Miller or Mac?

So this month I've been trying to get better at intubating patients with the Miller blade. The Miller blade is this straight blade and the Macintosh is the curved blade. To me, the curvy blade fits in the mouth better. You have to put it all the way down the patient's throat until you get to their epiglottis (you know, the little valve that keeps food from going into your lungs). Anyway,so with most people you can use either blade, but some people have way too much tissue in the back of their throat or the epiglottis is really big and floppy,then you have to use a Miller. The Miller is a challenge. It's like the bad boy in high school that you couldn't resist dating because you knew you could make him fall in love with you, even though he's had a long line of girlfriends.

There's this whole attitude about laryngoscope blades in anesthesia: The Macintosh is for beginners and the Miller is for the pros. I don't really buy into all that because some of our most seasoned anesthesiologists use the Mac, but still, I'd like to get to a point where in an emergency, I could use any blade someone handed me to intubate. I've had a bunch of failed intubations trying to use the Miller, but today, I got all of them. They were easier airways to intubate, but at least that's a start.

So I put this young guy to sleep today who was absolutely scared to death. Tatoos all over his body, and yet he is freaked out about having surgery. Much to his surprise, he didn't remember anything about the surgery and couldn't believe the surgery was over when I woke him up. Before the surgery, I promised him it would be that way, but I could tell he didn't believe me. Ha! I love being right.