How to prepare for surgery

  What happens when you crack your knuckles? Well that popping sound is literally the action of tiny bubbles popping between your joints. In between your joints you have something called Synovial fluid, it kind of looks like an egg yolk. And when you stretch your joints, a gas is released and forms tiny little bubbles and when you compress or “crack” your knuckles you hear the popping of those bubbles. If I crack my knuckles will I get develop arthritis? A study conducted by Donald L. Unger where over the course of 60 years he cracked all his knuckles in his left hand and at the end of the time period he found out that he had the same amount of arthritis in his left as he had in his right, many other studies have been conducted and no negative medical effects have been reported, but one piece of advice... some people don't like to hear cracking your knuckles.

  The stomach is basically an enlarged pouch-like tube. It is located on the left side of the upper abdomen and shaped somewhat like an oversized comma. The upper-left part of the stomach near the opening curves upward towards the diaphragm. This part is called fundus. It is usually filled with air that enters the stomach when you swallow. In the largest part of the stomach, called the body, food is mixed and broken into smaller pieces, with acidic gastric juice and enzymes. The stomach wall is made up of several layers of a mucous membrane that protects the wall from the acidic juices so it does not damage the stomach or spill out to other parts of the body. The stomach also has connective tissue with blood vessels and nerves, and muscle fibers. The muscle layer alone has three different sublayers which inturn makes it really complicated and strong. The muscles move the contents of the stomach around so vigorously that solid parts of the food are crushed and ground, and mixed into...

Well, your ear is a hearing organ with three parts: the outer, middle, and inner.  The outer ear is made of cartilage, a flexible tissue that forms the Pinna or auricle. In the canal there is the middle ear, called the tympanic cavity, which has three small bones that are connected and transmit the sound waves to the inner ear. The bones are called: Malleus, Incus, and the Stapes. These bones are not only the smallest in the human body but they use invisible sound waves to transmit sound through the inner ear to the brain. They do that because they are connected to a piece of tissue called the eardrum and it does exactly what it sounds like, the eardrum vibrates which, in turn, make all three bones vibrate and hit a nerve which sends the waves to the brain, The inner ear also consists of three parts but only one of these parts is for hearing, the Cochlea, this is the nerve we talked about that sends the waves to the brain.  But what about the other two parts? Well, the other t...

My brother once promised to donate me his liver. Turned out he was only kidneying me.... ;) What is the Liver? Well the Liver is basically a filter, for toxins, chemicals, and poisons. All the bad stuff goes to your Liver and your Liver gets rid of them but, if you drink a LOT of alcohol or consume other harmful substances, the Liver will be overworked and get sick. This means you will need a new Liver. The Liver is located in the right upper abdomen, and when doing a transplant you have to have a very large incision area and a large team.  The first thing is you must remove is the old liver, and to do that you must remove all the attachments that hold the Liver in place. Then you proceed to divide all the blood vessels that are also holding the Liver in place, including the Bile Duct, the Bile Duct is a tube that delivers bile or poison as some like to say, to the Liver for it to get rid of. Once you remove all the parts connecting to the Liver, you will get ready to add the new L...

Question: What do Harry Houdini, Elton John, Brigham Young, Kelly Clarkson all have in common? Answer: They all had or needed an appendectomy surgery! An Appendectomy Surgery, more commonly known as an appendix removal surgery, is performed when the appendix is infected and swelling usually caused by a blockage. Symptoms include pain in the lower right abdomen and fever. If the appendix is then not removed it can lead to a rupture of the appendix which can lead to painful death. The most common treatment of an infected, swelling, or ruptured appendix is appendectomy surgery.  To perform it using Laparoscopic techniques doctors only need tiny keyhole incisions. The first incision will be made next to the belly button with a tube called a Trocar, then Carbon Dioxide gas is pumped through the tube to “puff” up the abdomen to make it easier to see, then the surgeon inserts a laparoscope which is a thin tube with a tiny camera at the end of it to help guide the surgeon. The surgeon wil...

Did you know :  Most people are born with two kidneys. If one of the kidneys dies you don't remove the old kidney but instead add a new kidney. It is the surgeon's choice of whether or not to put the new kidney to the left side or the right side of the patient Surgery Video: Dr. Simpson began by marking the lower left side of the patient's abdomen, so they didn't have to cut through the abdominal muscles. This particular patient is having his second kidney transplant. This means that the patient has 3 or 4 kidneys in his body.  During a kidney transplant, the new kidney is put in ice to keep it cool so that the organ does not die. When the time comes to add the kidney to the patient, the surgeon is running against the clock so the organ does not die before it is put in. Dr. Simpson's aim was to complete the surgery in less than 30 minutes. Dr. Simpson then put the kidney into a “sock” so that the kidney can be installed correctly.  In order to install the kidney Dr....

  Memory Foam Pillows : We used memory foam pillows of ALL shapes and sizes, purchased on Amazon for approximately $12-80. They were extremely helpful and helped to get the patient in the most comfortable position. Here are a few pillow recommendations. Leg Wedge Pillow Neck Roll Pillow Triangle Wedge Bolster Pillow Half Moon Pillow Knee Pillow/Wedge Contour Location : You will want to place the patient in an area near a bathroom, (if you are using a moveable toilet skip this step). It would be the best if those midnight bathroom runs can be close.  Entertainment, TV : We situate the patient next to a TV, with the medication they are taking close by. The patient will be loopy so it may be difficult for them to do basic things so watching a tv helps a lot. Entertainment, Reading : Read to the patient! I cannot stress this enough! Reading to the patent is so important, not only will you be able to spend time with them and watch how they are recovering, but reading to them helps ...