Day 21: My last Sunday in St. Croix was one to remember, the day started out with a pancake breakfast with Stefán and Abbie in our apartment. After cleaning up, we got in the truck and headed out west on the island for a new beach experience, Rainbow Beach, in Fredrickson. Once we hit the sand we could see jet skies zooming across the beautiful blue water, snorkelers swimming in the open ocean and lounge chairs scattered across the sand, it was going to be an amazing day. Dr. Moorman paid for a half hour of freestyle jetskiing for Abbie and me, along with Stefán riding passenger with Abbie, which he regretted 10 minutes in when he and Abbie were launched off the jet ski for going too fast. The beach day went by and before we knew it we were back in the truck. Later that evening, we were pedaling through a bioluminescent bay on a nighttime kayak tour. Only seven places in the world are blessed to have an organism, a dinoflagellate, that glows to the friction in water. The tour was amazing and Abbie, Stefán and I caught and held three jellyfish, which was an epic ending to our last Sunday on the island.
Day 22: This work week wasn’t as much O.R. time as the past few weeks because the Plesson Surgical Center was closed for maintenance, so the last Monday was spent in the office for minor skin lesion procedures and keloid injections. The day was relaxed and went by swiftly with only five patients that needed removals. Dr. Moorman takes off many skin lesions because of the cancerous appearance they have, usually dark colored and hard tissue then all the specimens are sent to the pathologist at the hospital to be a analyzed.
Day 23: The last Tuesday at the office wasn’t as busy as the previous three (thank goodness), many patients were quick visits for follow ups or changing wound dressings. The man with the mandible fractures was a follow up visit, and Abbie and I got to remove the staples in his head which was cool to try with Dr. Moorman’s supervision. Of course the day went quickly and we were back at the house for an evening filled with cleaning the apartment.
The ear specimen before removal.
Day 24: The office day started out like the other days, but there was one procedure that was so cool to watch at the end of the day. A man came into the office wearing a bandana to hide his half cancerous ear that was soon to be removed. The man’s right ear was being consumed by cancer and was almost halfway gone when Dr. Moorman started injecting it with lidocaine and epinephrine. Abbie and I watched in amazement as Dr. Moorman took a #15 blade and started cutting right through the cartilage of the cancer stricken ear. The procedure took about a half hour and we talked with the patient and before we knew, the ear was in a specimen bottle and the remaining ear was stitched up. By removing the ear, Dr. Moorman hopes that the cancer was gone before it reached his head, but only a pathologist will be able to tell whenever he analyzes it. The procedure was so cool to watch and an end to another office day on St. Croix.
Day 25: A bright and early surgery day awaited us at the hospital as we walked into the O.R. at 8:15 Thursday morning. Dr. Moorman had two quick surgeries that Abbie and I scrubbed in on. The first case was a man that had drainage holes on his face after a major accident, that were now leaking puss and causing him discomfort. This type of procedure would have been done in the office, but this patient’s face was covered in burn tissue was the tough and hard to inject due to the intensity of his injuries. I had the opportunity to assist Dr. Moorman in suturing the patient’s face and it was definitely the hardest suturing experience of the whole internship because his skin was so hard to push the needle through and the sutures were breaking almost every time I went to tie a knot. The second case was a ganglion cyst that was deep in a woman’s left hand tendon sheath that was removed because of her discomfort. The last day in the O.R. was a bittersweet moment for Abbie and me, but also such a great experience for the us both. We finished the Thursday off with a fun night of Disco Bingo at one of the resorts on the island, the evening was filled with dancing, great food and five boards of bingo.
Day 26: The last day of island was another beautiful day at Rainbow Beach; Abbie, Stefan and I rented kayaks and another round of jet skiing for Abbie and I. Dr. Moorman had to go back to work in the E.R. for the day and picked Andreas up at the airport from his Denmark soccer tournament, while we spent the last day at the beach. After spending the whole day on the water, Abbie and I spent the remainder of the Friday packing and cleaning the apartment before leaving for the St. Croix airport at 6:00 a.m. the next morning.
Day 27: Our last alarms rang at 5:30 the next morning for us to get our butts out the door for our 8:00 a.m. flight. Dr. Moorman and Stefan took us to the airport where we said our last goodbyes and walked through security to go home. Three flights and six hours of layover later, Abbie and I stepped off the plane in Grand Junction where our families waited patiently at the gates. This internship was such an amazing opportunity; from meeting the wonderful Moorman family, to learning about medicine and making a great friend to travel the whole month with was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I’m so thankful for the Pinhead Institute to be able to experience this last month in St. Croix.
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