Best Job in the World

Veterinarians are the coolest. Vets wear so many different hats.  It’s impressive.  I am still in awe that I am going to be one.  I feel so fortunate! 

I have been having a blast exploring the different aspects of vet med here.  When else will I have the freedom to run around a veterinary hospital and get involved with any cool thing that happens to be going on!? 

Last week, I really took advantage of this and participated in several new things.  For one, I joined a practical class in necropsy.  We dissected a dog that had passed away that day in the clinic.  We reviewed presenting complaints, treatment, symptoms, and signs in order to hypothesize the cause of death. We then performed a necropsy to prove our hypothesis.  Pathology is a very interesting field.  It’s a “who done it” mystery where you have to know your anatomy and physiology to succeed.   The dog had somehow ingested endotoxins which shut down his liver.  The liver then started to malfunction which caused bleeding and also edema in the abdomen.  WOAH! 

It’s a good think I remember all about the liver and blood flow from anatomy…… (Cough Cough)   

I also got to visit a vet clinic in town last Friday!  One of the wonderful professors in the reproduction lab introduced us to his wife and organized for us to visit her vet clinic. They each lived in the US for around six years.  She got certified at the chi institute, in Flordia, and does acupuncture at her clinic! Ashlee and I were able to watch acupuncture on a dachshund. I really enjoyed it!  I was introduced to traditional chinese medicine when I did my internship at CROW.  I didn’t realize how much I missed it until Christina walked us through the points she was targeting and the effect that each should have.  Eastern medicine really is something to take seriously.  I have no clue what my future holds but I would love to incorporate it into my career.    The afternoon at the vet clinic flew by.  We were able to share Chimarrao with the two doctors and the tech.  We saw another appointment and I was blown away by how caring the doctors were.  You can tell they are really in it for the animals.  They were willing to take time with the family to discuss behavior and nutrition even though the dog came in for a sore back and possible acupuncture.   So people, be nice to your veterinarians!  Most of them have hearts of gold! 

Last week, Ashlee and I also worked our way into surgery!  We spoke with a rock loving, wildlife appreciating, bone fixing, super nice doctor who said we could join him the next morning!  We were there bright and early and able to watch three surgeries.  It was SO COOL!!!!!  We made friends with the residents, interns, and techs in surgery and they said we could return again!  This one random question to a professor we barely knew ended up being one of the best things we did.  We have been to surgery almost every day since! I have seen some really great things! I’ve watched spays, neuters, biopsies, a hernia repair, a  pin removal, a femoral head ostectomy, fracture fixes, and more!!    Today,  one of the surgeries was EPIC.  The dog had a open fracture of the tibia and fibula.  It was nasty and probably older than five days!  The awesome, bone fixing doctor (see above)  went to town.  Let’s just say there were a lot of hand tools involved.  Fixing bones isn’t for sissys!   When he bent the leg in half and both pieces of bones were sticking out I was like…. 

WOOOAHHHHHHHHHHH

I have never really seen an orthopedic surgery but boy am I getting my fair share now!  I am incredibly lucky.  I’ve really come a long way from the girl who got super dizzy during her first spay and couldn’t stand looking at our dissection frogs.  Now, I want to grab a tool and cut up pieces of bone until the puzzle fits and the pins are just right!

I’ve also been involved with the embryo lab.  Last week they did a lot of lab work preparing solutions and such.  I helped make a solution that they use to keep sperm viable for invitro fertilization.  It’s impressive to see how much work and thought goes into each aspect of the reproduction assembly line!

Borboleta means butterfly and it’s also the name of the embryo lab’s tease pony!  She is not very well trained and does not want to be around people.  Since the death of the other pony, she has become the main attraction.  We are working on taming her so that she can be used to collect the ponies.  She isn’t too bad once you get her cornered and haltered but catching her is a challenge!  We like to play horse whisperer, which really just entails petting her head and feeding her oats.   I’m lucky that Ashlee has a lot of horse experience because I can learn from her! I feel slightly comfortable around horses but I have so much more to learn.  Even though I doubt I’ll work with horses in the future, people expect vets to know stuff!  So “stuff” is what I’m getting acquainted with!   

Fun fact:  Remember how good my Portuguese is!?  Yeah, me neither.  So I have a lot of moments of confusion through the day!   Where I’m like say what?  And the person is like say what? 

For example… Ashlee and I were trying to ask if we could feed Borboleta carrots and apples.    Instead it sounded like “can we feed Borboleta old women and pasta?”

he he  oh man!  It’s a good thing people are so patient with us!

Living the dream one fun vet experience at a time!

Wishing you the best,

Kaylee