Mr. Arnold

Mr. Arnold is a patient who had to have heart surgery while awake.

History
Mr. Arnold was in the hospital to have a catheter threaded up through his leg to open up a blockage. However, they found complete blockage, so they had to open up his chest. Before his surgery could be completely, he developed malignant hyperthermia, so they were forced to stop and take him off anesthesia. He was upset because they believed they'd be unable to operate and he'd be sick until he died.

Because he couldn't have the surgery under general anesthesia, Cristina proposed that they use a high thoracic epidural to numb him from the chest down so he could breathe on his own and they could still do the surgery. Because hospitals made him so nervous, Mr. Arnold was reluctant to agree to the surgery, but they convinced him to do it so he could see the ivory-billed woodpecker.

During his surgery, he was given music to listen to so he wouldn't have to hear the sound of the saw and a picture of a bird to look at. He became nervous at how many people were watching him have surgery and began to panic, which made his heart race. Izzie calmed him down by having him pretend that the people were birds and that he was the one watching them. That calmed him down so they could complete his surgery.

Notes and Trivia

 * He was an avid birdwatcher and longed to see an ivory-billed woodpecker.