Another Year Gone By!
Wow, where did the time go?! Seriously!
I disappeared again, didn't I? Well it's been a wild and woolly last part of the year for me. I am not even sure where to begin. So I guess I should break it all down:
1. School - Well it was in a word, HARD! I have to say though I persevered. Not only that, but I kicked it's ass! That's right, I ended the semester with ALL A'S!!!!!!! I can't believe it! I am still in shock! lol. It managed to boost my cumulative GPA up to a 3.81!
It was so rough though, I can't even describe how incredibly hard it was. We had a test and/or quiz every day. If not 2 on most days. There wasn't a day that went by I wasn't studying or reviewing something.
And the blood bank practicals were not nearly as bad as I had imagined. We did lose one student though. :( She will be missed. I have to say I ended up really enjoying blood bank after being so nervous about it. It's one of my favorites now! And I am totally in love with microbiology now! :D
The best part of the semester was that we got to do a lot more hands on lab time. I really enjoyed it and it gave me some good insight into what the job will really be like and I am gonna love it! So glad the semester is over though, I can't even describe it.
2. Sickness - Given my track record for all things happening at the worst time, I managed to hold true. The Friday before finals I started sneezing and running nose. No big thing, I thought, just a cold. By Saturday evening my head had completely stopped up. On Sunday morning, I thought I was gonna die. My head hurt so bad that my eyes wouldn't stop watering. It looked like I was crying it was so bad. Craig had guard drill and I had to get Carter to drive me to Wal-Mart to get some severe sinus medication. Well that was lovely because as soon as we got there I was diving out of the car and throwing up in the parking lot. Lots of mucus and junk. Ugh. Then I had to make a dash for the bathroom in the store for the other end. :(
By Monday I was loaded up on sinus meds and downing the fluids and feeling a bit better. So I managed to muddle through my finals. It just so happened that I had a doctors appt on Wednesday for a check up. I go and guess what? I had Strep Throat. I couldn't believe it. It was so weird because my throat didn't hurt all that bad. But there it was. And I have been battling it ALL MONTH LONG! I had to go back for a second round of antibiotics and another shot because it came back on me by the time I finished the first round of antibiotics.
I am finally over it, I think. But my stomach was completely torn up from the sickness and the antibiotics. I started eating a ton of yogurt and taking some probiotics to help out but it's still not back to what I'd call normal. Here's hoping it's truly knocked out now.
3. Rosie - As if everything else going wrong wasn't enough, my poor dog got sick on Christmas Eve. It was storming here and I was cooking dinner and she peed on the floor. She hadn't done that in a long time but I wasn't sure it wasn't from here being scared of the storms. But she did it again later that night. By the next morning she wouldn't jump on the bed or on the sofa and becoming lethargic.
Well with the holiday and weekend it was Monday before we could get her seen about. We were pretty sure she had a UTI so we didn't opt for an emergency vet call. By that Monday morning she wouldn't eat at all and barely drank any water. Poor baby.
So I took her in and they ran some blood work to check her pancreas which was normal and urine which did show she had a UTI. Well it's the second on in several months so the doc wanted to do an X-ray to check for kidney stones. Unfortunately, that wasn't the issue. She had an extremely large (as in bigger than the size of my fist) mass in her abdomen.
There was no way to tell what it was for sure, nor what it was attached to but it was pushing on her stomach, intestines, and bladder. That was most likely causing the bladder irritation and her not wanting to eat. Pre-surgery labs showed what we had begun to suspect. Her liver enzymes were off the chart. So going into surgery the doc and I were pretty sure it was a mass on her liver, most likely a hepatocarcinoma.
The doctor had initially told us she'd put Rosie down if she she couldn't remove it all and it appeared like cancer. But she didn't because she said it looked strange and not necessarily cancerous. She sent it off for a biopsy and we are supposed to receive the results tomorrow. I am so nervous. If it does turn out to be cancer, we will put her down. Sadly, it will be the best option and most humane thing to do.
If it turns out not to be, then we have other issues to contend with. One being that the doc couldn't remove all of the mass and then figuring out what it is. The doctor was nice enough to tell us she would foot the bill for the board and care and the biopsy and only charge us for the surgery if it is cancer. Because it was all her call. Even so, she will pay for the biopsy either way.
4. Other randomness - Between all of that, I have been busy with holidays and family and generally trying to get better. I am finally feeling a bit rested now and more like myself again. I think the stress of school added to my sickness and when it knocked me down it really took me off my feet.
Despite everything, I did manage to have a pretty good holiday and new years. I hope everyone else had a great one as well.
A special thanks to lmichelle599 and huntersglenn for the wonderful Christmas cards! I apologize that I never got to respond before now, but with everything going on it's been difficult. I didn't send out any cards this year despite my attempts to do so.
I hope everyone is well and I am looking forward to a new year and a new semester! School starts back on January 11. I begin clinical rotations the following Tuesday, January 18. My first rotation will be microbiology. I am super excited about it. I have my scrubs and got a nice pair of Dansko shoes to work in as well.
How are you guys?
I disappeared again, didn't I? Well it's been a wild and woolly last part of the year for me. I am not even sure where to begin. So I guess I should break it all down:
1. School - Well it was in a word, HARD! I have to say though I persevered. Not only that, but I kicked it's ass! That's right, I ended the semester with ALL A'S!!!!!!! I can't believe it! I am still in shock! lol. It managed to boost my cumulative GPA up to a 3.81!
It was so rough though, I can't even describe how incredibly hard it was. We had a test and/or quiz every day. If not 2 on most days. There wasn't a day that went by I wasn't studying or reviewing something.
And the blood bank practicals were not nearly as bad as I had imagined. We did lose one student though. :( She will be missed. I have to say I ended up really enjoying blood bank after being so nervous about it. It's one of my favorites now! And I am totally in love with microbiology now! :D
The best part of the semester was that we got to do a lot more hands on lab time. I really enjoyed it and it gave me some good insight into what the job will really be like and I am gonna love it! So glad the semester is over though, I can't even describe it.
2. Sickness - Given my track record for all things happening at the worst time, I managed to hold true. The Friday before finals I started sneezing and running nose. No big thing, I thought, just a cold. By Saturday evening my head had completely stopped up. On Sunday morning, I thought I was gonna die. My head hurt so bad that my eyes wouldn't stop watering. It looked like I was crying it was so bad. Craig had guard drill and I had to get Carter to drive me to Wal-Mart to get some severe sinus medication. Well that was lovely because as soon as we got there I was diving out of the car and throwing up in the parking lot. Lots of mucus and junk. Ugh. Then I had to make a dash for the bathroom in the store for the other end. :(
By Monday I was loaded up on sinus meds and downing the fluids and feeling a bit better. So I managed to muddle through my finals. It just so happened that I had a doctors appt on Wednesday for a check up. I go and guess what? I had Strep Throat. I couldn't believe it. It was so weird because my throat didn't hurt all that bad. But there it was. And I have been battling it ALL MONTH LONG! I had to go back for a second round of antibiotics and another shot because it came back on me by the time I finished the first round of antibiotics.
I am finally over it, I think. But my stomach was completely torn up from the sickness and the antibiotics. I started eating a ton of yogurt and taking some probiotics to help out but it's still not back to what I'd call normal. Here's hoping it's truly knocked out now.
3. Rosie - As if everything else going wrong wasn't enough, my poor dog got sick on Christmas Eve. It was storming here and I was cooking dinner and she peed on the floor. She hadn't done that in a long time but I wasn't sure it wasn't from here being scared of the storms. But she did it again later that night. By the next morning she wouldn't jump on the bed or on the sofa and becoming lethargic.
Well with the holiday and weekend it was Monday before we could get her seen about. We were pretty sure she had a UTI so we didn't opt for an emergency vet call. By that Monday morning she wouldn't eat at all and barely drank any water. Poor baby.
So I took her in and they ran some blood work to check her pancreas which was normal and urine which did show she had a UTI. Well it's the second on in several months so the doc wanted to do an X-ray to check for kidney stones. Unfortunately, that wasn't the issue. She had an extremely large (as in bigger than the size of my fist) mass in her abdomen.
There was no way to tell what it was for sure, nor what it was attached to but it was pushing on her stomach, intestines, and bladder. That was most likely causing the bladder irritation and her not wanting to eat. Pre-surgery labs showed what we had begun to suspect. Her liver enzymes were off the chart. So going into surgery the doc and I were pretty sure it was a mass on her liver, most likely a hepatocarcinoma.
The doctor had initially told us she'd put Rosie down if she she couldn't remove it all and it appeared like cancer. But she didn't because she said it looked strange and not necessarily cancerous. She sent it off for a biopsy and we are supposed to receive the results tomorrow. I am so nervous. If it does turn out to be cancer, we will put her down. Sadly, it will be the best option and most humane thing to do.
If it turns out not to be, then we have other issues to contend with. One being that the doc couldn't remove all of the mass and then figuring out what it is. The doctor was nice enough to tell us she would foot the bill for the board and care and the biopsy and only charge us for the surgery if it is cancer. Because it was all her call. Even so, she will pay for the biopsy either way.
4. Other randomness - Between all of that, I have been busy with holidays and family and generally trying to get better. I am finally feeling a bit rested now and more like myself again. I think the stress of school added to my sickness and when it knocked me down it really took me off my feet.
Despite everything, I did manage to have a pretty good holiday and new years. I hope everyone else had a great one as well.
A special thanks to lmichelle599 and huntersglenn for the wonderful Christmas cards! I apologize that I never got to respond before now, but with everything going on it's been difficult. I didn't send out any cards this year despite my attempts to do so.
I hope everyone is well and I am looking forward to a new year and a new semester! School starts back on January 11. I begin clinical rotations the following Tuesday, January 18. My first rotation will be microbiology. I am super excited about it. I have my scrubs and got a nice pair of Dansko shoes to work in as well.
How are you guys?