favorites

About the time I decided to apply to vet school I found a site called Student Doctor Network or SDN.com in which pre-vet/med/dental etc are joined together in a site where students and professionals get together and discuss topics important in each division. The pre-veterinary forum has started a blog topic of the week, and the past few weeks I have either been too busy or uninetersted in the topic, but this week is something a little more upbeat (and I've been able to relax and enjoy a glass of wine tonight) and less complainey ( I only had 3 hours of sleep last night so I can make up words if I want to).
Anywho, this week is about what your favorite subject or special interest is in. All I have to say is neurology.  While, I'm pretty sure I don't plan on making a specialty out of it, the subject really peaked me interest. It is amazing how one little lesion can make all the difference in an animals life and how prognosis can go from grave to recoverable by just a couple symptoms. It took a while for the physiology of it all to click with me, but once it did I was in awe of how everything worked. If I were smarter and younger that would definitely be something worth pursuing. Even the large animal side of it (especially the equines) is a relevant field. But, alas, I will stick with my goal of being a mixed animal practitioner. While it might not be as rewarding (physically and financially) I do think I will be happy with that decision.

My writing this semester really has dwindled compared to last. One reason is classes, of course, and how much more work they take to stay afloat. This week is a bit of a stressful one. Monday and Tuesday we had a parasitology written and lab exam, the written went better than I thought and the lab portion went well, but I felt like I should have done better. Today we had kind of a pop quiz in pathology, and we have our first pathology exam tomorrow morning. We also have an Immunology quiz tomorrow over an article I really should read soon. Friday we were suppose to have a physiology 3 quiz, but the professor decided to move it to Monday because of our test packed week already. Then next Tuesday we have our first Immunology test and Thursday our second physiology 3 test.
I feel like I need a break and soon! Something about this semester is really dragging me down. The yogilatis on Tuesday and Thursday mornings has kind of fizzled out. Most of our tests are on those days so studying and sleep have won out. As a comprise we are trying to go Friday and Saturday at noon and walk around a little lake with a 3 mile trail in the afternoons once a week. I feel like I am comprising sleep a lot more this semester. I'm constantly tired, but I don't know how to change my studying habits to be more productive. I can't wait for spring break to reorganize and catch up on everything, but I'm scheduled to work 3 days of it so I'm thinking I'll be doing more sleeping than anything else.

My arms are sore

As much as it sounds like a complaint, it's not. It's a reminder. A reminder why I spend so much time sitting in a classroom, studying, neglecting family and friends (and housework, oohh there goes another dust bunny past my pile of unfolded half clean half dirty laundry). I worked an icu shift last night and had a patient with a nasogastric tube in because it wouldn't nurse off momma. So every 2 hours I had to lift 70 pound baby up (hence the sore arms), try to get it to nurse momma or take a botte, and if neither worked force feed through the tube, which is not an easy task when baby is trying to lay down or run away the whole time. But, at about 4 this morning baby decided to make a turn for the better and aggressively enthusiastically started nursing. It was such a wonderful and exciting moment and hopefully I can keep that bright, happy feeling as long as possible to make it through the next few weeks of quizzes and tests knowing that I at least partly was responsible for keeping that baby going. So everytime I pick up a textbook, or my backpack for the next day or so I can have a little tinge of happiness knowing that I'll be able to do what I love one day.