Midsemester/Birthday

Thank you again to everyone who helped celebrate my brithday, especially Susie for coming down to visit me!  This weekend was a whirlwind of outpouring love and unforgettable memories.  We went to Barys on Thursday; Carambola and Marriott on Friday; Beach, Salt Plage, and Spice Mill on Saturday, cat trip on Sunday, and Caribelle Batik and relaxed on Sunday before taking Susie to the airport.

  

I had no rotations or surgeries this week, so I was finally able to catch up on a little bit of work in the afternoons.

Bovine Palpation and an interesting fetotomy lab was on Tuesday.  A fetotomy is when a pregnant large animal have a stillborn still in utero and you have to intervene.  I can't imagine it being a pleasant experience.
The rest of the week was fairly uneventful with lectures in the morning and studying in the afternoons.

Yes, I think I will miss the beauty of this place: St Kitts

When you understand who and what you are, your radiance projects into the universe and everything around you becomes creative and full of opportunity. 

Darius Rucker Concert

This past Saturday was the grand opening of the marina at Christophe Harbour and so Darius Rucker came to perform for free!  With a backdrop of amazing million dollar yachts (yes one of them was Darius'), we did not feel like we were St Kitts anymore.  I was also able to sneak us into the VIP section (it pays to know people) so we had front row access to Darius and we might have even gotten serenaded (he made eye contact with us while singing) and touched his hand.  Such an exciting way to start off our weeks!

Another fun filled busy busy week started off with my Special Species exam, grand rounds presentation, and the start of equine SOAPing on Monday.  The St Kitts political election ended, so finally no more late night protests or fireworks.  Click on this link to follow the fun: SKNTimes

My exhausting week continued with our sheep skin incision surgery on Tuesday.  Unfortunately, this surgery did not go as smoothly as our last ones have. Our sheep's sedative didn't work, so it took us and the technicians five tries to place an IV catheter, I got light headed during the surgery (luckily was still able to continue), our sheep took an hour to wake up from anesthesia, and then his breathing was funny so we had to place nasal tubes to help him.  We were on campus until 6:30pm and I was in bed before 8pm.

Wednesday was a full morning of classes and my spay dog's physical exam.  My spay dog is an excited 8-10 month old island dog, who is very cute and sweet.  She only had a very minor things that needed to be looked at, so hopefully her surgery in three weeks will go effortlessly.

I'm so excited that Susie came down on Thursday and will be staying until Monday!  Best birthday present!

Happy 29th Birthday to me on Friday!  I will celebrate with bovine palpation, the beach, dinner, and drinks later.  This weekend is midsemester weekend!  So, more beach time with Susie, delicious dinners, and a cat trip on Sunday, all while still having to SOAP twice a day.

There is in all women, a wild and ancient gypsy who cries in anguish when we starch her flat.  There is a part of us that can never ever be happy until the gypsy can dance,

Computer And J's 24th

One of the things that has been through this entire journey of vet school with me and what I have become dependable on,  is on it's 9th life.  My current computer has lasted me nearly 7 years, survived many drops, several blue screens, new batteries, new chargers, several drops, scratches, power outages, and even a new hard drive, and then on Monday tried to commit suicide by jumping off a very high table.  In true fashion, it's still functioning.  Sure the monitor works only works every once in a while, so I can't close it without the risk of it not turning back on until placed at the exact right angle, but my dear friend just won't quit on me.  Now normally you would say that's a great thing, however, being in a third world country with no place to buy a new one, this has become a stressful annoyance.  Yes, everything is backed up, but it has become a comfort.  Don't get me wrong, I normally welcome change, but not when it comes to technology that I rely on for a regular basis.  As my "technology consult" will tell you, I'm extremely picky and want to make sure I get the right replacement.  So Miss Computer (it's pink so definitely a girl), I can't risk you playing any more tricks on me, especially this semester, so therefore I had to give in and get myself an updated you. (Of course now as I'm threatening her, she's been working great)

My set-up when the monitor is not working

Long day on Monday, starting with my LAM II exam (65 questions in 60 minutes), class all morning, and then my bovine rotation where we did physical exams, restrained them as well as calves, and talked about general maintenance.  I quickly met up with my SOAP partner afterwards and unfortunately our sheep was running an extremely high fever, breathing strangely, and had tachycardia (high heart rate).  After speaking with the on-call clinician, we gave him an anti-inflammatory and hopefully his vitals were only increased due to the stress of running around.

My fourth surgery (nerve ID) and second anesthesia, was on Tuesday.  It was a little stressful and overwhelming, because my donkey decided to have the expected problems while under anesthesia. However, the procedure and recovery went very smoothly.  We also received our third SOAP animal, another sheep that we will do our incision surgery on next week.  Our first sheep was still running a fever, so we manually opened and cleaned his incision site so hopefully it will drain better and bring his fever down.  Our donkey is now needing extra medications, so we now have three open problems out of our three animals.  That means earlier mornings and more support to my recent coffee consumption/not quite an addiction. (I have not been a coffee drinker until this semester)

In increasing anticipation, the group of students going to LSU SVM met with our clinical adviser Wednesday evening although he didn't really tell us anything different from what we already knew.
I actually had the afternoon off, aside from SOAPing on Thursday. I was finally able to catch up on some studying.
Per usual, I had bovine palpation on Friday and I still don't feel like I'm improving.
I anticipate I will be studying for my special species exam, grand rounds preparation, and my incision surgery this weekend.  Darius Rucker is performing a free concert out on the peninsula Saturday night, so you can most likely find me there!

Lots of friends needed prayers this week.  Know that I'm thinking of you and you will get through this.

Happy birthday gorgeous!  You are an angel who lifts me to my feet when my wings have trouble remembering how to fly.

Time Management

Upon receiving my email from LSU about signing up for my elective rotations and my welcome packet, elation set in!  My required rotations are Canine and Feline Medicine, Companion Animal Surgery, Diagnostic Pathology, Radiology and Diagonistic Imaging, Clinical Anesthesiology, Equine Medicin and Surgery, Farm Animal Health Management, and two rotations of externships.  The electives I am enthusiastic about are Exotic and Zoological Health Maintenance, Applied Veterinary Dermatology, another rotation of an externship, Ophthalmology, Oncology, Advanced Canine and Feline Med, Small Animal Emergency, Shelter Medicine, Animal Control, or Integrative Medicine and Acupuncture.  I will be finding out my schedule during orientation in May, so here's to "patiently" waiting.
This weekend I did indulge in researching different externship options and contacted a few different places about setting something up, including places in Cape Town, Belize, Arizona, Chicago and New York.  It would be a passion for me if I can travel for an externship.

This week will test my time management skills especially with trying to find time to study for my exam on Thursday.

Starting my ceaseless week off , Monday was my dentistry rotation. We reviewed how to clean teeth as well as how to look over radiographs and assess the severity of gingival disease.  Working along side another student on anesthesia rotation, I cleaned half of the mouth of a kennel dog, then my partner did the other half.  Because everything we do this semester involves paperwork, we wrote up our dental report and discharge instructions.

My second surgery, a epididymectomy and castration on our sheep, was on Tuesday!  It felt like a fantasy to be doing a surgery with minimal supervision including my partner, Christine's support and check points from the professors.  I started the surgery off with the first epididymectomy, then my partner did the other as well as the first testicular castration, and then I finished with the other.  The surgery was straightforward with moderate bleeding, and our sheep woke up from anesthesia very smoothly.  Now, we will be SOAPing him twice a day for 21 days, so pretty much the rest of the month, to ensure proper drainage and healing.

To continue my busy week, on Wednesday, my partner Amanda and I had the anesthesia for our spay.  The job of the anesthetist is to come up with a protocol (calculate which medications we want to use, how much to give, what to do if certain episodes happen under anesthesia) exam the dog, give her the pre-medications (sedation and analgesia), place a IV fluid catheter, give her induction medication (another sedative), intubuate her, monitor her heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, CO2 etc during surgery, and then exabate her. Our rushed machine set up made us anxious and overwhelmed the entire time but once our dog was under anesthesia, she did so well and the surgery couldn't have gone better.  Great job to our surgeons Becky and Jillian!  Hopefully when we are the surgeons in a few weeks it will go just as smoothly!

With only a few hours of sleep, I was up early Thursday to study and meet with the anesthesia technician for my Nerve ID anesthesia on our donkey next week.  My Therio exam was that morning, followed by two classes, and nap and SOAPing that evening....whew....

To finish off my swamped week, I had sheep ultrasound on Friday as well as bovine palpation. This weekend I will be studying for my LAM II exam on Monday and my anesthesia on Tuesday.
I am absolutely in my element....bring it on.

The woman who does not require validation from anyone is the most feared individual on the planet.