Mancuso: Summer Immersion Week VII

Starting off my seventh week of summer immersion I decided to try something new; I received surgery on my left wrist. Months ago I had fallen playing basketball and damaged my wrist. At the time I thought it was sprained and didn’t see a doctor. When I finally did go, I found out I had a nonunion fracture of my left scaphoid bone (a little bone which sits behind the thumb). Because of the move down to New York I ultimately decided to wait and get the problem fixed there.

The experience was not as fun as the rest of summer immersion; apparently watching surgery, imaging, and lab tests are more fun than having them performed on you. Over the course of my treatment I ended up receiving a CT Scan, an MRI, and several x-rays. While all of these imaging procedures were painless and easy the entire process of getting all the appointments did take weeks to complete. I’m not sure where the engineering solution lies, but it seems like this whole process could be streamlined and made more efficient by somehow providing patients quicker access to these tools.

After eventually obtaining all of the imaging needed to decide on a proper course of action two surgeons both suggested the same procedure. They told me my wrist was most likely to heal quickly and correctly if an autograft from my hip was taken and inserted into the space between the fractured bones. This whole mess would then be screwed closed and I’d be left with some cool new hardware and a sweet scar. After going through the information I consented to the procedure and scheduled to have it done.

The process of actually going for the surgery wasn’t too bad. The only difficult part was actually walking into the OR and seeing everybody surrounding me. Having been on the opposite side I never realized how overwhelming the number of people present for a surgery could be. With everyone busy around me doing all sorts of different things; including sticking me with needles and getting scalpels ready it was difficult to remain calm. Eventually they put me under anesthesia though and I’m a little fuzzy on the details from there on.

Recovery has progressed quickly considering all that was done. My wrist is already painless, though the bone will take months in a cast to heal fully. My hip hurt a lot at first, but is also rapidly returning to normal. After surgery I was able to return to work the next day; albeit in a little more pain; and accomplish some paperwork on my research project. While the project is not completely finished I’ve made some considerable progress towards completing it and both advisors in New York and Ithaca seem happy with my progress.

Finally receiving the surgery I needed made an excellent end to summer immersion showing me medicine from the other side. As a patient myself it was immediately much easier to relate. My research project with Dr. Cesarman provided me access to a more clinical side of research then I’ve ever seen and taught me a toolbox of new techniques. Overall my progress has been successful and hopefully with a little more work will lead to publication. Further, we’ve received a small pilot grant through the Weill Cornell Clinical and Translational Pilot center to continue the project.

This program has provided an excellent opportunity and served as a great crash course in medicine. During these seven weeks I was able to learn much more than if I had remained in Ithaca and the experience has helped me develop as a researcher. Thanks to Dr. Wang, Dr. Frayer, Belinda Floyd, and Mitch Cooper for all their time setting this program up; it ran great!