Fall Break 2012--All the News That's Fit to Blog About

Well, here I am near the end of my last Fall Break of college. I've known Dr. J for three years now! That is just crazy to me to think about. Anyway, it's been quite the break. I did very well in all of my classes this term, despite the extreme stress I felt myself under during most of it. This gives me hope that I can manage stressful situations in my life without resorting to emotional breakdowns/hysterics and that I can come out on top. I understand that the rest of my life will be very similar to the last few months, so this was really just a foretaste of things to come. It was really good for me, in retrospect, and I guess I have nothing to regret whatsoever.

I got some exciting news on Monday night. I will be interviewing at the Kansas State University (K-State, from here on out) vet school on Sunday, December 16th. I am both excited and nervous. This is NOT a guarantee that I will get in, but it does mean that the admissions committee wants to talk to me. I am given much confidence by this thought alone. I really have nothing to lose. I will go in there as well prepared as I can be. I will be myself and show them how capable I am as a student and as a person. I will be driving down to Manhattan, Kansas with Mom and Dad early the day before so we can be in time for a pizza party on the eve of the interview. It will be good because I can meet other pre-vets and talk to vet students, who can answer some questions I have about finances, what daily life is like during each year, and how much surgical experience I might gain as a student there. Like I said, this is not a for-sure thing yet, but at least it's a chance, and that's all I can ask for right now.

With that in mind, my whole shadowing experience seems to have changed. I went with Dr. J yesterday to the clinic, and even though I was only there for five hours, I still had a great time. It was wonderful to see everyone again, and they seemed pretty pleased to see me, too. I met a new clinic cat named Fig, who is so cute and is probably my new favorite clinic kitty (after Odie, of course; he'll always be my bestie there). At first he was shy of me, but when I started to pet Cheeks, he seemed interested in meeting me. He was purring as I pet him, so I picked him up. Kind of by accident, he ended up on his back being cradled like a baby, but he seemed to enjoy it and let me hold him like that and walk around with him for a bit. Then, I sat down with him on my lap and let him bite my sleeve a bit. He is such a good-sized cat. He is very light and perfect for cuddling. I guess the story goes that Dr. N found him on the side of the road, so emaciated that she and one of the techs couldn't find a muscle large enough to give an injection. He had maggots crawling all over him and a bot fly larva in his neck. Dr. N has a picture of him from "before," and while I didn't see it, I understand it was pretty bad. However, he looks pretty good now. I would say he probably still needs to gain some weight, but he's doing well under the excellent care of the clinic staff and doctors. He does have a problem using the litter box, probably the result of some brain damage suffered when he was starving, but again, I believe he will get better as time passes. I think it's wonderful how the clinic continues to take in strays and treat them. I love seeing the results and the happy endings that come when a family finally adopts one of the cats. There seems to be a lack of good veterinary care for cats these days, not because of any vet's negligence but because clients seem to be less concerned about bringing their cats in routinely than they do their dogs. As such, cats tend to be sicker when they do come in, making visits more expensive and involved. This probably adds to the negativity that some clients may feel about bringing their cats in, especially since most cats hate being put in carriers and taken for a car ride. Dr. N does a lot of work toward better veterinary care for cats, and this gives me hope that even if I do go into something like small animal medicine, I will still have important roles to play. Right now, I am pretty interested in the ideas of laser surgery for spays and neuters and the idea of only removing the ovaries during a spay instead of the ovaries and the uterus (this requires a smaller incision site, among other things).

Another thing that made this clinic visit cool was that I got to apply some of what I know from Immunology to help me answer my own questions. When Dr. N told me that it was dangerous to vaccinate an animal with a fever, I wondered why. I almost asked her before I remembered that an injection is like a wound to the body, sometimes eliciting an inflammatory response of immune cells to the injection site. During fever, the activity of those cells increases, so the inflammation may be more severe and could cause damage to the surrounding tissues. At least, this is what I conjecture based on my knowledge. I am no expert, so don't take my word for it. It was just very cool for me to be able to apply my knowledge like that.

Finally, I got to see what ringworm looks like under a blacklight. A couple of cats at the clinic have the fungal skin condition, so Dr. J took me into a dark room with the light and showed me the neon-green fungus glowing like a radioactive material. I have seen pictures of this phenomenon online but never in real life. I later got to watch Dr. J and a tech lime dip the cats, which I was not allowed to participate in because they were afraid that I might catch the ringworm, too. I was secretly glad that I could just play an observing role for that one (especially since the dip smells like sulfur, which reminds me of the selenium sulfide I've used to treat tinea versicolor on myself).

Other than all this, I just generally enjoyed seeing the changes that have been made to the clinic (like new computers!) since I have been gone. I got to follow Dr. N into some appointments, which I like because I enjoy seeing how many different vets work. Dr. N is very good about explaining everything she does to me. She gave me quite the compliment when I was helping her count pills and fill sample bags, and she commented, "It's like we're making a tech out of you!" This makes me feel welcome there and like I am gaining some competency in the field of veterinary medicine, even if it is just in an assisting role.

On an unrelated note, I got to vote for the first time on Tuesday! It went very smoothly. I won't tell you who I voted for because that's honestly pretty irrelevant, but I did enjoy the whole process. Of course, I did get my obligatory sticker, and I felt proud wearing it and seeing it on other people at the thrift store, knowing I was one of them. Our neighbors were there, too, so I got to hear their take on K-State. The wife said she had a friend go there for Marketing, and she said she loved it. I know vet med is different, but it must a good school. The husband said it was pretty scenic, rolling hills and all that. I think I have chosen some good schools that fit my speed of life. I don't think I would feel comfortable in a really big city. I'm not a country girl; I do need some culture, but I also am not a big-time NYC-type, either.

Yup, yup. I cannot tell a lie.

 I am looking forward to starting my classes on Monday. I have really enjoyed being home and even going in to work, but I am also eager to finish my final term. I think December 16th is going to come very quickly. I just hope I'm ready when it does!

I leave you with this:

My beloved dog taking a snooze in the TV room, which I guess is now one of her favorite activities in her old age.  That and eating. Well, she's always liked eating, but now all she does is sleep and ingest foodstuffs.