When I was selecting my surgical terms last year for the year of 2008, I have already heard that breast surgery is one of the least stressful surgical term to do, and that was one of the main reasons why it was very high on my preference list.
And indeed, it was a nice term. I was exposed to a lot of women undergoing regular breast screening in the breast clinic (Breast Screen), I scrubbed in for theatres, I got to see some trauma/general surgery cases, and I taught the medical student about how to assess patients in the preadmissions clinic so he’d be able to lessen some workload for me… hehe! During the middle of this term, the surgeons went off to a conference in Hong Kong, and I ended up having zero inpatients for 4 days (which means no need to turn up to work if there’s no clinics… however, clinics play a big role during this term, so I only ended up taking 1 day off)!! Seems like I just have this “quieting” effect, don’t I? (Opps, I shouldn’t even say that word!!)
The breast physicians at Breast Screen are some of the most amazing GPs I have encountered. Their communication skills and interpersonal skills are just excellent! It just seemed to come naturally with them! And they also show a lot of care for their patients, and are very careful in their examinations to make sure they do not miss any lumps.
In breast screen, I also saw some interesting things! It was the first time for me to talk personally to a woman deeply troubled by her big breasts. Not only do her big breasts give her back pain, but they actually flop into her armpits when she sleeps and gives her a great deal of discomfort. It was also the first time I actually got to feel a breast that has got an implant in it (breast augmentation). The texture of an augmented breast really feels very different. When a woman lies flat, the chest becomes flatter because all the fat just distributes across the chest. With breast augmentation, the breast shape does not change – it just stays firm and big!
Last but not least, I had the opportunity to meet some men who do not like big breasts… the breast surgeons!! During the surgeries, they’d be happy whenever they see small breasts, and they’d start complaining when they see huge breasts. With mastectomies, not only do huge breasts take a lot more time to cut through and sew up, but it is also takes much longer to identify anatomical structures because there is a lot more tissue to go through. I also had the opportunity to meet a woman whose breasts are literally bigger than her head (each individual breast is bigger than the head)!
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