Summer 2012--St. Francis Veterinary Clinic Visit #8: Raining Cats and Dogs

Yes, Wednesday was a rather rainy day at the clinic. When I was in surgery in the morning, it was so dark outside that it looked like early night. We were concerned that the power might go out, which would have been really bad, obviously. Wednesday was a very surgery-heavy day. Long story short, I was watching surgeries until 4:30 in the afternoon, and the clinic closes for the night at 6 PM. I like those days, though, because they go by fast and are fairly interesting. We did break for lunch around 1 PM, but still. It was a pretty busy day.

First, I saw a very routine canine spay. It was still interesting, though, because Dr. K is trying a new technique of dripping nerve block on the ovaries and then on the incision site after the abdominal wall is closed in order to help the dogs feel more comfortable before their post-operative pain medications kick in. It was also interesting because Dr. K let me drip the nerve block on both the ovary and the incision site under her direction.

Then, I watched a couple of dentals on two older dogs. They took a pretty long time--over 1.5 hours each. Both had a lot of extractions, which really lengthens the procedure. What was cool was that the second dog had an ankylosed tooth, which means that the tooth is directly attached and rooted to the underlying jawbone instead of being connected merely by the gum socket and some ligaments. Being ankylosed prevents the tooth from being removed from the mouth--not good stuff!

After the first dental, I got to scrub the dental instruments in preparation for the second. Dentals tend to be less sterile than other surgeries, plus the dogs were living in the same home, so it wasn't necessary to use a whole new set of tools from an autoclaved pack.

I also saw a feline declaw on all four paws, which was pretty cool. For some reason, I like the smoothness and relative ease with which the claws can be removed from cats. I understand that declawed cats have an increased tendency to bite instead of scratch, but the surgery seems worthwhile if it gives owners peace of mind and if it means that the household can continue to operate harmoniously. The cats truly seem none the worse for wear.

Perhaps my favorite surgery of the day was an exploratory on a dog that had swallowed some hard plastic piping. Some of it had already come out by the time the dog arrived at the clinic, but the doctors wanted to see if there was any more in the GI tract that might be hurting the dog. Dr. K explained to me that in exploratories, the doctor checks the entire GI tract. She started with the small intestine, pulling it almost all the way out of the dog so that it looked like a neat and almost beautiful pile of coral. Seeing nothing there, she proceeded to palpate the large intestine and to examine the pancreas. It was a great little canine anatomy lesson. Earlier, I got to heat up some IV fluid, which one of the technicians used to flush the area and keep everything clean. The entire exploratory was negative, so Dr. K stitched the dog back up and sent her home to her family, instructing the owners to monitor the dog for continued symptoms of intestinal distress.

After surgery, I got to help with the placement of a urinary catheter in a blocked cat. I held the mask that delivered the mix of oxygen and isoflurane to the cat while Dr. N placed the catheter--an ultra sterile process. She taught me a little more about blocking and its consequences. Blocking occurs when an obstruction in the urethra prevents an urine from being eliminated. As a result, potassium--which is excreted in urine--builds up and cannot be removed from the body. This build-up is very dangerous because it can lower the heart rate enough to stop the heart. When the catheter was placed, the cat was hooked up to an IV drip and allowed to rest in the heated cages of the surgery room. I got to set the drip so that it delivered as close as possible to one drop every 10 seconds.

In the late afternoon, I started following Dr. J to appointments. The first one I saw was for a dog with a hot spot. Now, I had a vague idea about what a hot spot was, but I learned a bit more today. Hot spots occur in patches of skin where a dog or cat has been chewing, scratching, or licking at the skin (perhaps because it itches for whatever reason). It is mostly due to compulsive behavior rather than any kind of illness or infection. The raw skin that occurs can be susceptible to infection by "opportunistic" bacteria that take the chance provided by the open skin to attack the animal and enter its body.

I also learned how to run blood tests on serum on Wednesday. The clinic has all these cool analytical machines that I have never really had occasion to pay much attention to. The technicians have always been in charge of that, and I guess the opportunity has never come up for me to learn. Well, Peej decided that it was time for me to know how to do it. I used two machines called an Idexx VetTest and VetLyte analyzer. The VetTest measures values like bilirubin, glucose, albumin, calcium, and creatinine. The VetLyte analyzer measures electrolytes and ions like chloride, sodium, and potassium. These two machines are often used in tandem for pre-anesthetic blood work or as general gauges on animal health--mostly in reference to the liver and kidneys. After the pet's information is entered into the VetTest machine, the necessary tests are selected, and special disks are inserted into the machine that each measure a different value in the blood serum. Then, a probe with a sterile tip is inserted into the sample and placed in its proper slot in the machine. The machine then takes a small amount of the serum for each disk and goes to work with the analyses. The VetLyte machine works similarly, but it is much simpler because no disks are required. All that is needed is to open the door, introduce the sample to the slim metal probe, and close the door. The probe only needs a very small amount of the serum in order to evaluate it.

Finally, I got to count out some Cephalexin pills for the dog with the hot spot. Basically, I did a lot of really cool things today in addition to my usual duties of taking temperatures, monitoring vitals during surgery, making puppy and kitty packs, and doing some light cleaning, which is always nice. I appreciate these busier, more out-of-the-ordinary days because I really feel like my presence is needed and that I learn a lot more. During a rather noisy appointment with a mother and her three girls, I saw how veterinarians must try to get vital information across to clients amid distractions sometimes. This appears to be a very difficult thing to do, which is why I think having handouts, pamphlets, and paper-based summaries of the visit are important so that clients can learn what they need to know about their pets' health when they have time and are less distracted.

Well, that's it for this blog post. This coming week will be exciting and busy because I will shadow twice again--once on Monday with Dr. J and once on Thursday with Dr. B. I'm looking forward to getting back to VCA Cedar to see some exotics. Emmie is actually going there on Tuesday to have a strange skin lump removed from her belly, right over where her bladder is. We think it's an overreaction to a bug bite--she's been licking at it, too, so it's pretty red. Dr. B looked at it and did an aspiration, from which she found that the lump is full of cells that have too much cytoplasm. She also noted a large number of white blood cells. Hopefully it's not cancerous, so we might have the lump sent out and analyzed after the surgery. Emmie is not really in pain, though, so I'm actually not that worried. I hope none of you will be, either. Have a great week!

Summer 2012--St. Francis Veterinary Clinic Visit #7: Surgery Day

Mondays are usually Dr. J's surgery days, so that's pretty much what my whole day was yesterday. I didn't go on Wednesday like usual because Dr. J is not working that day. But a shortened day is better than no day at all, so I shadowed her yesterday instead.

Anyway, there were no really exciting surgeries. Dr. J and Dr. N were contemplating a mass removal surgery, but the ultrasonographer was due to come soon, so they didn't want to operate if the supposed mass turned out to be nothing at all. I watched a couple of dog spays followed by a cat dental. I must say that the cat dental was the most interesting of the three because Dr. J instructed me a bit more fully on the process of looking at dental x-rays and a tooth chart and telling which teeth need to be extracted and which are fine. Dr. J says she finds the chart a bit confusing at times, so she writes the number of the tooth and its name on a piece of scratch paper so that she doesn't need to keep referencing the computer while she is performing the extractions. Basically, the top set of teeth are numbered in the 100s and 200s, while the bottom set are numbered in the 300s and 400s. For dogs, starting at the center of the teeth, right up front, the right upper side is numbered 101-110, while the left upper side is numbered 201-210. Similarly, the right lower side is numbered 301-311, while the left lower side is numbered 401-411. Cats are pretty close to dogs, but the numbers only go to 109, 209, 309, and 409, respectively. I actually like the extraction part of dentals (not that I like it when animals need teeth removed, but I do like them to feel better) because it is much more interesting than just shooting pictures or cleaning the teeth. I guess I also like to examine the radiographs and see what the doctors are seeing (and why).

As usual, I helped quite a bit with surgery, filling out the anesthesia sheet, taking temperatures, assisting with restraint, and even getting to give an IM injection under the supervision of one of the technicians. I learned that with most IM injections, especially those requiring a short needle, the needle needs to go straight into the muscle, not at an angle as it can with subcutaneous injections. There really is a technique, a rhyme and reason, for everything in veterinary medicine (as I'm sure is true with most things in life).

Once again, I got to spend some time with my kitty friends. Except for Odie. I scratched his head a bit when I first walked in, but I didn't see him the rest of the day. I'm sure next time will be better.

I'm really enjoying having two full sets of scrubs to use when I shadow. I always felt a little out of place, like I wasn't adhering to the dress code, when I would wear just scrub pants and a simple top. I got kind of a wake-up call when I shadowed at the emergency clinic that a scrub top is really an indispensable thing when spending time in veterinary clinics. Even though it is not really required at St. Francis, I do feel more official and more in line with my part when I wear my scrub outfit.

I finished out my day by making a few more puppy packs. I was going to try to make some kitty packs, too, but Dr. J was ready to go, and since she is my gracious ride each week, I thought it wise to acquiesce.

So, even though nothing to far out of the ordinary happened, it was still a profitable and useful day at the clinic. I will shadow again next week on my regular day, Wednesday. It has recently come to my attention that other pre-vet students are reading my blog! I am flattered beyond belief! I encourage any of you out there to share your experiences in the comments section. And don't forget to tell your pre-vet friends about the blog so they can read it, too, and give their input. I really want this to be about education and mutually helping each other on the path to veterinary school, so don't be shy to post anything that is on your mind. Suggestions are always welcome!

Summer 2012--Sarah's Visit (July 3rd through July 6th)

As I may have mentioned last time, I had a friend come to visit me these past few days. She was none other than Sarah, one of my roommates from last year. We have been Skyping fairly regularly throughout the summer, and she wanted to stay with us for a bit so we could spend some time together. She's really a great person and a lot of fun to be around. She fit right in with our off-kilter, slightly kooky family.

On the Fourth of July, we went to Northfield to watch David race in the men's 3/4 criterium. Well, it was such a hot day that he lasted all of three or four laps. We barely had time to sit down, eat lunch, grab a cold coffee-based drink from the lovely Goodbye Blue Monday Coffeehouse, and enjoy the race before he was out. I did manage to snap a few pictures from Northfield, a charming southern Minnesota town home to such prestigious colleges as St. Olaf and Carleton.

A fountain near downtown Northfield.

A man-made (but still pretty) waterfall in Northfield (I think this is the Cannon River). I have a feeling Malt-O-Meal uses the river for power, since it's right in town (the city smells like chocolate Malt-O-Meal sometimes, which is just heavenly).

A pretty display of flowers and wire along the river in Northfield.

 That evening, we went to Gold Medal Park by the Guthrie Theater to watch fireworks because we needed to do something out of the ordinary. Normally, we just make the short trek to Honeywell Hill and watch the show from afar. Our spot was literally right under that weird bridge extension thing that comes out of the Guthrie. We could see some of the people who had paid to be on the bridge thanks to some windows in the floor of the bridge. Shortly after 10 PM, the light show started. It was actually pretty good. I love seeing what new tricks the pyros pull to make things more interesting.  There were awesome fireworks that started out as a bunch of separate dots, which proceeded to divide into smaller dots before scattering out like marbles. There was also a cool rainbow-colored fountain of light that sprang up from the ground. Our view was partially blocked by trees, but we still saw the majority of it.

The Gold Medal Flour sign near Gold Medal Park on the Mississippi.

 Yesterday, I thought up a few places to take Sarah that I thought she might find interesting. After all, there was very little else we could do with the heat, and I wasn't about to sit around the house all day. I've been pretty antsy the past couple of days. First, we went to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, which was fantastic as always. We saw the basic Asian and European pieces before stumbling upon a cool new installation called letting go by a local artist who goes by the moniker HOTTEA. Yeah, I don't really get it, either, but what else can you do with those right-brained types? Anyway, letting go is a string-and-wire piece that almost looks like a shower of sunlight cascading down through the sky. There is even a circular patch of fake grass at the base where viewers can lie back and pretend they are staring up into a sunny sky. There are so many strings that it is mind-boggling, and I can only imagine the amount of time and energy that HOTTEA must have put into the piece. At the time of our visit, an employee was meticulously combing the strings with a special instrument to untangle the strands.

The skylight built into the roof of a little shelter that's outside the MIA (I just like the artistic-ness of the maze-like pattern, which mirrors the same pattern on the pavement).

 Another cool part of the visit was seeing the Modernist Design gallery, which housed a multitude of interesting pieces of furniture. The best (in my opinion) was a simple high-backed chair created by Charles Rennie Mackintosh himself! Now, you may remember Mr. Mackintosh as a favorite artist of mine from my trip to London. I even have a Mackintosh 2012 calendar in my room. You can imagine my delight at finding something of his design right here at home. And rightly so, considering how fantastic his work is.

I also loved just looking at all of the pastoral landscape paintings from 18th and 19th century European artists. Being pretty nature-oriented (no surprises there), I really enjoy how some people have a talent for capturing the ethereal and transient beauty of life in nature. I liked looking at some of the Japanese screen and scroll prints for the same reasons. The simplification of natural forms just looks really cool to me.

After the MIA, Sarah and I headed over to the just-opened American Swedish Institute. We had to pay student admission ($4), but it was well worth it, especially since the price included access to the stunning Turnblad mansion (more on that in a minute). The ASI was recently built off the mansion and features just a couple of galleries, a gift shop, and a cafe (the cafe doesn't open for another few days). I could tell it is still a work in progress because there isn't much to see on the second floor except for a mostly-empty large room with microphones and grand piano. I'm guessing it will be a sort of meeting room, concert hall, event center, you name it. A gathering place for members of the American Swedish Institute. On the first floor is a small, dimly-lit gallery housing some pretty impressive nature-themed tapestries by Helena Hemmark. I'm not kidding you: they look like photographs from far enough away. The attention to detail is just magnificent, and I can tell that they must have taken her a long time, especially since they are pretty large.

A stained-glass window outside the Solarium (gotta love that stuff); this one is above the door.

And another, same location (to the right of the door).

A light fixture in the Solarium.

Sarah enjoying the light of the Solarium.

A Dala horse that kids can ride.

Traditional Swedish costumes.

A view of the Turnblad Mansion from outside the ASI.

 Finally, we found our way to the Turnblad Mansion, which goes by the nickname "The Castle"--for good reason; the house is adorned with a gracefully curving turret, which does make it look decidedly castle-esque. The Turnblad Mansion was built by Mr. Swan J. Turnblad, the publisher of a Minneapolis-based Swedish American newspaper (written in Swedish). He and his family mainly occupied the second floor of the mansion, and they rarely entertained guests, being fairly private people. In fact, they even ate dinner on the first floor in a small dining room that was originally intended as a servants' dining room. The family was served by the Hansens, who lived on the second floor of the carriage house. Of course, now the mansion is used as a kind of display case for traditional Swedish items like Hemmark's tapestries, costumes, crafts, and kjolsak, shoulder bags made of scraps of material leftover from sewing costumes. It also showcases what life was like for Swedish people in Minnesota in the late 1800s. Well, maybe not all of them, since the Turnblads were pretty darn rich. They had not only a small private library but also a reading room and Solarium, which Sarah really enjoyed. She said she wanted one of her own someday. I really think she liked the ASI because she is part Swedish and is a Swedish major/minor (it might be a minor because Augustana is combining the German and Swedish departments and eliminating all Swedish and German classes that fall above the 200 level--all to save money, which stinks).

After seeing the mansion, we headed back to the gift shop. Neither of us bought anything because it was all so expensive, but it was cool to see those quaint Dala horses for sale. Even the tiniest ones are $20. Maybe I will have money for one someday--they're just so neat! I also saw a copy of one of my favorite books, a cookbook from New Scandinavian Cooking host Andreas Viestad called Kitchen of Light. That's another thing I'll have to pick up when I have a little money to burn (ha!).

Our last stop was IKEA, an appropriate segue from the ASI. I am sort of in the market for a computer desk, dresser, and twin extra-long mattress. I picked up a flyer for the Malm series of bedroom furniture, and I really like a lot of the stuff in it. I figure that the fairly large up-front cost will be offset by the fact that I will use the pieces later in life when I finally move out on my own. I did not buy anything, but Sarah purchased some Swedish chocolates and Swedish Fish (unfortunately, they did not have the delicious variety packs, just the red raspberry-flavored ones). We were pretty ready to be home at this point, so that's exactly where we went. We struck up a game of Rummy with Mom and David before dinner, which was aglio olio with prosciutto sammies, one of my favorite meals on the face of the planet. I wanted to give Sarah a literal taste of the food we usually eat around here. After dinner, we watched Blazing Saddles, which happens to be one of Dad's and David's favorite movies.

This morning, we tried to get to the bread outlet store to get some cheap dough-based products, but it was closed in observance of Independence Day (I guess they are entitled to a long weekend like the rest of us). Then, before I knew it, it was time to say goodbye to Sarah and see her off home. It was certainly a great visit, and it will be fun if Mom and Dad are able to visit the Mattimiros sometime or even if Sarah is able to come back here someday.

On a completely different note, pet-sitting for Dr. Jill went pretty well. The cats are very pleasant; even the shy cat Hubert, who originally did not let me touch him, warmed up to me enough to rub his face on my hand and let me scratch his back for a good five seconds before backing away. Score one for the pre-vet student! I received a confirmation e-mail from Kansas State informing me that they received my completed supplemental application packet; I was not missing anything, apparently. That was a relief. I also got a couple more people to read and edit my personal statement. I haven't had time to look over the new batch of comments, but I'm glad because the essay is only in its third draft, and I'd like to take it through at least a few more revisions before I submit it to VMCAS as the final version. In other news, I bought my first book for the Fall trimester, my Immunology textbook. I will buy the others closer to the beginning of August when I have more money and more information (most of them will come used from the Augustana bookstore, and reservations are not available until August 1st). So, that's about it for updates on me. I hope you all had a great Independence Day and celebrated it in a meaningful way. I definitely celebrated my freedom by wearing a tank top--it is my right to "bare arms," after all. ;)

Summer 2012--St. Francis Veterinary Clinic Visit #6: A Long Time Gone

Well, it certainly felt like I had been gone for ages when I got back to the clinic a couple of days ago. It completely slipped my mind to blog about it yesterday because I was busy finishing one of the essays I need to write for my Iowa State supplemental application. Mom also recently sent out my completed supplemental application packets for Mississippi State and Kansas State, so I am certainly making yet more headway on all of my applications. I enjoy completing each step because I know that it puts me just that much closer to my end goal. Anyway, Wednesday was really a day like any other at the clinic. I participated in all my usual capacities: restraint, anesthesia monitoring, taking temperatures, assembling puppy and kitty packs, and doing some light cleaning. I did get to see a really cool toe amputation surgery, which was very interesting to me. The toe had a quarter-sized tumor on it, so it definitely needed to be removed. After that, I watched a couple of cat spays, which weren't too exciting, but it's never a bad thing to get more experience, even if it's something typical and ordinary. I don't regret a single hour that I have been at the clinic. Later in the afternoon, I helped unpack syringes and put them in boxes for easy access. As always, I spent some quality time with my favorite kitties Odie and Bailey. I would honestly adopt Bailey if I could, but I can't take care of a cat right now. Not only do I still live at home, but I am barely making enough money to pay for books and my vet applications. There's no way I could afford veterinary care, food, and litter for a cat. I know that I'll probably own one dog and one cat someday, but that day will probably come after I have graduated from veterinary school and have a steady, sizable source of income with which to support myself and animals.

I was delighted in the later afternoon to spend some time shadowing Dr. N. She went to do a litter exam on ten English Springer Spaniel puppies. Oh my goodness. They were even cuter than the Collie puppies! They were so beautiful and reminded me a little bit of baby Emmie (my own Brittany dog). Spaniels really are the cutest puppies. Most of them were black and white with deep brown eyes, but a couple very precious ones were liver and white with lighter eyes than their brothers and sisters. I would definitely have wanted to have one of the liver ones. I got to hold most of them, and they spent the majority of the time nibbling and licking me. Nothing like puppy time to make a hectic day all better. Honestly, though. If I even try to sit down at the clinic, someone comes up with something for me to do. Like the aforementioned puppy and kitty packs, pill counting, nail trims, and the like. Not that I'm complaining. I'm glad to be at this point in my pre-vet education where the clinic trusts me enough to assign all these tasks to me. It's better than spending three hours of my time there sitting and reading a book, which is how it used to be. The appointment with the puppies was also cool because Peej showed me how to do an ear smear, spreading the sample on a slide before heat-fixing it with a lighter and dipping it in a trio of Diffquick stains (blue, then pink, then deep violet) before rinsing it off and patting it dry between two paper towels. The staining is really cool because it really brings the contents of the ear debris into good focus. We examined the sample under the microscope and saw quite a bit of yeast and cocci bacteria. I reported this information to Dr. N, who was using the ear smear as a sort of general gauge for the entire litter. Chances are good that if one puppy had that much yeast and bacteria in her ears, at least one of the other puppies did, too.

It was really good to be back after my 10-day break, and everyone thanked me as I walked out the door. Now, I really don't think I deserve all of this thanks. I'm supposed to be an active participant in my shadowing opportunities. It is everyone else who deserves the thanks for supporting me and for giving me things to do that advance my understanding and comfort with veterinary medicine. I am getting very close to 400 hours of shadowing experience, which is basically the minimum that I need to convince the admissions committees that I do know what veterinary medicine is all about and that I will be a successful veterinary student because of my knowledge of the profession. I won't get to shadow next week because Dr. J is on vacation with her family, but it's okay because I think I'll be pretty set for hours, plus my roommate Sarah from last year is coming to visit me! It's just for a few days, but I think that will be enough time to show her around and hang out a little before we go back to school.

In other news, I just found out that I have been awarded the DW Carlson Memorial Scholarship from Augustana College for the 2012-2013 academic year. The scholarship is for junior or senior students who are in pre-professional studies (which I am--pre-vet, obviously!) and who are out-of-staters (also me!). It does require me to maintain a 3.0 GPA, but I think at this stage in the game, I can probably manage that...

Summer 2012--The Colorado Files (June 21st through June 25th)

Well, I have finally returned from what I can only describe as a wedding festival in Boulderado (Boulder, Colorado; that's what the natives call it, anyway). It was a pretty jam-packed long weekend, but I had a lot of fun meeting new people, doing new things, and generally participating in a lot of craziness. Mom and Dad are just about ready to move to Colorado after this mini-vacation, but I'm holding back a bit. I mean, I absolutely loved being so close to mountains and going for little hikes and things, but the air there is so terribly dry. I drank more fluids in that four-day period than I usually drink in a week. Oy vey. Anyway, I will now outline the various things we did so you can get an idea of the tone of the trip and see what I've been up to since my last post. And, of course, I took plenty of pictures! I know how you all like those so much.

The place we stayed was a nice house at the foot of the Flatiron Mountains. The owner lives in the house, in the master bedroom on the second floor, and she is sometimes there when her guests are. We saw her on her way out the door when we first arrived. She was off to a mini-vacation of her own, and she did not return until after we had left on Monday. I felt a little better not having her there just because it might have been a little awkward. Mom, Dad, and I stayed in the basement, which sounds bad but was actually really nice because it's finished with two bedrooms, a bathroom, a small living room/TV room, and a little kitchen. I absolutely loved the bedroom that I stayed in, nicknamed the Ivy Room because of the ivy growing outside the east-facing window. The only downside was the sharp corners poking out from the bed frame. The room was sort of small, so I bruised my thighs almost every time I walked past the bed to the dresser. The bed itself was really comfortable, and I really slept great in it.

Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream.

Thursday was a pretty early morning for us. We got up at 5 AM for an 8 AM flight. I never sleep on planes, so I was pretty much up for the day by the time we got to the airport. However, I felt surprisingly alert. Everything moved along pretty swiftly, and I was through security and munching on a veggie breakfast sandwich washed down with a chai latte from Caribou Coffee in no time flat. After a bit, we boarded the plane. Having flown eight hours to London, two was nothing. I couldn't believe how quickly we landed in Denver. Picking up our rental car also went pretty smoothly. We were upgraded to a midsized Nissan Altima with push-button start by our friendly Enterprise agent for no extra cost (Dad cajoled him into it). The drive from Denver to Boulder was pretty spectacular. The high rolling plains slowly gave way to the Flatiron Mountains as we approached our destination. We pulled up to the house around 11 AM Mountain Time (one hour behind Central). We exchanged greetings with Nanno and Kathy, unpacked our things, had a quick lunch, put Dad down for a nap, and headed off to the grocery store to buy ingredients for dinner. The local grocery store is called King Soopers, which I think must be close to Piggly Wiggly on the dumb-name scale. It has good stuff though, including a nice olive bar and a lovely bread case from which the most delicious aromas waft when the door is opened. We chatted as we walked through the store, paying for our things before we headed to a nearby wine store to pick up some libations for dinner. The cashier asked Mom and I both for our IDs when she went to pay for the wine, and I made a move to draw my driver's license out of my wallet when I saw that its normal slot was blank. I thought Oh, no! Where is it? Then I remembered how I had tucked it safely in a pocket of my rain jacket after we had passed the security checkpoint, and the jacket was hanging back at the house. We apologized profusely to the cashier and explained that we had just flown in from Minneapolis and that I had forgotten my ID at the house. He kindly let us off. I had to admire the laid-back Colorado attitude at this point. As we were heading to the car, we realized that we had completely forgotten to buy linguine for our dinner. Mom laughed with chagrin and headed back to the grocery store to finish our shopping.

Back at the house, I spent some time conversing with Nanno and Kathy while admiring the house. The kitchen and dining room on the first floor were particularly nice, and I looked forward to enjoying some meals there. We ended up actually eating out a lot, so I didn't get much time to enjoy it, but it was still nice.

The dining room of the house. The table is adorned with sunflowers that we placed in jars on the tables at the wedding reception.

After Dad got up from his nap, the three of us (Mom, Dad, and I) went to downtown Boulder to do some exploring. Boulder is home to a bit of an artsy street called Pearl Street, which is replete with numerous shops and restaurants and an eclectic mix of families, musicians, artists, shopkeepers, and the like. We poked around some random shops before Dad had to stop and have a couple of microbrews at the Lazy Dog bar. I had an Arnie Palmer, one of my favorite summertime pick-me-ups. We shared a batch of seasoned french fries. After that little pit stop, we walked a bit more just to say we had seen the whole thing. We welcomed the exercise after the various plane, bus, train, and car rides we had experienced during the course of the day (the train got us around the airport, and the bus took us to Enterprise). The mountain air, though dry, felt very refreshing, so I was glad for that, too. Because of the dryness, even heat feels bearable.

A view of the Flatirons from the house.

An elk statue on Pearl Street.

A Pearl-Street snail intended for people to climb/sit on.

Back at the house, we made dinner and ate then headed out to the deck for some nice post-meal conversation. It was really nice to relax before the craziness began on Friday. I enjoyed watching the onset of dusk and seeing the various crepuscular animals--like dragonflies and hummingbirds--appear. However, I was very glad when it became cool, and we were forced to head inside. By this point, I was pretty exhausted and ready to sleep, knowing what a big day was ahead of me.

The next morning, Dad and I went for our first hike up the foothills. There is a very distinctive outcropping of rock near the house called the Devil's Thumb, and I got lots of pictures of it as we climbed and saw it from slightly different angles and distances. Dad and I found a low nob of a hill to climb a little ways up the path, so we veered off and started up the sharp incline to the top. It was slow and hard work getting there, but the view of Boulder and the surrounding area was totally worth it. Since I could not really run at the high elevation (nor did I have time), I was glad to get some early-morning exercise in nature. We saw some really interesting birds, including a type of jay that is black and blue all over instead of blue and white.

Dad and I getting ready to head off on our morning hike.

A view of Boulder from "the Nob."

Another view of Boulder from the Nob plus a view of a nearby hill.

The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), which is open to visitors, as seen from the Nob.

A Nob view of the Flatirons.

Another Nob view.

And another. This time with the infamous Devil's Thumb visible in the upper center of the picture.

It's a bit hard to see, but this is one of those interesting black-and-blue jays, which I later found out is called a Steller's Jay.

After our hike, I fueled up with granola and almond milk before guests started arriving at the house for a ladies-only brunch. We ate a lovely Greek meal of pitas, hummus, salad with feta and kalamata olives, Greek chicken, and biscotti with lemon sorbet for dessert. Okay, you're right. Biscotti are Italian, but it was pretty darn delicious anyway. After the meal, we played a couple of wedding games, including a Greek-Italian trivia game with questions written by the men before we shut them downstairs. The other game was a marriage-quotation game where each saying was split in half (A and B), so we had to find the other person with our number by the other letter. For instance, mine was 7B, so I had to find 7A. It was a good way to meet new people. We then read all of them aloud to each other, for Danielle's benefit.

After the brunch, there was only about 90 minutes before I had to get dressed for the rehearsal and dinner. The church was a cozy little Greek Orthodox establishment with a dome on the top. Apparently, the dome needs some repair, but it would cost the church money it does not currently possess. I brought along a book because I figured I would be pretty uninvolved in the process. I was so wrong. First, I ran out to Danielle's car to get wedding decorations, then I stood in for her while Nanno walked me down the aisle to "give" me away to Uncle Nick (who I love, by the way). Danielle took over after that, for which I was grateful. It seems it's bad luck to practice the whole "giving away" thing with your actual father. It was pretty embarrassing, but soon enough, I was allowed to return to my seat next to Mom, Dad, and Aunt Elizabeth.

The front of Sts. Peter and Paul Greek Orthodox Church.

With the rehearsal over, it was time to go to dinner at the Blue Parrot, one of Louisville's oldest restaurants. The food wasn't that great; it was Italian, but the spaghetti noodles were huge and largely tasteless. The sauce was pretty good, and so was dessert, but on the whole, I was really unimpressed. I was again fairly exhausted by this time, so it was hard having to make yet more introductions and to keep up conversation, but I suppose it was better to meet everyone before the wedding so that the wedding itself was less taxing. At the dinner, I finally got to meet Uncle Pete, Elizabeth's husband. He, like Uncle Nick, is a really great and warm guy. I met Nick's Greek relatives, too, including his charismatic sisters Stephanie and Tippy (short for Santipi) and his wonderful mother Vicky (who makes mean biscotti and baklava). It was funny because I re-met a lot of people who all remember the baby version of me, but nothing between then and now. Of course, I did not remember any of them, but that's the fun part of these gatherings, I suppose. You become better acquainted with family and acquire some new relatives. Most importantly, Danielle and Nick are so cute together, and I was glad to be able to see my aunts again after so much time. After the dinner, Danielle invited just me, Mom, and Dad to her condo so we could see it and meet her cats Dylan and Frisco. They have the same coloring (greyish brown and white), but Dylan has short hair and Frisco has long hair. Frisco is more affectionate, but Dylan came up to see me, too. You can tell I was missing Emmie from all the animal stories I am telling you.

On Saturday, Dad and I took Mom out on a hike an hour earlier than Friday. We went a bit farther on the main trail than we had the previous day, but we did not hike at so steep of an incline. Basically, we skipped the Nob because we didn't want to tax Mom too much. I was surprised that I got more tired on the second day. I thought it would be a bit easier, but I think I was really tired from the rehearsal dinner and from the physical exertion of Friday morning. After the hike, I got to see Aunt Gina again and meet her husband Richard, another great guy. So basically, all of my new uncles are fantastic. They had gotten in late on Friday night because their plane was delayed, so I felt sorta bad for them. After a good breakfast, I was able to watch the season finale of The Legend of Korra. I badly needed the alone time after all the meeting I did on Friday. When the show was over, Mom did my hair for the wedding. It turned out really great, with some twisted pieces near the top. She curled (yes, curled!) the rest of the hair, so it looked very 1940s.

A view of a ridge from the path.

Some lovely blue mountain flowers.

Our tree-shaded path through the mountain forest.

 I did some reading, resting, and writing for a bit before Mom and I got dressed and headed to the hotel to see Danielle and everyone else as they got ready. Mom touched up my hair at the hotel while we ate leftovers from the brunch. After a short time there, we all piled into cars and headed to the church. I had a really good seat in the first row, right near the aisle in my own black folding chair. Why? Well, I held Danielle's bouquet throughout the long, ritualistic Greek Orthodox wedding service. It was very impersonal because there is just a script that the priests read while inserting the couple's names at various points. The most exciting part was when the priests stopped looking at the script and said something heartfelt and not written down on a page. There are no vows in a Greek Orthodox wedding because the man's and woman's very presence conveys their commitment to the marriage and each other. Finally, after what seemed like a long time, Danielle and Nick got to have their first kiss as a married couple. It was beautiful. At the reception, I was separated from Mom and Dad; they sat at Table 1 with Nanno, Kathy, and some older adults, while I was placed at Table 3 with younger people. I was a tad upset at first; then, I realized how much more interesting it was to be with people close to my own age. And these people were all basically my cousins by marriage, plus my aunts and uncles. In the end, I was glad that I could spend some time with these relatives. I really had a good time with them. The reception was outside the church with a beautiful backdrop of mountains, but the temperature climbed to 100, remaining there even at 5 or 6 PM. I made sure to drink lots of water as I ate my reception meal of pea gnocchi, potato salad with mushrooms, spinach salad with strawberries and feta, tomato couscous, and an assortment of desserts that Vicky made herself (including that delicious baklava I mentioned before).

The view of the mountains from the reception tent.

I know my place(card).

The simply-decorated bags that held the traditional Jordan almonds.

Remember the sunflowers? Here they are again as a table decoration!

When dinner was over, the music began. I loved watching the newlyweds dance their first dance together, as Nick sang the song to Danielle. I got to dance with Mom and Dad, just silly party dancing like jumping around and stomping our feet. Later, Nick started a train with us for the song "We Are Family." I even got to participate in the throwing of the bouquet, set to Beyonce's "Single Ladies." I did not catch it, but it's okay because marriage is very far from being in the picture for me. It did go to another Hannah, though, who has a steady boyfriend and says she might get married in the next few years. I really hope it is her. The funny thing about Nick and Danielle's wedding is that it was almost fated. Nick's family has a tradition at Epiphany called a Coin Cake. Vicky bakes a couple of cakes and puts a coin in one of them. Whoever gets the coin will be the next married. In December of 2010,  Nick took Danielle to the Epiphany party, and he wound up with the coin. Now, Nick had never before gotten the coin in his entire life, and the last four relatives to get the coin had all been married or engaged within the year. Well, 11 months later, they were engaged! I just thought it was a great, cute story. I guess that coin really is lucky! All in all, I am glad to have a new uncle and so many new Greek relatives. Let me tell you, they really know how to party. Nick danced with some of his male relatives in a traditional Greek war dance. It was really cool to watch. And since I'm pretty silly, I even picked up some ideas for my own very-far-off wedding (we're talking years and years, probably, since I need to find the guy first). I think I would do away with the brunches, lunches, and other festivities and keep everything simple with just a rehearsal dinner. I want a simple ceremony and a small guest list, no more than 200 people. I liked how Danielle had no bridesmaids or groomsmen and simply had her siblings and Nick's siblings walk down the aisle with their spouses. The couples would light a candle at the front before taking a seat in the family section at the front. I might also limit alcohol intake because a couple of people got a little out of hand. But that's my own opinion. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a long night, and I did not get to bed until close to 12:30 AM Mountain time (so it felt like 1:30 AM Central time). I realize that there are relatively few exciting wedding pictures, and that's because I wanted to enjoy the event in real time without hiding behind my camera. Mom took some good ones though, so hopefully I will be able to show them to you when she gets them uploaded. Stay tuned!

The next morning, I felt absolutely horrible. I even slept in until 7:30 AM Mountain time, but I was the most tired I have ever been in my entire life. I think it was all the physical activity (hiking, dancing) combined with the heat. Even though I was hydrating as much as I could, I probably did not get enough to drink. I would have liked to stay in all day, but Mom made breakfast plans with her counterpart at Itasca Denver, Liz. We met Liz and her family at the Buff Restaurant, named one of the top breakfast spots in Boulder. Mom and I split a Valley of the Sun omelet, complete with sun-dried tomatoes, cream cheese (sounds weird, but it's fantastic), spinach, and mushrooms and served with a side of spiced hollandaise sauce, tomatoes, and fresh fruit. I washed all that down with a sweet chai latte. With just a couple of hours before the wedding luncheon, Mom, Dad, and I did not think it was worth it to go back to the house. Instead, we went to World Market, which left Minnesota a few years ago. I was very sad. I really love the store and all of its cool products. I was about to buy a set of three rings for $7.50 but decided against it because I need to save my money. Now I kind of regret it, and I can't find the rings online anywhere. Oh, well. I'm sure I will be glad I did not get them later. After that, we visited a couple of stores to find a University of Colorado Buffaloes hat for Dad. We searched for awhile before finally locating one at a Sports Authority. We then headed to Le Peep restaurant after stopping at a whole-foods market to sniff around and see what we could find (which turned out to be organic seven-grain granola, which was delicious with raspberry yogurt). At Le Peep, we gave Danielle and Nick their wedding gift, a couple of mugs with packets of hot chocolate for a cozy night in. For lunch, I ate a nice, light apple-walnut salad with blue cheese and their House Apple Vinaigrette; the salad was fantastically satisfying after the relatively food-rich day I had on Saturday. We did not stay long at the restaurant because we wanted to get to the nearby Celestial Seasonings tea factory to catch a tour before they closed for the day. We said goodbye to the newlyweds before heading off with Aunt Gina in tow.

We made it to the factory just in time for a 2:45 "Camomile" tour (our tickets were sampler packets of Camomile tea, hence the name). It was so interesting to learn the history of the company as well as taste a wide variety of teas, some of which are not easily found in stores (like the spectacular Cranberry Apple Zinger). I was delighted to walk through the gift store and purchase some gifts for the writers of my letters of recommendation. Even though I did not do anything vet-related on the trip, I did talk a lot about my application process and my hopeful future at one of my chosen five vet schools. Our tour guide was so great. I never got his name, but he was super funny and enthusiastic, the perfect person to lead us through the factory on a quiet Sunday afternoon. We saw all of the cool facilities for washing and cutting the ingredients (known as "milling"), mixing them into tea blends, and packaging the blends into bags and then boxes and crates for shipment around the country and around the world. We had to wear hairnets throughout the tour, and Mom thought it was so funny that she made us take a picture with them on.  Not that it's anything out of the ordinary for me. I don one at least once per week when I shadow Dr. Jill.

Yeah, we all look like mushrooms. Also, we are standing in order of increasing darkness/thickness of eyebrows. Just an observation.

After the tour, we had to get right back to the house so that Aunt Gina could finish packing. She and Richard left at about 5 PM. Afterwards, we went to the Southern Sun for dinner with most of Kathy's family. Our server, whose name was Nick, was really friendly and enjoyable. I had a basil blue cheeseburger and delicious fries. I was really worn out again, but I kept up my cheer and sociability as much as I could. I said goodbye to the people with whom I had spent the last few days. It was sort of bittersweet because I enjoyed spending time with them, but I was really looking forward to being home.

I was happy to get into bed that night, knowing that the next day would bring me home again to my own bed and my own nice pace of life. Our flight went quickly and smoothly again, and I was soon back at the homestead, looking forward to another busy week of shadowing and work. I will shadow again tomorrow, so I hope to blog about it on Thursday, my next free day. I'm concerned about how little I am working, but I will get some money from pet-sitting for the Hergenraders, so that might make up for it a little bit. In a touch of sad news, I will not be able to go back to the Piper Clinic at the University of Minnesota for a third shadowing opportunity. I went twice last summer, with the hope that I would have one more chance to go before I submitted my application, but now they do not allow shadowing at all, so I will have to do without it.

Whew! Well, this was quite the long blog post. I hope you have hung in there and read it all the way through. I completely understand if you had to break it up a bit. It's just that so much happened in so little time. I feel like I packed a week's worth of activities into half that time. Which is probably true. Anyway, thanks as always for reading, and I hope you look forward to the next post, as it will be back to vet stuff again. I know I am. Yay!

Summer 2012--St. Francis Veterinary Clinic Visit #5: The Strangest Day

I'll admit it: I copped the title from an episode of one of my favorite anime series. But it fit today well. I only saw one surgery this morning with Dr. Jill as the surgeon, a dog spay. It was very routine and uneventful. I did get to practice drawing blood and got to give an intramuscular Buprenex injection (Buprenex, or "Bupe" for short, is a narcotic used to ease pain), so that was fun, but other than that, not much happened. I got to take home a clean syringe to practice drawing fluids with one hand and also injecting fluids with one hand (since I tend to favor the two-hand approach and need to build up my hand muscles in order to be a good vet). The rest of the day was a mishmash of different appointments and tasks to complete. Dr. Jill was sort of off-duty as a veterinarian after the surgery, but she helped Dr. Nicole with appointments and other things as needed, which I thought was admirable of her. The hot, humid weather here had me feeling off my game, so I felt kind of off my game. I felt bad because I am there to participate and get as much out of the experience as I can, but I was pretty slack today. I'm hoping that next time will be better. I did get to help with such things as restraining animals and even worked together with a vet tech intern to clean up a little rescue dog. It was an interesting pair--a future tech and a future vet; I thought that was significant. Dr. Jill made me feel so good when she introduced me to one of the techs (whom I had not met before) as a "strong candidate" for vet school. Sure, I have lots of people who believe in me, and I am extremely grateful to them for their support and confidence, but it means a whole heap when it comes from a veterinarian herself. She has the best knowledge of who will be good in the profession, and I have never heard a vet say that about me until today. It's probably the best compliment I have ever received.

Today was pretty fun, too, because I got to spend more quality time with the clinic cats. Odie contented himself with "solar-charging" in a sunny spot in the reception area. One of the techs got him his kitty bed so he could enjoy the light to its fullest capacity. It was pretty funny to think about a cat running on Sun power. I couldn't resist photographing him sleeping in heavenly bliss.

Your cat has no battery power remaining. Goodnight.

Bailey was very affectionate again today. She was very attached to me and kept rubbing her face on my face and under my chin and on my arms. It would have bordered on obnoxious if it weren't so cute. She playfully nipped at me as I scratched her belly. This is the best shot I could get of Hernia Kitty. She either ignored the camera or paid so much attention to me that she wouldn't sit still long enough for me to get a good picture of her. Finally, I had to distract her with a toy.

Don't worry, Bailey Bird. You're not fat. The camera just adds 10 pounds, so they say. (I think she looks like a Magnus...or maybe a Maggie, since she's a girl, but that's just my weird self.)

That was pretty much my day. It was about half as long as a normal day for me, and being there on Monday was a different experience (I've done Monday shadowing at St. Francis before but not in awhile). I'll be glad to be back on my Wednesday schedule, though; I feel like it has more structure, and I'm usually more prepared and ready for a longer day. Today, I didn't know what to expect or how long  I'd be there, and I think that kind of messed with me a little bit. But, like I have said, I still got some good stuff out of it, and I'm glad that I could shadow for the time that I did, since I won't be able to on Wednesday of this week.

Summer 2012--Animal Emergency and Referral Center of Minnesota and St. Francis Veterinary Clinic Visit #4: Uff-Dah!

The "Uff-Dah!" in the title is meant to express breathlessness at the title itself as well as at this past week as a whole. Things have gotten pretty hectic with work, shadowing, and filling out the VMCAS. Happily, however, I have made great progress on the VMCAS. I finished filling out my extracurricular activities, my awards and honors, and my veterinary experiences. I have also finished filling out my animal experience for the Illinois Supplemental Application. All that remains is to have my personal statement read by more people so I can make it the best it can be, to write three essays (two for the Iowa Supplemental Application and one for the Illinois Supplemental Application), have my letters of recommendation written, and wait for my GRE report to come in so I can photocopy it and package it with all of the other materials for the Kansas Supplemental Application. Well, I also need to send checks with the supplemental applications and pay online for the VMCAS, Iowa Supplemental Application, Illinois Supplemental Application, and University of Minnesota application processing fee. But that about sums up the work I have left. And it's not even July! All in all, I would say that I am very satisfied with the progress I am making. I did not expect to be this far along so soon. It really does pay to be proactive and on top of things. Future pre-vet students, take note! People do not exaggerate when they say how time-consuming and tedious the whole process is. I'm just praying daily that I do not forget anything. That's what an early deadline goal is for (I'm aiming for late July at best, early August at worst). That will give me some time to send in anything else that I forgot and still make the October 2nd actual deadline. But enough about that. You want to hear about my two shadowing experiences this week.

As far as the Animal Emergency and Referral Center of Minnesota (AERCMN) in Oakdale goes, I cannot give you too much specific information because of client/patient/doctor confidentiality, but I can give you a general overview of how everything went and what I thought of the experience. I was surprised to learn that not everything is hectic all of the time in emergency medicine. There are slow times as well as busy times, just like with any other clinic. Of course, a lot of the cases are much more severe, and probably a higher percentage end badly than in regular medicine. I really admire everyone who can work in this setting. I'm not sure it's for me. But everyone was very pleasant and made me feel welcome and involved despite the fact that I was not allowed to touch any of the animals or assist in any of the procedures. I got to watch two ultrasounds on two different cats, which were really cool. I don't get to see ultrasounds that often at St. Francis. I also learned about a technique for treating hyperthyroidism in cats called I-131. I-131 is a radioactive isotope of the element iodine, and when it is administered to hyperthyroid cats, it kills the tumor cells that are pressing on the thyroid gland and causing the hyperthyroidism. The clinic has a special treatment room for the I-131 cats to stay while they receive their treatment. It's interesting and really cool because the treatment has a cure rate of almost 95%. Hyperthyroidism seems like a very serious condition, so it is neat that such a straightforward treatment exists that is so highly effective. After a cat has been treated with I-131, owners can only play with the cats for thirty-minute periods twice per day for a few days (you know, since the cats are very slightly radioactive). But other than that, the cats don't seem to suffer any ill effects. Way cool. One of the best parts of the day was seeing a fawn come in to the clinic. It had some facial muscle paralysis and was a bit dehydrated, but the whole situation was cool because it was my first clinical experience with wildlife. And it rocked. I learned other cool things like how the heart still puts out electrical impulses that a machine can pick up even after it has stopped beating. Machines will record a false heartbeat even though an animal is not actually still alive. It also seems like emergency vets have a lot more computer time than actual animal handling time. This is somewhat true for regular vets but seems even more true for critical care vets. All in all, it was a wonderful experience that gave me a pretty good idea of what emergency medicine is all about. Even though I will probably not make this field of veterinary medicine my career, I enjoyed having the opportunity to learn about it and to see why it is not really suited to me. I just like seeing vets in many different settings and seeing how they have an impact in many different ways. It is comforting to me to know there are so many dedicated people out there looking out for animal health in critical situations.

Wednesday was back to good old St. Franny for more fun with dogs and cats. I got to watch four surgeries to start off with. The first was a very interesting cystotomy (bladder stone removal). I was responsible for taking pictures for the clinic to put up on its Facebook page. There were some really cool stones in there, so I think I got some good shots. After that was a fairly straightforward feline spay followed by the longest dental of my life. The dog in question was under for more than two hours! It was a very tedious cleaning, especially since 16 of its teeth had to be removed. The last surgery was thankfully quite brief, just a simple feline declaw. I just think it's so slick how easily the claws are removed from the paws, like cutting through butter with a hot knife. I'm sorry if that's a little weird, but that's how I think about it. As usual, I participated quite a bit. Nothing as big as the last couple of weeks, but I was still able to do some anesthesia monitoring, restraint, light cleaning, acting as a gofer, and taking temperatures. Patti had me put together some "kitten packs," folders full of information for new kitten owners. I have done them before, but I never mind doing them because it is a small thing I can do to help the clinic operate as it should and to get the kitten owners the things they need to give their little ones the best care possible. Finally, toward the end of the day, I was put in charge of changing the litter and water for the four kittens up for adoption who are staying at the clinic and of getting them more food for the night. One of the kittens must have been hungry because as soon as I filled the food dish, he/she lunged right for it. I had to fight Tulip, another one of the clinic cats (I'm starting to feel bad for Odie--he used to be the only one), to keep her from getting into the kitten cage and bothering the little cuties. So, I just did my thing on Wednesday. Nothing out of the ordinary. But a good experience nonetheless, especially since it has been so long since I have had to take care of a cat.

Next week I will only be shadowing once, and on Monday instead of on Wednesday. Dr. J has a prior engagement that precludes her working on Wednesday. I have Monday off, so I am going with her that day. It all works out great for me, though, because I will need Wednesday to pack for a wedding in Colorado. I might have to blog about that if things get interesting or I get some good pictures of the beautiful mountains. You know what I sucker I am for natural vistas and things. Until then!

Summer 2012--St. Francis Veterinary Clinic Visit #3: "Whoever said you can't buy happiness forgot about puppies."

That lovely quotation is from Gene Hill, and it really fits the mood of my latest visit to St. Francis. As I write this, I am taking a break from filling out the VMCAS application for my chosen vet schools (Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, and Mississippi). The last two may seem a little odd, but Augie students have been accepted there in the past, so I have faith that the admissions committees will see that I am from a good school, a school from which they have accepted students before, and consequently look better on me. But we'll see what happens. Anyway, you should know that the VMCAS (Veterinary Medical College Application Service) application is quite extensive and labor-intensive. Not only must I fill out personal information, but I must list each college course I have taken, its designation, what prerequisite it covers (if any), how many credits I earned for it, the grade that I got, and more. On top of that, I must list all of my veterinary and animal experiences, my volunteer activities, and my awards and honors. It is basically a full-time job filling the thing out. And when I am finished with the VMCAS, four of the schools to which I am applying require a supplemental application, which asks more in-depth questions than the VMCAS. Some of the supplemental applications have additional essays, but the two that I need to send by mail look pretty tame, so I'm not overly worried; it's just a heckuva lot to process. Luckily, I am taking this very free day (no work or shadowing) to get as much done on it as I can. I have filled out information for about half of my classes so far. I have also sent e-mails with links to my three evaluators and requested transcripts from Augustana and the University of Minnesota (I took a College-in-the-Schools Spanish course through the U of M during my senior year, so I need to get a transcript for those five credits I earned). So, I have accomplished quite a bit in just two days. But even students with strong work ethics like mine must take a break. I'd been working on the application for about an hour-and-a-half before I ate some lunch and decided to blog about Wednesday while I still felt up to it.

Anyway, on to shadowing. The morning was pretty low-key. I saw some pretty standard surgeries: a canine dental and a feline spay. The third surgery was a little more interesting. It was a wound repair on a Border Collie. I believe he had been running in the yard and split his left hind leg open.  The laceration left an awkward triangle of skin and muscle hanging open like a flap. Dr. K did a very good job of trimming the dirty, necrotic (dead) tissue from the edge of the cut and still leaving enough skin to close the wound. It was a pretty tight job, but it looked beautiful when it was done.

I did a lot of cleaning on Wednesday, too. I had to clean up poop twice (so fun...) and vomit three times (even better!). The vomit was from the wound-repair dog, who escaped from his kennel while I was trying to clean it. I half dragged him back and had to clean the blood from his leg off the floor. I nearly slammed the kennel door in his face because he tried to escape again, and he seemed really scared. I felt bad, but he was not being very good, either. Oh, and I'm sorry if this disgusts you, but I want to give you an accurate picture of what I do. Veterinary medicine is not all fun and games. It's low down and dirty a lot of the time.

However, it was all worth it for an afternoon appointment with a mother Collie and her nine pups! They were the absolute epitome of adorable, and I had to restrain myself from giggling out loud because they were just so stinking cute! The pups were part of a "Royal Collie" breeding program, so they all had very regal names like "Lady Ann" and "Prince Honey." My favorites were three puppies with a lot of black on them. They were basically tricolor because they had a little bit of tan near their noses and feet, so the effect was quite striking. Two of the black ones were going to the same family, a family with two little boys whose personalities each matched that of one of the puppies. How cute! It is my understanding that all of the puppies were either spoken for or were to be kept by the breeder. Lady Ann was off to Alaska, where her future family eagerly awaits her. Another one of the puppies was headed to Kentucky. I loved getting licked by all of the puppies. It was even cute when they sniffed my shoes and tugged on the legs of my scrub pants.

I also got to participate a lot again today. I did some restraint and got to draw up a canine rabies vaccine (I did not administer it because that requires a licensed DVM). I also gave more subcutaneous fluids today, this time just one liter to a Pit Bull. She was very patient with me and sat quietly with her dad while I administered the fluids. I think everything went a lot more smoothly this time. I didn't have any major problems, and no one really needed to help me, which was so cool. I got that great feeling again from knowing that I played a big part in helping an animal feel better.

This upcoming week is another double-shadow week. On Monday, I will get to shadow at an emergency clinic in Oakdale, and Wednesday is back to St. Francis, of course. For the Monday shadow, I have to fill out some forms when I get there, and I won't be allowed to touch anything (for obvious reasons). But I am excited to see what the lifestyle of an emergency vet is all about. I used to watch that show Emergency Vets on Animal Planet, but this will be even better because it will be real life! No word yet on what I will do and see at St. Francis this coming week, but I'm sure it will be great. For now, I must keep chugging along on the VMCAS application. My goal for today is to finish entering all of my classes and maybe start on something else (like one of the four supplemental applications) if I am not too worn out from filling out my coursework. I shall prevail!

Summer 2012--VCA Cedar Animal Hospital Visit #1: Bird Brains

The clever title of this post refers to the fact that I saw quite a few birds yesterday when I was shadowing Dr. B at the VCA clinic. First, it was a cockatoo, then a cockatiel whose name escapes me at the moment. Later came two male parrots. Some parrot species are also called eclectuses, sexually dimorphic species of birds in which the male and female look physically different. Males are typically green with orange-and-yellow beaks (like candy corn) while females are typically red and purple or red and blue with black beaks. I learned a lot about how to properly handle birds. For instance, they are often wrapped in a towel that matches their feather color closely because it helps them feel less stressed out. Birds also have complete rings of cartilage around their trachea, so it is permissible to hold them at their necks when restraining them. It is very hard to suffocate them. Humans and other mammal species have C-shaped rings of cartilage, open at the back of the trachea. This gap in the cartilage allows the esophagus to expand and press against the trachea so that we can swallow effectively and pain-free. I also learned the signs of stress in birds: heavy breathing, closed eyes, and a decreased ability to grip things with the talons. Birds are much different from mammals because they are exothermic or "cold-blooded," meaning that their environment must be kept at a temperature close to their ideal body temperature. Being wrapped in a towel puts them at risk for overheating because they do not have mechanisms for keeping a stable body temperature on their own. As such, I noticed that when restraining the birds, the doctors and techs kept a firm grip on the birds' necks but kept the towel open at the front to regulate the temperature. Finally, I saw a green macaw. She was very pretty but didn't seem too keen on any of us. I really enjoyed getting to see all of these different bird species on the same day.

I also saw a rabbit yesterday. She was in because she had recently begun to put up a fight when she was given her antibiotics. Her normal behavior was to lie quietly while being given her medicine, but her owners had to start restraining her pretty strongly in order to administer the medicine. Her mom and dad were not happy about this because they saw how upset she was. We took her back into the treatment area with us and gave her some subcutaneous fluids--about 150 mL. It looked really funny on the rabbit because she was so small. The bulge from the fluid draped over her side and made her look almost grotesque. I learned that subcutaneous fluids treat not only dehydration but also high fevers, such as the rabbit had. Since the fluid is at room temperature and the body at a much higher temperature (sometimes as much as 30-33 degrees higher), introducing fluid below the skin can help dissipate some of the heat and return the body to a more normal level.

I was a bit more of an active participant yesterday than I have been at VCA in the past. I acted as a sort of gofer and retrieved various items as needed by the doctors or techs. At one point, Dr. B drew some blood from a parrot's leg, and he pulled away from her so quickly that the hole left by the needle started bleeding. Dr. B let me apply hydrogen peroxide on a cotton ball to the site and clean it up a little bit.

I was also introduced to a new breed of dog of which I had never heard before. It's called a Cane Corso, which is from Italy (yay). Cane Corsos (Cani Corsi?) are very large, about the size of Great Danes but with more bulk to their frames. As you can imagine, they are quite intimidating and are known to have aggressive tendencies. This makes sense given their use as cattle herders and boar hunters. The Cane Corsos I met yesterday were black and mixed with Mastiff, so I'm guessing that's where they got their amiable natures (the Mastiff, not the coat color). They were also a brother-sister pair, which I thought was cute and touching (family is the greatest).

All in all, I had a very satisfying day of new experiences and lots of learning about different animal species. I see now that it's good to shadow at two different places each week because I get different views of veterinary medicine from each. St. Francis gets me hands-on learning, while VCA gets me more of the "book" learning about exotic species that I used to get at St. Francis when small-animal medicine was all new and unfamiliar to me.

Stay tuned for my post about tomorrow's St. Francis shadowing. I'm sure it will be active and exciting as always.