Purdue

Well, I am surviving being at Purdue!  This week has gone by pretty quickly.  The first day (Monday) I was slightly overwhelmed at school as I didn't know anybody, didn't know my way around, and the students I am with are all graduating in a couple weeks so are more advanced than I am.  However, as the week has gone on, I have gotten more and more comfortable.  The Dr's are awesome which is nice and the students have been pretty friendly to me too. 

Yesterday I got to see a balloon valvuloplasty.  I am sure most of you know exactly what I am talking about.  But, just in case, here's what happens.  Sometimes animals are born with a problem where there is a narrowing of the heart right where the blood is supposed to leave the heart and go to the lungs.  This makes it hard for the heart to push the blood into the lungs and can lead to heart problems.  So, a catheter with a balloon is put into the jugular vein (the big vein in the animal's neck) and passed through the vein and into the heart.  When it is put in the right place, the balloon is inflated, thus pushing open the narrow part.  It actually tears the tissue so that hopefully it will remain wide.  The balloon is then deflated and the catheter and balloon then pulled out of the animals vein.  It was really neat to watch.  They can see where they are going in the animal's heart using a machine that essentially takes a continuous x-ray so you can watch it live on the screen which is really cool.  Here is a picture showing what the balloon is doing:

http://www.fairview.org/healthlibrary/Article/89090

Today, I was supposed to have my first case.  However, my intestines decided to work real hard to push my food through faster than I would like them to so I ended up spending much of last night and some of this morning on the toilet.  So, it was hang out and sleep a lot today for me!  Tomorrow I should hopefully be back at it!