Heart To Heart Changes

• Abigail Davies, Grade 11
• Short Story
• 2014

I woke up on a hard bunk bed to the frantic knocking of my Aunt. I have never been a morning person nor will I ever be a morning person. With much disgust, I slid out of bed and
prepared for the day. That was the day I was going to watch open heart surgery with a friend of my
uncles, Doctor James, not an average Thursday to say the least.
I remember the sinking feeling when I opened my suitcase to find my only pair of formal flats
broken, the sole flapping loosely from the toe of the shoe. To my horror, the only acceptable pair
were ankle heigh high-heeled boots.

Once we had arrived, I was given a blue pair of scrubs that were basically pyjamas
with a hair net and protective shoe covers. I scrubbed my arms with soap and waters, pulled on
plastic gloves and protective face wear. I walked into the theatre with as must confidences I could manage, constantly telling myself I would not faint.
One of the theatre hands had set a stool up for me to stand on at the end of the table by the top of
his head, I had a pretty good view of what was going to happen. By now my ankles were beginning to ache from the boots.

The first surgery I was to observe was a double-bypass. The entire atmosphere in the
theatre was extremely relaxed, there was music playing in the back ground, it was
completely different to all the TV shows where the head surgeon was serious and only ever said
'Pass the scalpel' and other instruments used during surgery.

Yet again, I was truly ignorant of the practice I was observing, instead of using a scalpel,
they used an instrument that looked very much like a welding iron to burn their way through the
layers of fat and muscle. The smell was a mix of burning flesh and rubber. No amount of blood or
sights of organs could make my stomach churn but that stench could clear a room. Eventually I left the theatre, my ankles turning in and my heels covered with blister, I was extremely glad I hadn't eaten anything for breakfast.

Once I had cleared my head and could walk straight, I returned to the theatre, by now the heart was exposed, a dark red organ rising and falling. All the blood had been pumped from the body into an oxygenising machine, that was keeping the blood fresh, and
then pumped back into the body, although the blood bypassed the heart.

All through the day, I had doctors and nurses asking me how many years I had left in medical school and it was very awkward explaining to people I was only in year 10. I survived the day with a lot of trips to get coffee and plenty of fresh air.