Grey's Anatomy: How to save a life

What if I told you that watching Grey's Anatomy could help you save a life? What if I told you that watching Grey's Anatomy helped me save my sister's life? The American TV- series Grey's Anatomy's title was inspired by the human anatomy textbook first published in 1858 called Gray's Anatomy. The title also alludes to the show's main character, Meredith Grey. The show focuses on the personal and professional lives of surgical interns, residents, and their medical mentors. The show also focuses on the trials they face inside and outside the hospital. First debuted in 2005 on ABC Network, Grey's Anatomy is one of the longest-running tv shows in American history as it tackles many issues we face in this Society today. In this paper, I will be talking about how with the help of this show, I was able to help save my sister's life and how this shows debunks the ideology that women can't have it all.

In this day and age, we spend countless hours on media; whether it's going on social media apps or watching movies and shows, we are exposed to different ideas, biases, and knowledge. While watching Grey's Anatomy, I noticed that one of the ideologies that this show debunks is that women can't have it all. When it comes to career-wise and personal, this is because the show's main character Meredith Grey is one of the best Surgeons at the hospital. The show follows her progress from being an intern until she became the Head of General surgery. Meredith is a great example, but she is not the only one; countless other female doctors in the show make extraordinary discoveries, help diagnose and save lives, and are still great mothers and wives. Growing up and watching this show, the women in it became role models because they had the willpower and perseverance to stay in a male-dominated field. I'm sure other women today who are also watching this show agree that it's inspiring to see these women do the impossible.

During the summer of 2021, my sister, mother, and I traveled to Somalia for my sister's wedding. A few weeks into our stay in Mogadishu, Somalia, My sister got attacked by a thief in front of my grandparent's house. The thief stabbed her directly where her heart is located but from behind. We rushed her to the closest hospital. By the time we got to the hospital, she had already lost too much blood. Without taking any scans, the nurses at the hospital decided to stitch her up. My family and I noticed that her stomach was swelling up. We immediately decided to take her to a better hospital; when we got to the other hospital, all the doctors got together and decided to run multiple tests. None of the doctors noticed her stomach swelling up, and when we brought it up to them, they cast it aside. We all thought to ourselves, "that's it, she won't survive this." I went to go and see her in the procedure room to check up on her, and I noticed that her stomach was getting bigger and bigger; I called the general surgeon into her room so he could do another check-up and so I could bring up the fact that her stomach swelled up a second time. The doctors only focused on the surface of her wound, not how deep the knife went into her body. I suggested that they take an ultrasound and check why her stomach was swelling up. They took the ultrasound and saw that she was bleeding into her stomach because the knife cut through an artery, leading to her bleeding into her abdomen. They also noticed that the knife cut through her spleen, and her spleen had to be taken out. After my sister was done with her surgery and in recovery, I sat down and thought about how if I didn't watch Grey's Anatomy, I wouldn't have known to stick to my gut feeling like Dr. Teddy Altman.

In this short clip, we see Dr. Teddy Altman save the life of her coworker Dr. Deluca, "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFuNM8dOhMo," in this scene of one of the residents' deaths in season 17, episode 7. Dr. Deluca died from being stabbed by a sex trafficker. Deluca was stabbed precisely like my sister and suffered from the same complications. This was the last season I watched before going to Mogadishu, Somalia. After treating her stab wound, the doctors didn't know how to proceed with my sister's treatment. That is when it clicked for me, I remembered the episode where Dr. Deluca got stabbed. Dr. Teddy Altman took him into surgery. She saw that he was bleeding into his abdomen, which was the case. I suggested to the doctors that she may be bleeding into her abdomen. This example resists the idea that women can't be extraordinary doctors and excellent mothers. Dr. Altman has two children, and she also served in the military. In this case, Dr. Deluca was diagnosed by Dr. Altman, the Head of Trauma surgery, who is a strong female lead surgeon in the show. I chose this scene because this specific episode helped me diagnose my sister, and It also showed that women can be surgeons and have a life of their like men. Women get questioned every day if they balance it all, but men never get asked the same question.

This second clip, "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2QNnmGMnMwi," is a scene from season 14, episode 7. Dr. Meredith Grey won the Harper Avery award for surgical innovation. Meredith, who Ellen Pompeo portrays, is the main character of Grey's Anatomy. We have seen Meredith through internship, residency, and now as a surgical attending physician. During surgeries, Dr. Grey came up with many techniques, such as the Grey method and many more techniques. Dr. Grey's main goal was to advance skills and aid medical innovations. Dr. Grey took on a lot of risky cases that other surgeons were afraid to tackle. Dr. Grey and Dr. Pierce did a groundbreaking bowel transplant together, which is what got Dr. Grey the Harper Avery award. Dr. Grey had three children lost her whole family, including her husband, but she still managed to be one of the most groundbreaking surgeons in the world.

Some people might say the men and women in the show are equal and that I'm emphasizing the women in the show. But, this show immensely represents diverse female doctors who have accomplished more for the medical world than the men in their field while constantly being doubted because of their gender. Female characters like this are what we need in this Society so they can set the bar high for all our women no matter what and teach them that anything is possible. This show has helped me in many aspects of my life. It helped me save my sister's life, and it also showed that women can have it all if they choose to be just like men. Women are always assumed to be nurses but not surgeons because Society believes that women are not cut out to be surgeons. This Society also believes that women are not smart enough, and this show teaches us every day that women can also save lives and go home right after and be mothers and have their own lives.