Weekend

Friday morning we spent two hours going over different diseases of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract.  Then in the afternoon we only had one cow on the necropsy floor which I ended up being in charge of.  So, I got out in good time and was able to drive to Bluffton, IN for the big invite they were having.  Now, I am in West Lafayette, IN at Purdue University ready to start my cardiology rotation tomorrow morning. 

Thursday 4/24

This morning we had an hour and a half lecture on rabbit diseases.  Then in the afternoon we only had a young beef cow and a dog so we were done early!  Only one more day on this rotation!

Wednesday 4/23

Well, today was another busy one.  We spent two hours this morning going over various cases that had come into the necropsy floor in the past and then had an hour talking about all the things that happen with diabetes, chronic kidney failure, and pneumonia in animals.  This afternoon was very busy on the necropsy floor. We had a total of 10 cases: a calf, three dogs, a cow fetus, a pig (my case), a degu (a kind of rodent), a hedgehog, and two snakes.  It was very busy but all the cases went well.  Just two more days on my diagnostic medicine rotation, hard to believe that almost four weeks have passed!

Here is a picture of our kickball team on Monday night (courtesy of one of my classmates):

Tuesday 4/22

Well, today was an interesting day.  It started off normally but a phone call from the "Embassy of the United Republic of Tanzania" started off the interesting part.  I had UPS'd my passport, along with a ton of paperwork and of course money, to them to attempt to get a VISA.  However, on the return envelope, I did not include postage.  So, I spent a decent part of my morning calling between FedEx and the embassy trying to get my passport back to me.  Needless to say it is not on its way back but hopefully by this Friday things will be sorted out and it can head back to Champaign. 

I visited my great uncle Earl this morning in the hospital as he had surgery to repair a broken hip.  Got to see the occupational therapist assistant at work.  While  I was there I got a phone call from one of the pathologists at school asking if I could come in early (along with the rest of my classmates) so we could get started on necropsies as there were quite a few to do.  Today we had a dog, a cat, a foal, a chicken, a ram (the ram was my case) and a 1900 pound camel.  The camel was really cool for the first little while however, to dispose of this beast we had to put it into 30 pound bags.  This meant cutting this huge camel up into 30 pound pieces, talk about a ton of work and a ton of time! When I got changed I had gotten blood through my coveralls, through my scrub pants, and onto my legs, I was a total mess. 

Monday 4/21

The weekend came and went so quickly.  I had a great time being able to spend time with Mom and Dad and Carla and the rest of the Beutel family.  This morning we had an hour lecture on viruses followed by an hour and a half lecture on different toxins that animals can get into and what you do when they get into them.  Then this afternoon on the necropsy floor we had three calves, a rat, and a mouse.  We were done by 4pm or so which was pretty nice. 

This evening I played three games of kickball.  It is vet med olympics this week where the different classes compete against each other at various activities.  Tonight was the first night and it was kickball.  Now, I don't want to brag, but we played the first years and the second years and the faculty (the fourth years didn't have a team as not many of them are around this close to graduation) and us third years didn't lose once!  It was a lot of fun though and I really enjoyed being able to run around with my classmates.  Of course, winning every game wasn't so bad either ;)

Friday 4/18

Yesterday morning we had an hour of clinpath rounds, where one of the clinical pathologists showed us some cool cases they had over the past week.  Then it was off to learn about agents causing abortions and stillbirths in mammals and then we spent two hours learning about parasites.  In the afternoon, we started with just a chicken and a cow.  However, a little while later, another cow showed up, then awhile later after that, a horse showed up.  So what went from being an early afternoon leaving went to not leaving until after 6pm.  I ended up writing the report for the horse however, I lost my notes so I was winging it with the help of one of my classmates who remembered a lot of the notes she had written down for the horse.

Last night I was in Congerville for church (although I got there at the end of the service due to getting out late from school).  I will be with my family today and tomorrow be in Tremont for Easter services.

I have just one more week on diagnostic medicine until I roll out to Purdue for a couple weeks.

Thursday 4/17

This morning we had an hour lecture on pathology of the respiratory system followed by an hour lecture on how to take biopsies during surgery.  Then, this afternoon we had two calves and a dog for necropsy.  I ended up being the lead student on one of the calves.  Tomorrow is Friday already, the weeks really fly by now that I'm on clinics!