Day in the Life of a Stanford/Harvard-Trained Anesthesiologist: How We Keep You Alive During Surgery

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The operating room is a sacred environment. It can be life or death. It's sterile and highly secured. It can change patients' lives in remarkable ways! It takes a LOT for the operating room to function, so let me show you a day in my life in this unusual workplace!

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I believe that to give the best care to patients, I need to take the best care of myself. I start with meditation and exercise in the mornings (a powerful habit!). I sometimes need to take the dog out on a walk before going to work. That's always an adventure!

On the drive to work I try to plan out my day, particularly if there are complex patients or difficult cases. It's a beautiful view on the way to work in the San Francisco Bay Area!

Once I get to work, I hop in the locker room. Then I need to prepare my anesthesia machine and anesthesia equipment. That includes the life support machine and medications. Then I need to meet the patients, perform targeted histories and physical exams. The mouth exam (also called "airway exam") is very important for anesthesiologists!

Some surgeries need nerve blocks, and I do those either before or after we enter the operating room. I try to give some relaxing medication on the way to the operating room.

Once we enter the operating room, the critical part of surgery and anesthesia starts: falling asleep. The heart, brain, lungs, and kidneys are all vulnerable while the patient is falling asleep. After I fill the patient's lungs with oxygen, we go to sleep, and the patient typically stops breathing. That's when the critical breathing tube goes in.

Once we're asleep the surgery can start. I need to monitor the patient constantly and give life support medications to keep all the body's organs alive and well. I also need to make sure the breathing is going well on the ventilator. Critical stuff!

Waking up from anesthesia is also critical: if the breathing tube is taken out at the wrong time, it can cause severe brain and heart damage. If it comes out too late, the patient may remember the breathing tube. No patient wants that!

After the patient is safely awake, we wheel over to the recovery room. I drop off the patient to a nurse who makes sure the patient is comfortable, not in pain, nor nauseous. They recover the patient until the patient is ready to recover in the hospital or to go home.

At the end of each case, I need to clean up my anesthesia station and dispose of medications, syringes, needles, etc. What happens to the meds? The controlled medications, like opioids (think fentanyl, Dilaudid, morphine, versed, and ketamine need to be wasted with a witness. Unused medications go back to the locked box they came from (to prevent diversion of these dangerous controlled medications). Other medications are usually stored in my locked anesthesia cart.

With all this running around, it's difficult to keep track of the essence of medicine. My practice is to always try using lifestyle as medicine (like "food as medicine"). Sometimes patients need a little more support though. That's when gentle plant medications and supplements come in play. The goal is to always return to life without medications though!

In some cases, patients need even more support. That's when there's a role for powerful conventional medications, and even surgery and anesthesia. As always, the goal is to use powerful medications (with powerful side effects) to return to optimal health. Hopefully there's no need for lifelong medications or supplements - just you and your healthy lifestyle!

At the end of the day, I drop off the last patient, make sure all the patients are tucked in, stable, and comfortable. Patients need to be stable and safe, otherwise I can't leave!

On the drive back home, I often think about how the day could've gone better. Specifically, why did patients need surgery in the first place? There are so many opportunities to prevent illness, and prevent ending up on the operating room table, and I wish patients knew the power they had over their health to prevent these outcomes.

When I get home, I'm greeted by our puppy Karma. I try to get my workout in as quickly as possible (otherwise I get too tired!). When possible, I call my patients for the next day so I can answer their questions about the anesthesia and help put their minds at ease.

After the work is done, it's dinner time! My wife is a fantastic cook, and I'm grateful she guides me in helping to cook delicious, healthy meals!

At the end of the night, I crate Karma and hit the sack myself. Gotta get ready for another early morning!

Leave your questions below and remember: you have more power over your health than they want you to know!

Видео Day in the Life of a Stanford/Harvard-Trained Anesthesiologist: How We Keep You Alive During Surgery канала Medical Secrets