Vet school Friday nights...

6:22pm on a Friday night, what on earth does the wild veterinary student do??

1. Eat what is left in the cupboards and fridge. Check. (Hummus and cracker bits and pieces)

2. Work on your CV. Check. Gotta get those jobs lined up...

3. Study for boards. Check. Zuku review tells me that I'm waaaaay behind. Plus my countdown says I have 39 days. Eeek.

4. Schedule shift changes with fellow students. Check.

5. Wash all those nasty scrubs from the week. Although, at times it seems pointless since they are just going to get dirty again in T-12 hours...

6. Cuddle with the puppy. Check. Because she feels neglected every other day of the week.

7. Plan to watch a movie and be in bed by 9:30 pm.

Yep, we certainly are a wild bunch.

It's official, Fall is here.

When I left school today, it was sunny and gorgeous out, but I needed a jacket. That my friends, is how I know fall has finally started. Soon, it will start raining for days on end, and that means we live in Oregon.

It has been a long couple of weeks. My externship in Portland went great, I really enjoyed working the veterinarian I was assigned, and look forward to hopefully working for that company after graduation. 

Then my grandfather passed away. I think I've thought about him every day since then. Little things remind me of him. Like seeing a clip about NASCAR on the internet. Or overhearing the word "ornery" being used. Or talking about the sound of the electric peppermill which he used at every dinner ever since I can remember. I'm so glad I was able to leave my externship early to see him. It meant the world to me to speak with him one last time, and hear how proud of me (and all of us grand kids) he was. 

Remember the signature book I was going to start? Well, I wanted to start with family, but never quite got my act together about it. Now I've decided to finally give it a go, and here is how it starts:

I came home in time to finish my senior paper and prepare for my presentation. It went pretty well, I think.  I love the topic and am very glad I had the opportunity to learn more about a new area of veterinary medicine. 

Now I'm onto anesthesia. It has been an awesome rotation thus far. I like the technical side of anesthesia and knowing how to gauge your patient's anesthetic level by deciphering the million wires leading to a monitor and the dozens of numbers it produces. Also, I get to watch some pretty awesome procedures while doing it! Today I saw a new method of a "tie-back" surgery in a horse (to help it breathe better), and last week I got to see a splenectomy on a cat. Tomorrow I'll get to watch several skin masses be removed, an adrenal gland removed, and a liver lobe removed! Yes, all in the same patient.

Now, some pictures to make you smile.

A rat on a cat. Found on Tumblr. Awesome timing of the photo!

Found on tumblr. Just adorable, right??

Found on my camera, this was Christmas 2011. She is a bit more gray these days.

I'm happy

I love my chosen profession.

There are endless possibilities for the next 40 years of my career. I could spay and neuter puppies on a daily basis, or palpate cows for pregnancy, or diagnose heart problems, or treat cancer, or extract teeth, give a pet a new joint, become a radiologist, or do research, or even teach. What ever it is that I end up doing, I'm excited, and happy, and am forever thankful that I chose a profession that I am passionate about.

Thanks Mom, for gently guiding me in the right direction, all those years ago. I've been told that when I was a kid, I told my mom that I wanted to work at a pet store when I grew up. Instead, she told me that I would be a doctor to those animals one day. I never looked back, and now here I am 3 months from my DVM. My parents are the best. 

In the mean time, here is an adorable dog, looking for a forever home, which might just end of with Wojtek, Tanzi, and I. Pending quite a few things, and several months. But he sure is adorable, and awfully sweet.

23 needles, 1 dog

Tanzi received her first acupuncture treatment!

One of my clinicians is getting certified and needed to practice, so I offered up my pup. She is getting older and has some arthritis, plus a history of anxiety, so I figured she could benefit from it.

She was a champ and did great. I think she even started to like it towards the end!

Almost done, I believe the 23rd needle was being placed just as I took the photo

Quite a few in her legs...

Can you see the one on top of her head? It was a calming point.

She started to fall asleep towards the end of the session!

In a couple of weeks she will have a second session. Hopefully it helps!

Also, I ran some blood work on her today too. Not quite as pretty as I was hoping for, but nothing specific yet. Mostly just old dog changes. Sigh... I'm not ready to accept that my pup is getting to be an old lady!