The Utmost Gratitude

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Yesterday was the last day of my favorite class I have ever taken, anatomy lab. It was a tough course, no doubt, but a class that left me with so much knowledge and appreciation for the human body.

I feel a new sense of accomplishment now that I know every little ridge of each bone in the body, each muscle along with its action and origin/insertion, every organ along with its detailed information, nearly every artery and vein, the major nerves and their pathways, I know so much more than I did just a mere 4 months ago. What are the tassels coming off the large intestine? Epiploic appendages! What separates the cerebrum and cerebellum? Tentorium cerebelli! What's the the smooth part of the patella called? Articular surface! What chamber separates the right atrium and right ventricle? Tricuspid valve! What muscle depresses the eye and moves it laterally? Superior oblique!

Anatomy has always been my favorite thing in the world. I just like knowing the pieces and parts of us, and how it all works together. But there is something I love about anatomy lab over lecture any day.

Cadavers.

"Don't take your organs to heaven with you. Heaven knows we need them here."

You see, I really, really, really love cadavers. While many people are repulsed and uncomfortable around a dead body, I am in my element. The human body is beautiful, miraculous proof of God. Every part works together in the most magnificent, inexplicable way. There is no way you can really learn the blood pathway through the brain without holding a brain in your hands, looking at the Circle of Willis. Tracing the brachial plexus from ventral rami to nerve makes so much more sense when you lift the medial and lateral cords to see the posterior cord. Placing a lung back in the pleural cavity is such a thrill.

Besides a wealth of knowledge, this class left me giving endless thanks to those who chose to donate their body to science. It would be impossible to learn what I must without a real body in front of me. Models are exactly that, models. They display each artery and vein and muscle and nerve in textbook position, with no deviance. But with each cadaver, there is a story. You can see staples from a heart bypass surgery or a cirrhotic liver and wonder about their lifestyle. You see an extra branch on the subclavian artery and think about how they probably went their whole lives without knowing about their extra feature. You see a lack of appendix and gallbladder, and think, was it gallstones or an inflamed appendix or both? You see a small tumor-like ball on a kidney, a result of cancer, and hope that they had friends and family by their side as they fought the beast. You see a Marine Corps tattoo, and then, he is a veteran. You can see a small but visible scar across the uterus of a female from a Cesarean, and she is suddenly a mother. Her fingernails are still painted, red with gold polka dots. Her hands callused from years of work. She is no longer just a body, but a person who had a family, friends, a life. They all are.

But they all also made the decision to be part of something more than themselves. The gave their bodies to science so that people like me, a 19-year old undergrad student, could further their educations and become the doctors, nurses, researchers, and ponderers of the complex and amazing body who will one day, find cures to their many maladies.

 I am just about finished with a book, Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, and I am in complete awe. We need cadavers. Not just for students, but for grafts, for tissue, for safety testing, for decomposition studies, for so much more.

Donating life is the most selfless thing a person could ever do. Imagine dying and having a domino effect of impacts around the world, through others.  Perhaps your organs will be donated to those who were just plain unlucky and have diseases beyond their control. Perhaps you will donate a joint to a professional athlete. Maybe your body will be one doctors practice a revolutionary operation on that ends up saving hundreds upon hundreds of lives. Your body could be what saves several from dying in cars due to a safety issue. Your body could be seen on exhibit and inspire children to go into science, an unending frontier.

The cadavers I worked with this semester aided in my pursuit of medicine. Whether I was holding their hearts or reviewing the muscles of their upper arm, I felt that excitement that every student should feel when doing what they love, along with that peace, knowing I was in the right field of study. As I finished up my last exam yesterday, where structures were tagged and I worked to identify cranial nerves and renal pyramids, I gave silent thanks and prayers to these people, thanking them for their gift to people they never even knew. I thanked them for trusting and believing in the future. I thought of their families and prayed for their peace.

I will never forget these four people. Their gift of life has left me forever indebted. They were my first "patients", of sorts. From them, I learned more than just anatomy. I discovered the rich diversity of life within, and with that diversity, the beauty of how we all work. Life is something to be celebrated. With increased respect and compassion, I am left humbled.

xo
Hannah

To learn more about body donation, contact your local medical school. Find the list here
To learn more about organ donation, go here
And if you're living and want to give, contact ME to get on the national bone marrow registry!
And always, contact your local blood bank. There is an especially large need for blood this time of year!