Blood, Vet & Tears

And so it begins again…

schwarzmus — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 05:16:37 +0000

Well, I’ve had an eventful start to the quarter. After spending every possible second with Scott in L.A., I got my car all packed up and gave my 5 kitties acepromazine, shoved them in their carriers, and started toward Sacramento around 6pm Sunday night. I was about 2 miles from the apartment when I heard this terrible high pitched scratching sound coming from my left rear tire and smelled something burning. Oooooh GREAT. So I turned around and went back home. Of course the shop we go to was closed, so there was really no choice but miss the first day of class. So I unpacked the poor cats and took up what I needed for one night. Scott could’ve given me his car, but he had to work the next day and had already called in sick that day to spend my last day together.

So I got up Monday morning and took my car into the shop at 8am. Seven hours and $600 and my car was fixed and ready to go. Ouch. The poor cats were really not pleased when it came time to put them in their carriers again, the second time in as many days. But I got all packed up and headed out, for real this time, at about 5pm yesterday. I got home last night around 11, and by the time I finished unpacking the car, setting up litter boxes, feeding the cats, getting settled in, etc. it was midnight. Then of course one of my lovely cats decided to not keep her dinner in her stomach, where it belongs. After stepping in that lovely surprise, I cleaned it up and finally crashed into bed at around 1:30am.

At 5am, another of my lovely cats decided to scream in my face. This is very typical for her after a stressful encounter – she will not shut up unless I’m petting her. But as soon as I start to doze off, I stop petting her, and the screaming commences, haha. So I threw her out, she got back in, I threw her out again, and finally got back to sleep. I woke up at 7am, generally grumpy with the world, and made it to the second day of classes. Surprisingly, it was a pretty good day. I had Advanced Small Animal Ultrasound, Small Animal Medicine, and Large Animal Anesthesia this morning. Small Animal Med was pretty boring, because we’re doing dermatology and I’m NOT a fan… but in general I liked all three classes. Then this afternoon we had our last video taped client simulation exercise with actors (those are FUN.), and despite not looking forward to it, it went pretty well. Then I went and spent an exorbitant amount of money at the grocery store for a seemingly disproportionate amount of food to restock my kitchen and made a lovely dinner and had a glass of wine. I think I’ll watch a bit of TV, then head off to bed relatively early. Here’s hoping no cats put in the mood to make some warm, fur lined gloves tonight.

Dog Stereotyping

schwarzmus — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 17:56:45 +0000

My mom and brother live in a townhouse, in a complex. There’s an enormous courtyard in the middle of the complex that’s almost entirely enclosed. They have a dog, Chloe, who is pretty much the sweetest animal I have ever met. And she’s like that with everyone she meets, immediately. For the past two nights, she has slept with me on the couch – there’s barely enough room for the two of us! She’s amazing and I adore her.

There’s a leash law where my mom and brother live, but they would frequently let her off leash in the courtyard, to run and play. She always comes when called, always. And she was never out there unsupervised. The neighborhood children love her and would play and run with her – they love her so much they used to come to my mom’s door and ask if Chloe could come out and play! How adorable is that?!

Recently a police officer showed up to my mom’s door. A neighbor reported her for having the dog off leash, and told the police that the dog was dangerous. Dangerous. The neighborhood dog that played and ran with the children all day. Unfortunately, since there is a leash law, my mom can no longer let her off leash – if she’s reported again she is charged with a felony and has to go to court. I know that the reason someone called and reported a dangerous dog had to be purely based on her looks, not any behaviors. She’s a boxer mix, around 60 pounds, and has a cute block head. She could be mistaken for a pit bull mix, and someone decided that she’s dangerous based on that. And it’s infuriating. She would never hurt anyone, and now has to be on the leash all the time and my mom had to explain to the neighborhood children why she can no longer run around and play with them.

It’s so frustrating – you cannot judge a dog based purely on looks or breed. Why report it? She was never unsupervised, is always obedient and comes when called, never ran outside of the courtyard, was not a menace to anyone, and just wants to play and love. Ridiculous.

Brrr!

schwarzmus — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 01:22:46 +0000

Coming back to L.A. was so great in so many ways. Of course it meant the end of the quarter from hell, so that was great. Of course it meant hanging out for days and nights on end with my husband, which is the thing I miss most when I’m in Sacramento. But one of the best things about returning to L.A. was being back with my KITTIES!! When I came down for Thanksgiving, I brought them down and left them in L.A. With only a week between the end of Thanksgiving break and the end of the quarter, it just made the most sense to avoid high pet sitting fees and unnecessary trips and stress for the cats. But my apartment in Sacramento felt SO empty… and still… and quiet. I absolutely hated it. I spend my life with five sweet kitties, including having at least three sleep in bed with me every night. It was so lonely without them! So it was nice to once again be surrounded by my sweet little felines. Maybe that sounds silly, but I am a vet student, after all ;)

After returning from San Diego, I had several days in a row of doing NOTHING and it was AMAZING! I slept 10 hours a night, read books, watched TV, napped. It was exactly what I needed at the end of that awful quarter. That’s how I spent Saturday through Tuesday. Then Wednesday started Scott’s three days off! J He started off by bringing home beautiful flowers and a delicious dinner of bread, cheese, and meat Tuesday night. Have I mentioned that I have the most incredible husband ever? We found an amazing deal online, $33 per person for entry into both the Los Angeles Zoo and the Aquarium of the Pacific. Scott had the next few days off, so we bought it! We went to the zoo on Wednesday and the aquarium on Thursday and had the most amazing time! I love doing things like that with Scott, we just have so much fun together. They were really great days. On Friday we took the entire day and just stayed inside, ordered pizza, laid around cuddling, and watched movies. I missed my husband so much.

Then yesterday I got up at 4:30am, went to work with Scott and caught a Super Shuttle to the airport (it was much cheaper from there than from home). After a very long day and two flights, I landed in Pittsburgh and am now hanging with my mom and brother in Ohio. Where it is freaking COLD!! Today we went around visiting family, but most of the trip will involve me laying around. And there’s a 50% chance of a white Christmas, which will make me very happy!

Winter Break, la la la!

schwarzmus — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 02:47:54 +0000

Hey, wow, it’s been over a month since I’ve posted! That’s because the quarter was crazy, and it only got more and more crazy toward the end. It was a pretty rough quarter for me, in more ways than one. But now it’s OVER! I finished up my finals in a sleep deprived caffeine haze and the next day drove back to L.A.

Let’s rewind a bit. A week and a half before finishing the quarter and driving back to my husband was Thanksgiving break. I had the entire week off, and it was really amazing. I went and got sushi with my best friend here in L.A., which was great – it had been far too long since I’d hung out with her. The majority of my break was spent in San Diego, hanging out with my in-laws and having the most amazing Thanksgiving dinner EVER! And I love it, because I get to hang out, relax, read, and just take it easy and eat a lot. Which I did, haha. However, there was some sad news over break as well. My in-laws have this amazing 18 month old puppy – she’s sweet, smart, and gives them joy every single day. The day before Thanksgiving she was acting lethargic and not engaging as much at the dog park, so my father-in-law took her to the vet. During their physical, they discovered that her heart rate was only 40 beats per minute. A normal heart rate for a dog her size would be 110-120 beats per minute. So they referred her to the UC Veterinary Medicine Center, where she got an EKG and an echocardiogram. They then suggested that she have an appointment with their board certified cardiologist, but he was out of town for a couple of weeks. So while I was there, I listened to her heart (it was so bizarre to hear a heart rate of 32-40 in a small dog) and looked at all of my notes for cardio. I guessed that she had atrial standstill, and just suggested that they keep her quiet and watch her until they could make an appointment. She also had early signs of congestive heart failure, so they started her on a diuretic (Furosemide) and an ACE inhibitor (Benazapril), which seemed to help elevated her mood, activity level, and appetite.

So after driving to L.A. after finals, Scott and I drove to San Diego the next morning so that we could go with his dad and Mia to the cardiologist appointment. He asked me if I would go, and of course I obliged (after protesting that I’m not a doctor yet and am definitely no cardiologist expert!). The cardiologist was amazing, and after an exam and an EKG confirmed persistent atrial standstill. It’s so sad, because she’s so young! Her only hope is the placement of a pacemaker. So Scott’s dad called back after the appointment and agreed to go ahead with the surgery. The bad thing is that there’s no guaranteed time line for lengthening her lifespan – it could be anywhere from 6 months to several years. I’m hoping that her youth is on her side and that the surgery gets her many more years of happiness and chasing balls (her very favorite thing ever). It was a short trip because Scott had to work, and we made the drive back to L.A. the next night.

Winter break has been nothing short of wonderful ever since, but I think with talking about Mia this post is long enough for now. :)

Nose to the Grindstone

schwarzmus — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 21:41:04 +0000

Posting here has slowed quite dramatically compared to the summer, when I was posting every day. But that’s vet school for you – it sucks your free time away. This quarter has been a little rough, but that’s partly my fault. I’m taking three medicine courses (most people take one, sometimes two) because I feel that a lab animal vet works with such a huge variety of species that I need to know about small animals (dogs and cats), small exotics (obviously – rats, mice, rabbits, guinea pigs, reptiles), and food animals (lots of calves and sheep in research, and tons of pigs!). The only medicine class I’m not taking is equine, because there aren’t a lot of horses in research and when they are used, usually an equine vet is called in for medical issues. The result of all these medicine classes is a lot of exams and material as well as a lot of classroom time. I like all three of them, but am sometimes overwhelmed with what’s expected of me in order to do well in all three (as well as all of my other classes!).

Overall, though, third year is better than second year. I’m working just as hard (sometimes harder), but the material is more interesting and relevant, and third year also means SURGERY! Which, I’ve discovered, I totally love (as evidenced by this entry). Since then we’ve had another surgery, where I was anesthetist. That was almost more scary than being surgeon, because that animal’s well being under anesthesia was completely in my hands. I prepared a ton for it, and thankfully the little shelter kitty did wonderfully while my partner completed her first ever cat spay. Also, as a third year, I can volunteer for a spay/neuter event at the local SPCA and be stationed on the cat neuter table. So last weekend, I worked 8am – 4pm and completed 8 cat neuters on my own. It was pretty amazing – the fact that I can actually do surgery, and the idea that I was helping reduce the unwanted pet population. It was also nice to get a feel for neutering a variety of cat sizes, because there are definitely differences – I neutered everything from a tiny, 2 pound kitten to a huge, adult tom cat. It was a lot of fun, and I will for sure be doing more of those. As a vet student and as a veterinarian.

Another reason for my feeling overwhelmed is that I have a lot of club responsibilities (two presidencies and one other officer position). Just to give you an idea – Wednesday night after class I did an outreach event for the Veterinary Student Outreach club where I talked to undergrads interested in vet med. I met two extremely enthusiastic freshman, haha, putting things into perspective just a bit. Thursday night I had a Pathology Club slide reading that I set up and organized and bought snacks for. Then Friday I organized a Lab Animal Medicine Club wet lab where we got some hands on training from the head lab animal vet here on campus with mice, rats, and hamsters – it was a great experience, especially for the students interested in lab animal medicine with limited experience. These are all great, but it contributes to my exhaustion.

Yesterday I finally decided to take a break from anything vet related and go shopping with some friends. We headed to the mall, got lunch, and just did the normal girly shopping thing. It was really nice. But now it’s back to it – huge exam on Tuesday and surgery on Wednesday (I’m the assistant – expected to know the procedure in case the main surgeon cannot complete it for some reason). So I’m sitting in Starbucks… studying… and counting down the days until Friday. I get the entire week of Thanksgiving off, and it cannot come quickly enough.

Staycation

schwarzmus — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 06:36:03 +0000

I had a pretty amazing few days. Scott was in town, which is always the best ever. He got in Friday night instead of his usual Thursday night because I had a Food Animal Med exam Friday morning. After the week I had, it was so amazing to see him and basically collapse into his arms. All week I had about 4 hours of sleep a night – three exams and surgery (being the surgeon) really took it out of me. So it was a very welcome sight to see him at the airport :)

I pretty much crashed that night, haha, and slept in Saturday morning. Which was much needed! That day we went to the movies and saw “50/50,” and it is a really wonderful and touching movie. You should go see it. On Sunday morning I had an outreach event, and spent some time talking to kids about vet med and why it’s the best profession ever. We brought some radiographs of various animals with us, and they were a huge hit. I love doing outreach! Afterwards I came home and relaxed with Scott for a bit, then we were off to Lord of the Rings in concert!! Holy crap, it was so amazing! The score is usually the background of a movie, and having it played by an orchestra added so much to the movie. The music was no longer background, it was front and center and breath taking. It helps that those are my favorite three movies of all time. :)

Then on Monday Scott came to class with me (only 3 hours, yay!), and after class we went out with some friends to an Indian buffet, which is always a hit with me. That night we went out to sushi for dinner, to celebrate my externship at Johns Hopkins and the success of my first surgery. I adore sushi and would eat it every day if I could! And we found our new favorite place, because it was delicious! Mmmm sushi!

This morning Scott made me breakfast while I got some studying done, and we mostly just hung out around the apartment (I only had one class today, so skipped it). Secretly, that’s my favorite thing to do with Scott :) He also made lunch for us and did some chores. I have the most incredible husband on the planet, he takes care of me and I love him more than anything. And then around 7pm I took him to the airport and said goodbye for three weeks. I’ve mentioned this before, but saying goodbye continues to get harder instead of easier. :( Now I’m trying to get some work done for Friday’s exam (Small Animal Med), but am getting sleepy and think I’ll head off to bed soon… maybe after some wine. It’s always hard to get to sleep the night Scott leaves, no matter how tired I am. The bed is just so big and empty.

Doctor Doctor

schwarzmus — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 06:08:39 +0000

Today was the first day that I really, truly felt like a future doctor. I completed my first surgery. It was a canine castration, and I know that’s a routine surgery, but it was my first time ever cutting into a live animal. I prepared for hours last night, and all day leading up to it I was very nervous and extremely anxious – I even skipped class to practice my suturing skills. When we got to the lab, I became so busy with giving our patient medications and getting the setup area and operating room prepared that I my nerves settled quite a bit. We got him all set to go, wheeled him into the OR, attached all of the monitoring equipment and fluids, and then my assistant and I went to scrub, gown, and glove. This was also my first time doing that – I’ve never even scrubbed in for a surgery! Then we got our patient draped, and it was time… I loaded a scalpel onto my scalpel handle, and there was nothing left to do but get down to business. I took a deep breath… and made the skin incision.

From there, the surgery went very smoothly. My assistant and anesthetist were both amazing, and my nerves quickly vanished as I concentrated on what I was doing and what needed to be done. It was a mostly uncomplicated surgery, except for some bleeding from the cremaster muscles, which needed to be ligated. Closing was a bit difficult, but it went well and the incision looked pretty good after surgery. And before I knew it… I was done with my first surgery!!

We did a physical exam on him at 7am, surgery started around 2:30pm, we put him back in his run around 6:30pm (he had a pretty prolonged recovery), and then did a post-op check at 9pm (everything looked great and he was non painful!). That was 15 hours on campus today! I had to write up all of his medical records (PE, SOAP this morning and after surgery, surgery report) and I have to be back tomorrow morning to check on him at 7am. It’s currently 11pm, so I guess I should get to bed. But this was an amazing day, and for the first time I really felt like a doctor in the making – it was a turning point in my career and I wanted to document it while it was fresh. :)

Home and Hell

schwarzmus — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 06:10:54 +0000

For me, my living environment is extremely important. When I come home, I want a space in which I can relax and do whatever I need/want to do. This is one reason I’ve lived alone for so long – before I got married and now while I’m in school away from my husband. If there is a sink of dirty dishes, it’s because they’re mine. If I want to lie in front of the television all day long and do nothing – and watch whatever trash I want to watch – I can do that. I can sleep without interruption, stay up late without feeling guilty, and it’s amazing. My current apartment feels more like home than any apartment has in a long time. I’m sitting here on the couch, the office is down the hallway for studying, and my dishwasher and dryer are both going. It’s pretty sweet. The only thing that could make this place better is if my wonderful husband lived here with me. :)

But… this is a vet school blog, so about that… I have a hell of a week coming up. Tuesday is my Surgery final, Wednesday is my VERY FIRST SURGERY EVER (it’s a neuter, and I know that’s a simple surgery, but I’m still super nervous… I’ve never cut into a live animal before!), Thursday a take home exam opens (Companion Exotic Small Animal Medicine and Surgery – LOVE that class, but the last exam was pretty damn hard, despite being take home), and Friday I have a Food Animal Medicine exam. How’s that for a packed week?! I’m a bit anxious about it, but I spent the entire weekend preparing for the Surgery final and am feeling pretty decent about it. I still have tomorrow night to study that, and then Tuesday I’ll be watching the castration video about 1 million times, as well as reading over everything I need to know for the next day’s surgery. Then Wednesday and Thursday night I can study for Food Animal, and hopefully knock out the take home Friday after the exam. Once this week is over, my schedule evens out a bit more and it’s pretty laid back for the remainder of the quarter. Just gotta get through it!!

And on Friday night Scott flies in, so the weekend will be pretty great :) It will be my reward for getting through hell week! And now, I should be going to bed, but I think I’ll work a bit on my Food Animal Medicine study guide. After all, I would feel guilty getting more than 6 hours of sleep!

One last thing… I can’t believe I’ve never posted this before, but it’s pretty much my favorite thing ever and I always watch it when I need a quick smile:

Already a Zombie

schwarzmus — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 17:24:24 +0000

So yeah, haha, third year of vet school is in full swing. It’s been a few weeks since I posted, because it’s been kind of crazy. Scott and I drove back to Sacramento, and had to move all of my stuff from storage and into the new apartment. Then, until classes started, I unpacked, decorated, made a couple of trips to IKEA (of course), and hung out and went hiking with Davis friends that I hadn’t seen all summer. I have to add here that my new apartment is amazing! It’s a 2 bedroom/2 bathroom, with a washer/dryer and dishwasher in the unit. So I have a separate office and a bathroom for guests (and a litter box, obviously…) and – the best part – I can do my laundry anytime without digging for quarters and lugging everything across the apartment complex. That is SO nice. It’s a little further from school (20 min vs. 10-12), but I’m carpooling with a friend of mine who also lives in Sacramento, and this apartment is $200 cheaper than my 1 bedroom/1 bathroom without washer/dryer apartment in Davis! Davis is a college town, and so the prices are super inflated. Having a bigger apartment with better amenities for less money is pretty damn awesome.

Then classes started on September 6th, and it’s been a bit crazy since then. First, since I’m president of two clubs (I don’t know what the hell I was thinking), there was a ton of club stuff to do in the first couple of weeks. I had to get them going, touch base with other officers, poll for meeting times, recruit new first years, etc. It’s *exhausting,* but also rewarding. Then there was another Vegas trip the first weekend, to celebrate my 30th with Davis friends. There were 7 of us, tons of alcohol, all night dancing, amazing pool time, etc. It was an amazing time, and some of the most fun I’ve ever had. Week 2 was busy with surgery labs (omg I’m going to be performing surgery this year…), reading assignments, etc. And then today was our first exam of third year in clinical neurology. That’s what I spent my weekend doing – preparing for this morning’s exam. So I’m on super sleep deprivation right now; I’ve been accumulating a sleep debt since Vegas. Also I’m having a really hard time readjusting to not living with Scott again – having an entire summer with him makes coming back here without him extremely hard.

Now I’m sitting in a class that I consider useless, just waiting until noon, when my fav class ever starts: Companion Exotic Small Animal Medicine and Surgery. It’s the most applicable medicine class for what I want to do, and we spent the first week talking about rabbits – I loved every second of it!

And tonight was made for TV and passing out early :) THAT will be amazing.

Whirlwind Week!

schwarzmus — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 18:36:01 +0000

Gah! Okay, so I was mostly good about posting every day (even though I’m sure some of you noticed the posts were actually usually published a couple of days later…) except for the end, because things got very busy! Monday and Tuesday were really great, I got in some great unique experiences and had some really nice goodbyes. Everyone is hoping to see me again in two years, for residency. We’ll see! The director of the residency program had some really nice things to say when I was leaving, and told me to make sure I stay in touch. So those are good signs, and that residency program is toward the top of my list, so yay!

On Tuesday night, my wonderful husband started my birthday early by bringing me a delicious banana fudge pie from a place known in Los Angeles for their pies (Four N’ 20). It was seriously amazing! Then we got up early Wednesday for a 2 hours drive to my birthday surprise. Which was a two night stay at Big Bear Lake!! It’s a gorgeous lakeside resort town way up in the mountains, and I couldn’t have been happier :) It was absolutely perfect! We got there early in the day, and walked around town checking out the shops, grabbed lunch, walked around the lake, and had a great and relaxing day. Then we went to where we were staying – a private cabin at a bed and breakfast with a real fireplace (not gas) and a spa tub – do I have the BEST HUSBAND EVER or what?! We had the most delicious dinner both nights (lobster lasagna the first night, crab legs with a lake view the second), built a fire both nights which made me extremely happy, the breakfasts at the BnB were to die for, we went hiking, took a ski lift to the top of a mountain, we just had an incredible time together. I couldn’t have planned a better way to turn 30 than a romantic mountain getaway with my husband. We checked out of the hotel Friday and drove back to L.A.

But my birthday celebration wasn’t over! We were back in L.A. for only a couple of hours before Tara and Jeff came and picked me up and we went to Las Vegas for the night! We stayed at the Monte Carlo, had dinner at an amazing sushi restaurant, drank, hung out at the casinos (I won $20 at a slot machine, haha, the tables are too expensive and too intimidating!), and just generally had an amazing time Friday night and Saturday. Not only do I have an amazing husband, I have wonderful friends. How’d I get so lucky?!

And the past couple of days I’ve just been relaxing, lounging around the apartment with the kitties, etc. I really should be getting things ready for the drive back to Sacramento early Thursday morning, but I’ve had such a hectic summer that I’m enjoying taking it easy. I’ll be regretting it when I’m going crazy trying to get everything together, but I’ll worry about that when the time comes! Right now, I think I’ll play some World of Warcraft instead ;)