Hi sorry that it was gibberish, I fixed it now. Things have been hectic due to standardized testing and adjusting to E-learning days, so I apologize for taking so long. So, without further adieu, chapter 2.
Ellis got assigned to cardio with one of the new cardio attendings, Dr. Tate. He led her through the halls and explained what he expected of his interns. He also told her that today he was doing surgery on a baby with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. He told her that if she proved that she was a productive intern that she could scrub in.
"Dr. Shepherd, can you tell me what hypoplastic left heart syndrome is?" He asked examining the small infant. Ellis smiled, she knew this one, it was easy.
"Hypoplastic left heart syndrome is a complex and rare congenital birth defect that causes the left side of the heart to be underdeveloped. Specifically, the left ventricle is affected. I can either be too small or not exist completely, depending on the severity of the case. In addition, the aortic and mitral valves are also too small. It affects normal blood flow through the heart. Commonly, a child with hypoplastic left heart syndrome will also have an atrial septal defect. Also-" She was cut off by the cardio surgeon.
"Thank you, Shepherd." He said impatiently.
"Sorry." She mumbled feeling embarrassed.
"It's okay Shepherd, you sound like you know your stuff. Can you tell me how it's treated?" He said with a small smile.
"Hypoplastic left heart syndrome can only be treated by surgery. The surgeries are done in three stages, a Norwood Procedure at the age of two weeks, Bi-Directional Glenn Shunt Procedure at the ages of 4-6 months, and a Fontan Procedure which is usually done between 18 months and 3 years. Some cases may even require a transplant." She looked at the small baby and assumed that he was going to be doing a Bi-Directional Glenn Shunt Procedure.
"I am going to be performing a Bi-directional Glenn Shunt Procedure. Can you give me an overview of that procedure? Please make it a brief overview." He said putting the baby back down in the small nursery crib.
"A Bi-Directional Glenn Shunt Procedure creates a direct connection between the pulmonary artery and the superior vena cava returning oxygen-poor blood from the upper part of the body to the heart. It reduces the work that the right ventricle has to do by allowing the blood that returns from the body to flow directly to the lungs." She answered quickly.
"Good Shepherd, you aren't completely useless. You can scrub in, go book an OR." He said. She smiled and rushed out of the room, bumping into somebody.
"Sorry, I have to go book an OR," Ellis said, picking up the chart.
"You're even more like your mother than we thought, scrubbing in on her first day." Ellis knew the voice from anywhere. She looked up to be met with a smirk and a mane of black curly hair.
"Aunt Cristina, what are you doing here?" She asked hugging Cristina.
"I got called to do a consult, and it's happened to be on my favorite Shepherd child's first day of work. So what is scrubbing in on on your first day of work." She said patting Ellis's shoulder.
"Bi-Directional Glenn Shunt Procedure!" Ellis said excitedly. Cristina smiled, cardio, she knew Ellis was destined for great things. She motioned for the chart and Ellis passed it along and went to go book an OR.
"So I heard about your fight in the intern locker room," Cristina said and smirked when Ellis froze. Ellis continued what she was doing until she heard a squeal and knew her mom had found Cristina. She smiled and went helped prepare the patient for surgery. After she finished she took a breath and stepped into the OR for the first time in her career.
I know it's short but I have so much work to do.