When the Doctor Says “Oh, Scheiße”
Devon Sterling
“Perfect. I just need to reconnect a couple of veins and I will be done,” I thought. I’ve been working on this heart transplant for a few hours. All operations take a while to do, but it doesn’t make it any less tedious. The best thing I got is the radio playing Michael Jackson, and even that isn’t helping. The thunderstorm outside keeps making the radio cut off, but I can push this out. Once I finish this, I won’t have another operation to do until next week. I think I’ll take my kids to see that new Spider-man movie they keep asking us abo-
“Dr. Ludwig, did you need more stitching? You’re almost out,” a voice tells me over my shoulder.
I looked down at the micro-suturing needle and see that was almost out, and I really need to shake my hand to relax it. I placed the forceps into my other hand and vigorously shook my right hand. “Oh, ja! I almost missed it. Good eye, Dr. Melville. Nurse, more suture, please.”
Dr. Melville raised his eyebrow in response. “Dr. Ludwig, would you like me to take over? You look tired.”
“Nein danke. I’ll be fine,” I say as a nurse hands me a freshly new line, “once I finish suturing this vein here, I’ll be done. Well, not counting closing the chest and whatnot, of course.”
I wanted to say yes, but my ego wouldn’t let me. Dr. Melville is the most experienced doctor in the hospital, but I hate when he tries to take over our work. I mean, I didn’t go to school for eight years to watch someone else work. I’ve done my fair share of heart transplants, and I have the nurses to- why is my hand feeling warm?
I look down in shock to see that I just completely ripped through the inferior vena cava: the vein right below the heart. Blood starts to pour under my hand. “Doctor, the heart rate is irregulating!” one nurse shouts out loud. I look over and see the ECG going haywire.“Oh, Scheiße, I just cut a vein!” slips out of my mouth as my heart starts to beat louder, “I might need more micro-suture. Are there any more on the table?”“Yes, there should be some right over… where the…” Dr. Melville exclaimed as his eyes widened. His face turns as red as a tomato. “Where the hell is the rest of the suture? Barron, I told you to get more suture hours ago!”
Another nurse turns to Dr. Melville, visibly shaking. “Y-y-you did?” Nurse Barron says sheepishly.
“You dolt!” he shouts, slamming his fist into the table. He immediately swings the door open and sprints down the hallway.
“I need to do something,” I say to myself, immediately facing the patient. I put pressure on the vein. “How did I let this happen? Ludwig, you spasti!”
***
While Dr. Ludwig and the other nurses panic in the OR, I’m sifting through a drawer so I can open the supply room. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, where is it? I know it’s in… THERE!” I say, rustling a set of keys in my hand and slamming the drawer shut. I fight against my loafers as I run to the supply closet, making loud clamps with each step. I’m in luck, as I grab the right key just as I make it to the door and unlock it quickly. I instinctively grab the suture on the top shelf. I exhaustingly run back to the operating room, as it was the most exercise I had this week.
I swing open the door as I shout, “I got the sutu-.” I stop myself. Dr. Ludwig is looking down, with his glasses on the table and his hand in his eyes. All the nurses are speechless as well: a couple are mimicking Dr. Ludwig and others look like they saw a ghost. Though quiet, the flatline deafens the room.
“Dr. Ludwig, did you need more stitching? You’re almost out,” a voice tells me over my shoulder.
I looked down at the micro-suturing needle and see that was almost out, and I really need to shake my hand to relax it. I placed the forceps into my other hand and vigorously shook my right hand. “Oh, ja! I almost missed it. Good eye, Dr. Melville. Nurse, more suture, please.”
Dr. Melville raised his eyebrow in response. “Dr. Ludwig, would you like me to take over? You look tired.”
“Nein danke. I’ll be fine,” I say as a nurse hands me a freshly new line, “once I finish suturing this vein here, I’ll be done. Well, not counting closing the chest and whatnot, of course.”
I wanted to say yes, but my ego wouldn’t let me. Dr. Melville is the most experienced doctor in the hospital, but I hate when he tries to take over our work. I mean, I didn’t go to school for eight years to watch someone else work. I’ve done my fair share of heart transplants, and I have the nurses to- why is my hand feeling warm?
I look down in shock to see that I just completely ripped through the inferior vena cava: the vein right below the heart. Blood starts to pour under my hand. “Doctor, the heart rate is irregulating!” one nurse shouts out loud. I look over and see the ECG going haywire.“Oh, Scheiße, I just cut a vein!” slips out of my mouth as my heart starts to beat louder, “I might need more micro-suture. Are there any more on the table?”“Yes, there should be some right over… where the…” Dr. Melville exclaimed as his eyes widened. His face turns as red as a tomato. “Where the hell is the rest of the suture? Barron, I told you to get more suture hours ago!”
Another nurse turns to Dr. Melville, visibly shaking. “Y-y-you did?” Nurse Barron says sheepishly.
“You dolt!” he shouts, slamming his fist into the table. He immediately swings the door open and sprints down the hallway.
“I need to do something,” I say to myself, immediately facing the patient. I put pressure on the vein. “How did I let this happen? Ludwig, you spasti!”
***
While Dr. Ludwig and the other nurses panic in the OR, I’m sifting through a drawer so I can open the supply room. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, where is it? I know it’s in… THERE!” I say, rustling a set of keys in my hand and slamming the drawer shut. I fight against my loafers as I run to the supply closet, making loud clamps with each step. I’m in luck, as I grab the right key just as I make it to the door and unlock it quickly. I instinctively grab the suture on the top shelf. I exhaustingly run back to the operating room, as it was the most exercise I had this week.
I swing open the door as I shout, “I got the sutu-.” I stop myself. Dr. Ludwig is looking down, with his glasses on the table and his hand in his eyes. All the nurses are speechless as well: a couple are mimicking Dr. Ludwig and others look like they saw a ghost. Though quiet, the flatline deafens the room.
An intellectual, an Army brat, and a person that others worry is addicting to yoyoing, c/MAJ Devon Sterling is an SROTC cadet who will be graduating on May 2022 and will be a Medical Services Officer in the Army. He will be studying Biomedical Sciences at the University of Washington.