2 More Weeks!

Week 6 of this quarter has come and gone leaving us with just 2 weeks of this quarter left.  We only have 6 more days of class which is quite exciting.  Yesterday morning I had a 2 hour session going over VetStar, the program that the vet clinic at the U of I uses.  It's crazy to think that in five weeks I will be on my clinical rotation! 

Tomorrow evening there are three guys from Ohio who are planning on staying at my place on their way back from a work trip in Oklahoma.  They are hoping to go to Champaign church with me as they have never been there however with the way the weather is looking, who knows if services will be held. 

Only One More Surgery Day!

Today was our second to last day of surgery, next Tuesday will be our last one.  This week it was my turn to be anesthetist.  Our group had a cat who just so happened to be pregnant!  She was a challenge to draw blood from as she didn't particularly enjoy being restrained and poked.  However, we got everything done today and I was able to successfully knock her out, stick a tube down her throat, and get her on gas anesthesia.  Mike was the surgeon and he did a great job taking out the enlarged uterine horns.  However, after the surgery, the cat took a very long two hours to wake up enough for us to put her back in her cage.  Overall though, it was a success! 

Hard to believe that we are now at the point where there are only 9 days of class left, we're just counting them right down!

3 More Weeks of Class!

5 weeks down, 3 to go!  The weeks aren't slowing down, that's for sure but that's fine with me because every week that goes by means I'm that much closer to being done with class forever! I am in Champaign the next four weekends as we study not only for our two day final on 3/13 and 3/14 but also for our Milestone exam on 3/17 (covering material from the beginning of vet school until now) and then my OSCE (clinical exam) on 3/19. With all those exams coming up, we have to stay on top of our studying game early on or we will never catch up.

Weekend

This past weekend I was in Smithville, Ohio for invite-a-friend.  Evan from Bloomington church went with me.  We left right in the middle of a snowstorm and what was supposed to be a 6 hour trip took 9 hours.  Saturday I tried skating for the first time in 10-15 years.  I wasn't a great skater the last time I skated and the long period of no skating didn't do anything to help my skills.  It was a good humbling experience as 7 year old kids went whizzing by me like I was standing still.  Oh well, I was better by the time we left than when we started.  I stayed at the same house as 4 other guys from Connecticut so that was fun.  My brother was there but I barely saw him since he was staying with someone else. Sunday the trip back west took the normal 6 hours so that was nice.

We have started the final four week stretch of classes.  Four weeks from tomorrow will be my last day before spring break and then clinics!

Midterm Exam

I took my last midterm exam ever this morning.  It was 126 questions covering, heart, lung, bone, muscle diseases as well as animal behavior, toxins, and cancer.  I thought it was challenging but not the worst exam I've seen since I've been in vet school (over 2 1/2 years now!).  Now I am leaving in a couple hours to head to Smithville, OH for the weekend with my friend Evan from Bloomington.  Hoping to see my brother and a few cousins there as well! 

When I passed my mailbox at school today I saw that I had a manilla envelope in it.  In this envelop was a letter congratulating me for be received for a scholarship.  As I read through the letter I came to the back side of the letter which told me that the amount of the scholarship was $20,000.00.  I was super pumped, I can definitely use that money to help me decrease the outrageous cost of vet school!  This is just another way that God has told me, relax David, I am here helping you. 

Interview Day

Today was interview day for the Class of 2018.  I don't know how many vet student wanna-be's came to interview but there were quite a few there.  I talked with a number of them and gave a tour.  I love interacting with them.  I have to say, interacting with them makes me glad that I am where I am, three years removed from interview day with an end to classwork on the near horizon and my clinical rotations not too far away! 

This Friday is our midterm, so the next few days will be spent studying away.  But, it's our last midterm exam ever!

Week 3 Done!

3 weeks down, 5 to go!  Almost half way there!  This week ended on a not so fun note as I noticed something going on with my car.  I will not bore you with the details but it will end up being a 1400 dollar fix, not exactly what I needed right now (or ever for that matter) but there's not a whole lot I can do about that.  I know that all things happen for a reason and God will provide for me no matter what happens. 

Tonight I got to spend some quality time with my cousin Kasi and her cute little daughter Amy.  We went out to dinner and then I showed them the vet school then it was back to Tremont they go.  I really enjoyed our time together and I think they did too.  That little Amy just gets cuter and cuter every time I see her!  Here are a couple pics we took tonight:

Tomorrow I head off to Forrest for a wedding and then back to Champaign for the evening so we can study for our last midterm ever that is to take place on Friday.  I am beginning to get to the point in my academic career in which "lasts" are starting to become present!

2/5

Well, today was a very long day.  I arrived at school at 6AM to give my cat pain meds and do an exam.  Then it was off to class from 8-12 and 1-3.  Around 345 it was back to my cat to do a short physical exam.  When we (Cari, the assistant surgeon was helping me) entered the room it seemed that our cat wasn't quite as bright as normal.  Her temperature was a little high and her gums were just slightly pale.  We got the doctor who is in charge of junior surgery and she palpated the cats abdomen only to find something funny in it.  She decided that she wanted us to take our cat to ultrasound.  I was a little worried and hoping that it wasn't anything that I did during the surgery.  Around 5pm we took our cat down to ultrasound where they found an area of fat that was inflamed.  So, it was nothing serious luckily, we gave an antibiotic shot and will send the cat home with an extra dose of a pain/anti-inflammatory medication.  She seemed to be doing a little better later on which was good so hopefully she will be ready to head home tomorrow!  After that I had class from 6-7 or so, then met with my four classmates who are going to Africa with me in June and then studied with one of my friends from 730-9 or so.  So, 6AM to 9PM straight, a mere 15 hours spent at school today, what a day!

Now, here are a couple pictures of my surgery group that we had taken yesterday before going in and spaying the cat.  Our group is awesome, we work really well together and are very supportive of each other which is really awesome!

From left to right: Olga, Cari, Mike, and I.  

First Spay

Yesterday I performed my first spay; the removal of the uterus and ovaries from a female animal to prevent pregnancy.  My patient was a young female, very friendly cat.  The surgery went without a hitch.  I found it kind of cool that I was working amongst the guts and bladder as it was my first surgery that I actually had to cut into the abdomen for.  She is awake and currently high on pain medication but she is doing really well.  She is already adopted so when she goes back to the shelter she will have a home awaiting her!  This ends my surgeon role in junior surgery.  Our last two surgeries I will be anesthetist and floater and then that's the end of junior surgery.   

Week 2 Done!

Wow, it's already been a week since I last posted.  Nothing has changed since last time except I have another week under my belt!  This quarter is proving to be very busy due to the immense amount of lecture time I have.  But, it also means the week flies by.  This coming Tuesday I perform my first spay so that should be fun, here's to hoping it goes well! 

Tonight was supposed to be Parent Appreciation dinner and my grandparents were supposed to come from Tremont for it however it got cancelled due to weather.  So, I went, for the first time, to Vetscapades.  Vetscapades is an annual tradition at the vet school where students put together skits either on video or live and they are judged and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place are awarded.  It was hysterical, we have some very creative kids in the vet school and I'm not one of them!  At the end, they announced that there was one more raffle to be raffled off.  They read off the name "Wendy ......."  and then announced that there was a special presenter for the prize.  Here, her boyfriend James comes down to the front of the room behind her and takes the microphone.  They are both 2nd year vet students and have been dating since their first year of vet school.  He started talking about how they didn't know each other in undergrad even though they were both at the same school, how they came to vet school and fell in love and how happy he is with her.  He then proceeds to hand off the microphone, pulls a box out of his pocket, gets down on his knee, opens the box to expose the ring, and asks her to marry him.  Needless to say, there was a TON of clapping and screaming, and Wendy proceeded to lean down and just give him a huge hug.  I must say, at risk of tampering with my "manliness," that it was very touching and really cool to be able to see that.

I sat next to Brittany (or BMac as I call her) and she wanted to take a picture of me and her sitting there waiting for Vetscapades to start.  She emailed me the photo and I figured I would put it up here since I know everyone loves photos: