a long winded update.....
Yeeeah it's been awhile. Once surgeries began, life got hectic because it was like, one surgery a week and things were crazy and there were complications and everyone was worried but everything turned out okay YEY! Then once surgeries were OVER, Thanksgiving break occurred and it was super busy, but holy shit I think it was the best Thanksgiving break I've had maybe ever. But since I've probably piqued your interest when I said "complications" (or not, but I'm going to explain what happened anyway).
So after Mocha (whom I previously wrote about), we did Magni, a 60ish lb Pit Bull/Catahoula mix--- a neuter who subsequently swelled up with a scrotal hematoma. After a weekend of coming up to the hospital to feed him, water him, take him out (he also had raging diarrhea), we had to ice pack his poor swollen scrotum (empty of testicles but full of a clot). That Monday, the surgeons decided to ablate him (remove the scrotal sac-- I know you boys reading this are clutching at yours right now). Sooo that's what they did. They opened up the sac, squeezed out this grape jelly-like clot (gross and amazing at the same time), and cut it off. Magni was muuuch happier after that... well he was happy the whole time, poor boy, but at least he didn't have a basketball between his legs. He went home soon after that.
Our third surgery was Candy, a 9 1/2 year old Greyhound that Nic spayed and did dental work on. She did a great job but post-op, Candy suddenly started getting this weird edema along her ventrum, and we weren't quite sure why. It turned into blisters and then started to break open, and her skin started to get red and raw, poor girl. After a lot of testing by various departments in the hospital, and when she started to improve a little, they decided to release her--- a surprise to us, but oh well. She later came back to get debrided because she opened up again, but.... we haven't heard anything since, so I am assuming everything went okay, hopefully.
Our fourth was thankfully uneventful--- a huge Shepherd named Ivey. Jenni spayed her without incident and she went home the following day. All in all, the surgeries were awesome and the experience in caring for post-op patients was good for us to get.... a taste of what clinics will be like. While we had a good time for the most part I think we were all relieved when it was over.
Which brings us to Turkey Day break. Sean and I arrived in NY at a crazy 715 am ON Turkey Day itself... the boys were left at home, Devra and Matt staying with them for the weekend. That day was good, we had Sean's mom over, in addition to my aunt and her family.... lots of fun was had and food was eaten. Yum.
But what I really want to talk about is Black Friday. I spent the whole of October and November planning out a massive excursion to play paintball in Coram with-- well--- everybody in the universe, apparently. There were a lot of people who couldn't come due to work, but all in all 25 people showed up and had an amazing time despite it being like 40 degrees. Yes, you did hear me say 25. And holy crap, coordinating 25 people to end up in the same place at the same time is definitely difficult. It was me and Sean of course, Sean's friends Mike T, Mike M and James, my dad and Mikey, Tim, Patrick and Pat's friend Nicky, Mouse and her bro Tom, Katie and her dad, brother and sister, Kiki and her 6 friends, and Jason and his friend Matt. We were a bit late in starting but I think everybody had a blast. We played elimination games in the woods and by the end of the day people were coated in paint, tired, dirty and happy. We all ate heroes and water with dirty fingers, and spent a lot of money haha. Paintball is definitely not a cheap sport.... but something that must be done at LEAST once a year (but maybe twice, heee). I definitely want to make another outing happen again... maybe this time we can get the people out who couldnt come this time.
The night after paintball, I went out to L-town with Sean and his friends. We hit up two bars, and I proceeded to get a bit drunk. That's all I'll say about that.
Saturday was spent recovering, and in the evening was the Anti-Thanksgiving Pot Luck. Lots of people showed up, which was awesome, and everyone brought good food, which was even more awesome. Steve and his crew showed up late, so unfortunately all the stuff we had out was cold by the time they came.... they really put a dent in the leftover paintball hero though. We played "Would You Rather" and Wii, and the last of the people left by 145.
Sunday Annie and Ariel came over, and Sean got to meet a larger Bubba. We flew home and that was the end of our weekend... one to go down in the history books, that's fo' sho'.
Oh I forgot to mention, the entire time surgeries and break were going on, I was battling bronchitis--- awesome. I just recently got rid of the cough (took almost a month) and now I'm trying to get rid of this stupid pleuritis (a fun consequence of coughing your brains out for a month).... basically it's inflammation and fluid in between the two membranes of your lungs and it hurts to breathe, cough, sneeze, and move my right arm around. Working out was just about out of the question, but I occasionally went and ran until I couldn't breathe anymore. Not a good idea, I know, but I really was having a mentally hard time not working out. Still am. I'm going to try and at least have bad workouts... because bad mini workouts are better than no workouts at all.
So once finals were over (thank God they were over last Monday), I cleaned, spent some time with Sean, and enjoyed some downtime. Not that I haven't had any downtime--- this quarter was full of it--- but it was nice to not think about school for once. My mom and aunt came to Ohio on Thursday to help drive me home on Saturday, and after 11 hours and 20 minutes of driving through 5 states I am now in NY. Unfortunately, since Sean can't very well leave his job for 3 weeks I had to leave him back in Ohio. He will be back from the 21-26 though, and I will be back soon after (I'm thinking the 27th or 28th). I miss him a lot, it's weird being without him. I've gotten so used to having him around constantly for 7 months that when we're apart, it feels wrong. It'll be nice to see friends though, and I have several outings planned (2 dog meet and greets, a Christmas cookie party and a trip to the City) to look forward to. Bentley and Slinky came home with me, and for the most part everything is good. Slinky of course is used to the house--- this is where he first was, after all--- and Bentley adjusted pretty well, except he and Raven have an uneasy tolerance of each other. She doesn't like when he sniffs her and he doesn't like when she is near his toys or crate. Soooo we are trying him outside of the crate at night.... last night was the first night and I am pretty sure he slept the whole time next to my bed on the floor. Raven came in this morning and I let her jump on my bed and fall asleep, as she is allowed on the beds here. He seemed a little miffed, but settled down again on the floor. I woke up at like 830 and my head was THROBBING. It hurt so much I started to get nauseous, so I drank a lot of water and took 2 Excedrin and went back to bed for another 2 hours. The animals were surprisingly quiet the whole time--- even Slinky, who usually meows and jumps around on the bed trying to wake me up so I can feed him. Bentley's sleeping on the floor now and Raven is upstairs sleeping in my parents' bed where she usually does. And of course Bentley adores having a huge backyard to run around in... He even plays a tentative game of chase with Raven, who halfheartedly chases back (she would be more eager if she didn't have arthritis, hip dysplasia and a partial cruciate tear). Slinky, who loves the condo because it's bigger than my old apt, loves the house even more because there's so many places to explore and hide in. There are lots of windows to look out of and lots of things to stand on too. His favorite place to sit is on one of the bar stools at the kitchen counter, watching us when we're cooking or baking. Right now he's in my lap, purring.
I need to Christmas shop, badly. I'm also planning on baking a shitload of Christmas cookies and sending them off to relatives (such as my uncle and his fam in Texas) as gifts. I also need to buy Christmas cards for people... A Target run is in order. Target is great because everything there is so damn cheap.
As for my final grades... I just checked now and I did pretty good considering I barely studied for anything all quarter. I really don't care about grades anymore--- not with clinics looming juuust around the corner, can you freakin believe it. ONE quarter left and I'll be in clinics. CRAZY. I remember coming to vet school and seeing all the 4th years looking all spiffy with their stethoscopes and white coats and thinking, "That will be me one day--- as long as I don't flunk out!". Well shit, I didn't flunk out, and I'm one quarter away from it. I guess I shouldn't get TOO cocky, considering Large Animal Techniques is next and I don't know jack about large animals..... but damn. I'm almost done. Just thinking about how far I've come brings a huge grin to my face. I never thought I would get through all those classes I took. In November, we picked our clinic order and I'm getting my Large Animal stuff out of the way first, with the Marysville farm rotation.... but that's not the only thing in there, there's also community practice (small animal) and the shelter rotation, along with a selective (to be uh, selected). After that clinics section, I have all the internal med stuff, and then finally I have the dreaded "Clinics I"--- which includes Path, Emergency, Equine, and Small Animal Surgery, in which supposedly you work your tookus off. During all that time, I will be applying for an internship in the match program and accumulating letters of recommendation and TAKING BOARDS.... scary. That is THE test of all tests.
But holy shit man, I am almost there. I just need to get through this upcoming quarter.
Hehe. I have a sleeping kitty in my lap and a sleeping doggy behind me, who's dreaming and woofing softly in his sleep. All is well in the world right now.
So after Mocha (whom I previously wrote about), we did Magni, a 60ish lb Pit Bull/Catahoula mix--- a neuter who subsequently swelled up with a scrotal hematoma. After a weekend of coming up to the hospital to feed him, water him, take him out (he also had raging diarrhea), we had to ice pack his poor swollen scrotum (empty of testicles but full of a clot). That Monday, the surgeons decided to ablate him (remove the scrotal sac-- I know you boys reading this are clutching at yours right now). Sooo that's what they did. They opened up the sac, squeezed out this grape jelly-like clot (gross and amazing at the same time), and cut it off. Magni was muuuch happier after that... well he was happy the whole time, poor boy, but at least he didn't have a basketball between his legs. He went home soon after that.
Our third surgery was Candy, a 9 1/2 year old Greyhound that Nic spayed and did dental work on. She did a great job but post-op, Candy suddenly started getting this weird edema along her ventrum, and we weren't quite sure why. It turned into blisters and then started to break open, and her skin started to get red and raw, poor girl. After a lot of testing by various departments in the hospital, and when she started to improve a little, they decided to release her--- a surprise to us, but oh well. She later came back to get debrided because she opened up again, but.... we haven't heard anything since, so I am assuming everything went okay, hopefully.
Our fourth was thankfully uneventful--- a huge Shepherd named Ivey. Jenni spayed her without incident and she went home the following day. All in all, the surgeries were awesome and the experience in caring for post-op patients was good for us to get.... a taste of what clinics will be like. While we had a good time for the most part I think we were all relieved when it was over.
Which brings us to Turkey Day break. Sean and I arrived in NY at a crazy 715 am ON Turkey Day itself... the boys were left at home, Devra and Matt staying with them for the weekend. That day was good, we had Sean's mom over, in addition to my aunt and her family.... lots of fun was had and food was eaten. Yum.
But what I really want to talk about is Black Friday. I spent the whole of October and November planning out a massive excursion to play paintball in Coram with-- well--- everybody in the universe, apparently. There were a lot of people who couldn't come due to work, but all in all 25 people showed up and had an amazing time despite it being like 40 degrees. Yes, you did hear me say 25. And holy crap, coordinating 25 people to end up in the same place at the same time is definitely difficult. It was me and Sean of course, Sean's friends Mike T, Mike M and James, my dad and Mikey, Tim, Patrick and Pat's friend Nicky, Mouse and her bro Tom, Katie and her dad, brother and sister, Kiki and her 6 friends, and Jason and his friend Matt. We were a bit late in starting but I think everybody had a blast. We played elimination games in the woods and by the end of the day people were coated in paint, tired, dirty and happy. We all ate heroes and water with dirty fingers, and spent a lot of money haha. Paintball is definitely not a cheap sport.... but something that must be done at LEAST once a year (but maybe twice, heee). I definitely want to make another outing happen again... maybe this time we can get the people out who couldnt come this time.
The night after paintball, I went out to L-town with Sean and his friends. We hit up two bars, and I proceeded to get a bit drunk. That's all I'll say about that.
Saturday was spent recovering, and in the evening was the Anti-Thanksgiving Pot Luck. Lots of people showed up, which was awesome, and everyone brought good food, which was even more awesome. Steve and his crew showed up late, so unfortunately all the stuff we had out was cold by the time they came.... they really put a dent in the leftover paintball hero though. We played "Would You Rather" and Wii, and the last of the people left by 145.
Sunday Annie and Ariel came over, and Sean got to meet a larger Bubba. We flew home and that was the end of our weekend... one to go down in the history books, that's fo' sho'.
Oh I forgot to mention, the entire time surgeries and break were going on, I was battling bronchitis--- awesome. I just recently got rid of the cough (took almost a month) and now I'm trying to get rid of this stupid pleuritis (a fun consequence of coughing your brains out for a month).... basically it's inflammation and fluid in between the two membranes of your lungs and it hurts to breathe, cough, sneeze, and move my right arm around. Working out was just about out of the question, but I occasionally went and ran until I couldn't breathe anymore. Not a good idea, I know, but I really was having a mentally hard time not working out. Still am. I'm going to try and at least have bad workouts... because bad mini workouts are better than no workouts at all.
So once finals were over (thank God they were over last Monday), I cleaned, spent some time with Sean, and enjoyed some downtime. Not that I haven't had any downtime--- this quarter was full of it--- but it was nice to not think about school for once. My mom and aunt came to Ohio on Thursday to help drive me home on Saturday, and after 11 hours and 20 minutes of driving through 5 states I am now in NY. Unfortunately, since Sean can't very well leave his job for 3 weeks I had to leave him back in Ohio. He will be back from the 21-26 though, and I will be back soon after (I'm thinking the 27th or 28th). I miss him a lot, it's weird being without him. I've gotten so used to having him around constantly for 7 months that when we're apart, it feels wrong. It'll be nice to see friends though, and I have several outings planned (2 dog meet and greets, a Christmas cookie party and a trip to the City) to look forward to. Bentley and Slinky came home with me, and for the most part everything is good. Slinky of course is used to the house--- this is where he first was, after all--- and Bentley adjusted pretty well, except he and Raven have an uneasy tolerance of each other. She doesn't like when he sniffs her and he doesn't like when she is near his toys or crate. Soooo we are trying him outside of the crate at night.... last night was the first night and I am pretty sure he slept the whole time next to my bed on the floor. Raven came in this morning and I let her jump on my bed and fall asleep, as she is allowed on the beds here. He seemed a little miffed, but settled down again on the floor. I woke up at like 830 and my head was THROBBING. It hurt so much I started to get nauseous, so I drank a lot of water and took 2 Excedrin and went back to bed for another 2 hours. The animals were surprisingly quiet the whole time--- even Slinky, who usually meows and jumps around on the bed trying to wake me up so I can feed him. Bentley's sleeping on the floor now and Raven is upstairs sleeping in my parents' bed where she usually does. And of course Bentley adores having a huge backyard to run around in... He even plays a tentative game of chase with Raven, who halfheartedly chases back (she would be more eager if she didn't have arthritis, hip dysplasia and a partial cruciate tear). Slinky, who loves the condo because it's bigger than my old apt, loves the house even more because there's so many places to explore and hide in. There are lots of windows to look out of and lots of things to stand on too. His favorite place to sit is on one of the bar stools at the kitchen counter, watching us when we're cooking or baking. Right now he's in my lap, purring.
I need to Christmas shop, badly. I'm also planning on baking a shitload of Christmas cookies and sending them off to relatives (such as my uncle and his fam in Texas) as gifts. I also need to buy Christmas cards for people... A Target run is in order. Target is great because everything there is so damn cheap.
As for my final grades... I just checked now and I did pretty good considering I barely studied for anything all quarter. I really don't care about grades anymore--- not with clinics looming juuust around the corner, can you freakin believe it. ONE quarter left and I'll be in clinics. CRAZY. I remember coming to vet school and seeing all the 4th years looking all spiffy with their stethoscopes and white coats and thinking, "That will be me one day--- as long as I don't flunk out!". Well shit, I didn't flunk out, and I'm one quarter away from it. I guess I shouldn't get TOO cocky, considering Large Animal Techniques is next and I don't know jack about large animals..... but damn. I'm almost done. Just thinking about how far I've come brings a huge grin to my face. I never thought I would get through all those classes I took. In November, we picked our clinic order and I'm getting my Large Animal stuff out of the way first, with the Marysville farm rotation.... but that's not the only thing in there, there's also community practice (small animal) and the shelter rotation, along with a selective (to be uh, selected). After that clinics section, I have all the internal med stuff, and then finally I have the dreaded "Clinics I"--- which includes Path, Emergency, Equine, and Small Animal Surgery, in which supposedly you work your tookus off. During all that time, I will be applying for an internship in the match program and accumulating letters of recommendation and TAKING BOARDS.... scary. That is THE test of all tests.
But holy shit man, I am almost there. I just need to get through this upcoming quarter.
Hehe. I have a sleeping kitty in my lap and a sleeping doggy behind me, who's dreaming and woofing softly in his sleep. All is well in the world right now.