Three day weekend!

Hi there; Birdie here!

Sorry I didn't write last week. It wasn't even that I was busy, I just sort of got out of the habit of blog writing and didn't feel like it. Not to worry, though--here I am!

I've really enjoyed our PBL class. Last week's clinical lab, I did get to use my stethoscope! The hypothetical dog had a PDA, so the clinical lab was split into EKG, echocardiography, and auscultation. Unfortunately, since there were three stations and three groups at a time, we only had 15 minutes at each station. Which wasn't too bad for the echo and EKG where we were just watching/learning about it, but it wasn't enough time for us to really learn how to listen for the heart when we had to worry about leaving time for the next seven people in our group. We also had an anatomy lab last Friday, which I don't entirely understand the point of...it was mostly just a review of the heart, which we just had last semester. We did see how the valves lined up with the rib spaces where we auscultate, I guess, but I'm not sure that's worth the hours of lab time.

This week's case was a sheep, and the sheep clinical day was FUN! I tipped a sheep (with help), auscultated the heart and rumen, and drew blood from the jugular. It was my first ever attempt at a blood draw, and they said that if you can get a jug on a sheep (where it's a blind stick), you can do anything, so that made me really happy! Plus I was working on the same sheep as my friend, which made it better. For this case, though, there was a lot more time wasting while we waiting for results and the coordinator tried to drag it out all week. The thing is, the proper diagnosis (pregnancy toxemia w/ hypocalcemia) was the one thing we all already knew about sheep because we had a whole lecture on it in physio I. So we knew what it was by the first or second day, and they didn't seem to be expecting that. Yesterday we literally just hung out all day, not getting any results, which was rather annoying. But when we sent in our final plan of action, the last email we got was what would have been the "perfect ending" if this was a video game--both the sheep that was our patient and the twin lambs she was carrying survived! Other groups who did C-sections had one or both of the lambs die, so it really made us feel awesome that we had a 100% survival rate (even though one of the lambs' heartbeats wasn't found on ultrasound, which I'm still a little confused about. We thought that one was already dead).

Last weekend I went to the Dream Center clinic in New Orleans again. I brought my stethoscope, though I only wound up listening to one heart. We had a bunch of dogs where we had to clip their nails and they didn't care for it, but it was fun. I was with a classmate, and we took turns examining, giving vaccines/dewormer, etc., and holding for the other one to do all that. I think I was pretty good with the vaccines--I only had to restick once. There was way too much excitement at the end, though--when we went to take our picture at the end, the police officer who had the camera-phone went to back up, tripped over a pile of bricks behind him, and hit his head on the metal wall behind that! At first I thought he would just get up and be fine, but he had a concussion and his head wound was bleeding like a head wound, which is to say, a lot. Then my friend (the one who I worked on the sheep with, and who I had ridden to the clinic with) had come with her boyfriend as well, and he showed up when that happened, and literally passed out at the sight of the blood (I hadn't really thought that actually happened!). So then she freaked out and had to be brought away and go sit down. Both of them were fine afterwards, but I wound up driving them home. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon playing pokemon together, which was nice.

Like I said in the title, this is a three-day weekend. I'm going home, and hoping to see at least one movie between Saving Mr. Banks and August Osage County (which I had been going to see last weekend with my mom, but she got sick, so I went to see Catching Fire by myself instead). Our breaks are spaced much more nicely this semester. Instead of having two breaks within a couple weeks at the very end of the semester, we have two days off after the weekend for Mardi Gras (which I think I'll be spending skiing with my family) and a week for spring break the week that ends with Good Friday. The one negative about that is I think most spring breaks come after Easter, not before, so it might be hard to do, say, a road trip with my cousin like I wanted. But I think my sister might be out at the same time, so who knows.

I've got quite a lot on my plate this semester. First, officerships: I'm on the committee in charge of organizing fundraisers for Josh Project, I'm historian for Diagnostic Imaging Club, and I'm acting president for Pathology Club. I'm still working on how to get people to come to Path Club, since I wound up VP by being the only non-3rd year to show up to elections. So I have a bunch to plan for that meeting/this semester. I've also signed up to feed birds again, but day birds this time. I probably won't do it next year, but I wanted to get experience with all the birds. I'm also going to SAVMA Symposium in Colorado in March, and probably going to at least a bit of the LVMA conference (Lousiana vet association) and the diversity symposium around spring break, if I can manage it. And of course I'm going to the CDC veterinary day the week after next, and I'm not entirely sure what's going on with that. There's a Spay Day that weekend that I signed up for, but I'm not sure when we're leaving and so if I'll be able to make it.

Of course I have a ton to do for open house, too, which is rather upsetting because that weekend I was planning to go home and also go to New Orleans Comic Con, which happens to be that weekend and which Matt Smith will be at. I'm still going home on Friday--my whole family is really excited about the Lego Movie and we're all going to see it together the day it comes out. But I'll probably have to drive back here early Saturday. First years are in charge of a lot of open house, and it's mandatory for all of us to be there. Plus Path Club will have a booth, which I'll probably need to man, and my other clubs (which is a lot if you count the ones I'm not an officer in too) will probably want me to do stuff as well, so obviously I can't do it all.

I've nearly finished applying for all my summer stuff now. The NASA program confirmed they got my application, and the Banfield one confirmed that AND set up an interview (February 3rd). I'm still waiting on my last recommendation before I can send off the Tulane Primate Center one, though, and that's my first choice since it's close to my parents' house and has a lot more variety than the other two. I won't hear about that one or the NASA one until March, so I really hope Banfield is a bit like vet schools in that they'll do interviews and then talk amongst themselves and not send out decisions for a while. I'm not sure what I'd do if Banfield offered me a spot before I heard back from the other two--say yes, I guess, if I had to decide right then, but I'd rather hear back from all three before deciding.

Oh, one more random little thing: changing tires is a lot easier than I remember. When I was driving home the other day, my front right wheel went right into a big square pot hole, and when I took the turn I knew it had ruined my tire. Luckily my 3rd year roommate was driving by and stopped to help me. She took me to the tire place, but then we were told/I remembered that you need to have the rim and can't just buy a tire, so we went back and put the spare on together. We knew perfectly how to change a tire between the two of us, and it was a lot easier than I remembered from the last time I changed a tire on my old car. We took it into the shop and I had it back in a few hours, so it wasn't actually that bad, but it was quite stressful when it happened. I got insurance on that tire so if that happens again (which it might--that road is stupid, and if cars are coming the other way it's hard to avoid those pot holes) I won't have to pay quite as much for a new tire.