Today, I put my first stitch into the skin of a human being. It may or may not have looked very like or unlike the above umbilicus. Sure, the attending may have quipped good-naturedly as I started the first knot, "Boy, I could have gone on Christmas vacation already" before laughing then just saying, "Hahaha - just kidding. I love med students." When I finished the knot he asked when I had learned to suture, and I said mostly last week, but that this was the first time I'd ever been able to assist in closing on a person, he said, "Oh really! Well, good job then." My resident made me feel even better when she said, "And his first closing was deep in a bellybutton, not some straight, superficial incision like my first time." Yes, third year is a lot of work. We moved from one surgery to another for eight hours straight with no room for a meal, and only time for one bathroom break toward the end of the day. I'm not sure if that is normal or not, but I am enjoying it nonetheless. I did let my blood sugar and hydration levels get too low today, though. Had a sharp, cracking headache all day that slowly built into a blinding, pounding migraine by the end of the day. Now, I'm settling down to some nice, passive lectures to finish out the day. On the back burner is the case report that is due next Wednesday, along with the many chapters of reading that I haven't quite gotten to... What about your first stitch??? Tell us more about it, post it now
