the DVM life - Doctor of Veterinary Medicine

We had a small puppy in for a leg amputation. The leg was broken far beyond any repair. It was flopping around in such a way that grossed out the whole clinic (which is hard to do). So amputation was the only option (other than spending thousands of dollars with a specialist with marginal possible success or putting the puppy down).

Thankful to say that everything went exceedingly well! The leg was removed without significant blood loss. Very little in fact! The recovery temperature was nothing short of a miracle and afterwards the little one was resting peacefully. She's been through so much at such a young age!

I was also impressed with our lead tech, being able to put an IV into such a tiny tiny vein! That is true skill, which some day I hope I have!

On a different topic I got a very nice compliment. "Why isn't some guy dating you?!" A very sweet compliment. They went on to tell my how smart, nice, and pretty I am in addition to being a good baker. They also said that anyone who wanted to date me had better be a good guy. That was just really nice and made my day. I wish everyone got to hear nice things about themselves like that, it's quite a warm fuzzy that someone thinks highly of you.

I finished the chocolates! I made 164 pieces of peanut butter balls. Yum. Some is going to work, friends, neighbors, the rest is traveling with me to my Grandmas. I think they took a total of 5 hours which isn't too bad. Nothing to technically difficult - just time consuming. I learned not to freeze them. Since it's fairly warm here now I can't just stick them in the garage to cool and harden. Turns out the fridge, not the freezer, is the correct location. They are yummy anyways!

(post from yesterday I was too tired to write)

Everything was all pointy today. Every cat tried to paw at my neck. Not happy about that. Had like 7 nail trims that freaked out and tried to bite (chiuauas and dachshunds are terrible, along with pugs). So it was a very pointy scratchy day that didn't put me in a good mood. I got a little cranky towards the end which is a bit unusual for me.

Plus I ran into a few clients that rubbed me the wrong way - blaming their dog for poor behavior. That's no excuse for not being able to properly handle your animals ....grrr!

After I got home I had tom R&R and started making the chocolates I'm bringing to my Grandma. I'll be taking a short holiday to visit her and I'm looking forward to it!

Also my new sifter broke. Bah. It was just a weird day.

Today was a nice day at work. I was officially filling in for someone else so I had to get there early. The morning was hectic, as Tuesday mornings tend to be. We had a dental with some resorptive lesions. Poor little guy, those are fairly painful.

During lunch I went to the used store and got a nice used angel food cake pan, a used steamer set, a flower sifter from Wal*mart, and yellow cake mix + cupcake paper cups from the cheap-o mart. I could have gotten 1 regular priced baking pan or all that cool cheap stuff.

Anyhoo, after lunch we had an ACL surgery. After we got the epidural in (wicked long needle!) I got to help shave and prep the surgical site. Which was pretty cool since I don't usually get to do that! Then I got even cooler and promoted myself to surgical assistant since other people were busy.

I was able to help set up surgery, open packs, help gown up the doctor and do some monitoring of anesthesia. You know how the doctor is like "10 blade...Ok, now I'll need a large gelpie...how about some 3-0 PDS." I was the one getting all that stuff. First I felt pretty dang smart because I knew what all of that stuff was and where it was kept in the OR. And then....

I got to SCRUB IN!! : D Which pretty much made my day. The meniscus was compressed and so we levered the joint open to get a better look. That was my job. Holding a wicked looking instrument to keep the joint open so the doctor could get a better view. It was awesome.

Now you may be saying "Wow. That's lame." Or perhaps you may be saying "I have no idea what's going on. This blog is stupid." Let me simplify it for you: I probably won't get to do anything like that in vet school.

In vet school there are older students (3/4 years that get priority), interns and residents who all want a piece of the surgical action. If a cruciate was being done at school I wouldn't have a chance to actually assist. So it was cool indeed.

Later in the day I ran into one of my favorite client/owners. The sweet dog has kennel cough and is getting better! I'm glad, such a nice owner and dog.

At home (I had a 9.5 hr day) I took nice hot shower, took a walk around the sunny block, and had a great baked potato. Then I made a strawberry pie. I want to try strawberry bread too. You can tell we got a flat of strawberries. I also made a crust free fruit tart for my mom.

Wow, sure got a lot accomplished!

Memorial Day was always a day I could never enjoy. I've been in school for the last 17-18 years of my life. And when you're in school, MD is placed right before finals week. Which means you can never enjoy the holiday since you should be working on projects, papers, and studying for finals.

I always thought that when I was out of school I could finally enjoy the day. Oh yes, MD would rock. I would be on a boat, at some lake, staying at some cabin. Water skiing, jet skiing, getting the first tan of the summer, pulling out the hammock and making smores.

Well, that sure didn't happen. Sad to say but MD out of school wasn't quite as cool as I had hoped. For starters, I don't know anyone who has a boat or cabin anymore. Dang.

So I woke up late, made/ate some yummy sausages, did a very large pile of laundry, and cleaned my junk increasing room. A friend called and said c'mon over for s'mores at 7. Meanwhile I took my best buddy to the Home Depot to check out some windows. We get some (not good) pizza. And that's saying a lot for me because I'm usually quite pro-pizza.

Finally I get over to the s'mores location. Except there's no s'mores going on. Not at 7, not at 8:30, and not at 10:30pm. So I headed back home tired and smore-less. At least I got some laundry done. And I got to watch some Deadliest Catch. Now those guys could use a perfect Memorial Day more than I could.

And it's off to folding the laudry and getting some Z's. I'm filling in for someone at work tomorrow and need to be up early.

That's the Indiana Jones theme song, in case you were wondering. Go see that movie. Now!

Saw that movie today with my mom, loved it! I had a nice day with my mom. I'm glad we got to check out the new theatre - it's very, very nice! The Indiana Jones movie was FANTASTIC! I am a HUGE Indy fan and I loved it. Maybe some parts of the plot were a bit cheesy, but a good movie overall.

I have to hand it to Harrison Ford, that guy is doing great for 65. Not bad at all. I really hope there's another one. I mean there really should be. No excuse. It only kicked ass at the box office!

The new theatre was also FANTASTIC, had the qualities of a big city theatre. Yay for our town!

Afterwards we did some shopping and had a yummy dinner. I got to have fish, couscous, and more fish. The fish was 'delish and made quite the dish. It was nice to have some time with my mom, especially since she wasn't telling me to clean the house.

Then after house chores we kicked back with another movie. I don't remember the title, only that it has Ben Stiller and it was bad. But really, are there any good Ben Stiller movies? I don't think so.

After I write each post, I get all nostalgic about my day and want to do it over again. What a nice day.

It is only 91 days till vet school starts. Sigh. I am somewhat excited and somewhat not. I'm really enjoying this break!

Today was great! Sunny and 79. There was a lecture at the house so I packed up the dog, my best friend and we went swimming (after fixing some stuff around the house - broken towel holder). The dog got to go to the boat ramp for some fetch, then we headed to the river.

A great drive out, great drive back in. Absolutely perfect weather. We had some tasty sammiches and ended the day with a walk and a robot movie. Couldn't ask for more.

Today was a drama filled day. Well, a drama filled morning.

I missed most of it, I don't get to work until later. Apparently there was some stress between a doctor and the support staff. I really don't like drama. I can see both sides of it - this particular doctor likes things done a particular way. The support staff is busy, hardworking, and can't always do things a particular way. It gets done, just differently. Anyways, it was stressful.

I try and get along with everyone, makes life easier. I hate fighting, it reminds me of my parents separation. Which I'm sure has made me mental in some form or another. So fighting really makes me uncomfortable. Thus this morning at work was very...uncomfortable.

So I did the only thing I could do. I made brownies. Brownies are a good way of saying "Let's stop being cranky." I like to think it helped in it's own small way. Some people deal by getting mad, some deal by talking, drinking, shooting, writing, etc. I like to make something tasty.

I'm sure all clinics have drama. I feel fortunate that the drama levels here are usually quite low. So I'll just count this as an odd happening.

Anyhoo, medically: the usual clinic happenings for today. Diarrhea, ear infections, eye infections, abscess, toe nail trims, tons of vaccinations.

I have to take a moment to get on my soapbox here. The topic: large dogs.

People, if you're going to have a large dog learn how to control it - get some good training. Otherwise you're just screwing yourself over. And the poor support staff/doctors who have to treat your large dog. You need to be responsible enough to make sure your dog can handle normal situations without knocking everything/everyone over and becoming a very real bite hazard. It's not cute, it's not fun, it's a hazard. Off the soapbox now.

We wrapped up the day with a sad case. A dog was missing for a few days and came back home unable to walk - it dragged itself home with the remaining good legs. The owners brought him in and we took x-rays. We found some spinal damage - likely he was hit by a car. There was a small chance that with an MRI and a consult we could learn more to potentially improve the animal's situation. But this would be very costly and the odds weren't that great. The couple elected to put the animal down. Afterwards I was able to feel the damage to the spine; the back was indeed broken. It was the right thing to put him down - he wasn't going to get any better and now he won't suffer anymore.

I do believe they go to a better place. A big field with lots of room run and play, always enough tasty food to eat, good smells to smell, other puppies and kitties to play with, never too hot and never too cold, no one to cause any hurt or harm. And I'll end the post on that happy note.