Dr. Nandini Sachdeva is a physician specializing in the field of Anesthesiology. As part of her surgical practice in Thunder Bay Health Sciences Center, she assesses patients before, during, and after surgery to ensure a pain free experience.
“When I was studying in high school, my brother suffered from an aneurysmal bleed. The selfless care that surgeons and physicians provided to him got me interested in this profession. He was in intensive care unit for months. All the scientific jargon was beyond my understanding at that time, but I had decided that I will contribute my life to this noble profession.
Usually patients are very anxious before surgery and my job is to bring humour during this stressful period to allay their anxiety.
A patient that had a very prominent impact on me was a 22 year old American soldier posted in Kuwait. He was admitted to the intensive care unit with malaria after he came back from Afghanistan. During my shift, his condition deteriorated and he suddenly drifted into shock. Further investigation revealed the cause of shock as splenic rupture. By that time, his condition had deteriorated drastically. He was on hemodynamic and respiratory support and his blood pressure was unrecordable. The surgeon refused to operate on him as he was on the oscillator and could not be safely transferred to the operating room. After an hour of interdisciplinary discussions, the team decided to do a splenectomy, understanding that mortality was 100%; all hope was lost.
However, the patient turned out to be a real soldier and the next day, he was stable and extubated. Despite all the pain, he participated in physiotherapy and was walking the next day. This incident taught me the most important lesson: practicing resilience against all odds.”
