Last night's episode of "Grey's Anatomy" began with Amelia as the narrator. As I've said here a million times before, I always notice when a different character's voice opens the episode, because for years it was only Meredith.
This episode jumped back and forth between two surgeries - Amelia operating on Dr. Herman and Arizona doing her first solo fetal surgery.
Before heading into the OR, Amelia and Stephanie do power pose (also called super hero pose or Wonder Woman pose). This is an actual exercise, made famous by Harvard Business School professor Amy Cuddy. I had the pleasure of hearing her speak last year in Las Vegas. You can read more about her and power posing here.
As Amelia is preparing to begin the surgery, the doctors all file into the gallery to watch, including Dr. Kepner. She said, "Dr. Herman was with me on my worst day. I just wanted to be with her for hers."
About seven hours into the surgery, Amelia panics. She asks the Chief to get Derek onto a plane. She pleads, "My hubris is going to kill her."
The Chief responds with a monologue that reminded me of old school "Grey's." He says, "I can tell you right now what would happen if I called your brother. He would hop on a plane and seven hours from now, if she hadn't already herniated, Derek would come in here and he would take this surgery, your surgery, away from you. Then he would kill her. Because this is your plan. He wouldn't know where you have already been or where you need to go next. You are on your own here. No one can help you, and you do not need them to." I wanted to stand up and applaud.
With her confidence regained, Amelia resects the whole tumor. She then needs to plant seeds during a round of active radiation. She feels like she can't get a full grasp with her gloves on, so she takes one off.
Meredith, who has since joined her in the ER, comments:
Meredith: "That was . . ."
Amelia: "Really dumb?"
Meredith: "Nope. Badass."
Once the surgery is complete, Dr. Herman is brought to the ICU to recover. For days she doesn't wake up. Amelia continues to review the scans again and again. Then it's Stephanie who notices something and asks, "Did she have a stroke?"
Dr. Herman does finally wake up and when Amelia asks if she knows where she is, she quips, "Is that you, Mommy?" She has a giant bandage around her head and she's still cracking jokes.
She immediately asks Arizona how the fetal surgery went. Arizona gives her the full recap and Dr. Herman says, "I knew I picked the right horse."
Arizona is fighting back tears and she asks, "Can you see anything? Anything at all?" Dr. Herman calmly answers, "No. Nothing. Completely blind." Oh man!
Relieved that Dr. Herman was alive, and that Arizona survived her first solo fetal surgery, I was feeling food. That is until I saw the previews for next week. It seems that Owen gives emergency medical advice to a 11 year old over the phone.
*Images courtesy of they Grey's Anatomy Facebook page.
