I witnessed a particularly interesting surgery this past week. The patient was a larger man in his fifties who had developed cancer in the bones holding his shoulder together. Since the tumor had spread to several areas in both the soft and boney tissue, Dr Healey and his team decided to remove the entire region in an epic 13-hour surgical procedure. I was actually not present for much of the surgery, but was able to observe the shoulder excision, which was somewhat of a momentous occasion. Excited by the unusually large specimen, the staff spent the next few moments taking pictures of it on their phones. I found myself eyes-wide open, gawking at the hunk of tissue. A prosthetic was later implanted into the area, and wound closing would take another 3-4 hours.
I have not followed up on the status of the patient, but I hope that he is doing fine.
Since my project has been getting virtually no leeway due to a fine bureaucratic mess, Dr. Healey suggested that I give a short talk on an emerging metastasis topic of my choosing. I have been instructed to "blow the [Fellows'] minds." So I have scheduled my presentation on Friday, July 27th at the weekly Orthopaedic Service lecture. I haven't chosen my my subject yet, but I may do a short review on what is currently known about the pre-metastatic niche. Hopefully they like what they hear!
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