I went thru substantial surgery this Monday and I am happy to say that it went quite well! Yeah, more time to spend on earth to learn cool stuff with your friends! Although I feel like if someone strokes me in the head with a baseball bat, I cannot resist sharing about 3 impressive devices used before, during and after the procedure. This may be old news to you, but it felt like magic to me! First the CT scan. What’s new? Well, my surgeon was using a real-time CT scanner in the operation room! No need to establish precise 3D maps prior to the surgery and then have your head stuck into vices (which definitively adds to the post-op feel like if a truck ran over you). But what bluffed me the most was the vein viewer used to find the best vein for the IV lines. The handheld scanner uses near-infrared rays to make your veins literally glow on your skin’s surface! Witchcraft :). The third and last remarkable device uses Intermittent Pneumatic Compression (IPC) to help prevent blood clots in the deep veins of the legs. Inflatable cuffs are placed around the legs and are filled with air in a specific sequence to squeeze your legs, increasing blood flow through the veins to prevent blood clots, especially during long surgeries and recoveries. Speaking of which, before diving into recovering for the rest of the week, I could not fight firing-up Mathematica to false color one of my CT scans. I will blame it on the baseball bat 😉

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