Personal Narrative: Cardiovascular Surgery

For most teenagers a normal day with their parents would include an activity like shopping or fishing. For me a normal day with my dad would last an hour at the most because of his cardiomyopathy. Cardiomyopathy is a heart disease which causes swelling, fatigue, and abnormal heart rhythm. In order to try and reduce the symptoms my father has had multiple surgeries.

We have all heard the phrase “back to the basics.” Perhaps the role of the foundations is undermined amidst the complexity that builds over those foundations. Nevertheless, the foundations are dramatically consequential and integral to any complex system that exists. Just as neural communication boils down to something as simple as the firing of a neuron, my passion for medicine boils down to the elementary: dire interest, especially in the human brain.

I woke up in the middle of the night and as I go down the hall, there I see in the living room, my dear mom. Awake in the middle of the night watching television as she cannot seem to find sleep. She suffers from insomnia, meaning she is unable to fall asleep or stay asleep at night. For as long as I can remember when my brother and I were little my mom was always very active. She was always on the go and was usually non-stop, very hardworking. It was up until about 11 years ago, she had a work-related accident and injured her lower back. She went to doctor after doctor to try and relieve her pain, but never seem to find it. I was in my high school years and those years teens always think they know it all and do not always pay attention to

As Friday was my first day starting my experience at the cardiac catheterization lab, I was quite nervous and curious about the different things that I would have to do considering in all my time volunteering at the hospital, I have been to the cath lab only one or two times. However, when I went to the lab I was warmly welcomed by some of the staff and I later met many of the nurses and doctors there as well. Everyone was very friendly and they were excited to have my help and to “train me.” In fact, one of the doctors I met wanted me to do some research regarding cardiac catheterization to “get me more involved in the field,” which is pretty exciting because I'm not very familiar with anything related to cardiology but I chose this specific

I could feel the smoldering hot sun on my shoulders as I approached the long jump runway. It was my third and final jump for trials, the deciding factor on whether I made it to the finals. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and took off! As I sprung off the board, I knew it was going to be a great jump. Suddenly, I landed and sensed an unbearable pain filled with screaming agony as I rolled in the sand. It was perhaps the most catastrophic and painful athletic injury I have ever experienced. As I looked up, things seemed to be moving in slow motion as my coach came running in. I received the most shocking news two days later that I had ruptured my ACL. Although I did not know it at the moment, this injury was going to have the greatest impact on my life that anything ever has.

Fast forward to 2014. I graduated High school, and I was enrolled at Collin College in McKinney, Texas. I was ecstatic to know this was the time where I could actually take the classes I wanted to take in order to achieve my lifetime goal of being in the medical field. After all my hard work, I finished all my basics and was awarded with my Associates Degree in Arts the Summer of 2017, along with my certification in Electrocardiography. This was my first step to achieving my lifelong dream. During my clinical process for EKG, it was a huge eye opener because not only was I positive this was where I belonged, but I also knew I wanted to go above and beyond my current ranking. In the meantime, while figuring out specifically what I wanted to move up to, I decided to go for my Patient Care Tech degree. This consisted of Electrocardiography, Certified Nursing Aide, and Phlebotomy. I have completed everything but Phlebotomy. I will complete everything

My heart pounded inside my chest as the doctor analyzed my knee for the first time since the incident. It appeared as though my career playing softball had concluded with one wrong twist of my body. He placed his brisk hands on my lower leg and I braced myself for the pain I assumed would follow. I would have been relieved from the lack of pain as he maneuvered my knee. That is- if I had not been inspecting the doctor’s weathered face, searching for any slight facial movement that would indicate an extensive injury. But with a furrow of his brow and a slight frown in the corner of his mouth, both his and my worst case scenario had been confirmed.

The most gratifying experience for me was my interaction with patients. Along the course of their hospital stay, I established a kind of relationship that allowed me to not only see them as patients, but to see them as real people. Each patient had a unique story; a story that defined them a individuals and that had led them to this point in their lives. The patient presenting with a Lupus flare was a 42-year-old female that had to give up her job and career because of the chronic disabilities the disease brought over the years. She had developed chronic kidney disease and was on dialysis waiting to match for a donor kidney. Over the years she had given up hope, and this attitude had an impact on her marriage. Her husband wanted to donate

Last week, around the same time, I gave a short introduction of myself. I gave a couple of random facts as well as stating the reason behind why I am taking this course and yes it is to transfer to Sacramento State. With all this education and work and countless hours of studying and my stress level slowly but surely rising, I don’t want to end up with a job, but a career. My dream career, one that I won’t hate to wake up to every morning, something I am passionate about and every day I go and work is all because of interest and passion. The career I speak of is to be a Critical Care Surgeon.

I was 11 months old at 9PM, when me and my parents were driving to a elegant restaurant. I was really excited in a playful naughty kind of way. As soon as I got out our motorcycle I ran through many motorcycle. I was about to touch a silencer of a bike that was really hot. My mom saw what I was about to do, so she grabbed me quickly by the hand and pulled me as hard as she could, but she made a mistake that she didn’t anticipate.

It felt amazingly rewarding to hear a patient, diagnosed with cerebral palsy, mention that he was able to print his name on a math exam for the first time that day; even though weeks prior, he wasn’t able to write his name at all. It was a simple skill, but the gratification on his face felt extremely meaningful and empowering to me even as a vicarious observer. This experience resonated with me in a manner that few professions have and I realized I have found the profession that best suits my purpose and interests in

For as long as I can remember, my mother has been a loving and caring person. But, also for that time, she was constantly in chronic pain. Even when she could barely get out of bed, she would put up her best foot and still care for me and my little sister. But, in the last couple of years, this has lead to surgery after surgery. Usually with little to no results (because she's diabetic, most of the time her body rejects whatever was put in to help her).

This class has taught me a lot, I was not sure if I was really to be part of the health care system. It always appeared to me as a very stressful and difficult field, but now I am convinced that it is worth the sacrifice. Additionally, knowing that the need for health care professionals continuous growing makes me feel more secure about my future on my health care career; I have decided to pursue a carrier in this field because careers in health care can be great sources of satisfaction (Mitchell and Haroun, 2012). Health care professionals perform valuable services that make significant contribution to the community; I decided to become a physical therapist assistant for the reason that it makes me feel helpful (Mitchell and Haroun, 2012).

My heart pumped as if it was victimized in a heart attack. The pulse seemed to be rising higher and faster as time shortened. I glanced back, sought out for clarity. You could see my shivering body stranded at the middle of the hall during the afternoon. All eyes on the overwhelmed kid, wondering to see what she has to say in the event. Was this really happening? I closed my eyes for a second, taking me back to early morning where this event took place.

My commitment to my present career and future aspirations started a sunny day almost about to complete high school. Most of my peers had made choices, I had always been inclined for biology and health care sciences. Making health care my life passion was ready on a hot afternoon when I saw firsthand how a life can be changed in and instant by a medical professional.