In our first day of lab, we fit all 115 people in there. It was super crowded. The bodies were not just hanging around out in the open, but were in big metal coffin type thingys. So the tension is building. For many of us, it’s the first time to see a cadaver. I ofcourse want to see someone pass out but not me. I made sure to eat breakfast that morning and am now shifting the weight between my legs. I look retarded but I’d look even more retarded if I passed out. The metal coffins are opened.
The face is covered, thank god, and so is the lower genitalia. Judging by just the chest, our group of 6 highly intelligent men decide it’s a dude. We pick out a name to ease the tension. A unanimous decision is made for “Herman.” Why Herman? Why not!
So we turn the cadaver over so the face is now looking down. I see a blister on his butt and use a probe to touch it and it unexpectedly bursts. I barely hold my lunch down. Our first cut needs to be made. A 1/2 inch incision from the back of the head down to about the buttocks. Everyone chuckles nervously and no one makes the first move. A good friend of mine, BB, says “You do it Brownmedstudent!” Thanks good friend. Thanks a lot. Jerk. I get handed the scalpel and make the first piercing at the back of the head.
It’s insane how easily a scalpel can go into the back of someone’s head. I make the incision down the back of the neck along the spine down to where I need to stop. Time to pass on the scalpel and we make transverse cuts from the original cut towards the arms. Basically we are sectioning off this guy’s back. We really just need to clean up the back today. Everyone else is surprised by how easily he’s cut with a sharp scalpel.
Herm didnt’t look like a big guy. Big guys mean fat. Fat is hard to remove to identify structure. We were sadly mistaken. Herm is the fattest dude in the gross lab. His skin hides it so well. The professor comes over and tells us if we need a place to put the scalpel, just put it into his butt cheek. Strange, yet satisfying. I mention something about how human fat looks like popcorn butter. Since then 3/6 people in my group have sworn off of popcorn. Strangely, I am hungry. In fact, every day I get hungrier when I enter the gross lab.
Toward the end of the lab another med student comes over and asks how the dissection was on HER. We say it’s a dude. Then we look down at the genetalia. Herm’s a she. Wow. We will eventually find out the cause of death for the cadavers later, but ideas are rushing through my mind. Died during a sex change operation was the best one I could think of. Someone mentions renaming it to Mrs. Garrison. I’ve grown fond of Herm. When cleaning up the cadaver I catch a glimpse of Herm’s face. It really sends shivers down my spine and it may have been the closest I’ve come to passing out that day.
Just a quick sidenote, but I’d like to reiterate that we respect these cadavers to the utmost degree. Without the greatest of all donation these people have made, your future physician might have to rob graves like back in the ol’ days. We will eventually have a burying ceremony with the families when we are done with their cadavers. I wanted to make a mention to thank the people and their families who have donated. It has seriously made me consider doing it myself.
We clean up, and I realize that the soap dispensors dont work. Wonderful. We leave and I see girls outside the hallway sitting down with their head between their knees. Couldn’t take the cadavers eh? That’s one victory for brownmedstudent. Another thing worth mentioning is the smell. It’s horrible. Just horrible. And it sticks to your clothes and skin. People will get away from you in an elevator or in any close quarters situation. I can’t seem to describe the smell, but once you smell it once, you’d never forget it.
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