Before undergoing knee surgery last week, I asked the nurses and doctors in the room how many procedures they do every day. I couldn't believe the answer.

I had my procedure done at Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls, where I found out they do (on average) between 70 and 80 surgeries a day. Combine that with the procedures being performed at Sanford Health (which they estimated to be somewhere around 100 a day) and you've got yourself a heck of a business.

And that's just here in Sioux Falls. Can you image how many surgeries are done on a daily basis at a place like the Mayo Clinic or the Cleveland Clinic?

It wouldn't have been that long ago when they would've made me spend the night in the hospital after having meniscus surgery. Not anymore. Now it's a one-day procedure. I walked into the building at 5:30 AM, went under the knife at 7:00 AM and was home before Noon.

You take into consideration how many people are involved with every surgery done and it's no wonder the medical field is growing the way it is.

I wonder what my grandparents would think if they could see how medicine has changed since they were here. It makes me wonder what it'll be like 15 or 20 years down the road.

All I know is thank God for all those who choose to go into the field of medicine. If it weren't for you we'd be in (what my grandpa used to say) "a sorry state of hurt."


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