Hello! Once again my name is Avery Wright. This is now my second week studying Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery under Dr. Gregory Moorman. I am here on the island of Saint Croix, but now with my luggage. I uploaded my last blog Saturday July 3rd, and I had not yet lived to write about my experiences of July 4th, but now I can do so.
Sunday July 4th the Moorman family took me to see Buck Island. The island is around 1.5 miles north of Saint Croix’s northeast coast. Above the water Buck Island is 176 acres of inhabited land, but beneath the water lies Buck Island Reef National Monument, which is 18,839 acres. There is a total of 19,015 acres of Buck Island to explore, and let me tell you I did. We arrived at Buck Island around 9:30 in the morning. The Moorman family and I anchored their boat on the North side of the island for around four hours. We spent those four hours paddle boarding, snorkeling, eating lunch, and sitting on the beach. At about 2:00 we made our way to the other side of the island to snorkel over the National Monument. Greg and Gabriella, the parents, snorkeled with me over the National Monument for about an hour. I got to snorkel with many different species of fish, but the ones that caught my eye the most were the squid and barracuda. The squad of squid, yes it is really called a squad, swam only a foot in front of me. The vibrant colors and the way they swam was amazing to watch. The barracuda on the other hand were not as amazing. Barracuda are predatory fish that are known for their “fearsome appearance and ferocious behavior,” according to Google. I can confidently say that the internet is right for once. Barracuda are terrifying fish that easily intimidate other fish and snorkelers. After about an hour of snorkeling we headed back for Saint Croix. Once we all showered and ate dinner, we headed to a beach on the west end of the island to watch the fireworks. All the locals took Monday off since the 4th of July was on a Sunday. Since Dr. Moorman is a surgeon, he had no patients to see on Monday, so we got the day off as well. I spent Monday July 5th wishing I had applied more sunscreen.
Tuesday July 6th and Wednesday July 7th were office days at The Moorman Aesthetic Center. Tuesday we were in the office from 9:30 to 5:30. Dr. Moormna performed botox, skin lesions, a hernia consultation, a hernia post operative appointment, and a abdominoplasty post operative appointment. Both patients from the post operative appointments had their surgeries performed before I arrived on the island. Although I had not watched their surgeries, I admired how fast the body heals in such little time. Tuesday was a day full of watching and inspecting. Wednesday however was full of hands-on procedures. We were at the office from 9:00 to 6:00 on Wednesday. Dr. Moorman removed melanoma, skin tags, and warts from patients. He also performed liposuction on a patient’s abdomen and another patient’s festoons. Festoons are a combination of skin laxity and small fat pockets that are located under the eye. Festoons are commonly referred to as eye bags.
Thursday July 8th was an operating day for Dr. Moorman. He had two carpal tunnel surgeries and a breast augmentation scheduled at Plessen Medical Center. Carpal tunnel syndrome, or CTS, is when there is pressure on the median nerve. The median nerve runs from the elbow to the palm. When it grows in size the carpal ligament will cause pressure on the median nerve. Dr. Moorman has to cut the carpal ligament and enlarge the carpal tunnel to allow space for the median nerve. Symptoms of CTS are numbness, tingling, burning, and pain. The photo above is from one of the carpal tunnel surgeries. The rigged looking tissue is the transverse carpal ligament that had just been cut, and the white tube underneath it is the median nerve. There is not a photo of the other CTS surgery, but it would have looked very similar to the photo above. The patient for the breast augmentation requested that no interns be in the operating room for their own comfort. Their decision was very important for them to feel relaxed in the OR.
Friday July 9th was another operating day at Plessen Medical Center. On Dr. Moorman’s schedule was a rhytidectomy (SMAS lift), or commonly known to society as a facelift. Dr. Moorman made an incision below the chin and in front of both ears. He then performed liposuction in those areas to remove the extra fat. Above is a photo of the patient’s right cheek after liposuction once all the fat was removed. After this photo, Dr. Moorman then pulled the loose skin tighter and performed sutures by the ear. When the swelling goes down and the patient is healed, their face will be more contourned, and their confidence will be raised. Once Dr. Moorman was finished with all the sutures, we changed out of our scrubs into swimsuits, and headed for Shoys beach (the photo above). We spent the rest of the afternoon on the sand and in the water. That night we went to Caribbean Cinemas to watch the newly released Black Widow film, which I highly recommend watching.
Saturday July 10th was a rest day for Dr. Moorman. While he rested a couple other interns and myself spent the day at Sand Castle’s beach. After the sun went down we made our way to Virgins Kayaks to explore a bioluminescent bay (the photo above is before our kayaking adventure). The bay was located in Salt River Bay National Historical Park. Salt River Bay is the bay where Christopher Columbus landed in 1493. Bioluminescence is a chemiluminescence that is the emission of light by a living organism. The bioluminescence was released by a type of plankton called bioluminescent dinoflagellates. The plankton releases the chemiluminescence to confuse its predators, or what it thinks is its predators. None of us were hunting the plankton, but whenever we put our hand in the water it was like we dyed it blue. The sight was indescribable, but it was the most beautiful image I have ever seen. We were even given nets to catch and release bioluminescent jellyfish that do not sting. The kayaking trip into the bioluminescent bay will be one of my favorite memories I have ever made. I will see you next blog.
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