Costumes and castrations

Helloooo! :)

Since my last post I've done 3 tests, 2 surgeries and have been to 2 costume parties - and November isn't even over yet!

My wonderful surgery group mates and I have successfully completed a kitten spay and a dog neuter and both of our patients have been adopted from the humane society :) Although we were nervous, it was awesome to see how all of our surgery labs and independent practice time paid off - we really do know how to do spays and neuters! We have 3 or 4 more surgeries next semester and I'm so glad I'm getting the chance to practice my surgery skills since I am going to be doing them on my own during my externship. Eeeek time is flying by - in a year I will be writing my NAVLE (board exam)! But let's not think about that ~6 hour, 360 question exam right now hahah

So. Damn. Early. (only for animals!!)

Halloween was a blast, our group dead/zombie Disney costume was awesome and Trump showed up as well (foreshadowing?) - Matt's costume got a lot of laughs, some people wanting to take pictures with him, and one "fuck off" from someone in the bathroom (damn girl, take a joke!). I feel like I've spent a lot of time at Value Village lately because this past weekend I went home and then to Windsor for a friend's 70s and 80s themed birthday party :) I went for 80s so there was a lot of pink and a lot of spandex involved.

Surgery group aka Jesse from Toy Story, Kida from Atlantis and Elsa from Frozen :)

Zombie crew

Make America Great Again! (lol so gross)

Birthday boy :)

I'm heading home again this weekend to go to Matt's work Christmas party (I finally have a car so commuting is so much easier) and we don't have a test this upcoming Monday (unlike the last 3 Mondays in a row) so it's time to catch up on all of the notes I've been putting off. Just a few more weeks until Christmas break!

Anther month complete

Hey! I have the morning off (yay for sleeping in!) so I figured I'd post an update while I have some time.

In my last post I mentioned the doghouse challenge - it was so much fun! The 5 of us painted non-stop for the entire 2 hours and our final product turned out great and will hopefully make a northern community dog happy and warm in the winter :)

Santa and her helpers built a gingerbread/candy house :)

Thanksgiving was a nice 4 days of relaxing and eating, my best friend also got married! I'm super thankful that vet school is only an hour's drive from my hometown so that I can be home for things like that :)

I told myself I would do some work while I was home...but of course that didn't happen hahah it's ok though, my brain needed a break!

We've had 2 more tests this month and are heading into November which means a test every Monday. This weekend is our last free one for while, which is perfect because it's the Halloween party! My friends and I have not been able to stop talking about it - we clearly don't get out much! We spent this week shopping for our costumes and tomorrow night we will turn ourselves into zombified Disney princesses (because normal princesses are too basic). Matt is visiting this weekend as well, and is going to be Trump - I'm scared for that one.

Other notable news - I secured my externship for May-June, so I'll be spending 8 weeks learning about dogs cats and horses! I went to visit the clinic and got along great with everyone, the main vet was very laid back and told me that I would definitely be doing lots of surgery which was super exciting - I can't waittttt to get as much clinical practice as I can before 4th year rotations begin. I'll also be there during the season of baby horses which is the best!!

I can start working on my surgery skills as early as next week - since that is when we have our first live animal spay! Nerve-wracking but so exciting!

Needless to say the next month or so is going to be hectic! It took 2 months but I think I'm finally back in school mode - after Halloween is over, bring on the craziness!

The Craziness Continues

Hi! 2 more days of class this week (one half - yay! and one full day) and then we get a much needed 4 day thanksgiving break :)

3rd year is pretty crazy. The amount of lecture we have had in the past month is overwhelming, especially when I look at my desktop and see ~20 lectures that I have yet to review. I study by going through the lecture slides + the notes I took during class and make my own summary/review notes. It's the system that works best for me, but daaammn I'm behind this year! Oh well, I'm slowly chipping away at it and I'm hoping to get it (mostly) done this weekend :)

We've gotten one test and one assignment out of the way already - things move fast here. We've had quite a bit of lab time too: reviewing our surgery and anesthesia skills and also learning some fish stuff! Add in the chiropractor appointments that I've recently started (they are saving my back) and the time that I need to make meals and sleep, and the consensus is that there are nottttt enough hours in the day! It's times like these when I really really really love coffee.

This is the Instagram-famous Maddie the Coonhound <3

Last weekend I took some time off (oops) and visited my best friend in Toronto - we went to the makeup trade show that we went to last year (didn't spend as much money this year but it was just as fun!) and ended the weekend with a trip to a Tiki bar which was awesome and full of strong ass drinks.

Kat Von D had the best booth - complete with a liquid lipstick throne

Tomorrow night my vet school friends and I are participating in a Purina Doghouse Challenge where we paint doghouses that are later brought up to the northern communities for dogs who live outdoors to keep them warm in the winter :) I've always loved art and of course I love helping doggies so I'm looking forward to it!

Other than that, I'm excited to be going home this weekend to see friends and family (+ the family cat Alan who my mom has had for 2 months), eat a ton of food, and finally get around to catching up on notes!

Bye for now :)

Handsome guy :)

Phase 3!

Hiiii!

Well I'm ~48 class hours into third year and I'm still alive! Third year?! That sounds craaaazy to be saying out loud. Today there was a phase 2 to phase 1 info lunch talk and I was like "I'm not in either of those". Eek! The end is in sight!

Anyway, brief overview of my past week - I'm living in the same apartment this year so moving back in was quick and easy. It was (and is) super weird not having Daisy here - on one hand I can take advantage of not getting up early and missing lunch talks, but the cons definitely outweigh the pro s and I'm dying for another dog. Not gonna lie, I've been hardcore stalking greyhound rescues because they are the perfect dog for a lazy person like me...but I think I need to wait until the craziness of 4th year is at least mostly finished.

Like come on....I need

We got right back into the swing of things with 8:30 - 5:30 class all last week. I may have worked 40h weeks during the summer, but being mentally tired is a whole different thing (fellow students, you get me). It's ok though, coffee and naps will get me though :)

Each year the program gets more and more clinical and I love it. We have an entire course on medicine and surgery of dogs and cats (and one for horses and another for food animal - damn!) in addition to our surgical exercises course and I'm looking forward to feeling more and more "vet-ty" as the year goes on :)

This year's courses

I'm in the process of finalizing an externship for the summer and already have a list of to-dos for this weekend (aka notes I was too tired to make last week). Hot dates with the library coming right up!

My actual desktop sticky note...it keeps growing

Overall, we've heard multiple times this week that third year is a lot of work but also a lot of fun, and that balance is basically what I strive for all the time :) let's do this!!

Summer Update: Ups and Downs

Hi! I thought I'd sneak in a little update while I have a day off and no plans :) That's a rare situation nowadays!

I'll get the sad part over with first: my summer began with me having to say goodbye to my little Daisy. She fought hard against kidney failure for a year and really didn't show many signs until I got home from school this summer. She had zero appetite (unheard of for her) and we did some bloodwork and her kidney values were almost double what they were 2 months prior. She was also showing some signs of heart disease, she was recently diagnosed with a murmur and it got worse very quickly. She lost a lot of weight and was just not herself. When Matt came over and she didn't run to him and then she refused a McDonald's cheeseburger, I knew I was making the right decision to end her pain. I'm really glad that I was able to be in London for all of this - the clinic I'm working at this summer is also the place Daisy has gone for vet care for most of her life, so I felt comfortable with everything and my co workers were beyond understanding (shout out to them!). Once we sedated her it was the most relaxed I had seen her look in weeks, and the whole thing was very peaceful. 

Had to bug her with one final photo shoot on her last day :) Miss you baby!

Apart from that, I've been working non-stop and learning a lot - although I'm just an assistant, being immersed in the vet clinic for 40h a week has taught me so much. I'm getting better at reading radiographs, gotten the chance to practice blood draws, and have seen some pretty cool procedures and diseases. Getting referred to as "our future veterinarian" also feels pretty damn good! I'm definitely glad I chose this as my summer job and it has helped keep my mind off of my sadness. It has also made me so thankful to be a part of a field where we have the ability to relieve animals' suffering. Euthanasias are always tough to experience but when it is truly time, then it is the best thing we can do for them.

Like the nerd I am though, I'm ready to go back to school! Someone at work asked me where I'd rather be, and I said school. Sure I'm loving the $$$ aspect of working, but I'm soo used to being in class that I don't know what to do with myself when I'm not! I know 3rd year is going to be a ton of work but I'm super excited to get back into the swing of things and learn even more.

I have a month of work left and then 2 weeks off before I head back to Guelph. This summer has flown by! I'll talk to you all at some point before I get back into school mode. Thanks for reading! :)

Halfway there :)

Short recap of the last week:

- finished my last exam (best feeling!)
- packed up my apartment (always takes way longer than I anticipate - how does one person accumulate so much crap??)
- toga party (the first time all year that we've been able to go to a party and not feel guilty because we have a test coming up)
- came back to London
- slept forever
- got all my marks back and officially passed phase 2!

Work starts Monday and I'm ready to gain more clinical experience and put some of the stuff we've learned this year to the test :)

Yay summer!!

Faves :)

4 more days!

Hey everyone!

Like I said in my last post, nothing has been going on lately beside non-stop studying. Since then, I have survived:

- One written Surgery final
- One simulated client interview
- Three Principles of Disease finals back to back, 3 days in a row (finishing one exam and then having to study the same material only to find all the mistakes you made that morning is not the most fun, but yay to the monster Phase 2 course being done!)
- One Health Management final
- One Theriogenology (reproduction) final

And we only have Anesthesia & Pharmacology (which is one course) to go!

We have fewer finals than we did in first year, but the amount of material tested this year is massive and all of them are worth so much. Today's was Therio and it was worth 70%! So even if you go into the final with a good mark, it doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things. Intimidating for sure, especially since our brains are beginning to wear out.

I took a mental break this weekend though; the weather has been gorgeous and Matt came down to take Daisy back to London for me. We got to hang out for a bit and we took a nice long trail walk - it was nice to finally get some sun! I'm feeling like less of a vampire/troll/hermit and ready to get this last exam over with so I can celebrate, head home and recover for a week before starting work.

Almost 50% of a DVM!
Bye for now :)