Passing out during surgery

[livewires]

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I've been meaning to post about this for a while now so here goes. First, let me say that I'm 6'5, 235 and have played sports/lifted all of my life. I just started my MS IV year at a DO school in the Northeast. I have always had problems passing out at the site of blood. Even through medical school this bothered me and for a while I didn't think I would be able to make it "standing" through my rotations, especially surgery. For those of you who are chuckling and calling me a "*****" right now, you should probably exit out of this post because you don't understand this. For those of you who share this problem, I hope I can be of help and motivation to you. This was such a problem for me that I scheduled my surgery rotations at the end of my third year to give me more time to prepare for the OR. In December I passed out at the beginning of a C-section during my OB/GYN rotation on the first day and was humiliated. When this happens, it's a real phenomenon. First my ears start to ring and then I just black-out...nothing I can control mentally (believe me I tried). After this incident, they wanted me to stay away from the OR and just round. I refused. I kept going back to the OR and getting my hands "wet." To make a long story short. I just got done doing two months of general surgery and assisted every single surgery. Ihave done an Ortho rotation and have delivered over 20 babies on my own. There is no trauma that I could not handle. Please PM me if you have this problem. Trust me, you'll get over it. Don't worry. If I got over it, you will too.

 

[Mom2five]

That's great! I hope you are able to help some people. Good luck!

 

[Pox in a box]

I've been meaning to post about this for a while now so here goes. First, let me say that I'm 6'5, 235 and have played sports/lifted all of my life. I just started my MS IV year at a DO school in the Northeast. I have always had problems passing out at the site of blood. Even through medical school this bothered me and for a while I didn't think I would be able to make it "standing" through my rotations, especially surgery. For those of you who are chuckling and calling me a "*****" right now, you should probably exit out of this post because you don't understand this. For those of you who share this problem, I hope I can be of help and motivation to you. This was such a problem for me that I scheduled my surgery rotations at the end of my third year to give me more time to prepare for the OR. In December I passed out at the beginning of a C-section during my OB/GYN rotation on the first day and was humiliated. When this happens, it's a real phenomenon. First my ears start to ring and then I just black-out...nothing I can control mentally (believe me I tried). After this incident, they wanted me to stay away from the OR and just round. I refused. I kept going back to the OR and getting my hands "wet." To make a long story short. I just got done doing two months of general surgery and assisted every single surgery. Ihave done an Ortho rotation and have delivered over 20 babies on my own. There is no trauma that I could not handle. Please PM me if you have this problem. Trust me, you'll get over it. Don't worry. If I got over it, you will too.

Wow, did you learn this technique in your behavioral science prep for Step 1? Desensitization served you well! Congrats.

 

[NeuroSync]

🙂 That's hilarious! I'll bet you end up being a general surgeon, or something. 🙂

 

[Pox in a box]

This would make a great personal statement if the scenario were feigned.

 

[dynx]

I hope you sat in a chair in the corner when you went in to the OR to get your hands wet. Knowing you could pass out and fall god-knows-where is a pretty big safety risk and putting a patients safety in limbo to prove you're no ***** is lame. If you took proper percautions them thumbs up, way to not give in.

 

[livewires]

Actually, it took an 18-yo pregnant woman who can into the hospital in the middle of the night when I was taking OB call. She had NO prenatal care and was considering putting the baby up for adoption. I was interviewing her when the nurses started noticing late decels. The next thing I knew, we were rushing her into the OR for emergency C-section. The OB attending had never met me before and she had no idea that I even had this problem. It was my second day on the rotation and I had already had my "incident" earlier that day. It all happened so fast, I never got the chance to discuss my problem with the attending. There was no one else there to assist her as the hospital terminated it's OB residency last year so I was it...all she had in the OR to assist. I ended up opposite her on the table and she just started cutting. It was the bloodiest thing I'd ever seen. We ended up finding a second baby and all of a sudden this woman was the mother of two small but healthy baby boys. She kept them both. As for me, my mask was so fogged up that I couldn't even see in front of me to follow suture but I made it through the entire thing on my feet. That was a big day for me and I never looked back. You see, I finally realized that it isn't about me. If I would have passed out that day, I would have let the surgeon down and possibly cost these babies their lives. I forced myself to make it through and I remember how proud I was of myself when it was all over. Now I'm well on my way to a career in Anesthesiology. I could definately be a general surgeon if I wanted but it just doesn't appeal to me.

 

[StudKnight]

What's worse than a surgeon passing out during surgery?

An anesthesiologist falling off his stool.

 

[kalico]

Regardless of the setting, I have an issue where standing too long makes me light-headed and near-passing out. Luckily, I was a medical assistant for a gyn before starting clinicals, during sometimes bloody procedures. What I learned from that is if I stay busy (i.e., assisting), neither the standing problem nor lightheadedness from anxiety affects me. The time when I watched a delivery in another country and I wasn't doing anything but watching, that was the end of my day. But, I just did a month of surgery including a TAHBSO and I always tried to get my hands in, to avoid the lightheaded feeling. It worked. I'm glad you figured out your situation too.

 

[Pox in a box]

I've been meaning to post about this for a while now so here goes. First, let me say that I'm 6'5, 235 and have played sports/lifted all of my life. I just started my MS IV year at a DO school in the Northeast. I have always had problems passing out at the site of blood. Even through medical school this bothered me and for a while I didn't think I would be able to make it "standing" through my rotations, especially surgery. For those of you who are chuckling and calling me a "*****" right now, you should probably exit out of this post because you don't understand this. For those of you who share this problem, I hope I can be of help and motivation to you. This was such a problem for me that I scheduled my surgery rotations at the end of my third year to give me more time to prepare for the OR. In December I passed out at the beginning of a C-section during my OB/GYN rotation on the first day and was humiliated. When this happens, it's a real phenomenon. First my ears start to ring and then I just black-out...nothing I can control mentally (believe me I tried). After this incident, they wanted me to stay away from the OR and just round. I refused. I kept going back to the OR and getting my hands "wet." To make a long story short. I just got done doing two months of general surgery and assisted every single surgery. Ihave done an Ortho rotation and have delivered over 20 babies on my own. There is no trauma that I could not handle. Please PM me if you have this problem. Trust me, you'll get over it. Don't worry. If I got over it, you will too.

This is an interesting story but why do you feel the need to share this with us? What guarantee can you give that you won't pass out again in a critical time in a patient's operative course? That's scary!

 

[oompaloompa]

I love how the guy prefaced it with "I'm 6'5" and 235". Because if you're that big, surely you can't be gay.

"It takes a big man to cry, but it takes an even bigger man to laugh at him!"

 

[StudKnight]

It is funny how he prefaced it with 6'5" and 235 pounds...actually, that is exactly the type of people who freak out at things like this.

The other day we had a patient in the office practically crying about the EMG he was about to get...the needles scared him to death...and yes, the guy was like 6'5" and 250 lbs or around there somewhere.

 

[livewires]

First of all, it's pretty ****ty to sit here and say "This is an interesting story but why do you feel the need to share this with us? What guarantee can you give that you won't pass out again in a critical time in a patient's operative course? That's scary!" I'll tell you why I decided to share this story. There are a ton of MSIs and MSIIs out there who experience the same phenomenon and are scared ****less to go into there surgical rotation because of it. This is my testimony and I thought it would be motivational to them. In fact, I have received over 20 private messages from people who have the same problem and now feel like they have some hope. It doesn't matter if your 6'5 235 or 4'9 95, it happens to everyone. I happen to not be your stereotypical profile to be affected in that way in the OR. To support this, at least one doc on every rotation tells me that I should go into ORTO because I'm such a big MF. To answer your question, it's not scary to me. I did face a "critical time in a patient's operative course" and I did just fine. Here's what's scary...there are a ton of uncoordinated, hands-off, totally cerebral people out there who are doing hands-on surgical rotations and can't even tie a knot. They can't even insert a speculum. I've seen these people on rotations and it's scary. I was born with good feel in the OR. And now that I can actually get through the surgury on my feet, I'd make one damn good surgeon. Either you have it or you don't. Humility is a fine virtue and I certainly have gone through in the OR. You'de think that I would be very hesitant about initiating procedures in the OR and at the bedside but it's the opposite. When I go into a new rotation and the physician asks me about what I feel comfortable doing... I tell them that I want to do the maximum amount of work and have the maximum responsibility that he will allow me. During my ortho month, I was doing Carpal tunnels myself by the end of the rotation.

 

[lnn2]

I love how the guy prefaced it with "I'm 6'5" and 235". Because if you're that big, surely you can't be gay.

It is funny how he prefaced it with 6'5" and 235 pounds...actually, that is exactly the type of people who freak out at things like this.

The other day we had a patient in the office practically crying about the EMG he was about to get...the needles scared him to death...and yes, the guy was like 6'5" and 250 lbs or around there somewhere.

True dat! The big guys are usually the guys who freak out and cry like a little b!tch in oral surgery when they see the needle. The little old ladies usually are tough as nails!

Nevertheless, an inspirational story from the OP for the faint of hearts 👍

 

[Milhouse Van Houten]

thanks for your reply dynx, aka debbie downer.

 

[dynx]

thanks for your reply dynx, aka debbie downer.

I've never been so insulted in all my life...

ouch!

Debbie Downer!

God that stings...

oooooohhhhh....my ego.

Im reeling.

 

[Milhouse Van Houten]

simmer down, debbie.

 

[Buckeye(OH)]

First of all, it's pretty ****ty to sit here and say "This is an interesting story but why do you feel the need to share this with us? What guarantee can you give that you won't pass out again in a critical time in a patient's operative course? That's scary!" I'll tell you why I decided to share this story. There are a ton of MSIs and MSIIs out there who experience the same phenomenon and are scared ****less to go into there surgical rotation because of it. This is my testimony and I thought it would be motivational to them. In fact, I have received over 20 private messages from people who have the same problem and now feel like they have some hope. It doesn't matter if your 6'5 235 or 4'9 95, it happens to everyone. I happen to not be your stereotypical profile to be affected in that way in the OR. To support this, at least one doc on every rotation tells me that I should go into ORTO because I'm such a big MF. To answer your question, it's not scary to me. I did face a "critical time in a patient's operative course" and I did just fine. Here's what's scary...there are a ton of uncoordinated, hands-off, totally cerebral people out there who are doing hands-on surgical rotations and can't even tie a knot. They can't even insert a speculum. I've seen these people on rotations and it's scary. I was born with good feel in the OR. And now that I can actually get through the surgury on my feet, I'd make one damn good surgeon. Either you have it or you don't. Humility is a fine virtue and I certainly have gone through in the OR. You'de think that I would be very hesitant about initiating procedures in the OR and at the bedside but it's the opposite. When I go into a new rotation and the physician asks me about what I feel comfortable doing... I tell them that I want to do the maximum amount of work and have the maximum responsibility that he will allow me. During my ortho month, I was doing Carpal tunnels myself by the end of the rotation.

6'5 235 isnt that big, g.

 

[McGillGrad]

6'5 235 isnt that big, g.

It is when he is falling on you. 😉

 

[Blade28]

Props to the OP for facing his fears and conquering them. It's good to see people with a love of surgery overcome difficulties - fear of blood, sore legs/back, shaky hands, etc. - to pursue their dream.