a new set of problems.  Recently I was forced to operate on a dear friend of mine and replace a vital organ with a newer model.  Naturally, being the good child of the digital age that I am, I took many happy shots to document the occasion.



We start with the first opening, allowing us to move freely, or at lease with less restrictions, within the body of the patient.  This first opening was easy enough to perform without the need for any tools.

Next, my trusty nurse was on site to hand me my scalpel in order to perform the needed incisions.

Next was a series of careful cuts and manoeuvrings to allow me to remove the effected organ without damaging the surrounding tissue.  From here it was touch and go and things could have gone either way.  It was a matter of not trying to pull too hard to damage the surrounding tissue, but having to pull just hard enough to dislodge the organ that needed replacement.

Once I had the failing organ removed, I was able to examine it closely and discovered just what kind of state it was in.  All I can say was that it was in a terrible condition and I was surprised it lasted as long as it did before failing and shutting down.

The replacement unit had arrived a little earlier, but it was kept in a clean environment in order to reduce the chances of rejection in the patient.  Here we can see the protective layers it was stored in before it was removed and implanted into the patient.

After it was removed from it's static proof storage, it was implanted successfully into the patient, with little incident and all the vital tubes, veins and arteries were reconnected successfully.

The patient was then closed up and taken to recovery in order to rest up and get back on his feet as soon as possible.

After a brief stay in recovery, the patient left in good spirits and showing no signs of rejecting the replacement organ.  With the capacity of the replacement organ 4 times that of the original, that should last quite some time until replacement is needed again.

We heard little complaints from the patient until about 2 weeks later, the video card died and immediate surgery was needed to replace the failed organ.  Alas, due to the emergency nature of that surgery, no pics were taken.