Informative Essay On Cardiothoracic Surgery

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"It is infinitely better to transplant a heart than to bury it to be devoured by worms" (Barnard). For a long time I have wanted to pursue Cardiothoracic Surgery as a career. This is an occupation that specializes in surgical treatment of the heart and lungs. I believe I got my interest in medicine from Dr. Heidi Lakes M.D./O.B, otherwise known as my mother. Before she stopped practicing, she was an OB/GYN (Obstetrics- Gynocologist) at St. Thomas Memorial Hopsital. On occasion, I got to see her patients and had their conditions and surgeries explained to me. From then on, the hospital stuck as my favorite place. As for my choice in topic and specialty, I am fascinated by the heart because of how it can be one of the most delicate organs in …show more content…

Other, less severe damage hearts can be fixed with other treatments and procedures such as valve replacement and chest tubes to remove blood. There’s surgery has multiple steps and details. The first step is being put under general anesthesia. A cut is then made on the patients breastbone. The patience origins are then put on a heart lung bypass machine. Named and created by John Heysham Gibbon in 1953, this device continues to pump blood and breathe while the organs are stopped. This way a surgeon can work on the body without the movement of the heart and lungs in their way. The diseased heart is then removed and the donor heart is put in its place. The machine is disconnected and the new heart, hopefully, takes …show more content…

In the following days they stay in the hospital and are closely monitored for any signs of rejection and or post-operative infection. The recovery period last for about 2-3 months whilst having regular check-ups and blood tests. These will continue for the rest of the patients life. The body's immune system, when presented with a foreign body, will create antibodies to fight it off. This is what happens with transplanted organs. For that reason, patients will take many drugs that suppress this response. They also take these for the rest of their lifespan. Though the patients life post-operation, will be drastically changed by and inability to do rigorous exercise, smoke, etc., their life extension should be

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