What does it feel like to operate on a human? (NSFW)

Every human I ever operated on was male, and claimed to like it. The only steak involved was tube steak, and there was no cutting.

I guess it would be similar to cutting raw meat, like chicken.

Well as probably the only person in this site who does this, it doesn’t “feel” like anything. I have a job to do. I put 100% of my concentration into the job to make sure that I don’t fuck it up and cause any complication. If I cause a complication part of the training is to know how to deal with it.

^^^ Bet they had to give you overtime training on that!

No frankly it’s just part of my job. Honestly you just concentrate on what you’re doing trying to do the job right. You try to cause as little discomfort as possible and go as quickly as is safe.

Okay, I’m at a computer now and can answer.
To do a surgery or a procedure it’s several phases. First, I explain the procedure to a patient and their family. I do what is known as an “informed consent” where I tell them the risks, benefits, and alternatives. If it’s an emergency, obviously, I skip this.

Then we make sure the patient is comfortable. Half of it is that you don’t want to create excessive discomfort, and half of it is that you don’t want them moving around when you have a needle stuck in them.

When I do the procedure, as I mentioned my attention is zoned into exactly what I am doing, although if I am responsible for any sedation I keep one eye on the patient’s clinical status. Audio helps with this as the oxygen saturation measurement has an audio component to it.

What I do is then do whatever I’m doing (central line, colonoscopy, lumbar puncture, whatever) and do JUST that. I can have a conversation when I’m doing it, but only because I’ve been doing these things for many years and can compartmentalize.

Cutting a person’s skin is very different than cutting meat because people bleed. So you have to be very careful to either avoid, tie off, or cauterize blood vessels. If blood fills your field, it makes things much harder.

If you want to know what cutting through skin feels like, get an exacto knife and cut through pigs skin. It’s about the same consistency.

Hope that helps.

^A dead pigs skin…

I remember cutting up fetal pigs in high school biology. I felt a little squeamish cutting the outer layer, but once I got inside everything was fine.

@MrGrimm888 Yes, if the pig is dead they won’t move around as much.