Updates

I've been a terrible blogger lately, but I haven't been completely absent in the internet-world. I have so much to reflect on. Where to begin?

Well second quarter of second year was by FAR the most difficult quarter thus far in school. I don't think I have ever been more exhausted in my entire life. I am so thankful to have survived, and third quarter is turning out to be much less stressful (but it's only week 3, so things could change quickly!).

I can't really explain why the winter quarter was so difficult. I had pharmacology, virology, practice of veterinary medicine, surgery, pathology, and diagnostic imaging. I enjoyed all of the classes, but by the time finals came around, I was more than happy to move on from them!

This quarter I am once again taking surgery and practice of veterinary medicine, but have clinical pathology, small animal medicine and surgery (known as SAMS to us students), parasitology, and toxicology. My first toxicology exam went exceedingly well, and I have a wonderful professor whom I adore teaching this course. I am really enjoying courses so far.

I spayed an adorable bischonpoo today in surgery, and had a SAMS exam. I had a little bit of difficulty getting into the material for SAMS, so I did not feel as prepared as I normally do for exams. I am hoping to get back on the motivation train soon!

One thing that never ceases to amaze me is how comfortable I am getting with surgery. I can't believe that I have performed so many surgeries, and assisted or done anesthesia for the rest. Every week we have had a fun, adorable patient (with the exception of a very sassy feline last week). I'm feeling more and more confident with surgery, and I still have so much to learn here.

Another exciting thing that has happened is that Midwestern has started a chapter of the OTS fraternity. I am thrilled to be part of this group of amazing doctors, and I've even been elected Webmaster for all social media accounts, so I will update you all when those are set up! Our first charity event, PupStrut will be taking place in April, and we are hoping for an amazing turnout!

I started going to the gym over spring break, and I have to admit, it does help with fatigue throughout the day. I mostly lift weights, and I was shocked to see how much muscle mass I had lost since I was last active in the gym. While I sometimes feel guilty for taking a couple hours from my day that I could be studying, I think that this time helps me physically, and mentally in school.

My beautiful baby Sonja has had some trouble the last few months. I discovered a mass on her side last year, and it has gotten to the point where it breaks open and bleeds every few weeks. The soft tissue surgeons at school recommended we remove it as soon as possible, because they believe the mass is a hemangioma due to UV light. Needless to day, my sun-loving greyhound will no longer be soaking up the rays on the regular. Her surgery is scheduled for Monday, and I am quite nervous. Plus side, she is going to have a dental cleaning while she is under, so hopefully she will have minty fresh breath (and hopefully mama will be a good vet student and brush her teeth more regularly). This week she will be helping with our ophthalmology lab, so stay tuned on Instagram (venturesinvetschool) and Twitter (venturesincvm) for photos from that!

OTS White Carnation Ball (why am I so short?)

Awesome Winter Quarter Surgery Lab group!

Sonja showing off her purple nails and teddy

We got more cows! My favorite is Spice (we have matching nose rings)

Paint your pet was a success!

I'm shocked at how much it looks like her!

Even vet students need to let loose on St. Patty's!

Winding Down

It's the Friday evening before finals, and I have to say, this has been a rough quarter, but it is easier than last year in a way. I definitely am enjoying classes more, because they are simply more interesting to me. The hardest thing about this quarter is that the days are long, and with length comes exhaustion. Surgery definitely is exciting, but contributes most to the fatigue. Being at the clinic checking on patients at 7am before classes, a brief half hour lunch, then two to three hour surgical procedures, followed by SOAP writing, and finally getting home around 5 or 6pm, only to have to study is brutal some days. But I am grateful to have the opportunity to even do solo surgery in my second year. I'm nonetheless very thrilled to know that in 7 days I will have a break. I'm looking forward to delving into some reading for pleasure and deep cleaning my apartment. Ah, adulting.
               

                                          

                                                             Sonja came to help with cardio lab (no murmurs here!)

She was a hit with everyone!

         

We finally got to do some large animal medicine between learning about a million different bacteria and drugs. Here's a clip of me demonstrating drawing blood from Belle's tail vein. My cat bite was still relatively fresh, so I needed help with the tail jack from one of our faculty veterinarians.


In addition to being swamped with surgeries, classes, and studying, I've also been more active in clubs at school. This year I am a member of SAVMA (Student Chapter of the American Veterinary Medical Association), SCAAEP (Student Chapter of the American Association of Equine Practitioners), and SCAABP (Student Chapter of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners).

Palpation lab. Sarah with Rose, and myself with Tulip

We have done some awesome events, including a radiology event where we practiced taking radiographs of some of our horses, and bovine palpation labs. I'm super bummed that I won't get to attend the conventions this year (I can't afford the airfare and hotel. Should have worked over the summer!), but at least I am having fun doing stuff with our clubs!

Rose adores Sarah.

To end this post, I'd like to introduce you to one of our school's cows. This is Rose, and she is a beautiful Holstein cow, and a favorite among the students. She came from a local dairy, and is enjoying her retirement helping us learn about bovine medicine. When not showing us students the dairy cow way of life, she can typically be found napping under the awning with a fan.

                                       

Jaws of Life

This week I got to be the assistant surgeon for a little boy cat's neuter. Things didn't exactly go as planned...

Darryl (names have been changed to protect the innocent, and not-so-innocent) is a one year old little boy cat with quite the personality. He's small for his age, but has the purr of a lion. His physical exam went well, and I was excited to have another surgery under my belt.

One of my least favorite parts of veterinary medicine is having to draw blood and give injections to animals. I don't like to put any animal in pain, but I know that it is only to help them. Darryl was such a trooper for his blood draw. Pre-anesthetic medications, however, would be an entirely different story.

Premeds are given as an IM injection, which is more painful than just giving an injection subcutaneously, like most vaccines are given. In addition, the premeds can sting as they go into the muscle. As the anesthetist gave Darryl his injection, I was holding him, and he decided he needed a stick to bite on. That stick was my hand. Poor Darryl latched on and wouldn't let go. Poor kitty.

After I pried him off my hand, I had to report my injury to our faculty surgeon and fill out an incident report. Bites are part of veterinary medicine. It will happen to everyone, eventually. The thing with cat bites, is that they can be incredibly dangerous. Cats have very sharp canine teeth because they are carnivores and need to eat meat. Darryl, being a year old, had all of his adult teeth, which are stronger than kitten teeth. On top of having razor sharp teeth, cats also carry a significant amount of bacteria in their saliva, which can cause serious problems if the wound is not cleaned immediately.

I made the decision to clean out my wound, bandage it the best I could, and scrub in for surgery. I wanted to follow my patient through, and figured that a surgical scrub would  clean the wound fairly well until I could get to a clinic. (NOTE: our faculty recommends that all students seek medical attention right away for any injuries sustained at school.)

Darryl's surgery went very smoothly, and he recovered well. I went to the clinic and got some antibiotics to prevent any infections in my hand. By this point, my hand had two very deep puncture wounds, and two shallow punctures. It had swelled significantly, and was painful, but looked okay considering.

The next day, my hand throbbed most of the day, and I could barely concentrate on classes. By evening, the swelling had doubled and the entire hand was red, sore, and radiating heat and pain all the way to my elbow. After texting photos to my human hospital friends back in Minnesota, I was convinced I better go in and have the wound looked at again. Fortunately, the doctor said it looked like it was healing. However, my kitty friend shredded the sheath around the tendon, creating what is called tenosynovitis, which was why my arm was so painful.

It has been a few days and I still cannot use my hand very well, but I am hopeful that I will be back to 100% soon, and am looking forward to being the anesthetist for my patient next week!

Five hours post attack

The infection spreads

The important lesson to take away from this story is that animals come to you, and they may be scared or hurting. Their only defense is to bite or scratch, and it is something we veterinarians need to anticipate and prepare for. I should have been holding Darryl with his mouth away from my hand. This is definitely not the first bite, nor the last. But I learned a valuable lesson in this weeks lab.

Going Solo-Primary Surgeon

So last week was a huge milestone in my veterinary career-solo surgery. I suppose I can't really call it "solo" since I had two amazing teammates as my assistant and anesthetist, but it was my first surgery without a veterinarian walking me through the procedure.

My patient was a little boy cat named Minnow from a local rescue here in Arizona. All of our surgery patients come from shelters and rescues, and it is incredible that we get to be a part of helping these animals in their journeys to forever homes.

The patients arrived at the hospital the day before their scheduled surgeries. As primary surgeon, my role was to examine my patient and draw blood to make sure he was able to undergo anesthesia. It is important that any patient that undergoes surgery is healthy, because surgery could make them even more sick if they have any pre-existing conditions. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately for him, Minnow was healthy and ready for surgery!

The day of surgery, I think I expected to feel more nervous than I did. I actually felt more excited than anything else. The first surgeries are expected to be stressful, but I was ready to go!

I have to say, we have some of the most amazing veterinarians and veterinary technicians on hand. Everyone was so friendly and they went out of their way to help us. They really made the entire afternoon run smoothly and gave us all such confidence in the surgery suite. One of the adjunct faculty checked in on my surgery, and even gave me some smaller tools to work with since Minnow was just a kitten.

Overall, the procedure went really well, and Minnow handled anesthesia perfectly. He didn't even need any extra pain medication, which made me feel like I did a great neuter.

The worst part of surgery is definitely the paperwork! But it is incredibly important to make sure that each patient has a detailed medical record and report anything that happens with the patient throughout his or her stay in the hospital. I was grateful to have my assistant and anesthetist there to help remember all of the details we needed to include in the report. I handed over care to the overnight technician, and ventured home for some much needed rest!

The next morning, I went to the hospital bright and early to find Minnow happy, healthy, and ready to play. He didn't act like he was in any pain, and was eager to eat his breakfast. I did one last physical exam, which he passed with flying colors, and said goodbye to my first neuter patient. There will be many more, but I will never forget Minnow.

UPDATE: We are no longer allowed to post photos of our patients, despite them being adoptable animals. I am so sorry for the inconvenience, and I will try to take interesting non-patient photos for future posts...

Sincerest Apologies

First of all, I need to make an apology for being unproductive with this blog over the summer. I went home to Minnesota, which should have been the happiest thing in my life, but I faced tragedy shortly after arriving home.

As you know, I am an avid greyhound lover. I had two Italian Greyhounds that are my entire world, and they are my children. However, I had to put sweet baby Georgia to sleep over the summer. I wanted to blog about it, but I don't think I was emotionally ready to face that. But I realize that I need to move forward and I need to continue sharing my journey, and to do that I need to share Georgia's story.

As a little girl, I used to watch the dog shows on television with my family. I'm not sure when my obsession with greyhounds (and sighthounds in general) began, but for as long as I can remember, I have wanted a greyhound. During my senior year of college, my parents were planning to adopt a greyhound for me as a graduation present. Shortly before graduation, I took a trip with my best friend Jeni to Texas for a long weekend. One afternoon my mom called and asked me, "what would you name an Italian Greyhound?" and I replied, "Boy or girl?" and when my mom said a girl, I instantly said, "Georgia!" When I arrived home from Texas, there was a little fawn colored Italian Greyhound on my bed. She jumped into my arms, and we were instantly bonded. About a year or two later, I adopted another iggy from the Animal Humane Society, and the two dogs became inseparable.

Fast forward about six years to when we moved to Arizona. As you may know, I had problems with the tenant living above me in my apartment complex. He did not like my dogs, for whenever he made noise, they would bark. Now this was never when I was home, and it was never early in the morning or the middle of the night. Things got so bad, that this man began yelling through the window at my dogs. He often would stand outside the window and look into my window and tease the dogs, enticing them to bark at him, so he could yell. Once, I caught him parked outside in a car looking through my windows. I eventually took cardboard boxes and covered all of the windows in the apartment. His threats to the dogs continued, and I grew fearful for their safety, as well as my own. I knew I needed to get out of that place, but the apartment manager said I needed $1600, plus an additional two months of rent in order to break the lease. I was living off student loans at the time, so I wasn't able to pay the money right away.

One day, I was sitting on the couch studying and Georgia began to vomit. Now, Georgia has always been an easy vomiter. She eats fast, and often regurgitates her food, usually in my bed! But this time was different. Not only was she violently retching, she was vomiting large amounts of bile and food. After about four large vomits, she collapsed onto the couch. I immediately called the vet clinic and they said to bring her in right away. She had gotten so dehydrated that they had to give her IV fluids and anti-nausea drugs to keep her from continuing to vomit. They took blood and urine,and found that her kidney and liver values were really high. They also found three different species of bacteria, and on ultrasound, found that her liver was slightly enlarged. This was in October, and Georgia remained on antibiotics until January to clear up the infection. Meanwhile, I moved to a new apartment where I finally began to relax and feel safe.

Shortly after Georgia finished her course of antibiotics, I began noticing neurological changes in her. She would wander around the apartment as though she were lost. She didn't respond to her name, and her eyes were very dilated and glazed over. She would try to jump onto the bed and would often fall off. The vet attributed this to potentially cognitive dysfunction, as we could not find anything significant without an MRI. Because the MRI cost several thousand dollars, I knew it would take me some time to save up the money. Her symptoms continued to get worse, and by the time we went home to Minnesota for summer, Georgia was a completely different dog.

I thought that being home would make her more comfortable, which it did, for a little while. Eventually, her symptoms were so severe that I was up most of the night trying to comfort her and calm her down. Her weight was down to about 9 lbs, and she wasn't eating much because she was so busy pacing and shaking. She had been chewing through phone cords and lamp cords, and each time had to have been electrocuting herself, but still could not stop.

She was suffering. It was no longer Georgia inside of that body. It wasn't fair to let her carry on like that. On July 10th, I made the heartbreaking decision to let her go. I made the appointment for the next day, so we could have one last night to visit my mom up north and spend some time with her second favorite person, my dad. On the way to my mom's house, Georgia started to go crazy. She began tearing up the back seat and chewing on anything she could get into her mouth. She bit her tongue and began bleeding profusely. Sobbing, I knew we couldn't wait any longer. I drove to the vet's office.

After that, I felt that I needed more answers, so I took her body to the University of Minnesota for a necropsy. After an agonizing wait, the results came in. They found no evidence of cognitive dysfunction. However, her liver had basically rotted inside of her. The top differentials for the state of her liver were leptospirosis and toxic poisoning. Georgia had been vaccinated every year consistently for lepto, so it had to have been a toxin. Instantly, my heart dropped. Whatever had been going on in October was the first signs of her poisoning.

I still to this day believe it was that man that poisoned her, and I will never stop believing that. I blame myself for what happened to her. I was supposed to protect her, and I didn't. She died because I didn't get away from that man. She was 8 years old.

My only comfort in all of this was that she got to go home to die. She loved Minnesota as much as I do, and it was only fitting that I leave her there to rest peacefully.

I hope you can forgive me for not posting. I needed some time to heal. I will be back soon, I promise.

At the doctor

Wasted away to nothing

She loved her Grampa

The moment I knew it was time

Our Final Goodbye

The following are some of my favorite photos of Georgia. I hope they bring you as much joy as they do me.

Debt

One of the most frequently asked questions vet students get from new applicants is "How are you paying for school?" They tend to follow up this question by explaining that they are reluctant to go to school because of the large amount of debt students acquire. By saying this is a loaded question would be an understatement. The following commentary is my own opinion, and in no way reflects the opinions of other students. That being said, what I am going to advise and write next may be inappropriate for viewers that are easily offended. Continue reading at your own risk.

If I'm honest, it really irritates me when applicants reveal that they are questioning going to vet school. First of all, you have already put in so much work to get this far. You've taken the classes, studied the material, volunteered and worked with animals, and you just now decide to look at the debt-to-income ratio? That's just plain irresponsible and negligence. You should look at all aspects before you even decide to start pursuing a career.

Secondly, if you are not certain that this is the right decision for you, DON'T APPLY. Veterinary Medicine is an incredibly competitive field, and people that aren't completely ready to commit to taking on the debt that comes with the degree are selfish. When you apply, you are compared to every other applicant. There may be someone who truly wants this, and is prepared to face the debt, but their grades might be lower than someone who decides at the last minute to question their decision. More often than not, the student with the higher grades is going to be picked. By questioning your decision, you take that chance away from someone that really wants it, and probably deserves it more than you do.

Lastly, if you are looking for a career to make money, this career is not for you. Don't waste your time. Veterinarians do not make half of what pharmacists or physicians make. Plus, medical school is easier to get into. Go there if you want to make money. But truly, if you aren't prepared to take a position that you LOVE, regardless of the income, then you should probably reconsider your ambitions. Veterinarians have a lot of debt. It is what it is, and it isn't a big deal. There are resources to help you manage your loan payments, and programs to alleviate the amount of debt in the long run.

If becoming a veterinarian is something that you truly want to do, then the money ought not to matter.

That's my two cents. Take it as you will.

Big Animals and Big Heartache

The past two weeks have been some of the widest-in-range when it comes to my emotions. In addition to being exhausted from studying (I failed a physiology exam, and really need to step up my game in that class), I've been ridiculously happy, and horribly heartbroken all within a span of about two weeks.

One of the best experiences I have had in labs thus far has been being able to actually interact with live animals. This week, we were able to learn from both horses and cows, two animals I want to work with as a veterinarian. Midwestern is unique in that it is one of the few schools in the US that currently have models called Haptic Cow and Haptic Horse. These plastic models allow users to experience a virtual reproductive or digestive tract, without having to palpate a live animal. I personally found these to be super cool, but if I am honest, it was actually harder to figure out what things felt like in the virtual world versus actually being inside the animal. However, the faculty was so helpful in guiding us, and it was a great tool to map out where structures should be in the tract. My favorite feature was that you could feel for an aortic pulse, and you actually felt a heartbeat from within the model. I forgot to take any photos of the haptic devices, but you can read more about these tools here.

The school isn't currently set up to allow equine palpation, but they have a plastic model horse with blow-up organs that can be adjusted to mimic colic, impaction, or displacements. We were able to palpate what each of these things felt like, and learn the overall anatomy of the digestive system. In addition, we were able to ultrasound our live horses legs to see their tendons, which was very cool.

Our model (looks like she can skate!)

                                         

In we go...

Sometimes it's hard to figure out what you are feeling! (This is my, "what the heck is that?!" face)

Christine and me with Tank

When you go to vet school, there are several "Rites of Passage" that you will have to go through. One of the messiest (although most fun) is bovine palpation lab. It is important for all veterinarians to know how to perform a basic physical exam on any animal that may come to their clinic. Part of a cow's physical is rectal palpation. I personally want to work with farm animals and small animals, so I was especially excited to learn the technique. While some of my classmates were less than enthusiastic, we all had a fun time with the girls. We have 8 Holsteins and 3 Jersey cows currently at Midwestern, and they each have their own personality. Phyllis is probably the sassiest cow, and she will poo the entire palpation, as I found out very quickly. But hey, it's all part of the experience! My favorite cow, Rose, even look the liberty of peeing on me to show her appreciation! Thanks, Rose!

Go big or go home! Brittany settled for the smaller Jersey

All in a day's work. 

The life of a large animal vet!

Palpating cows was so much fun, and I was surprised at how much easier it was to identify structures the second time around. The first time I practiced palpation, everything felt like poo. This time, I identified cervix, uterine horns, aorta, kidney, rumen, and even an ovary with a corpus luteum! We also got to watch one of our vets administer a lumbosacral epidural, which vets give to cows that are having a hard time calving, or have a prolapse. Did you know that veterinarians perform C-sections on cows while they are standing up? Pretty amazing! 

I mentioned at the beginning of this post that I experienced some sadness this week. Now, I am a Minnesota girl, born and raised. I am incredibly proud of my home state, and one thing about Minnesotans is that we have a real sense of community and family for our celebrities. Yesterday, April 21, 2016, I was taking a brief moment to browse Twitter in anesthesia lecture (future vet students, try not to do that), and I saw that Prince had passed away. I immediately texted my dad and asked him to keep me updated. 

My family knows that as a dancer and a Minnesotan, I absolutely adore Prince. I remember attending a show at his club (First Avenue) and I looked over, and saw Prince standing there. I kid you not, it was almost God-like seeing him in person (by the way, he is very short, and even more beautiful in person). 

It was a sad day for Minnesota. Seeing all of the pictures and videos of people flocking to Paisley Park (Prince's home) and First Ave made me miss home more than ever. The outpouring of love from Minnesotans, and even non-residents, warmed my heart. Prince's family even gave pizza to those bringing flowers to Paisley. I will for sure return to Minnesota and visit these places to pay my respects.

As a little extra for this post, I'd like to share my top 3 (technically 4) Prince songs with you. Because you can't be a Minnesotan and dislike Prince!

#3. Raspberry Beret.

I used to listen to this song almost every day walking to class at the University of Minnesota. Listening to it now brings back memories of college, and genuinely just makes me feel happy.

#2. When Doves Cry. 

This is a classic Prince song. With its soulful lyrics, this song reaches right into your core. All the feels. Fun fact, this song lacks a bass line, which was a unique feature for music at the time of its release. In addition to vocals, Prince played all the instruments in this song.

#1.5 P Control.

One of the rare Prince songs, I was introduced to this song by one of my best friends while we were working nights at the hospital. I won't tell you what the P stands for, but go ahead and look up this song. It is the ultimate feminist anthem, and I really enjoy it.

#1. Kiss.

I don't know if it is the song or the music video I adore more, but I have vivid memories of dancing around my house/dorm/apartment to this on repeat. It has been my favorite Prince song for years, and it is excellent to sing while in the shower or tub ala Julia Roberts in "Pretty Woman."

Rest Peacefully, Sweet Prince.