Ordinary but complicated
THIS WEEK’S WINNER
Emmalyn Mae P. Abedan is a fresh graduate from UP Diliman and is nearing her first day at work. She took up sociology “because it is a rare course offered by universities in the Philippines and because it is a social science just like psychology, which is my first interest… I used to have a pet cat named Tamern but she got lost and never came back a couple of years ago. A young hermit crab also became a pet but it died a year ago. We are looking forward to having a pet again.”
We look for medicine to be an orderly field of knowledge and procedure. But it is not. It is an imperfect science, an enterprise of constantly changing knowledge, uncertain information, fallible individuals, and at the same time lives on the line. There is science in what we do, yes, but also habit, intuition, and sometimes plain old guessing. The gap between what we know and what we aim for persists. And this gap complicates everything we do.
—Atul Gawande, Complications
Book bargains. How I was able to get hold of the book happened on an ordinary weekday while I was strolling in my favorite book bargain store and looking for nothing in particular. I was feeling gloomy that day and the thought of a new book would be an appropriate antidote to what seemed like a very stressful day at school. Thankfully, I was not wrong. From the moment I laid eyes on the cover and the title, I did not let go of it. That was two years ago.
It is ironic that I dream of becoming a doctor when I have just graduated with a degree in sociology. I guess it is a “late-bloomer dream,” if there is such a label. My maternal grandmother always wanted me to become a doctor someday. That was when I was in my elementary days, completely apathetic to universities, courses, degrees, and professions.
In short, I did not aspire to become a doctor and easily concluded that math and science subjects were too complicated for me to handle and excel in. I had other dreams back then. I remember that I wanted to be a cab driver, a subway driver, a pilot, a writer, a poet, a painter, and a journalist; anything but professions that sounded like a daily conversation with numbers and mathematical operations. The irony started back in my college days when I started watching the Grey’s Anatomy TV series and enjoyed the intense drama incorporated within it. I aspired to wear my own scrubs and take hold of surgical instruments. I aspired to be in the same position as the surgeons on the show. I wanted to do operations and help patients get better and cured. It was then that I realized I was becoming interested in the facets of medicine. I knew it was possible to pursue but I also vowed to finish my chosen degree in the social sciences. To pursue the interest by diverting to other outlets was my plan.
And since I am a self-confessed bookworm, I began reading whatever medicine-themed books that I could find. That included Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science by Atul Gawande, a real-life surgeon himself.
Informative. Powerful. Demystifying but glorifying at the same time. The book, woven from real and firsthand experiences, is simply amazing. Atul Gawande lets his readers view the real drama behind operating rooms. He is so keen on details that it made me think, “When exactly did he write those accounts, on or right after an operation that he joined?” Right after reading a chapter, it felt like I also experienced a surgery firsthand. “Have I just become a surgeon right there?”
The book is not only thick literally, but figuratively as well. It is thick with information and wit. And don’t forget the medical jargon, from hernia to stapling to episiotomy. It is full of juicy surgical details including the memories of surgeons who come and go in the operating rooms. Atul Gawande made mention not only of his own experiences but also of his colleagues and remarkable patients. Various dimensions and perspectives are shown making the stories well-rounded. Really, the 14 chapters may have wracked my mind with all the unfamiliar terms but it left me hanging and wanting more. I even wished that Atul Gawande would write another book.
The power element comes in when emotions overflow beyond the four walls of the hospital. What could be more intense than the rollercoaster ride of emotions evoked by surgical procedures and rehabilitations? Both the surgeon and the patient share joyous and sorrowful emotions: smiles and feelings of relief for successful operations, pain, hurt, or anger for mistakes and failures, pressure and discomfort in pre-operation moments.
Surgeons hold the lives of people in their hands. Who feels no pressure? Who feels no hint of nervousness? Who feels not even a slight ounce of fear? There is enough intensity and power in every story. Some chapters are short but the length itself does not speak for every story. Surely, there is something in every narration that gets your adrenaline going. I felt for every surgeon. I felt for every patient. I felt for family members. I felt their complications: complications brought by combinations of successes, celebrations, failures, and imperfections.
Even science is imperfect. This is implied by Gawande himself. Nothing and no one is perfect — not science, medicine, nor doctors. While we look at science as the answer to every circumstance inside the human body, it has its own share of mystery. While we look at medicine as the healer, it has its fair share of uncertainty. While we proclaim doctors as gods, they are, after all, still human beings like each and every one of us. They do not have the answers to everything. They are capable of making wrong decisions, wrong moves, and wrong cuts. They are not perfect. That is how Atul Gawande puts it.
He narrates several instances where he and his colleagues were unable to make sound decisions due to pressure and rarity of incident occurrence. On the operating table, science can become mysterious and answers can’t be grasped when time is significantly at risk. Surgeons take all the blame and gratitude. They take all the ups and the downs. They take the best of both worlds. Surgeons or doctors are facades of how imperfect science and medicine can be while the former are mere human beings who have their own mistakes, biases, aspirations, and even personal lives.
I thought what Gawande wanted to convey to readers is that for every right move of doctors, they learn; and for every wrong move, all the more that they learn and persevere. They are imperfect, but what can be more perfect than their imperfections made to improve by learning from their complicated experiences inside operating rooms? The author is able to demystify and glorify surgery and science at the same time.
Complications is as phenomenal as it is heart warming. It serves as an eye opener to the world of laboratory gowns, scissors, and anaesthesias. It uncovers medical and surgical drama in a surgeon’s ordinary day. While we dream of our own aspirations, surgeons dream of getting through the next operation and saving another life. While we review our school lessons, surgeons research on innovative surgical procedures potentially helpful for their patients. While we have problems, surgeons also have problems possibly lighter or generally heavier ones than what we have.
