I've lived in Columbia since August of 2001. I won't leave until May of 2010. That's a long time. And in that time (up to now at least) I have moved into seven places and out of six. Baring any terrible event, I don't plan on moving again until I graduate. (That May of 2010.) I was thinking back last night on the places that I have lived and the pros/cons of them.
1-Schurz Hall-MU campus-Room 210-August 2001-May 2002-I shared a 10'x10' (or was it 12'x12'?) room with a small girl from Canada. Things went well for the most part. I think the most annoying part was that most of the time we also shared the room with her very large black boyfriend, Scorpio. He was there alot for going to school three hours away.
2-Schurz Hall-MU campus-Room 220-August 2002-May 2003-I shared this small space with Martha. I think/know that a lot more yelling went on in this room but there was no black boyfriend to deal with at least. Martha and I were good friends and I think having her as a roommate at one point was great.
3-Holiday House-109 N. Stadium, Apartment 38-August 2003-August 2004-I lived in this apartment with Bizzaro Leslie. Despite being older, the apartment itself was nice. The pool was nice. The halls however always smelled terrible and often had loose children running through them. Children that were under three years old and locked out of their own apartments and would take the chance of going through an unlocked door if available. This place had a ghetto bus that took me into school and was close enough to walk to Hy-Vee even though I drove. This is where I learned that I didn't like having a roommate. The water was always being shut off for one reason or another. Our mail was stolen once. And I was yelled at by our crazy downstairs neighbor, Terry (who I still occasionally see and am terrified of) at 6am one day because my roommate was using the 'exercise machine'. Even though someone was stabbed (to death I think) in the parking lot, it still made a good starter apartment.
4-401 S. College Apartment B-August 2004-August 2005-I lived alone in a studio in an old white house that had been converted into apartments. Upstairs were three guys, next door was a creepy drunk that was deaf and kept odd hours and had OCD tendencies and downstairs was a girl that one night I ran into in the dark in the back yard. I literally wet myself. My studio was always cold but had huge bills! I had a cool front and back door. The back door I had to break into once when I locked my keys in the apartment. There was a closet under the stairs (that went up to the upstairs apartment) in which I could hide if there was a tornado. There was a porch. Misti and Greg were the coolest landlords and helped me out to find another one of their places when I was dumb and didn't resign the lease for this one. I didn't know what was going on. I would later see the downstairs apartment in my quest to find Joe a place. Stars aligned that day and the guy downstairs had lived previously upstairs and then in the 5 place after me too. And he liked Tom Waits. I forget the reason Joe didn't take the place.
5-2400 S. Providence Apartment B-August 2005-August 2006-After foolishly not resigning my lease, Greg and Misti put me up in one side of a duplex. It sat nestled in the woods and no one knew where it was. It was hot in the summer (because I was afraid of the AC unit in the wall) and very cold in the winter. This is where the den of warmth was invented. Occasionally, the kitchen light would fall down. I had a yard and deer frequently visited and scared me. My neighbor wasn't often home but was always pregnant. Unlike the studio, which was cool-y decorated, I didn't really bother to hang much of anything up here as this was supposed to be temporary...which became a year. Frei decorated my front porch one morning for my birthday while I was milking and the gas man came by later to turn back on the gas (a problem that wasn't all that rare) and said it was his birthday too. One 4th of July, I found a dead cat in the driveway.
6-Providence Hill Apartments-2305 S.Providence Apartment J-August 2006-August 2008-This was supposed to be my home for the entirity of vet school. I could have my dog. I had vaulted ceilings and all the AC/heat I could handle. I had a washer/dryer. It was nice even after Riley ate holes in the walls and Roosevelt destroyed the carpet. I think that its a close tie between this place and the studio of which I liked better. This was the only place that I had lived at longer than a year.
7-Providence Hill Apartments-2319 S. Providence Apartment B-August 2008-present-Something must of charmed me about moving in with Joe because here I am. Living across the parking lot from my old place has its advantages. Sharing rent makes it cheaper. I have a covered parking space. I have internet. Still have cable. Still have all of the AC/heat I can handle. The washer and dryer are here but if the washer decides to spin is another story. There are no holes in the walls-giant scratch marks yes. Ruined carpet, yes. I do however have some rather rude neighbors that never know where their parking spot is. Joe and I are always plotting revenge on them for that and for the loud parties/music. I think we plan on staying here until I graduate. Mostly because Joe hates moving.
[EDIT-originally published to Blogger-12/24/11]
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Friday, December 19, 2008
MySpace-December 19, 2008-Still 12 Years Old
It may surprise you but I think about horses. A lot.
And even though I have a barn full of my own, they never capture my imagination as much as when they aren't around. And even though, I am on equine and have basically unlimited access to horses, I think about them even more.
I've always written about them. About fast race horses, about slow racehorses. Even stories that didn't involve horses up front somehow found a way to have a horse included in them. My high school history teacher found it amazing that every project that I did, that I managed to sneak the role of the horse in there somehow.
Anyway, I'm still thinking about horses all of the time. Making me like many 12 year old girls out there.
And now in the clinic, even though somewhere deep in my heart I know that some horses won't make it to live a better life, even though I know that some horses will end up in the big green pasture in the sky, I can't help but to think about what they were before or what the could be. I look at the skin and bones draft horse and can only picture him big and strong pulling something in the field, pulling a log out of the forest. I look into his deep brown eyes with their inch and half long lashes and see only peace and kindness. His muzzle was so soft. I can't see him for what he was-sick. But I still know that not having to live the pain any longer was the best.
I look at my racehorse and know that the surgery we did won't keep him on the track forever. But maybe one more season. One more summer of breaking through the gate, going around the turn and into the home stretch winning by a nose. I hope that's enough for him. I hope that after that he can live a life well deserved.
I think I'll always have a place in my heart for horses. I can't help but see the beauty that they hold. The way they move, the gentle curve of a neck or leg, the smell they have-warm and clean even when they are not. The way a horse holds their tail or flares their nostrils. Every part moving together like a song.
Seriously. I love horses alot. Like a 12 year old girl.
[EDIT-originally published to Blogger-12/21/11]
And even though I have a barn full of my own, they never capture my imagination as much as when they aren't around. And even though, I am on equine and have basically unlimited access to horses, I think about them even more.
I've always written about them. About fast race horses, about slow racehorses. Even stories that didn't involve horses up front somehow found a way to have a horse included in them. My high school history teacher found it amazing that every project that I did, that I managed to sneak the role of the horse in there somehow.
Anyway, I'm still thinking about horses all of the time. Making me like many 12 year old girls out there.
And now in the clinic, even though somewhere deep in my heart I know that some horses won't make it to live a better life, even though I know that some horses will end up in the big green pasture in the sky, I can't help but to think about what they were before or what the could be. I look at the skin and bones draft horse and can only picture him big and strong pulling something in the field, pulling a log out of the forest. I look into his deep brown eyes with their inch and half long lashes and see only peace and kindness. His muzzle was so soft. I can't see him for what he was-sick. But I still know that not having to live the pain any longer was the best.
I look at my racehorse and know that the surgery we did won't keep him on the track forever. But maybe one more season. One more summer of breaking through the gate, going around the turn and into the home stretch winning by a nose. I hope that's enough for him. I hope that after that he can live a life well deserved.
I think I'll always have a place in my heart for horses. I can't help but see the beauty that they hold. The way they move, the gentle curve of a neck or leg, the smell they have-warm and clean even when they are not. The way a horse holds their tail or flares their nostrils. Every part moving together like a song.
Seriously. I love horses alot. Like a 12 year old girl.
[EDIT-originally published to Blogger-12/21/11]
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
MySpace-December 16, 2008-Client Complaint
Current mood:
angry
So I just touched on this in my abridged blog yesterday so let me give you a little back story...angryFriday afternoon, I got an email from one of the hospital higher ups. The subject was Re: Come See Me. (Sounds like a demand from the principal's office!). The jist of the message was to come and see him in the next few days about a client complaint. Nothing more. I didn't know if it was directly about me, about how a case was handled or about a clinician and they needed a student's view. I was worried for most of the weekend. I thought about my cases and could only think of one or two instances where maybe the client was a little upset but it was nothing that I could of done or prevented. In fact, most of my clients loved me. I have a card to prove it.
So today, I go upstairs to the third floor and meet with this guy. First off, he asks if I have met with Dodam yet because I'd probably get this conversation again if I haven't (I hadn't.) Then he starts describing a case that infact I think about pretty often and I was sure even though that person didn't seem like the kind to complain that it was about a clinician and how the clinican treated them. (Which was rather poorly.) And then it went on...and the complaint wasn't from that client BUT it was about me.
Apparently, in talking to this client another client overheard us. Overheard me saying something like that I was a bovine person because I didn't want to deal with the emotional aspect of small animal medicine. That's the jist of it anyway. I've put it out of my mind because it makes me so upset. Anyhow, the client had complained to her vet who called the school and the client said that she was glad that I wasn't her student. (I assume because I wouldn't of cared.) Of course, this was a person that had come along way (as if other people don't) and spent thousands of dollars to prolong her dog's life by months. Which is something I don't understand but not in like a condesending way-its hard to explain. My client on the other hand, didn't have the money to spend on his 'best friend' and I was relating to him that I understood because I didn't know if I could or would spend the money on my pet no matter how much I loved them either.
So I recieved a slap on the wrist and was told to be careful to whom I say things, where I say them, etc...I was condesended to and treated like a child. I believe the phrase 'Because you've just started...' was uttered. I'm not saying that they were wrong in telling me about this or wrong in telling me that I did something wrong. I did. I shouldn't of talked to my client in the lobby where other people could of heard us even though it was 5:30 and the lobby only had like two other clients, one who apparently had nothing better to do than put her nose in other people's business.
I'm frustrated and upset for many reasons.
First, I was relating to my client, reassuring him that it was okay not to spend the money. That it was a hard choice but okay. She wasn't my client so I wasn't relating to her. Had she been my client, I would of assured her that it was okay to spend the money on her best friend. But she wasn't. Did her student do that for her? They tell us over and over not to judge our clients when they walk in, that often they surprise us. Mine didn't. I knew he wouldn't spend any money on the dog that was with him 24/7. And that's okay. Its his choice and I have to support it if I agree or not. I was relating to my client. Supporting his choice. Not hers.
Second, they called my client who had nothing but nice things to say about me. I did my job. I made MY client happy.
Third, I feel like I was thrown under the bus. Never was I asked for my side of the story, asked for an explaination or anytime felt like I could of defended myself. I didn't feel that it was appropriate because it wasn't my client making the complaint, I didn't know the other part of the story. Never, I am sure, did the school suggest that maybe I was misunderstood, misheard.
Forth, this lady knew nothing of the circumstances. It didn't involve her and she put her nose where it didn't belong.
Fifth, this lady could very easily have me as her student the next time I'm upstairs and never know it. Why? Because I am compassionate. Because I am good with all of my patients, hoolved or not. Because my clients love me. Because I don't know how many times I've explained that I want to be a dairy vet only to have the clients tell me that I am so good with their dog/cat anyway. Its not some mask I wear or game I play. I truely mean it. I truely like when people love their pets. I have a new found appriciation for little white fluffy dogs.
And how did this get connected back to me anyway?
I related this tale through about half an hour of crying loudly to many of my rotation mates and they told me not to take it personally. That I realized my mistake and won't make it again. There were suggestions of that maybe this lady needed to be reassured that it was okay to spend that money, that her student didn't do that. There was the belief that I was thrown under the bus and did nothing wrong. Support that I am compassionate and a good person. Overall, every vet student I talked to had the same view. That it sucks, that this person was looking for something that didn't apply to them and that it wasn't my fault. I talked to Laura Goldman after walking the dogs and told her the story. She had the same view of course being a vet student. I then told her that I was going to go home, tell Joe the story, get into a fight and then cry some more. She suggested that I don't tell Joe. I should of listened...
I told my mom the story over the phone and you would of thought she was in vet school too. She supported me and told me that if I have to meet with Dodam that I should take a stand and defend myself. I don't want to talk to Dodam. I don't think it will change anything. There's nothing else that they can tell me not to do. They could keep me downstairs. That's pretty much the only solution I can think of at this point...but there are $1000s of dollars being spent on horses too. Basically, when it comes to it, I want a nice way to tell Dodam to fuck off and that I don't need scolded again.
And then I told Joe the story. After three years of dating, I SHOULD be able to tell my boyfriend about my day, especially if he asks, which he did. Maybe it has something to do with lady illness, the phase of the moon or just waking Joe up, but these school stories never go over well with him. I was telling him the story and he said he was on my side but he kept bringing up the other side. Don't you think that I've already thought of that side? That I have been running it through my head over and over too? If you're on my side, don't play devil's advocate. JUST BE ON MY SIDE! JUST SUPPORT ME! That's all I ever want but never get. He always has to bring up the other side as if its his. He always says that I never believe anything is my fault and that I am never wrong. Well, I did do something wrong; it being my fault or not is debatable. It doesn't matter. Joe still launches into this whole other side, you think you're never wrong thing and it always just makes me more and more upset. Being on my side means just stopping with my side-he interrupted me telling him all of the parts where I justify what happened to me. I know the other side. I know what I did wrong.
So Joe finally stormed off to work. And the last thing he said is that he'll pack his things tomorrow. Why does he always go to that place? Like if he says he's leaving something will change. I'm still going to be mad at him. Eventually, one (or both) of us will be sorry and things will be okay until the next crazy phase of the moon. Of course, I don't want him to leave. BUT if he says those things as threats, then there's other things that should go along with them...such as actually breaking up. And I'm not going to do that. I don't believe him to do it either.
Hopefully, as always, everything will work out between me and Joe. That he'll wake up tomorrow night and we'll be okay. That is what I hope at least...I guess I have to hope that's what he believes too.
[EDIT-originally published to Blogger-12/21/11]
Monday, December 15, 2008
MySpace-December 15, 2008-Snow in Jordan
........This is a picture of snow in Jordan from January 2008. I love this picture. Look how happy that guy is. If it snowed in the Middle East a lot more often, I think there would be less problems over there, because I assume they would all become as happy as this guy and not angry and bitter at the snow like Missourians.
[EDIT-originally published to Blogger-12/21/11]
[EDIT-originally published to Blogger-12/21/11]
MySpace-December 15, 2008-You Know...Stuff (Abridged Version)
AHHH! I HIT A BUTTON AND MY LONG BLOG DISAPPEARED!
Here's the jist of it:
1) not tired but should be, will be at 5am when I think about waking up
2) currently sleeting, car is under covered spot, am fat and weak-i.e. having trouble lifting 70lb bags of sand into car, don't want ice on windshield tomorrow-will use sheet
3) did christmas shopping. Don't know what to get parents, dad expects me to come up with something for him to give to mom too
4) got an email about speaking to one of the hospital people about a client complaint, don't know more than that
5) assigned joint arthroscopy tomorrow but hate joints, surgery not involving guts and lameness
5a) like doing treatments on horses every hour because its organized!
6) worked ICU all day saturday, hadn't seen Joe since Friday
7) ate Ruby Tuesday's on Friday and got sick
[EDIT-originally published to Blogger-12/21/11]
Here's the jist of it:
1) not tired but should be, will be at 5am when I think about waking up
2) currently sleeting, car is under covered spot, am fat and weak-i.e. having trouble lifting 70lb bags of sand into car, don't want ice on windshield tomorrow-will use sheet
3) did christmas shopping. Don't know what to get parents, dad expects me to come up with something for him to give to mom too
4) got an email about speaking to one of the hospital people about a client complaint, don't know more than that
5) assigned joint arthroscopy tomorrow but hate joints, surgery not involving guts and lameness
5a) like doing treatments on horses every hour because its organized!
6) worked ICU all day saturday, hadn't seen Joe since Friday
7) ate Ruby Tuesday's on Friday and got sick
[EDIT-originally published to Blogger-12/21/11]
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
MySpace-December 9, 2008-Three Is A Magic Number
Its Joe's and I's anniversary. We've been dating for three years.
Where am I? Working an ICU shift. Joe's at work, too. So much for romantic evenings.
When I've told people that today, Joe and I have been dating for three years, people have seemed to have the same reaction. The reaction between males is surprisingly like that of females-'Really?! Wow! When are you getting married? That's a long time!'
Some people would take offense to being accused of not being near marriage after such a time. But I don't. I know that Joe and I are on the same page and its simply a matter of money until there is a fancy little piece of jewelry on my finger. Now that the Slick Vic isn't so slick any more, it just might be longer...And I'm okay with that. Until May of 2010 anyway. Then all bets are off and Joe knows that.
So tonight, there are no romantic dinners at a fancy resturant. No homecooked meals sure to scare Riley under the couch. Instead its sick horses and hot dogs. (Boy, I wish I had a hot dog right now.)
I've been at school since about 6:15am. Its now twenty till 8. I'll be here till roughly 12:30. Only to be back sometime just after 7am. Its going to be a long night and I just finished my soda. Sigh.
Not much else is going on. I have three patients right now. One post-op colic and the two research horses. They are all pretty good and cool. I sat in on surgery today. No guts or anything. Honestly, it was boring. And I was cold. I can do one or the other but not both. The surgery that I missed yesterday would of been much more interesting, but I was busy with the farrier.
I don't know what I work this weekend but I am planning some more sleeping time. Maybe some time to buy Christmas presents.
I think my feet are wet...
[EDIT-Originally published to Blogger on 12/12/11]
Where am I? Working an ICU shift. Joe's at work, too. So much for romantic evenings.
When I've told people that today, Joe and I have been dating for three years, people have seemed to have the same reaction. The reaction between males is surprisingly like that of females-'Really?! Wow! When are you getting married? That's a long time!'
Some people would take offense to being accused of not being near marriage after such a time. But I don't. I know that Joe and I are on the same page and its simply a matter of money until there is a fancy little piece of jewelry on my finger. Now that the Slick Vic isn't so slick any more, it just might be longer...And I'm okay with that. Until May of 2010 anyway. Then all bets are off and Joe knows that.
So tonight, there are no romantic dinners at a fancy resturant. No homecooked meals sure to scare Riley under the couch. Instead its sick horses and hot dogs. (Boy, I wish I had a hot dog right now.)
I've been at school since about 6:15am. Its now twenty till 8. I'll be here till roughly 12:30. Only to be back sometime just after 7am. Its going to be a long night and I just finished my soda. Sigh.
Not much else is going on. I have three patients right now. One post-op colic and the two research horses. They are all pretty good and cool. I sat in on surgery today. No guts or anything. Honestly, it was boring. And I was cold. I can do one or the other but not both. The surgery that I missed yesterday would of been much more interesting, but I was busy with the farrier.
I don't know what I work this weekend but I am planning some more sleeping time. Maybe some time to buy Christmas presents.
I think my feet are wet...
[EDIT-Originally published to Blogger on 12/12/11]
Saturday, December 6, 2008
MySpace-December 6, 2008-New Block-Thoughts at 1am While At School
Well, let's see. Its just after 1am and I'm working an ICU shift at school which basically means that I get up on the hour make sure the horses aren't colicking and are still alive. There are eight patients. I think I'll manage to get alot of work done which is nice. How important this work is is a different story.
So obviously I started my new block-equine. At first, I was really scared. Then I was okay. Then I was really scared again. This alternates on a daily basis too but its getting better. I have two horses-Lucy and Talk About That-that are research horses. I pet them and brush them and make sure they are alive on an hourly basis. Wednesday, our first day, I was oncall and got another patient. He was pretty cool. Martha was the doc on call that night and she's a really good vet. She may get mad about me saying it but its true. She needs to be more confident in her ablities because she knows what's going on. Anyway, all my Peterson and Smith training came back as I held the plate for radiographs of the hock. It was like I'd done it before! And I wrapped the hock which I had practiced before on some dairy cows. Now, as I said, I'm in the ICU.
I managed to get a B in small animal medicine. At least on the internal medicine part. And if I got that grade in the part I was struggling to perform in, then I probably got it in the other too. But I did do worse on that test...
Anyway, Christmas is around the corner and things were looking bleak esp. since Joe has to buy a new car but now I got a student loan check so everyone can rest assured that they will most likely get a present from me. Or at least a pie.
So Wednesday, Laura Goldman called me. I was busy with my emergency but when I returned the call she told me that when she came home from school, the flowers in her windowsill were knocked down. She said she thought it was odd since the cat, Marley wasn't there since she belongs to Rachel Ray. She went to put them back and found a dead bird in her sink! She figured it broke its neck trying to get out. It begs the question-how did that bird get into the apartment in the first place? Laura was calling me to ask me to come over so we could share this moment of being complete girls. I envision us standing at the sink pointing at the bird and screaming little girl screams. Then the next day, Laura calls at just before 7. She said she had gone back upstairs to shut up Lilly, the dog, in her room but heard a rustling in her closet. When she opened it and looked, there was a bird in it! She called the apartment complex and eventually they came over and caught it. Or did something with it. We don't know, but do know that it was gone when she got home. The therory of how the birds got in was through the dryer vent. I pose the question-'If a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, how many is two birds in an apartment worth?'
[EDIT-Originally published to Blogger on 12/7/11]
So obviously I started my new block-equine. At first, I was really scared. Then I was okay. Then I was really scared again. This alternates on a daily basis too but its getting better. I have two horses-Lucy and Talk About That-that are research horses. I pet them and brush them and make sure they are alive on an hourly basis. Wednesday, our first day, I was oncall and got another patient. He was pretty cool. Martha was the doc on call that night and she's a really good vet. She may get mad about me saying it but its true. She needs to be more confident in her ablities because she knows what's going on. Anyway, all my Peterson and Smith training came back as I held the plate for radiographs of the hock. It was like I'd done it before! And I wrapped the hock which I had practiced before on some dairy cows. Now, as I said, I'm in the ICU.
I managed to get a B in small animal medicine. At least on the internal medicine part. And if I got that grade in the part I was struggling to perform in, then I probably got it in the other too. But I did do worse on that test...
Anyway, Christmas is around the corner and things were looking bleak esp. since Joe has to buy a new car but now I got a student loan check so everyone can rest assured that they will most likely get a present from me. Or at least a pie.
So Wednesday, Laura Goldman called me. I was busy with my emergency but when I returned the call she told me that when she came home from school, the flowers in her windowsill were knocked down. She said she thought it was odd since the cat, Marley wasn't there since she belongs to Rachel Ray. She went to put them back and found a dead bird in her sink! She figured it broke its neck trying to get out. It begs the question-how did that bird get into the apartment in the first place? Laura was calling me to ask me to come over so we could share this moment of being complete girls. I envision us standing at the sink pointing at the bird and screaming little girl screams. Then the next day, Laura calls at just before 7. She said she had gone back upstairs to shut up Lilly, the dog, in her room but heard a rustling in her closet. When she opened it and looked, there was a bird in it! She called the apartment complex and eventually they came over and caught it. Or did something with it. We don't know, but do know that it was gone when she got home. The therory of how the birds got in was through the dryer vent. I pose the question-'If a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, how many is two birds in an apartment worth?'
[EDIT-Originally published to Blogger on 12/7/11]
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
MySpace-December 3, 2008-My Washing Machine Hates Me
Tonight, I thought it would be a good idea to wash those dress clothes that I am putting away for so long. Also to wash a pair of coveralls and jeans for tomorrow. But the washing machine is evil and finally I've had enough. I managed to coax it through two loads of jeans and towels and hoodies-the most important stuff only to have it die in the middle of socks and undies-whites. Its not spinning out. And now its not rinsing either. It makes some vague attempts but now has progressed to the point of no longer giving a damn about doing its job. I'll have Joe call DBC on Thursday because he's got stuff and sleeping to do tomorrow. Maybe we'll call tomorrow for Thursday.
Anyway, in case you didn't know. Joe was in a car accident on Sunday night. He was leaving our local Shell station and on his way to work when someone ran the red light and slid into him. In the game of F150 versus Crown Victoria, I would consider it a close match. The front of the Vic was essentially ripped off and I didn't get a look at the driver's side but I'm sure that was all smashed in. The bumper had wrapped itself in a desprate embrace of the truck's tire and had to be ripped apart by the tow truck. The truck looked okay (a decent dent) and drove off to the shoulder where the tire rapidly deflated. I was up at the corner before the cops. It was cold and I stood around for Joe to take him home. He's okay. We went into the gas station afterwards and our favorite Indian/Middle Eastern? guys were working. They recognize us because we're in there all of the time. One asked Joe if I was his girlfriend because they saw us all the time but never together and we were tonight. I think that's funny that they recognize us.
I finished up small animal medicine today. We had a food day and I brought a pecan pie and a chocolate cream pie. Unfortunately, it didn't seem that the pecan pie was quite done-though very good and the whippped cream fell on the other. And the vet tech stole my thunder by bringing two homemade pies too. Ugh! I was suposed to be special. I'm glad small animal medicine is over and that I get to move downstairs. Its a huge relief. I'll be down there or at least away from small animals for a while-equine, food animal elective, EFAST and then pathology. My schedule is getting moved around nicely for this summer. I'll get it finalized sometime this week or next.
Well, I probably should go to bed. I still need to clean out my backpack for tomorrow. And my stomach hurts. I'll let you know how equine goes.
[EDIT-Originally published to Blogger on 12/3/11]
Anyway, in case you didn't know. Joe was in a car accident on Sunday night. He was leaving our local Shell station and on his way to work when someone ran the red light and slid into him. In the game of F150 versus Crown Victoria, I would consider it a close match. The front of the Vic was essentially ripped off and I didn't get a look at the driver's side but I'm sure that was all smashed in. The bumper had wrapped itself in a desprate embrace of the truck's tire and had to be ripped apart by the tow truck. The truck looked okay (a decent dent) and drove off to the shoulder where the tire rapidly deflated. I was up at the corner before the cops. It was cold and I stood around for Joe to take him home. He's okay. We went into the gas station afterwards and our favorite Indian/Middle Eastern? guys were working. They recognize us because we're in there all of the time. One asked Joe if I was his girlfriend because they saw us all the time but never together and we were tonight. I think that's funny that they recognize us.
I finished up small animal medicine today. We had a food day and I brought a pecan pie and a chocolate cream pie. Unfortunately, it didn't seem that the pecan pie was quite done-though very good and the whippped cream fell on the other. And the vet tech stole my thunder by bringing two homemade pies too. Ugh! I was suposed to be special. I'm glad small animal medicine is over and that I get to move downstairs. Its a huge relief. I'll be down there or at least away from small animals for a while-equine, food animal elective, EFAST and then pathology. My schedule is getting moved around nicely for this summer. I'll get it finalized sometime this week or next.
Well, I probably should go to bed. I still need to clean out my backpack for tomorrow. And my stomach hurts. I'll let you know how equine goes.
[EDIT-Originally published to Blogger on 12/3/11]
Sunday, November 30, 2008
MySpace-November 30, 2008-Thanksgiving Assortment
So Wednesday seemed to be a long day. My patient wasn't a hard case in fact it was a lot like Blaze so I think I had a pretty good handle on what was going on with it. But unfortunately, I was roped into working an on call emergency shift Friday during the day. That put a wrinkle into our plans.
Another wrinkle was thrown into the plans that night and Thursday morning Joe and I took separate cars to St.Joe so I could leave that night and he could stay until Friday night. I took both dogs with me and Mary is a pain in the car. She jumps from seat to seat and its generally annoying and only a little bit distracting. We ate dinner at a restaurant with a bunch of Joe's family including Grandpa John who's 93. I find him so charming! I hung out a little more and then made my way home.
Friday morning, after just convincing the cat that we could sleep in, I was woken up and went into school for my first emergency. This dog had a piece of grass in its eye. Luckily, it wasn't a huge deal. Then I got a dog that had been having seizures. Al is a small white dog and luckily for me, he's also pretty easy to manage. Unfortunately, he also has a tumor or something in his abdomen. He's hanging around till Monday for some more tests and such. Anyway, Walter the unlucky bulldog is doing much better and is off of his ventilator. I feel so bad for his owners but glad that they are such nice people to do all of this for him. He's such a sweet dog.
Friday night, I was beat beyond belief. I wandered out to get the mail and got my antibiotic ad I won off ebay and I got a letter that I wasn't really expecting yet. I got a letter from the Cornell Summer Dairy Institute. I was accepted! I am so excited! Its this summer for eight weeks. I need to rearrange my clinic schedule but I think everything should be on board for that. I also will be leaving Joe and the animals alone for eight weeks. I don't know if that's a good idea but we have a trial run of three weeks in a couple of months so we'll see. I don't know how I'm going to pay for the program since I'm short about $4000 in student loan money but we'll figure it out. I also secretly expect that money to come in in a few weeks too. Anyway, how many of my classmates can say that they went to Cornell even if its just for a program for eight weeks? None of them! That's who! And as Amberle said I'm now the coolest future dairy vet in our class. Though secretly, I'm pretty sure I was all along.
Today, I went into the hospital twice to do assorted patient related chores. I put up Christmas decorations this evening. The front kitchen window has red lights in it and when Roosevelt sits in it from the outside he looks like a devil cat with red fur and black eyes. My bathroom and bedroom are still disasters. Roosevelt's bathroom is cleaned but smelly. I've been finding assorted cat turds throughout the upstairs. I don't know where these are coming from. Some are dry and I though he was taking them from the litter box and playing with them (still a possiblity) but the most recent find were fresh. Hmm...is my cat punishing me for something?
Tomorrow, more patient related chores in the morning and hopefully nothing else. I would like to clean house tomorrow but know if I leave the dogs downstairs, Mary will bark and then Joe will beat me. Sigh.
[EDIT-Originally posted to Blogger on 11/27/11]
Another wrinkle was thrown into the plans that night and Thursday morning Joe and I took separate cars to St.Joe so I could leave that night and he could stay until Friday night. I took both dogs with me and Mary is a pain in the car. She jumps from seat to seat and its generally annoying and only a little bit distracting. We ate dinner at a restaurant with a bunch of Joe's family including Grandpa John who's 93. I find him so charming! I hung out a little more and then made my way home.
Friday morning, after just convincing the cat that we could sleep in, I was woken up and went into school for my first emergency. This dog had a piece of grass in its eye. Luckily, it wasn't a huge deal. Then I got a dog that had been having seizures. Al is a small white dog and luckily for me, he's also pretty easy to manage. Unfortunately, he also has a tumor or something in his abdomen. He's hanging around till Monday for some more tests and such. Anyway, Walter the unlucky bulldog is doing much better and is off of his ventilator. I feel so bad for his owners but glad that they are such nice people to do all of this for him. He's such a sweet dog.
Friday night, I was beat beyond belief. I wandered out to get the mail and got my antibiotic ad I won off ebay and I got a letter that I wasn't really expecting yet. I got a letter from the Cornell Summer Dairy Institute. I was accepted! I am so excited! Its this summer for eight weeks. I need to rearrange my clinic schedule but I think everything should be on board for that. I also will be leaving Joe and the animals alone for eight weeks. I don't know if that's a good idea but we have a trial run of three weeks in a couple of months so we'll see. I don't know how I'm going to pay for the program since I'm short about $4000 in student loan money but we'll figure it out. I also secretly expect that money to come in in a few weeks too. Anyway, how many of my classmates can say that they went to Cornell even if its just for a program for eight weeks? None of them! That's who! And as Amberle said I'm now the coolest future dairy vet in our class. Though secretly, I'm pretty sure I was all along.
Today, I went into the hospital twice to do assorted patient related chores. I put up Christmas decorations this evening. The front kitchen window has red lights in it and when Roosevelt sits in it from the outside he looks like a devil cat with red fur and black eyes. My bathroom and bedroom are still disasters. Roosevelt's bathroom is cleaned but smelly. I've been finding assorted cat turds throughout the upstairs. I don't know where these are coming from. Some are dry and I though he was taking them from the litter box and playing with them (still a possiblity) but the most recent find were fresh. Hmm...is my cat punishing me for something?
Tomorrow, more patient related chores in the morning and hopefully nothing else. I would like to clean house tomorrow but know if I leave the dogs downstairs, Mary will bark and then Joe will beat me. Sigh.
[EDIT-Originally posted to Blogger on 11/27/11]
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
MySpace-November 26, 2008-Up and Down Day
Today was a day of ups and downs. First, it was hard getting out of bed. I got up like ten minutes early so I could finish something at school because I was sending a bulldog to surgery this morning. I thought I was well rested despite not falling asleep until after one am. I did sleep for like an hour on the couch last night and then once up was wide awake and thought that updating Wikapedia about pop culture references to The Wonder Years was a good idea. I added stuff about Ludo. I'm a dork.
And then I tried putting shoe polish on my shoes and got it on my hand and kitchen floor. It was messy!
Into school I went and found a card in my mailbox from Blaze's owners. (This is the up of the day.) Blaze was the 15 year old dog that we ended up euthanizing because we found 'cancer' in its spleen. It was a sweet card thanking me for being so nice and taking care of Blaze. It thanked me for the card and pawprint that I sent to them too. They included a picture of Blaze and its on my fridge now. Its no pie or Christmas ham but still pretty cool.
I took over painting a pawprint for someone which I like doing but this pawprint has been deemed the pawprint from hell because every step along the way has been a pain. In trying to paint it, I spray painted my fingers and only managed to screw up the good side. UGH. I still need to get it done.
I got an emergency today and the clients didn't want to do much about it. That's okay. But I still was frustrated as ever with the clinicians and my run around that I usually get. These people were nice and we talked about horses.
Boy, I can't wait to go downstairs even with the crappy schedule for equine...Made even crappier because I don't get to be with my favorite intern, Dr. Rasch. Though she better be careful, another redheaded intern, Dr.Osterbur is making a run for being one of my favorites. Who am I kidding? Martha will always be it!
[EDIT-Originally posted to Blogger on 11/26/11]
And then I tried putting shoe polish on my shoes and got it on my hand and kitchen floor. It was messy!
Into school I went and found a card in my mailbox from Blaze's owners. (This is the up of the day.) Blaze was the 15 year old dog that we ended up euthanizing because we found 'cancer' in its spleen. It was a sweet card thanking me for being so nice and taking care of Blaze. It thanked me for the card and pawprint that I sent to them too. They included a picture of Blaze and its on my fridge now. Its no pie or Christmas ham but still pretty cool.
I took over painting a pawprint for someone which I like doing but this pawprint has been deemed the pawprint from hell because every step along the way has been a pain. In trying to paint it, I spray painted my fingers and only managed to screw up the good side. UGH. I still need to get it done.
I got an emergency today and the clients didn't want to do much about it. That's okay. But I still was frustrated as ever with the clinicians and my run around that I usually get. These people were nice and we talked about horses.
Boy, I can't wait to go downstairs even with the crappy schedule for equine...Made even crappier because I don't get to be with my favorite intern, Dr. Rasch. Though she better be careful, another redheaded intern, Dr.Osterbur is making a run for being one of my favorites. Who am I kidding? Martha will always be it!
[EDIT-Originally posted to Blogger on 11/26/11]
Sunday, November 23, 2008
MySpace-November 23, 2008-Dairy Christmas
I've come to the conclusion that in the months of November and December, I eat/drink more dairy products than in the other ten months of the year. First, you have to understand that while ice cream and cheese are generally okay, my stomach doesn't tolerate milk much on a regular basis so I tend not to drink it. But Christmas time rolls around and then suddenly all of my guilty dairy pleasures come out-egg nog, peppermint ice cream and chocolate mint milk! And I have to buy some of each every time I go to the store. There's egg nog ice cream too but I haven't tried it. Maybe this year. AND there's candy cane milk but I like having chocolate in there too. And there's pumpkin spice milk and ice cream but I don't really like pumpkin.
My point is two fold-1) I hope that all of the calcium I earn in these two months get stored up for the calcium hard times and 2) go out and try at least one of these things. Chocolate mint milk or peppermint ice cream are my main suggestions because I know that not everyone likes egg nog.
[EDIT-Originally posted to Blogger on 11/26/11]
My point is two fold-1) I hope that all of the calcium I earn in these two months get stored up for the calcium hard times and 2) go out and try at least one of these things. Chocolate mint milk or peppermint ice cream are my main suggestions because I know that not everyone likes egg nog.
[EDIT-Originally posted to Blogger on 11/26/11]
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
MySpace-November 18, 2008-Veterinary Medicine's Dirty Double Standard
This makes me mad. Probably as mad as being ignored by clinicians.
There's a double standard in veterinary medicine. It falls along the same lines as a girl that sleeps around being a slut but a guy that does the same is considered a stud for it.
Last week, as we were finishing up local medicine, one of the clinicians said that he'd see us all again as we retook local either as our required block (as this was for me) or as our elective. I made the comment that he wouldn't be seeing me again as local medicine didn't fit into my plans as a dairy vet. I was then told that this stuff (small animal medicine on a whole, I assume) was important because I wouldn't know when I'd have to vaccinate a dog or spay a cat on the back of my truck. I begged to differ and was pretty much shot down. Now mind you, this was the same clinician that exclaimed 'How are you going to be in small animal practice without knowing any dermatology when 95% of small animal practice is dermatology!' To which I answered, that I was going to be a dairy vet. Oh...
So the double standard is that if you're a large animal vet, you will be required to treat small animals too but if you are a small animal vet, you won't be required to treat large animals. At all. Ever.
I beg to differ. I think that as a large animal vet, you're well within your right to say that you don't feel comfortable treating that species and that it should be taken into town for whatever treatment it needs. Of course, emergencies are an exception because you're bound by that 'Do no harm' thing. That works both ways, too.
If you're the large animal vet in a mixed practice, then you might be in a tight spot since your practice looks at all animals but I still think its reasonable to ask the client to take something into the clinic. If you're in an exclusive practice (say equine or dairy) then you should be exempt. Sure you'll be asked questions about this skin condition or that, and you can give answers all you want, you can treat if you are so inclined. I will not be. I will have a good friend the small animal vet in town that I will be referring people to.
Do the clinicians upstairs ever get the urge to run out and treat milk fever? Pull a calf in the middle of the night? Go palpate something? I highly doubt it. People choose certain paths for a reason. If you choose small animal medicine, there was probably something about pulling a calf at midnight on Christmas by the light of your headlights in the snow that didn't appeal to you. And there are reasons that people decide that spending $2000 for a 15 year old dog is absurd.
All I'm saying is that all of my life I've been told that I have a right to say no. No to drugs. No to sex. No to anything and everything. I don't have to have a reason. Just say no. I'm just saying no to treating small animals out of the back of my DAIRY truck. And if that doesn't seem possible, I don't think there are any cats or dogs at the slaughterhouse...
[EDIT-Originally posted to Blogger on 11/20/11]
There's a double standard in veterinary medicine. It falls along the same lines as a girl that sleeps around being a slut but a guy that does the same is considered a stud for it.
Last week, as we were finishing up local medicine, one of the clinicians said that he'd see us all again as we retook local either as our required block (as this was for me) or as our elective. I made the comment that he wouldn't be seeing me again as local medicine didn't fit into my plans as a dairy vet. I was then told that this stuff (small animal medicine on a whole, I assume) was important because I wouldn't know when I'd have to vaccinate a dog or spay a cat on the back of my truck. I begged to differ and was pretty much shot down. Now mind you, this was the same clinician that exclaimed 'How are you going to be in small animal practice without knowing any dermatology when 95% of small animal practice is dermatology!' To which I answered, that I was going to be a dairy vet. Oh...
So the double standard is that if you're a large animal vet, you will be required to treat small animals too but if you are a small animal vet, you won't be required to treat large animals. At all. Ever.
I beg to differ. I think that as a large animal vet, you're well within your right to say that you don't feel comfortable treating that species and that it should be taken into town for whatever treatment it needs. Of course, emergencies are an exception because you're bound by that 'Do no harm' thing. That works both ways, too.
If you're the large animal vet in a mixed practice, then you might be in a tight spot since your practice looks at all animals but I still think its reasonable to ask the client to take something into the clinic. If you're in an exclusive practice (say equine or dairy) then you should be exempt. Sure you'll be asked questions about this skin condition or that, and you can give answers all you want, you can treat if you are so inclined. I will not be. I will have a good friend the small animal vet in town that I will be referring people to.
Do the clinicians upstairs ever get the urge to run out and treat milk fever? Pull a calf in the middle of the night? Go palpate something? I highly doubt it. People choose certain paths for a reason. If you choose small animal medicine, there was probably something about pulling a calf at midnight on Christmas by the light of your headlights in the snow that didn't appeal to you. And there are reasons that people decide that spending $2000 for a 15 year old dog is absurd.
All I'm saying is that all of my life I've been told that I have a right to say no. No to drugs. No to sex. No to anything and everything. I don't have to have a reason. Just say no. I'm just saying no to treating small animals out of the back of my DAIRY truck. And if that doesn't seem possible, I don't think there are any cats or dogs at the slaughterhouse...
[EDIT-Originally posted to Blogger on 11/20/11]
MySpace-November 18, 2008-How Many Vets Does It Take?
Joe was in a bad mood when he got up. Or when I woke him up. And I forgot to make him coffee. Mainly because I was playing Viva Pinata. And he's been smoking in the house. In his bedroom. That's a bad boyfriend!
Other than vet school, I don't know much of what has been going on lately. I'm tired. I feel poor. Date nights are going well. The house is a disaster zone and probably will be until somewhere around May of 2010. I got my application in for Cornell. I think that pretty much sums it up.
Last week, I started referral medicine. My first case was a 142 pound dog with a runny nose. A ton of tests later and it hadn't stopped nor did we know why. Thursday I had an emergency and Friday, we euthanized that dog for cancer. It was 15 so don't feel too bad. It lived a long life. Sunday, I was on call. Joe and I walked the grayhounds around campus and he loved them of course. I did some work and came home only to be called in on emergency 15 minutes later. Long enough to change my shirt, walk the dogs and be creeped out by a surgery resident (?) that has some connection to the apartment complex. When I got there, the dog was essentially dead so I came home half an hour later. Then I was called in less than two hours later for a cat with a bite wound. So how many veterinarians does it take to catch an angry cat with a bite wound? Two and two vet students and a rabies pole. The cat wasn't quite as sedate as we thought when we started to prep the wound and escaped from our grasp. She hid underneath a rehab tank and was quite the ordeal to get out and then resedate. All in all, it turned out. I went home maybe three hours after being called in and wasn't called again.
Today, I had the best day I've had yet on referral. I had a super cool cat for a super easy recheck appointment. The resident managed (reasonably) to be around when I needed him. My questions (for the most part) were answered and I (again for the most part) knew what was going on. Let's compare this to Thursday which was the worse day. First, it was made worse by learning that afternoon that I was supposed to bring food in the next day. Sucks. Anyway, it started fine. I had the big dog to discharge; I took emergency duty. Somehow I ended up with a case too. Then as I was starting to discharge the big dog, my emergency showed up. So the intern finished the discharge without me which was disappointing. Then as we were in the middle of the emergency my appointment showed up so I had to pawn it off onto someone else. Anyway, the emergency started off fine. I got to go over some possible causes of the respiratory distress that the dog had. We did some proceedures. Then radiographs were taken but the findings were not discussed with me nor to me. I was scolded for not filling out the ICU sheet correctly and told by the clinician to hurry up because they wanted to go home. Mind you, I was already on my way home but forgot something and stopped back by only to be sucked in because I was curious about the filling out of the ICU sheet because I had never done it before. Granted this was a simple case but I've NEVER done it! And also mind you, that I spent a good part of the afternoon waiting on the clinician and looking for them to have them assist me in various things or to answer questions regarding the case. Eventually, I go home and bake cookies. And fall asleep on the couch till one a.m. or so. I go to school the next day and the dog gets a CT scan but nothing is really told to me...well, actually Dr.Lattimer did a good job of summing up the findings as thick fluid. I like Lattimer more and more each time I hear a story about him being blunt or something. Anyway, we start doing a procedure on the dog and I get bumped from doing it which really is okay I guess. Then we decided to ultrasound the dog and found some cancer. Luckily, at this point the clinician decides to make the phone call to the owner and tell them the bad news and that really euthansia is pretty much the only option at this point. So we do that. Its sad. Today the owners came in for the collar and cried. There was some hugging and some questions awkwardly answered. I say awkwardly because none of the things that the clinician told the owners were told to me in any way shape or form. Great.
Here's what irks me. First of all, I spent lots of time trying to do things for this dog or carrying out the clinician's orders. I did my job. And I felt as if I got nothing in return. There was one specific occasion where I had the CBC results in my hand waiting and hoping that the clinician would come by and when she did, she stopped and talked to a classmate about another case and walked past me. Snubbed! She never explained results or implications to me. Never shared the owners decision with me. Never went over the radiographs even though I asked her to. I felt ignored and as if the work I did for this patient didn't matter.
I understand that the clinicians are busy. That they have other cases and other patients. And probably research. And interns and residents to teach in addition to vet students but honestly, I don't pay as much money as I do to go to school only to be ignored. Clients don't pay this much money knowing that they are at a teaching hospital to have the students ignored. I do what I'm told. Sometimes I answer questions. Sometimes correctly. Sometimes with things that blow myself away. Am I being ignored because I'm too quiet? Most likely. Am I not aggressive enough in tracking down the people and things that I need.? Yes. But why should I have to do that when most of the time I am looking for a couple of sentaces to sum up results or give me directions toward the next step. The order of importance should be paitient, client, vet student. Am I being ignored because I am the large animal person on the rotation? I don't think so because I don't think I put out that vibe. I don't whine or pout about having to work with small animals. I cuddle cats and dogs like there's no tomorrow and mean it! I'm decent if not good at what I do. I deserve to learn. I deserve attention and answers and not to be ignored.
We'll see how things continue. So far so good this week. AND I got out earily which was nice. But seriously, if this happens to the extreme that it did last week, someone is going to hear about it. Someway. Maybe.
[EDIT-Originally posted to Blogger on 11/20/11]
Other than vet school, I don't know much of what has been going on lately. I'm tired. I feel poor. Date nights are going well. The house is a disaster zone and probably will be until somewhere around May of 2010. I got my application in for Cornell. I think that pretty much sums it up.
Last week, I started referral medicine. My first case was a 142 pound dog with a runny nose. A ton of tests later and it hadn't stopped nor did we know why. Thursday I had an emergency and Friday, we euthanized that dog for cancer. It was 15 so don't feel too bad. It lived a long life. Sunday, I was on call. Joe and I walked the grayhounds around campus and he loved them of course. I did some work and came home only to be called in on emergency 15 minutes later. Long enough to change my shirt, walk the dogs and be creeped out by a surgery resident (?) that has some connection to the apartment complex. When I got there, the dog was essentially dead so I came home half an hour later. Then I was called in less than two hours later for a cat with a bite wound. So how many veterinarians does it take to catch an angry cat with a bite wound? Two and two vet students and a rabies pole. The cat wasn't quite as sedate as we thought when we started to prep the wound and escaped from our grasp. She hid underneath a rehab tank and was quite the ordeal to get out and then resedate. All in all, it turned out. I went home maybe three hours after being called in and wasn't called again.
Today, I had the best day I've had yet on referral. I had a super cool cat for a super easy recheck appointment. The resident managed (reasonably) to be around when I needed him. My questions (for the most part) were answered and I (again for the most part) knew what was going on. Let's compare this to Thursday which was the worse day. First, it was made worse by learning that afternoon that I was supposed to bring food in the next day. Sucks. Anyway, it started fine. I had the big dog to discharge; I took emergency duty. Somehow I ended up with a case too. Then as I was starting to discharge the big dog, my emergency showed up. So the intern finished the discharge without me which was disappointing. Then as we were in the middle of the emergency my appointment showed up so I had to pawn it off onto someone else. Anyway, the emergency started off fine. I got to go over some possible causes of the respiratory distress that the dog had. We did some proceedures. Then radiographs were taken but the findings were not discussed with me nor to me. I was scolded for not filling out the ICU sheet correctly and told by the clinician to hurry up because they wanted to go home. Mind you, I was already on my way home but forgot something and stopped back by only to be sucked in because I was curious about the filling out of the ICU sheet because I had never done it before. Granted this was a simple case but I've NEVER done it! And also mind you, that I spent a good part of the afternoon waiting on the clinician and looking for them to have them assist me in various things or to answer questions regarding the case. Eventually, I go home and bake cookies. And fall asleep on the couch till one a.m. or so. I go to school the next day and the dog gets a CT scan but nothing is really told to me...well, actually Dr.Lattimer did a good job of summing up the findings as thick fluid. I like Lattimer more and more each time I hear a story about him being blunt or something. Anyway, we start doing a procedure on the dog and I get bumped from doing it which really is okay I guess. Then we decided to ultrasound the dog and found some cancer. Luckily, at this point the clinician decides to make the phone call to the owner and tell them the bad news and that really euthansia is pretty much the only option at this point. So we do that. Its sad. Today the owners came in for the collar and cried. There was some hugging and some questions awkwardly answered. I say awkwardly because none of the things that the clinician told the owners were told to me in any way shape or form. Great.
Here's what irks me. First of all, I spent lots of time trying to do things for this dog or carrying out the clinician's orders. I did my job. And I felt as if I got nothing in return. There was one specific occasion where I had the CBC results in my hand waiting and hoping that the clinician would come by and when she did, she stopped and talked to a classmate about another case and walked past me. Snubbed! She never explained results or implications to me. Never shared the owners decision with me. Never went over the radiographs even though I asked her to. I felt ignored and as if the work I did for this patient didn't matter.
I understand that the clinicians are busy. That they have other cases and other patients. And probably research. And interns and residents to teach in addition to vet students but honestly, I don't pay as much money as I do to go to school only to be ignored. Clients don't pay this much money knowing that they are at a teaching hospital to have the students ignored. I do what I'm told. Sometimes I answer questions. Sometimes correctly. Sometimes with things that blow myself away. Am I being ignored because I'm too quiet? Most likely. Am I not aggressive enough in tracking down the people and things that I need.? Yes. But why should I have to do that when most of the time I am looking for a couple of sentaces to sum up results or give me directions toward the next step. The order of importance should be paitient, client, vet student. Am I being ignored because I am the large animal person on the rotation? I don't think so because I don't think I put out that vibe. I don't whine or pout about having to work with small animals. I cuddle cats and dogs like there's no tomorrow and mean it! I'm decent if not good at what I do. I deserve to learn. I deserve attention and answers and not to be ignored.
We'll see how things continue. So far so good this week. AND I got out earily which was nice. But seriously, if this happens to the extreme that it did last week, someone is going to hear about it. Someway. Maybe.
[EDIT-Originally posted to Blogger on 11/20/11]
Sunday, November 9, 2008
MySpace-November 9, 2008-Good Times Weekend
Friday, I had a crappy day at school which continued into this weekend just because I am obsessing about it. That night, Joe and I went to see Zach and Miri Make A Porno. It was good. It was funny. I missed the previews and that made me mad. Its Joe's fault. He's no good about getting going when its movie time. We got home and I slept on the couch while he played video games.
Saturday, we went and looked at a free corgi for my parents. She was cute. About half the size of Riley. But she had horrible teeth and so I decided to pass on her. At some point in the day, Riley did something to her leg that sent her yelping around the house. I touched it and was promptly bitten! She drew blood. Joe and I put a muzzle on her and found nothing wrong. Do dogs get charlie horses because that's what I guess it was. Those hurt pretty bad. That night we rented movies-IronMan and Meet Bill. Meet Bill was mostly because of the Anything But Joey song in the trailer. It was also filmed in St.Louis where they used the WB (now CW) 11 newsvan and one of the newscasters Rick Edlund has a cameo. They were both good. We also fried some frog legs and had junk food. It was cool.
This morning Joe feels like crap. I have to study for a test tomorrow and am going out for dinner tonight. Tomorrow I have to face finding out about cutting a horn off of a cat's ear and probably getting yelled at for the whole ordeal. And that test.
By the way, Riley (and Roosevelt) are finalists in a Halloween costume contest online. They were entered in another one and placed like 613th or something crazy like that. They are in one for Good Housekeeping but you may have to wait a while for them to pop up so your best bet to vote for my pets is through mycorgi.com. This is how you vote-follow this link. They are 'Little Bo Peep and Sheep'. Going to www.mycorgi.com gets you there too. The link is at the top. They are rapidly falling behind. Voting ends November 14th.
[EDIT-Originally published to Blogger on 11/14/11]
Saturday, we went and looked at a free corgi for my parents. She was cute. About half the size of Riley. But she had horrible teeth and so I decided to pass on her. At some point in the day, Riley did something to her leg that sent her yelping around the house. I touched it and was promptly bitten! She drew blood. Joe and I put a muzzle on her and found nothing wrong. Do dogs get charlie horses because that's what I guess it was. Those hurt pretty bad. That night we rented movies-IronMan and Meet Bill. Meet Bill was mostly because of the Anything But Joey song in the trailer. It was also filmed in St.Louis where they used the WB (now CW) 11 newsvan and one of the newscasters Rick Edlund has a cameo. They were both good. We also fried some frog legs and had junk food. It was cool.
This morning Joe feels like crap. I have to study for a test tomorrow and am going out for dinner tonight. Tomorrow I have to face finding out about cutting a horn off of a cat's ear and probably getting yelled at for the whole ordeal. And that test.
By the way, Riley (and Roosevelt) are finalists in a Halloween costume contest online. They were entered in another one and placed like 613th or something crazy like that. They are in one for Good Housekeeping but you may have to wait a while for them to pop up so your best bet to vote for my pets is through mycorgi.com. This is how you vote-follow this link. They are 'Little Bo Peep and Sheep'. Going to www.mycorgi.com gets you there too. The link is at the top. They are rapidly falling behind. Voting ends November 14th.
[EDIT-Originally published to Blogger on 11/14/11]
Monday, November 3, 2008
MySpace-November 3, 2008-Sad Fall
Fall is my favorite season, I think. I like the cooler weather and the snuggly feeling of a warm hoodie or a comforter when the bedroom is cool. I like that fall makes the cat snuggle extra hard. I like the changing leaves. I've noticed them more in the past few years than ever before. I wonder why? Maybe leaves in Central Missouri are just better than those in Jefferson County. I like the smell of burning leaves before it became uncool to do that. I like fall because of Halloween. I like costumes and candy and carving Jack-O-Lanterns.
A year ago, I found Roosevelt wandering around on the street. Okay, so secretly, he was following two people meowing his fool head off. But they left him and he came to me when I called. I couldn't ask for a better cat. Seriously, look at him in that sheep's costume! Three years ago, at a Halloween party, I met Joe. So those are two good reasons for me to like fall.
But recently, I can't stand the cold. I don't like being cold. When previously, a hoodie would do, I now have to be bundled up. My Carhartt and bright orange stocking cap have already been brought out.
This is the second year that I haven't carved pumpkins. I used to carve very intricate ones for my friends. But not so much now. There isn't time. And I think it got suggested to Joe and he poo-pooed the idea as esentially a waste of money.
And I didn't dress up this year. I didn't make last year's planned costume. At lease the animals got costumes.
Its like there isn't as much to look forward to in the fall if I don't have time to do it. Or can't do it. And that makes me sad.
A year ago, I found Roosevelt wandering around on the street. Okay, so secretly, he was following two people meowing his fool head off. But they left him and he came to me when I called. I couldn't ask for a better cat. Seriously, look at him in that sheep's costume! Three years ago, at a Halloween party, I met Joe. So those are two good reasons for me to like fall.
But recently, I can't stand the cold. I don't like being cold. When previously, a hoodie would do, I now have to be bundled up. My Carhartt and bright orange stocking cap have already been brought out.
This is the second year that I haven't carved pumpkins. I used to carve very intricate ones for my friends. But not so much now. There isn't time. And I think it got suggested to Joe and he poo-pooed the idea as esentially a waste of money.
And I didn't dress up this year. I didn't make last year's planned costume. At lease the animals got costumes.
Its like there isn't as much to look forward to in the fall if I don't have time to do it. Or can't do it. And that makes me sad.
[EDIT-Originally published to Blogger-11/6/11]
Sunday, November 2, 2008
MySpace-November 2, 2008-I C (hate) U
Well, today was proof that vet school is stupid and out to get me.
This week I was finally feeling really good about local medicine. I was getting good cases, knowing some answers, and just all in all feeling like I knew what was going on. Dr. Senter complimented me on having everything done quickly for the client. I did a dental on one of the blood donor greyhounds. I really like doing dentals. They are so rewarding. But I don't know if I would like one on a complicated case. Anyway, I was still feeling as if I wasn't doing enough. My cases tended to be straight forward. Was it just a matter of the cases I chose or because that's just how they were? I was worried that I wouldn't be found to be extending myself. My grade might suffer. And then Friday came. Friday was a slow day but I got one of the few actually scheduled cases. A simple wellness exam on a cat. I picked up the murmur that the cat was supposed to have but had been missed in previous years. Then we thought we'd draw blood. And I couldn't do it. And more I tried, the more freaked out I got. I literally had to walk away and was terribly thrown off by the whole thing. Then I had to talk to the client which normally would of been fine but one of the interns was in there and she made me terribly nervous added into the whole blood thing. It just wasn't good and my confidence was blown.
Today was my ICU shift. I was greeted by a beeping machine from someplace and a tech essentially saying to me 'Don't worry, I'll get that, its not like I have anything else to do.' They were busy all night and there were lots of patients. Then the realization of the tech that the two people (myself and another girl from local) had never worked in the ICU before. All of the students there were like, 'Don't worry, this is what you do. And then be sure you do this for my patient.' Eventually, the tech stopped being mad at us and realized that it wasn't our fault for scheduling or for not knowing anything. She stayed like an extra three hours to show us pretty much everything. Quite honestly, I can only think of one or two things that she didn't try to show me. I wanted to hug her by the end of her instructions. She then realized that us being there was part of our grade and not some voluntary punishment. I expressed my desire to never touch an animal that sick, that I wanted to be a cow vet and why in the world would I volunteer for small animal ICU?
Anyway, we eventually got into a nice groove. Things were looking up. Things were getting done. I catheritized a male dog for the first time ever without instructions-someone had shown me an hour earlier and I did it right as far as I can tell. Hourly treatments and checks were made within the correct hour. Nothing was dead or on death's doorstep anymore than before. And then one patient decided that ripping out its arterial line and bleeding everywhere was a good idea. And that while they were at it they would rip off the E-collar and rip out out the jugular catheter as well. AHH! That set us back about an hour. And then I called in the back up student at the suggestion of another student. He came and was super nice about it but then I was mildly scolded by the clinician for it. Whatever. We finally got caught up and then the afternoon tech came and proceeded to slow us down but there were also like a thousand things that suddenly had to be done as well. I felt bad because we were consistantly an hour to two behind. But nothing died. I left feeling tired. I hate scrubs still and smell like that faint medicine, sterile, sanitizer, bandage, urine smell that hospitals all have.
After ICU, I had to take care of the blood donor cats. My partner in crime left a little earlier than me and got them all fed, watered and fresh litter pans. I came in time to brush like ten sets of cat teeth, give vitamins and lysine.
OH WHAT A DAY!
This week I was finally feeling really good about local medicine. I was getting good cases, knowing some answers, and just all in all feeling like I knew what was going on. Dr. Senter complimented me on having everything done quickly for the client. I did a dental on one of the blood donor greyhounds. I really like doing dentals. They are so rewarding. But I don't know if I would like one on a complicated case. Anyway, I was still feeling as if I wasn't doing enough. My cases tended to be straight forward. Was it just a matter of the cases I chose or because that's just how they were? I was worried that I wouldn't be found to be extending myself. My grade might suffer. And then Friday came. Friday was a slow day but I got one of the few actually scheduled cases. A simple wellness exam on a cat. I picked up the murmur that the cat was supposed to have but had been missed in previous years. Then we thought we'd draw blood. And I couldn't do it. And more I tried, the more freaked out I got. I literally had to walk away and was terribly thrown off by the whole thing. Then I had to talk to the client which normally would of been fine but one of the interns was in there and she made me terribly nervous added into the whole blood thing. It just wasn't good and my confidence was blown.
Today was my ICU shift. I was greeted by a beeping machine from someplace and a tech essentially saying to me 'Don't worry, I'll get that, its not like I have anything else to do.' They were busy all night and there were lots of patients. Then the realization of the tech that the two people (myself and another girl from local) had never worked in the ICU before. All of the students there were like, 'Don't worry, this is what you do. And then be sure you do this for my patient.' Eventually, the tech stopped being mad at us and realized that it wasn't our fault for scheduling or for not knowing anything. She stayed like an extra three hours to show us pretty much everything. Quite honestly, I can only think of one or two things that she didn't try to show me. I wanted to hug her by the end of her instructions. She then realized that us being there was part of our grade and not some voluntary punishment. I expressed my desire to never touch an animal that sick, that I wanted to be a cow vet and why in the world would I volunteer for small animal ICU?
Anyway, we eventually got into a nice groove. Things were looking up. Things were getting done. I catheritized a male dog for the first time ever without instructions-someone had shown me an hour earlier and I did it right as far as I can tell. Hourly treatments and checks were made within the correct hour. Nothing was dead or on death's doorstep anymore than before. And then one patient decided that ripping out its arterial line and bleeding everywhere was a good idea. And that while they were at it they would rip off the E-collar and rip out out the jugular catheter as well. AHH! That set us back about an hour. And then I called in the back up student at the suggestion of another student. He came and was super nice about it but then I was mildly scolded by the clinician for it. Whatever. We finally got caught up and then the afternoon tech came and proceeded to slow us down but there were also like a thousand things that suddenly had to be done as well. I felt bad because we were consistantly an hour to two behind. But nothing died. I left feeling tired. I hate scrubs still and smell like that faint medicine, sterile, sanitizer, bandage, urine smell that hospitals all have.
After ICU, I had to take care of the blood donor cats. My partner in crime left a little earlier than me and got them all fed, watered and fresh litter pans. I came in time to brush like ten sets of cat teeth, give vitamins and lysine.
OH WHAT A DAY!
[EDIT-Originally published to Blogger-11/2/11]
Sunday, October 26, 2008
MySpace-October 26, 2008-Three Things I Forgot from The Big Blog
Wednesday, when we returned from dinner. Someone was parked in my spot. Not just someone but the dumb cunt that parked there before when I had groceries and really needed to pee. I was furious. I was going to have the car towed. It wasn't like the spot next to mine-the one belonging to the apartment of the people that she was visiting was even occupied. I was working up the nerve to pound on the door and demand that the car get moved and was preparing to have Joe hold the leftovers when Joe said that he would see if someone would move it. I let him because he knew how mad I was. I opened up the window and Joe explained that I was mad and it was better that he came over than me and explained where the visitor spots were. He was way too nice about it. ERR it makes me mad because this was the second time! Dumb bitch.
The bad deal about finals week? I dropped my cell phone in the toilet at school. I scooped it up pretty quick but of course hadn't flushed yet so it was pee water. I intended on washing the phone off with alcohol when I got home but fell asleep first. Then in my sleepy state it rang and I answered it only to realize that the reason it sounded funny was because it was full of water-toilet water.
One final thing that I meant to mention about White Coat other than that Joe looked really nice was that he was glad that he didn't put my coat on. He first of all would of been too nervous and secondly didn't think that he deserved it because as he watched all my classmates have their spouses, parents and mentors put on their coats he felt like he hadn't offered that much support. But who listens to me when I get bad grades? Or have a bad day in general? Who comes to school events with me? Who helped with the fistulated cow at Open House? Who had dinner ready for me when I came home from surgery every Thursday? Who listens when I bash my classmates? Who can offer a shoulder to cry on? Who cheers me on when I get good grades? Who asks me therio questions? Who always asks well thought out veterinary medicine questions and lets me ramble on with the answer? JOE! That's who! And that's why he should of put my coat on me.
The bad deal about finals week? I dropped my cell phone in the toilet at school. I scooped it up pretty quick but of course hadn't flushed yet so it was pee water. I intended on washing the phone off with alcohol when I got home but fell asleep first. Then in my sleepy state it rang and I answered it only to realize that the reason it sounded funny was because it was full of water-toilet water.
One final thing that I meant to mention about White Coat other than that Joe looked really nice was that he was glad that he didn't put my coat on. He first of all would of been too nervous and secondly didn't think that he deserved it because as he watched all my classmates have their spouses, parents and mentors put on their coats he felt like he hadn't offered that much support. But who listens to me when I get bad grades? Or have a bad day in general? Who comes to school events with me? Who helped with the fistulated cow at Open House? Who had dinner ready for me when I came home from surgery every Thursday? Who listens when I bash my classmates? Who can offer a shoulder to cry on? Who cheers me on when I get good grades? Who asks me therio questions? Who always asks well thought out veterinary medicine questions and lets me ramble on with the answer? JOE! That's who! And that's why he should of put my coat on me.
[EDIT-Originally published to Blogger-11/2/11]
MySpace-October 26, 2008-The Big Blog You've Been All Waiting For!
Its the Big Blog You've Been All Waiting For! And now where to start...Luckily, I copied the list from last time.
Dog Jog
I'm still wrapping up the loose ends from Dog Jog. The final t-shirts got mailed out this morning along with the thank you notes. T-shirts (most of them) got delivered to mailboxes also this morning. Tomorrow, a final money count and then taking it all to Cali on Monday. I think it will be about $2000 total, divided amoung the humane society and the class of 2010. Its a shame it took so long to wrap up.
Finals Week
I don't really remember much at this point about finals week other than having a huge case of the 'I Don't Cares'. Cause I didn't. But really should have. I also was totally stressed about Dog Jog stuff and making costumes and other assorted business.
My Grades
For not caring, my grades were pretty good. Surgery class, food animal, food animal diagnostics and theriogenology-all As. Ophthalmology-B. Equine-C. Apparently having horses all of your life doesn't make equine any easier. Hmm...but I didn't have it as bad as some of my classmates leading me to...
My Classmate's Grades
Apparently, five people either D-ed out or literally flunked out of vet school from my class on this last block. Apparently, all because of equine. BUT all of the grades (or at least theirs) were adjusted so that they were allowed to move onto clinics. That's great on the outside but the block before one girl D-ed out by one point. Why wasn't her grade adjusted? Someone I know got a D by one point. I got a C by one point. Amberle on her first time through D-ed out because of one point on the summer equine block. Knowing that people had their grades adjusted because they were eight weeks closer to clinics sucks. Anyway, some of these people are pets of certain people and I wonder if that has anything to do with it. BUT really, I just appreciate that now some of these people that have been getting good grades all along now have a big fat D on their record. It might not hurt their GPA that much over all but it should hurt their pride. AND I want to mention that I don't have any Ds. Not one. Why? I honestly don't know. Because I'm good at pulling things out at the last minute? Perhaps...probably...I wonder what my class rank is? Maybe it moved up nicely.
Dinner At Dr.Nagy's House
Monday, we had dinner at Dr.Nagy's house. Dr. Nagy is one of the food animal professors and she taught most of the food animal class and most of the food animal diagnostics class. (And one surgery.) She's really cool. We are the people in the diganostics class-there were eight of us in there. I was really worried about going because it seems because some of the cool crowd is in that class that I always get ignored. I'm always interupted when I have a good relative to topic story. But because the group was so small my absence would of been obvious. So I went and had a great time. We had a great dinner of pork and beef roast, salad, potatoes and ice cream and brownies for dessert. There was alot of good stories and ragging on assorted people. Nice. That's what I like.
How I Got A Baby Gate
Mary figured out how to climb the stairs. But not how to go down them. Which was a problem. It was also a problem because upstairs was often dark. And a problem because Mary is too heavy to carry down all of the time. And a problem because house training is still a little iffy. (She peed on the couch today as I got up to take her out.) So we blocked the stairs with chairs but if we went up them, she would push through them or shimmy underneath. We implemented a cardboard box. But all of it was such a hassle.
A few weeks ago, Dr. Middleton offered a baby gate upon hearing my dog difficulties. At the time, I didn't take him up on it because Joe couldn't give me an answer. But now it was clear that I needed one. Monday, Dr. Middleton brought me a baby gate. Its just funny because what an odd thing to get from your professor.
Surgery
I guess it would be two weeks ago now, but my surgery class did a C-section on a dairy cow from Foremost. I got to incise and suture up the uterus. I was terribly nervous about it. But the professor said that the sutures were tight enough and we were fine. The calf was alive. The cow was alive. However, last Tuesday, she came into the clinic because she wasn't doing so well. And then she died. And then they found that the incision had dehisted-i.e. the sutures had came out. I felt terrible. I sutured that sucker up. But then it came to the realization that it wasn't my fault. I was cleared of her death. The cow was given oxytocin which causes muscle contractions and milk let down. This is a good thing. The junk in the uterus is expelled and the uterus contracts down around the sutures. However, her cervix was not open because there was no estrogen present to make it open up. She was having contractions but nothing could go anywhere and the whole business burst! This wasn't my fault. This acutally was the professor's fault because he was the one that didn't give the estrogen.
Cornell Summer Dairy Institute
I want to go to this program over the summer at Cornell. Everyone that has went has given it high marks and said that it was essential if I wanted to become a dairy practicioner. Getting in as a problem aside, the problem is that the program overlaps three blocks. One by a total of five days (that includes a weekend), one entire block and like two weeks of another. I have to rearrange my schedule. Luckily, it looks like all of the professors are on board for this rearrangement and I can go from that part. I also found out that I would be able to find out if I got accepted early because they are willing to do that if there are scheduling constraints. I now need to work on my application. I have recruited two people-Dr. Middleton, when he was giving me the baby gate and Dr. Clarkson from the USDA to write me letters. I think that I will talk to Dr.Dodam and John Denbigh about the other two letters. I hope it works out and I get to go. Another problem though...the money. Its about $2000.
Joe and I
Joe and I were having some major problems last week. It was really upsetting. I won't go into specifics but I think we both know areas that we need to work on and things that we need to improve. And that brings us to...
Date Night
Joe and I decided that Date Night would be a good idea. Just one night a week that we would go out and do something as a couple. No friends, no dogs. Just us. I figured that this would help with some of our relationship difficulties because quite honestly, I was tired of dating Joe. I love him so much, don't get me wrong but I'm tired of sitting on the couch and doing nothing. If we were married or engaged that would be acceptable but we're still just dating. We should be going out and we never do. If I could of had someone on the side to just take me out I would but the easier solution was just to have Joe do it. So anyway, Wednesday, we went to Red Lobster. Joe got the lobster. He picked one out of the tank and the crazy waitress pulled it out. Joe kind of played with it and we talked about it. That made him feel bad that he was going to eat it. I had all you can eat shrimp and didn't get any extra. We also got some calamari and vegetables-fried broccoli and fried peppers. Weird.
Riley's Costume
This year, Riley was Little Bo Peep (or Little Bo Pup!). She had a pink dress with lace, white collar with lace and an apron. She had a little straw hat with a pink bow and blue flowers and a shepard's crook with pink ribbon and flowers too. I finished it this morning just in time to go to the costume contest at PetCo. Unfortunatly, there wasn't time to make Roosevelt's sheep costume so Riley had to settle on a stuffed sheep wearing a bow and bell. Roosevelt lucked out but I am still making his costume so expect some pictures. Anyway, Riley got her picture taken and stayed around for the contest at PetCo. And she won! Again! We got to say a little thing about our pet and I explained that Riley was a corgi and corgis were a herding breed but what better costume than Little Bo Peep. It would of totally been better though if Roosevelt had been there then I could of explained Riley herding him around. Or Teddy dressed up as a sheep. That would of been devistating. People's heads might of exploded from cuteness. And we wouldn't of wanted that.
White Coat and Joe
White Coat was nice. We had some good dinner and I was glad that everyone that came did. Lots of pictures were taken and eventually when I actually see them, I'll post some up. There was a whole proceedure of how the white coat was put on and who you shook hands with, who you hugged, etc. So as Martha and I were preparing to go onstage, I suggested that we give each other a high five. She declined but offered a fist bump instead. I took it but with the warning that I might freak out and hug her instead. On stage, I stayed the course, we didn't hug like everyone else but did the fist bump. Off stage, I told Dr.Dodam who loves giving people the fist bump that it was for him. He loved it. He teased Martha about being an intern and already getting to coat someone while as one of the top equine guys hadn't got to. Anyway, it was a nice night. I looked totally hot and well, good things happened.
Orientation
It was long. It was boring. It was scary. I learned that it is a real potental of my face getting stuck to an MRI machine after being flown across the room by the attaction of my dental implant and screws in my jaw being attacted to a magnet that is 30000 times stronger than the gravitational pull of earth. I haven't totally done my research on the full possiblity of this yet but I don't want to take any chances. We saw some video of things-oxygen bottles, floor buffers, guerneys stuck in MRIs. I think that might of been the highlight of orientation. I don't remember much else. Maybe the BBQ? Definantly not UVIS training.
First Three Days of Clinics
Well, the first day was orientation and I looked at a dog. I slept some in rounds. We introduced outselves. Dr.Meadows (whom I despise, but hope to less after this block) said that upon graduating vet school he went into a dairy practice. That's all he wanted to do during vet school was be a dairy vet. He was in that practice one year before his now wife told him it was her or the cows. It always seems that there are these stories of 'I was or I wanted to be a dairy vet and now I'm not.' Are they a warning? Anyway. I was the only person that wanted to do all large animals and definantly the only one that was interested in meat inspection. Essentially, as Joe put it-'I wouldn't touch your dog with a ten foot pole.' ( Maybe he put it another way.) I also took care of a blood donor cat. They are suoer friendly and super fat. They make Roosevelt look halfway normal.
The second day, I looked at another dog. It was nice but took me forever. I don't feel like I did a good job or that the clinician that went over the dog later did a good job either. I don't feel like we addressed the concerns of the client even though they were concerened about a smelly outside dog. I expressed this dog's anal glands and felt a lump on its ribs. I was concerneed about osteosarcoma since it was an older dog but we determined that it was probably just conformational. Luckily, the clinician thought it was odd too and called someone else over to feel too. That day, I was also put in charge of a super cool dog named Ellsie that was there just for boarding. That turned into an ordeal that extended into today and hopefully takes care of itself.
The third day of clinics involved my ignorance. We vaccinated a kitten. I got a dermotology case pushed off on me. During which, I was accused of sleeping through my derm lectures-I did. I was asked by the clinician upon realization that I ddin't have a clue what I was looking for under the microscope how I would ever be a small animal vet because dermotolgy was like 95% of small animal medicine? That number is inflated for effect. To which I answered that I was going to be a dairy vet. Then the clinican dumbed things down for me. Its not that I don't understand. It's that I don't know. Especially when put on the spot. Anyway, that whole business continued to stress me out to the point that someone had to remind me to breathe. I was also told that my handwriting was super neat and that I should be a first grade teacher if vet school didn't pan out and that my handwriting looked like it should be put up on the chalkboard.
So that was clinics so far. Next week should be equally as exhausting. And Saturday, I have an ICU shift. I'm terrified.
Dog Jog
I'm still wrapping up the loose ends from Dog Jog. The final t-shirts got mailed out this morning along with the thank you notes. T-shirts (most of them) got delivered to mailboxes also this morning. Tomorrow, a final money count and then taking it all to Cali on Monday. I think it will be about $2000 total, divided amoung the humane society and the class of 2010. Its a shame it took so long to wrap up.
Finals Week
I don't really remember much at this point about finals week other than having a huge case of the 'I Don't Cares'. Cause I didn't. But really should have. I also was totally stressed about Dog Jog stuff and making costumes and other assorted business.
My Grades
For not caring, my grades were pretty good. Surgery class, food animal, food animal diagnostics and theriogenology-all As. Ophthalmology-B. Equine-C. Apparently having horses all of your life doesn't make equine any easier. Hmm...but I didn't have it as bad as some of my classmates leading me to...
My Classmate's Grades
Apparently, five people either D-ed out or literally flunked out of vet school from my class on this last block. Apparently, all because of equine. BUT all of the grades (or at least theirs) were adjusted so that they were allowed to move onto clinics. That's great on the outside but the block before one girl D-ed out by one point. Why wasn't her grade adjusted? Someone I know got a D by one point. I got a C by one point. Amberle on her first time through D-ed out because of one point on the summer equine block. Knowing that people had their grades adjusted because they were eight weeks closer to clinics sucks. Anyway, some of these people are pets of certain people and I wonder if that has anything to do with it. BUT really, I just appreciate that now some of these people that have been getting good grades all along now have a big fat D on their record. It might not hurt their GPA that much over all but it should hurt their pride. AND I want to mention that I don't have any Ds. Not one. Why? I honestly don't know. Because I'm good at pulling things out at the last minute? Perhaps...probably...I wonder what my class rank is? Maybe it moved up nicely.
Dinner At Dr.Nagy's House
Monday, we had dinner at Dr.Nagy's house. Dr. Nagy is one of the food animal professors and she taught most of the food animal class and most of the food animal diagnostics class. (And one surgery.) She's really cool. We are the people in the diganostics class-there were eight of us in there. I was really worried about going because it seems because some of the cool crowd is in that class that I always get ignored. I'm always interupted when I have a good relative to topic story. But because the group was so small my absence would of been obvious. So I went and had a great time. We had a great dinner of pork and beef roast, salad, potatoes and ice cream and brownies for dessert. There was alot of good stories and ragging on assorted people. Nice. That's what I like.
How I Got A Baby Gate
Mary figured out how to climb the stairs. But not how to go down them. Which was a problem. It was also a problem because upstairs was often dark. And a problem because Mary is too heavy to carry down all of the time. And a problem because house training is still a little iffy. (She peed on the couch today as I got up to take her out.) So we blocked the stairs with chairs but if we went up them, she would push through them or shimmy underneath. We implemented a cardboard box. But all of it was such a hassle.
A few weeks ago, Dr. Middleton offered a baby gate upon hearing my dog difficulties. At the time, I didn't take him up on it because Joe couldn't give me an answer. But now it was clear that I needed one. Monday, Dr. Middleton brought me a baby gate. Its just funny because what an odd thing to get from your professor.
Surgery
I guess it would be two weeks ago now, but my surgery class did a C-section on a dairy cow from Foremost. I got to incise and suture up the uterus. I was terribly nervous about it. But the professor said that the sutures were tight enough and we were fine. The calf was alive. The cow was alive. However, last Tuesday, she came into the clinic because she wasn't doing so well. And then she died. And then they found that the incision had dehisted-i.e. the sutures had came out. I felt terrible. I sutured that sucker up. But then it came to the realization that it wasn't my fault. I was cleared of her death. The cow was given oxytocin which causes muscle contractions and milk let down. This is a good thing. The junk in the uterus is expelled and the uterus contracts down around the sutures. However, her cervix was not open because there was no estrogen present to make it open up. She was having contractions but nothing could go anywhere and the whole business burst! This wasn't my fault. This acutally was the professor's fault because he was the one that didn't give the estrogen.
Cornell Summer Dairy Institute
I want to go to this program over the summer at Cornell. Everyone that has went has given it high marks and said that it was essential if I wanted to become a dairy practicioner. Getting in as a problem aside, the problem is that the program overlaps three blocks. One by a total of five days (that includes a weekend), one entire block and like two weeks of another. I have to rearrange my schedule. Luckily, it looks like all of the professors are on board for this rearrangement and I can go from that part. I also found out that I would be able to find out if I got accepted early because they are willing to do that if there are scheduling constraints. I now need to work on my application. I have recruited two people-Dr. Middleton, when he was giving me the baby gate and Dr. Clarkson from the USDA to write me letters. I think that I will talk to Dr.Dodam and John Denbigh about the other two letters. I hope it works out and I get to go. Another problem though...the money. Its about $2000.
Joe and I
Joe and I were having some major problems last week. It was really upsetting. I won't go into specifics but I think we both know areas that we need to work on and things that we need to improve. And that brings us to...
Date Night
Joe and I decided that Date Night would be a good idea. Just one night a week that we would go out and do something as a couple. No friends, no dogs. Just us. I figured that this would help with some of our relationship difficulties because quite honestly, I was tired of dating Joe. I love him so much, don't get me wrong but I'm tired of sitting on the couch and doing nothing. If we were married or engaged that would be acceptable but we're still just dating. We should be going out and we never do. If I could of had someone on the side to just take me out I would but the easier solution was just to have Joe do it. So anyway, Wednesday, we went to Red Lobster. Joe got the lobster. He picked one out of the tank and the crazy waitress pulled it out. Joe kind of played with it and we talked about it. That made him feel bad that he was going to eat it. I had all you can eat shrimp and didn't get any extra. We also got some calamari and vegetables-fried broccoli and fried peppers. Weird.
Riley's Costume
This year, Riley was Little Bo Peep (or Little Bo Pup!). She had a pink dress with lace, white collar with lace and an apron. She had a little straw hat with a pink bow and blue flowers and a shepard's crook with pink ribbon and flowers too. I finished it this morning just in time to go to the costume contest at PetCo. Unfortunatly, there wasn't time to make Roosevelt's sheep costume so Riley had to settle on a stuffed sheep wearing a bow and bell. Roosevelt lucked out but I am still making his costume so expect some pictures. Anyway, Riley got her picture taken and stayed around for the contest at PetCo. And she won! Again! We got to say a little thing about our pet and I explained that Riley was a corgi and corgis were a herding breed but what better costume than Little Bo Peep. It would of totally been better though if Roosevelt had been there then I could of explained Riley herding him around. Or Teddy dressed up as a sheep. That would of been devistating. People's heads might of exploded from cuteness. And we wouldn't of wanted that.
White Coat and Joe
White Coat was nice. We had some good dinner and I was glad that everyone that came did. Lots of pictures were taken and eventually when I actually see them, I'll post some up. There was a whole proceedure of how the white coat was put on and who you shook hands with, who you hugged, etc. So as Martha and I were preparing to go onstage, I suggested that we give each other a high five. She declined but offered a fist bump instead. I took it but with the warning that I might freak out and hug her instead. On stage, I stayed the course, we didn't hug like everyone else but did the fist bump. Off stage, I told Dr.Dodam who loves giving people the fist bump that it was for him. He loved it. He teased Martha about being an intern and already getting to coat someone while as one of the top equine guys hadn't got to. Anyway, it was a nice night. I looked totally hot and well, good things happened.
Orientation
It was long. It was boring. It was scary. I learned that it is a real potental of my face getting stuck to an MRI machine after being flown across the room by the attaction of my dental implant and screws in my jaw being attacted to a magnet that is 30000 times stronger than the gravitational pull of earth. I haven't totally done my research on the full possiblity of this yet but I don't want to take any chances. We saw some video of things-oxygen bottles, floor buffers, guerneys stuck in MRIs. I think that might of been the highlight of orientation. I don't remember much else. Maybe the BBQ? Definantly not UVIS training.
First Three Days of Clinics
Well, the first day was orientation and I looked at a dog. I slept some in rounds. We introduced outselves. Dr.Meadows (whom I despise, but hope to less after this block) said that upon graduating vet school he went into a dairy practice. That's all he wanted to do during vet school was be a dairy vet. He was in that practice one year before his now wife told him it was her or the cows. It always seems that there are these stories of 'I was or I wanted to be a dairy vet and now I'm not.' Are they a warning? Anyway. I was the only person that wanted to do all large animals and definantly the only one that was interested in meat inspection. Essentially, as Joe put it-'I wouldn't touch your dog with a ten foot pole.' ( Maybe he put it another way.) I also took care of a blood donor cat. They are suoer friendly and super fat. They make Roosevelt look halfway normal.
The second day, I looked at another dog. It was nice but took me forever. I don't feel like I did a good job or that the clinician that went over the dog later did a good job either. I don't feel like we addressed the concerns of the client even though they were concerened about a smelly outside dog. I expressed this dog's anal glands and felt a lump on its ribs. I was concerneed about osteosarcoma since it was an older dog but we determined that it was probably just conformational. Luckily, the clinician thought it was odd too and called someone else over to feel too. That day, I was also put in charge of a super cool dog named Ellsie that was there just for boarding. That turned into an ordeal that extended into today and hopefully takes care of itself.
The third day of clinics involved my ignorance. We vaccinated a kitten. I got a dermotology case pushed off on me. During which, I was accused of sleeping through my derm lectures-I did. I was asked by the clinician upon realization that I ddin't have a clue what I was looking for under the microscope how I would ever be a small animal vet because dermotolgy was like 95% of small animal medicine? That number is inflated for effect. To which I answered that I was going to be a dairy vet. Then the clinican dumbed things down for me. Its not that I don't understand. It's that I don't know. Especially when put on the spot. Anyway, that whole business continued to stress me out to the point that someone had to remind me to breathe. I was also told that my handwriting was super neat and that I should be a first grade teacher if vet school didn't pan out and that my handwriting looked like it should be put up on the chalkboard.
So that was clinics so far. Next week should be equally as exhausting. And Saturday, I have an ICU shift. I'm terrified.
[EDIT-Originally published to Blogger-11/2/11]
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
MySpace-October 22, 2008-Not Today
Just a quick note that I will not be getting to the blog that was formerly promised for today. I need to finish studying for a quiz that is part of my small animal medicine orientation tomorrow. I think I have that all day. I start on community practice. Probably the easier of the two. Unfortunately, not with any of my friends (i.e. Jenn and Kevin).
Tomorrow you will be treated with a very long blog showcasing my first day of clinics, though I'm pretty sure I don't have patients tomorrow. And perhaps date night. So if there's no blog, its probably because Joe and I went out for date night.
But as a side note, I want to state that the giant Obama posters sported by three, count them THREE, windows in my parking lot freak me out. The first one that was up kept catching me off guard early in the morning and really scared me. They are about three foot by two foot if not larger. They are all graphic design-y and well, scary. My neighbor has one. I think I need to get a McCain/Palin sign. Palin's my girl.
[EDIT-Orginally, published to Blogger on 10/24/11.]
Tomorrow you will be treated with a very long blog showcasing my first day of clinics, though I'm pretty sure I don't have patients tomorrow. And perhaps date night. So if there's no blog, its probably because Joe and I went out for date night.
But as a side note, I want to state that the giant Obama posters sported by three, count them THREE, windows in my parking lot freak me out. The first one that was up kept catching me off guard early in the morning and really scared me. They are about three foot by two foot if not larger. They are all graphic design-y and well, scary. My neighbor has one. I think I need to get a McCain/Palin sign. Palin's my girl.
[EDIT-Orginally, published to Blogger on 10/24/11.]
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
MySpace-October 21, 2008-Things I Will Blog On Later
Because I am sort of busy right now, I will blog tonight an touch on the following topics:
Dog Jog
Finals Week
My Grades
My Classmate's Grades
Dinner At Dr.Nagy's House
How I Got A Baby Gate
Cornell Summer Dairy Institute
Joe and I
Riley's Costume
White Coat and Joe
Orientation
And if I don't get this done tonight, First Day of Clinics
[EDIT-Originally, published to Blogger on 10/24/11]
Dog Jog
Finals Week
My Grades
My Classmate's Grades
Dinner At Dr.Nagy's House
How I Got A Baby Gate
Cornell Summer Dairy Institute
Joe and I
Riley's Costume
White Coat and Joe
Orientation
And if I don't get this done tonight, First Day of Clinics
[EDIT-Originally, published to Blogger on 10/24/11]
Sunday, October 12, 2008
MySpace-October 12, 2008-DOG JOG IS FINALLY OVER!
Whew. Dog Jog is finally over. It went off without too many hitches. There was some confusion about the routes. There was a definite lack of volunteers-I should of known better than to rely on Jill. Oh wait, I did. There was a lack of prizes for the winners-but secretly, the winners didn't actually run the full race and it was too complicated to deal with otherwise. Signage was put up alone in the dark, flour was used in place of sidewalk chalk, signs disappeared. We ran out of t-shirts which now have to be reordered and mailed. UGH.
The class treasurer was there and tried to make off with the money but I stopped her. I don't trust her any further than I can throw her. I don't trust her to give the correct amount to the humane society esp. after what she tried to pull with the 'we need to save money for the JR SR banquet' Oh wait, the money that was cut from Dog Jog was given to Whitecoatapallooza. Ugh.
And the Purina stuff made it here on time. It filled my living room and continues to do so. There were 27 rather large boxes but the prizes were nice.
I think I did a good job. A job that would of only been better had I had more time and more volunteers.
The next task, caring enough to study for finals without falling asleep.
[EDIT-Originally posted to Blogger on 10/16/11.]
The class treasurer was there and tried to make off with the money but I stopped her. I don't trust her any further than I can throw her. I don't trust her to give the correct amount to the humane society esp. after what she tried to pull with the 'we need to save money for the JR SR banquet' Oh wait, the money that was cut from Dog Jog was given to Whitecoatapallooza. Ugh.
And the Purina stuff made it here on time. It filled my living room and continues to do so. There were 27 rather large boxes but the prizes were nice.
I think I did a good job. A job that would of only been better had I had more time and more volunteers.
The next task, caring enough to study for finals without falling asleep.
[EDIT-Originally posted to Blogger on 10/16/11.]
Saturday, October 11, 2008
October 11, 2008-Illness Status and Dog Jog Worries
My neighbors are having a really loud party. I'm not going to complain because next weekend I'd like to have one of the same. I did consider breaking out the bullhorn that I got for Dog Jog and yelling at them. So I'm up. Mostly also because I fell asleep on the couch and started doing other things-i.e. playing games on Yahoo!. Damn this computer and its internet.
The rat found a good home. Wednesday morning I sent out an email looking for him one and essentially immediatly had about five replies. One of the pathologists took him for her mom. She thought he was cute. Of course now, both Joe and I had second thoughts about giving him away. He was cute. And there were two emails from people wondering how I knew he was a pet rat. Well, typically wild ones don't let you catch them or run up to dogs.
Joe broke his month of sobrity, He told me when he woke up even though I already knew-I found that typical half empty forty next to the bed. I asked what he planned to do about it. In my mind his options were another 30 days of sobrity or AA. He said he was not going to drink again but I'm sure he will this weekend while he's in St.Joe. I just want him to prove to me that he's not an addict. I don't deal with addictive personalities well. He's not doing a very good job right now.
Its a football game weekend which means I'm going to hate the world for most of tomorrow. Since Joe is out of town, I decided I'd park in his covered spot but block off my spot in front of the apartment. It worked tonight for the neighbors' party so I would assume it will work tomorrow or people will be towed. However, the downside of someone not parking in that spot is that it serves as an additional patio for party overflow. And its right beneath my bedroom window.
Only five more days of classroom work before I start clincs. Of course, they are five days of finals which I am horribly unprepared for but nevertheless five days. I would of thought that I would of never made it this far. And without a single D.
I finished my antibiotics for the UTI today. I feel better I guess. I still feel as if there is a dull ache in my kidneys. Like an aura of pain. Like when someone is too close to you without touching you. You just know they are there because you somehow feel them as if they are touching you. That's kind of what its like. Also, my cold is almost gone. I caught a virus about three days into the antibiotics and felt like shit some of the time esp. on Thursday when I had surgery. And now its been concluded by me and about four friends that looked at the spot that I have ringworm on my waist. Probably from the cat. At least it doesn't itch though they told me it wasn't supposed to. But when I had it before in high school it did teribly. What's the big deal about having it then if it doesn't itch?
Thursday was our C-section surgery. Dr.Volkman scared us all on Tuesday with the continued unorganization of the class and battery of unanswerable questions. Thursday, when a rough physical exam was done I rectally palpated the cow and determined that I didn't feel anything but if I had to guess the calf was laying head out. He didn't like that I didn't feel anything and had a guy do it but he felt essentially the same and I was justified as not just being a dumb girl. I then volunteered to do the surgery because I feel that as a dairy practicinor that I am more likely to do C-sections than the average food animal or mixed practice vet in Missouri. The two guys that also did the surgery did the bulk of it. I got too intimidated. But I did incise through the uterus and then sutured it back up. I did an adequate job. All that sewing of dog costumes comes in handy. The calf was delivered. A good sized bull calf that was confused as to why he was dragged from his comfy home onto the concrete floor.
The dog costume is coming along nicely though I have a lot left to do on it.
So Dog Jog is Sunday. My friends came over tonight and organized t-shirts for me. I think I have most everything at some level of organization and its just a matter of getting it actually together. Unfortunatly, I don't have the items for the goodie bags from Purina. I assumed that they were coming in today when I talked to Mike Factor a week ago. But they weren't in nor was Mike in class. After an email from me and several phone calls from him, the packages were shipped overnight. Currently, they have shipped from St.Louis to Louisville, KY. Because obviously that's on the way to Columbia. I tracked them online about half an hour ago and the one number I had was ontime for delivery tomorrow. But it seemed while the rest were on the same schedule, they had delayed delivery for Monday. That won't help at all! AHHH! Also, I forgot that I have to go pick up water and water coolers from culligan tomorrow morning. So I have to recruit someone to sit here and wait for UPS and sign for the package. All else seems to be going along well. Hopefully, I get that package.
Well, Whitecoatapalooza is happening much to my dismay. AND they are using class funds. I believe the amount that is being used is $200. The same $200 that was cut from the Dog Jog proposed budget. Of course, no one knows that part. After I got the huge lecture about keeping my spending minimal, ordering a tight number of t-shirts (which I might run out of and might have to do a reorder and might have to mail them out), and not being allowed to buy granola bars for people because we needed the money for JR SR banquet, that same amount of money went so the cool kids could organize another session of binge drinking. Because of my fantastic donation seeking skills, I think that we might actually make a profit off of the corporate donations. I'm going to get the bagel status and then carefully do the math, if there is what I deem an appropriate amount being donated to both parties, I'm going to purchase granola bars anyway and expect reimbersment. Stupid classmates...
[EDIT-Originally posted to Blogger on 10/16/11.]
The rat found a good home. Wednesday morning I sent out an email looking for him one and essentially immediatly had about five replies. One of the pathologists took him for her mom. She thought he was cute. Of course now, both Joe and I had second thoughts about giving him away. He was cute. And there were two emails from people wondering how I knew he was a pet rat. Well, typically wild ones don't let you catch them or run up to dogs.
Joe broke his month of sobrity, He told me when he woke up even though I already knew-I found that typical half empty forty next to the bed. I asked what he planned to do about it. In my mind his options were another 30 days of sobrity or AA. He said he was not going to drink again but I'm sure he will this weekend while he's in St.Joe. I just want him to prove to me that he's not an addict. I don't deal with addictive personalities well. He's not doing a very good job right now.
Its a football game weekend which means I'm going to hate the world for most of tomorrow. Since Joe is out of town, I decided I'd park in his covered spot but block off my spot in front of the apartment. It worked tonight for the neighbors' party so I would assume it will work tomorrow or people will be towed. However, the downside of someone not parking in that spot is that it serves as an additional patio for party overflow. And its right beneath my bedroom window.
Only five more days of classroom work before I start clincs. Of course, they are five days of finals which I am horribly unprepared for but nevertheless five days. I would of thought that I would of never made it this far. And without a single D.
I finished my antibiotics for the UTI today. I feel better I guess. I still feel as if there is a dull ache in my kidneys. Like an aura of pain. Like when someone is too close to you without touching you. You just know they are there because you somehow feel them as if they are touching you. That's kind of what its like. Also, my cold is almost gone. I caught a virus about three days into the antibiotics and felt like shit some of the time esp. on Thursday when I had surgery. And now its been concluded by me and about four friends that looked at the spot that I have ringworm on my waist. Probably from the cat. At least it doesn't itch though they told me it wasn't supposed to. But when I had it before in high school it did teribly. What's the big deal about having it then if it doesn't itch?
Thursday was our C-section surgery. Dr.Volkman scared us all on Tuesday with the continued unorganization of the class and battery of unanswerable questions. Thursday, when a rough physical exam was done I rectally palpated the cow and determined that I didn't feel anything but if I had to guess the calf was laying head out. He didn't like that I didn't feel anything and had a guy do it but he felt essentially the same and I was justified as not just being a dumb girl. I then volunteered to do the surgery because I feel that as a dairy practicinor that I am more likely to do C-sections than the average food animal or mixed practice vet in Missouri. The two guys that also did the surgery did the bulk of it. I got too intimidated. But I did incise through the uterus and then sutured it back up. I did an adequate job. All that sewing of dog costumes comes in handy. The calf was delivered. A good sized bull calf that was confused as to why he was dragged from his comfy home onto the concrete floor.
The dog costume is coming along nicely though I have a lot left to do on it.
So Dog Jog is Sunday. My friends came over tonight and organized t-shirts for me. I think I have most everything at some level of organization and its just a matter of getting it actually together. Unfortunatly, I don't have the items for the goodie bags from Purina. I assumed that they were coming in today when I talked to Mike Factor a week ago. But they weren't in nor was Mike in class. After an email from me and several phone calls from him, the packages were shipped overnight. Currently, they have shipped from St.Louis to Louisville, KY. Because obviously that's on the way to Columbia. I tracked them online about half an hour ago and the one number I had was ontime for delivery tomorrow. But it seemed while the rest were on the same schedule, they had delayed delivery for Monday. That won't help at all! AHHH! Also, I forgot that I have to go pick up water and water coolers from culligan tomorrow morning. So I have to recruit someone to sit here and wait for UPS and sign for the package. All else seems to be going along well. Hopefully, I get that package.
Well, Whitecoatapalooza is happening much to my dismay. AND they are using class funds. I believe the amount that is being used is $200. The same $200 that was cut from the Dog Jog proposed budget. Of course, no one knows that part. After I got the huge lecture about keeping my spending minimal, ordering a tight number of t-shirts (which I might run out of and might have to do a reorder and might have to mail them out), and not being allowed to buy granola bars for people because we needed the money for JR SR banquet, that same amount of money went so the cool kids could organize another session of binge drinking. Because of my fantastic donation seeking skills, I think that we might actually make a profit off of the corporate donations. I'm going to get the bagel status and then carefully do the math, if there is what I deem an appropriate amount being donated to both parties, I'm going to purchase granola bars anyway and expect reimbersment. Stupid classmates...
[EDIT-Originally posted to Blogger on 10/16/11.]
Monday, October 6, 2008
MySpace-October 6, 2008-Ouchy Kidneys, Rats and Dumb Bitches
I really should go to bed.
So I've been busily running around doing various Dog Jog stuff. We're only a week away and I feel like I still have a crap ton of things to do. Oh wait, I do. Saturday is going to be crammed packed full of things. And then there are those pesky finals...
Friday, I went to the student health center about my UTI. After being asked a bunch of questions and being met with skeptical looks, I peed in a cup and then was reasked the same questions and received the same skeptical looks. Then I was punched in the kidneys by which at that time hurt. And then told that yes, indeed I had a UTI and it looked like it was making its way to my kidneys. That's what I told them. I'm a third year vet student. I enter clinics in two weeks. I'm pretty sure I can self diagnose a UTI/kidney infection. So I got some antibiotics but my kidneys are still pretty achy.
Friday night, I went out and drank some. Probably not good for the old kidneys. Joe was the sober driver because this is his month of sobrity proving to me that he's not an alcoholic. You find your boyfriend passed out in his car in the middle of the day and you'd be wondering too.
Yesterday, I did some studying.
Today, I did some sewing and what vaguely resembled studying. And made a lasagna.
Today, I also found a rat in the parking lot. Faithful fans will remember last spring when I saw a white lab rat in the parking lot one morning. Well this followed pretty much the same thing. Riley got excited and proceeded to chase something underneath my neighbor's car. I looked and it was a rat. It seemed fairly friendly and after putting up the dogs, I called Amberle and we lured it out with some bread. I managed to snag it and cuddle with it. Its light grey and a male. Its cute and very friendly. Currently its living in a mop bucket in Joe's shower under the assumption that it can't jump out of either. I put up a note on the neighbors on either side of me but I don't think it will help. There's also a sign on the mailbox. I guess if worse comes to worse an email to school looking for him a home. I call him Tator.
Some dumb cunt was parked in my spot when I came home today. I was in a bad mood because of a Wal-Mart trip and really having to pee. I considered having the car towed but fearing it was my neighbor in C, I left a nasty note instead. The neighbors in C can't park to save their lives and it makes me mad because it pushes me into A's spot and they are parked against the covered spots. Anyway, I saw them come and get into their car and Joe came into the kitchen. They read the note, tore it up and drove off. Joe was going to take the heat for it if worse came to worse but I was still mad enough, I could of kicked some ass.
[EDIT-Originally posted to Blogger on 10/16/11.]
So I've been busily running around doing various Dog Jog stuff. We're only a week away and I feel like I still have a crap ton of things to do. Oh wait, I do. Saturday is going to be crammed packed full of things. And then there are those pesky finals...
Friday, I went to the student health center about my UTI. After being asked a bunch of questions and being met with skeptical looks, I peed in a cup and then was reasked the same questions and received the same skeptical looks. Then I was punched in the kidneys by which at that time hurt. And then told that yes, indeed I had a UTI and it looked like it was making its way to my kidneys. That's what I told them. I'm a third year vet student. I enter clinics in two weeks. I'm pretty sure I can self diagnose a UTI/kidney infection. So I got some antibiotics but my kidneys are still pretty achy.
Friday night, I went out and drank some. Probably not good for the old kidneys. Joe was the sober driver because this is his month of sobrity proving to me that he's not an alcoholic. You find your boyfriend passed out in his car in the middle of the day and you'd be wondering too.
Yesterday, I did some studying.
Today, I did some sewing and what vaguely resembled studying. And made a lasagna.
Today, I also found a rat in the parking lot. Faithful fans will remember last spring when I saw a white lab rat in the parking lot one morning. Well this followed pretty much the same thing. Riley got excited and proceeded to chase something underneath my neighbor's car. I looked and it was a rat. It seemed fairly friendly and after putting up the dogs, I called Amberle and we lured it out with some bread. I managed to snag it and cuddle with it. Its light grey and a male. Its cute and very friendly. Currently its living in a mop bucket in Joe's shower under the assumption that it can't jump out of either. I put up a note on the neighbors on either side of me but I don't think it will help. There's also a sign on the mailbox. I guess if worse comes to worse an email to school looking for him a home. I call him Tator.
Some dumb cunt was parked in my spot when I came home today. I was in a bad mood because of a Wal-Mart trip and really having to pee. I considered having the car towed but fearing it was my neighbor in C, I left a nasty note instead. The neighbors in C can't park to save their lives and it makes me mad because it pushes me into A's spot and they are parked against the covered spots. Anyway, I saw them come and get into their car and Joe came into the kitchen. They read the note, tore it up and drove off. Joe was going to take the heat for it if worse came to worse but I was still mad enough, I could of kicked some ass.
[EDIT-Originally posted to Blogger on 10/16/11.]
Friday, October 3, 2008
MySpace-October 3, 2008-White Coat Fiasco, Surgery and Some Other Things I'm Sure
White Coat Ceremony is rapidly approaching which also means finals (which I really should start studying for) and clinics! I'm super excited to move over to clinics and my excitement could only be strengthened if I was starting with something I was going to really enjoy, i.e. something other than small animal medicine.
Anyway, White Coat is a ceremony where you have some one special to you put your white coat on you and say yea! you're going to clinics! you didn't fuck up and fail out so don't fuck up and kill anything (or at least that's what I expect them to say). Jackie and Casey and my parents and Joe are all coming to my ceremony. Its cool. Anyway, I went to RSVP the other day and pay my money. When the secretary asked who I wanted to coat me I said just the default person and who was it anyway? They said it was the dean. But they said it in a very judgmental way. I didn't think much of it and said it would be fine. Dean Olsen is kind of creepy and never is around. He doesn't know who I am but its cool. I don't care. I mentioned the judgmental attitude I got to some of my friends. One of them initially said that they would have the dean coat them too and felt as if she had been judged as well. Then yesterday, I get this email that says that only two people are having the dean coat them and they wanted to make sure that I knew that I could have a family member, a faculty member or a mentor coat me. I knew this and felt that the email was kind of judgy and rude. Unfortunatly, I don't know who this other person is. I kindof feel as if we should do the same thing. I wouldn't want them to change and I'm the only one having the creepy dean put my coat on me. But I wouldn't want to do that to someone else either.
So I've decided to find someone else. This is where it gets difficult. Initally, I wanted Joe to do it. We've dated the entire time I've been in vet school He's had to deal with all of my emotional breakdowns over stupid classmates and classes and bad grades. He's really supported me. BUT I knew if I had Joe do it that my mom would be upset whether or not she said anything. I tossed around the idea of having the dairy farm manager do it but since I hadn't actually worked for him in several years I figured it wouldn't be quite appropriate. So that's why I went with the dean. Then I got that judgmental email and decided that I better change my mind. So hopefully, I can get the RSVP sorted out and my dear friend Martha Rasch, DVM will put my white coat on me. This is why I figure she's a good choice-she's my friend and has been since 2001. She's smart and good looking. She's a faculty member sort of. She's a veterinarian. She's my grand big sib and helped me out through school. She seems like a great choice and I am super excited that she said she'd do it. I was a little surprised admittedly but still super glad. Then I was telling my mom this whole saga and was just getting to the part where Martha was asked when my mom interrupts and says 'Why don't you have your dad do it?' I was crushed. I never really considered my dad. I guess I'm a daddy's girl in some ways-he did buy me a pony when I was 16 and took me to a ton of horse shows. I just figured that despite the new sports coat and pants bought for the event that it wasn't something that my dad would want to do. I actually don't know if my dad wants to. And I've done some more considering. And I'm still going with Martha (so as you read this Martha, don't feel bad or anything, everyone really truely understands. But remember that I still have to check on RSVPing for you). And yeah, I still need to check on RSVPing for Martha. Oh well. My parents will be there at graduation and no telling where Martha (or any of my vet friends) will be? (Example-Where is Erick Lutzeier? I better be invited to that wedding of his!)
Surgery today was done on a three week old dairy bull calf. He was of course super cute. And I fed him a bottle this morning only to assist in his demise this afternoon. After taking a ton of drugs to keep him knocked out (he went down initally very well), he didn't want to die either and required a large amount of euthanisia solution to do the job. I did learn a lot from him. I castrated him and cut off one of his toes-after he was dead. We also turned him from peeing like a boy to peeing like a girl and cut out an eye ball. This was much improved after last week's botched surgery where we contaminated the abdominal cavity by accidently incising the rumen. Oops!
Dog Jog is going well enough. I don't feel like I have enough entries and am a little worried. I'm also a little worried too because I don't have a lot of sponors and don't know if in my last email I made it clear that I needed some conformation by Monday so I could get people on the t-shirt.
I have a urinary tract infection. I blame Joe and WebMD told me I could.
Roosevelt and I made our power point debuts today. Rachel Ray took pictures of me doing a physical exam on the most cooraporative cat in the neighborhood. Then the class gave Roosevelt a body condition score of fat. Great. He's not fat. He's big boned. I love that stupid cat.
[EDIT-Originally published to Blogger on October 3, 2011.]
Anyway, White Coat is a ceremony where you have some one special to you put your white coat on you and say yea! you're going to clinics! you didn't fuck up and fail out so don't fuck up and kill anything (or at least that's what I expect them to say). Jackie and Casey and my parents and Joe are all coming to my ceremony. Its cool. Anyway, I went to RSVP the other day and pay my money. When the secretary asked who I wanted to coat me I said just the default person and who was it anyway? They said it was the dean. But they said it in a very judgmental way. I didn't think much of it and said it would be fine. Dean Olsen is kind of creepy and never is around. He doesn't know who I am but its cool. I don't care. I mentioned the judgmental attitude I got to some of my friends. One of them initially said that they would have the dean coat them too and felt as if she had been judged as well. Then yesterday, I get this email that says that only two people are having the dean coat them and they wanted to make sure that I knew that I could have a family member, a faculty member or a mentor coat me. I knew this and felt that the email was kind of judgy and rude. Unfortunatly, I don't know who this other person is. I kindof feel as if we should do the same thing. I wouldn't want them to change and I'm the only one having the creepy dean put my coat on me. But I wouldn't want to do that to someone else either.
So I've decided to find someone else. This is where it gets difficult. Initally, I wanted Joe to do it. We've dated the entire time I've been in vet school He's had to deal with all of my emotional breakdowns over stupid classmates and classes and bad grades. He's really supported me. BUT I knew if I had Joe do it that my mom would be upset whether or not she said anything. I tossed around the idea of having the dairy farm manager do it but since I hadn't actually worked for him in several years I figured it wouldn't be quite appropriate. So that's why I went with the dean. Then I got that judgmental email and decided that I better change my mind. So hopefully, I can get the RSVP sorted out and my dear friend Martha Rasch, DVM will put my white coat on me. This is why I figure she's a good choice-she's my friend and has been since 2001. She's smart and good looking. She's a faculty member sort of. She's a veterinarian. She's my grand big sib and helped me out through school. She seems like a great choice and I am super excited that she said she'd do it. I was a little surprised admittedly but still super glad. Then I was telling my mom this whole saga and was just getting to the part where Martha was asked when my mom interrupts and says 'Why don't you have your dad do it?' I was crushed. I never really considered my dad. I guess I'm a daddy's girl in some ways-he did buy me a pony when I was 16 and took me to a ton of horse shows. I just figured that despite the new sports coat and pants bought for the event that it wasn't something that my dad would want to do. I actually don't know if my dad wants to. And I've done some more considering. And I'm still going with Martha (so as you read this Martha, don't feel bad or anything, everyone really truely understands. But remember that I still have to check on RSVPing for you). And yeah, I still need to check on RSVPing for Martha. Oh well. My parents will be there at graduation and no telling where Martha (or any of my vet friends) will be? (Example-Where is Erick Lutzeier? I better be invited to that wedding of his!)
Surgery today was done on a three week old dairy bull calf. He was of course super cute. And I fed him a bottle this morning only to assist in his demise this afternoon. After taking a ton of drugs to keep him knocked out (he went down initally very well), he didn't want to die either and required a large amount of euthanisia solution to do the job. I did learn a lot from him. I castrated him and cut off one of his toes-after he was dead. We also turned him from peeing like a boy to peeing like a girl and cut out an eye ball. This was much improved after last week's botched surgery where we contaminated the abdominal cavity by accidently incising the rumen. Oops!
Dog Jog is going well enough. I don't feel like I have enough entries and am a little worried. I'm also a little worried too because I don't have a lot of sponors and don't know if in my last email I made it clear that I needed some conformation by Monday so I could get people on the t-shirt.
I have a urinary tract infection. I blame Joe and WebMD told me I could.
Roosevelt and I made our power point debuts today. Rachel Ray took pictures of me doing a physical exam on the most cooraporative cat in the neighborhood. Then the class gave Roosevelt a body condition score of fat. Great. He's not fat. He's big boned. I love that stupid cat.
[EDIT-Originally published to Blogger on October 3, 2011.]
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
MySpace-September 24, 2008-Where Was I...
[EDIT-I'm not listing the actual entry. Just find the dates accordingly.-LP-9/25/11]
A year ago
(September 24, 2007)
Two years ago
(September 22, 2006)
Three years ago
(September 24, 2005?)
And today...
Not sleeping and not studying for my midterm tomorrow about eyes. I hate the eye. Its complicated and gross. Mostly gross. Well, still complicated too...
[EDIT-Originally published to Blogger on 9/24/11.]
A year ago
(September 24, 2007)
Two years ago
(September 22, 2006)
Three years ago
(September 24, 2005?)
And today...
Not sleeping and not studying for my midterm tomorrow about eyes. I hate the eye. Its complicated and gross. Mostly gross. Well, still complicated too...
[EDIT-Originally published to Blogger on 9/24/11.]
Saturday, September 20, 2008
MySpace-September 20, 2008-New Dog, Dog Jog Rant
So Wednesday, Joe and I picked up his new dog, Mary. For those of you that don't know, Joe has wanted a dog for a while now. I managed to convince him away from any creature that was big enough to eat me or my horses. In doing so, I convinced him to get a dog with a blindness problem.
Mary is about 10 months old. She's mostly Briad (a French herding breed) with some Beagle thrown in to make her smaller. She weighs about 40 pounds but is on the skinny side. (Apparently LabDiet 5006 doesn't pack the pounds on.) She is has congenital retinal dystropy which makes her see poorly in the dark. She's black with tan underneath and somewhat gross double dewclaws on the back feet. They'll get removed it she starts hanging them up on things.
So things have been going well enough with her. Riley doesn't particularly care for Mary. There has been a lot of snarling and growling but I really think that they'll get used to each other esp. as Mary grows out of her puppy phase. Riley's upset face is more because Mary won't get out of hers. Roosevelt is somewhat indifferent, though doesn't appriciate the half hearted chasing attmepts. (Mary's never seen cats.) He too will grow to be okay with the situation.
Mayr doesn't quite get the pottying outside and has had several accidents. She tends to bark when left alone in her crate, but in general doesn't mind being in it. She likes to play with toys but trips over them constantly. Mary walks on a leash okay but is constantly swerving, wheving and bumping into your legs. Mary runs into the furniture alot more than we thought she would.
She went into school today for a ophthomology lab and all of the ophthomologists thought her eye problems were cool. She was a pretty good dog and any of her misbehavior can be chalked up to still being a puppy. Roosevelt went to school for the same thing today too. He behaved much better than you should ever expect a cat to behave but he did try to make a break for it in the parking lot when the door of the cat carrier came undone.
Anyway, Mary's been to the dog park twice. She enjoys romping around with other dogs but doesn't care for it when its too rough or too fast. If she doesn't start it somewhat, I think she has problems realizing what's going on. She doesn't like the transition from grass to gravel but still has managed to fall into the lake twice. Transitions from light to dark are also a major problem. Such as getting in and out of the car. When we first brought her home, she jumped from the Jeep but her poor depth perception cause her to fall and bite her tounge. Anyway, she seems to be a good dog.
I had cake decorating class on Wednesday night. I made and decorated a cow shaped cake in it. I took it too school the next day and it was devorored in a matter of miniutes. Everyone was fairly impressed.
Thursday, I did surgery in a sheep. We opened it up, found the rumen, cut a hole in the rumen and then sewed everything back up. I had a good time but if the sheep was destined to live, it was still destined to die (unless it got a huge dose of penicillin) because I contaminated the abdominal cavity with stomach contents. A huge no-no.
So Dog Jog is going about as crappy as ever. Its only three weeks away. No posters have been made, no announcement have been made, no t-shirts have been ordered, no donations have been looked for. No nothing. I'm still waiting on approval from campus and the city for actually holding the event. Its a problem. I dropped the form off in one office Tuesday and it still wasn't done today. I'm so frustrated because I can't really do anything else until its approved. Basically, if we're still in the same spot on Wednesday next week, the whole thing is getting called off, which will severly hurt the humane society. Esp. since they are excited about the donation that we are/were going to make. ERRRR!
[EDIT-Originally published to Blogger on 9/24/11.]
Mary is about 10 months old. She's mostly Briad (a French herding breed) with some Beagle thrown in to make her smaller. She weighs about 40 pounds but is on the skinny side. (Apparently LabDiet 5006 doesn't pack the pounds on.) She is has congenital retinal dystropy which makes her see poorly in the dark. She's black with tan underneath and somewhat gross double dewclaws on the back feet. They'll get removed it she starts hanging them up on things.
So things have been going well enough with her. Riley doesn't particularly care for Mary. There has been a lot of snarling and growling but I really think that they'll get used to each other esp. as Mary grows out of her puppy phase. Riley's upset face is more because Mary won't get out of hers. Roosevelt is somewhat indifferent, though doesn't appriciate the half hearted chasing attmepts. (Mary's never seen cats.) He too will grow to be okay with the situation.
Mayr doesn't quite get the pottying outside and has had several accidents. She tends to bark when left alone in her crate, but in general doesn't mind being in it. She likes to play with toys but trips over them constantly. Mary walks on a leash okay but is constantly swerving, wheving and bumping into your legs. Mary runs into the furniture alot more than we thought she would.
She went into school today for a ophthomology lab and all of the ophthomologists thought her eye problems were cool. She was a pretty good dog and any of her misbehavior can be chalked up to still being a puppy. Roosevelt went to school for the same thing today too. He behaved much better than you should ever expect a cat to behave but he did try to make a break for it in the parking lot when the door of the cat carrier came undone.
Anyway, Mary's been to the dog park twice. She enjoys romping around with other dogs but doesn't care for it when its too rough or too fast. If she doesn't start it somewhat, I think she has problems realizing what's going on. She doesn't like the transition from grass to gravel but still has managed to fall into the lake twice. Transitions from light to dark are also a major problem. Such as getting in and out of the car. When we first brought her home, she jumped from the Jeep but her poor depth perception cause her to fall and bite her tounge. Anyway, she seems to be a good dog.
I had cake decorating class on Wednesday night. I made and decorated a cow shaped cake in it. I took it too school the next day and it was devorored in a matter of miniutes. Everyone was fairly impressed.
Thursday, I did surgery in a sheep. We opened it up, found the rumen, cut a hole in the rumen and then sewed everything back up. I had a good time but if the sheep was destined to live, it was still destined to die (unless it got a huge dose of penicillin) because I contaminated the abdominal cavity with stomach contents. A huge no-no.
So Dog Jog is going about as crappy as ever. Its only three weeks away. No posters have been made, no announcement have been made, no t-shirts have been ordered, no donations have been looked for. No nothing. I'm still waiting on approval from campus and the city for actually holding the event. Its a problem. I dropped the form off in one office Tuesday and it still wasn't done today. I'm so frustrated because I can't really do anything else until its approved. Basically, if we're still in the same spot on Wednesday next week, the whole thing is getting called off, which will severly hurt the humane society. Esp. since they are excited about the donation that we are/were going to make. ERRRR!
[EDIT-Originally published to Blogger on 9/24/11.]
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