A Day in the Life of a Second Year

Typical Wednesday:

6:02 AM - Alarm goes off... push snooze for 10 minutes and bury my face back in Little Bear's fur
6:12 AM - Alarm goes off... really want to push snooze for another 10 minutes, but drag my butt out of bed.  Bear hops out of bed and goes and lays in the hallway outside the bathroom door, so naturally I flop down on the floor next to him for another 10 or 15 minutes of morning snuggle time :)
6:25 AM - Okay, now I really do need to get in the shower if I want to look like a human being today.  Spend the next hour-ish attempting to blow dry and straighten my hair, put on make-up, pick an outfit that matches, and throw in a few a lot more floor-snuggles with Bear.
7:15 AM - Frantically rush around the kitchen trying to decide if I have time to both sit down and eat breakfast AND pack my lunch.  I decide I should just pack my lunch.  Most likely it consists of a Lean Cuisine with string cheese and an apple with peanut butter for my morning and afternoon snacks!  Realize I have no time to eat breakfast, grab a breakfast bar and rush out the door.
7:30 AM - Rushing out the door :)
7:45 AM - Get to school
7:50 AM - I'm one of the first visitors of the library to take full advantage of the free coffee.  How did I ever functioned before I became a coffee drinker, I have no idea.
8:00 AM - Clinical Pathology Lecture.  Learning all about serum calcium and phosphorus concentrations this week and what disorders would affect the levels of them in your body.
9:00 AM - Systemic Pathology Lecture.  Finished covering urinary system pathology this week.  Learned about the lower urinary tract which consists of the ureters, urinary bladder, and urethra.  One of the main pathological disorders we discussed is cystitis, or inflammation of the bladder.
10:00 AM - Systemic Pathology Lab.  It's our turn to go to necropsy first.  We put on our lab coats and our plastic booties on over our shoes and head down to necropsy in Mosier Hall.  A "necropsy" is an autopsy performed on animals.  Yesterday we looked at a lot of kidney samples that all had different diseases.
11:00 AM - Still Systemic Pathology Lab.  Now we switch with the other 1/2 of the class and discuss projected images of urinary tract tissues. 
12:00 PM - The best part of the day - LUNCH!  This means I put in head phones, sit at my desk in lab, and try to drown out the rest of the world while I switch back and forth between Facebook and attempts to be productive.
1:00 PM - Virology. This week we discussed feline retroviruses, most specifically, Feline Leukemia Virus. This class has taught me there can never be too much emphasis on vaccination.  Vaccinate your pets people!  It can and will save your pets life!
2:00 PM - Toxicology.  This class we have for 2 hours... and they are the longest 2 hours of my life.  We spend about 10 minutes discussing each PowerPoint slide.  This week we are learning about pesticide toxicity.  Many people use "natural" pesticides to prevent bugs around their house.  Well, most likely if it can kill insects it also can harm your pet.  Natural products are not any safer what-so-ever in terms of toxicity.
4:00 PM - Special Interest Anatomy.  This is my elective this semester.  Yesterday we dissected a rattlesnake!  Cole was not impressed with the pictures I sent him :)  Turns out, there isn't actually anything inside of the rattle - the little pieces that make up the rattle just bump into each other when they shake and make a noise.  I was very disappointed.
6:00 PM - Finally home and time for dinner.  My favorite dinner-time show is The Middle.  I find the awkwardness of everyone in that family so endearing :)
7:00 PM - I suppose it's time to study :(  This week I'm studying for a Clinical Pathology test on Friday which covers abnormalities found in urinalysis, electrolyte abnormalities in your blood/serum, and blood-gas abnormalities.

Seriously?

8:00 PM - Still studying.  Getting distracted by my cat and am getting annoyed with him for climbing all over my desk.

The neediest cat in the world.

9:00 PM - Still studying.  Getting distracted by my cat and am enjoying it because I'm looking for any excuse to not study.
10:00 PM - Debating my motivation to keep studying or go to bed.  My bed is calling my name.  I start listening to Miley Cyrus, "We Can't Stop" and telling myself that she's telling me I have to push through the sleepiness.
11:00 PM - Even Miley can't keep me awake anymore.  My brain is a pile of mush and my bed wins.  Goodnight world :)

Tiger Troubles

Over Spring Break, my friend Paige and I decided to take have a "Day Date" to Sunset Zoo in Manhattan.  Neither of us had ever been there before and having a mutual love of animals we decided it was the perfect activity for a sunny afternoon.  We never dreamed that one of our new friends we'd meet at the zoo, we'd meet later at school on the necropsy floor.

Bob Jr., Sunset Zoo's male tiger, was euthanized this morning at K-State.  It happened to be one of our favorite animals that we saw at the zoo - although we did notice that he was looking pretty darn thin.

Turns out Bob the Tiger was 18 years old and had been suffering from chronic kidney problems for the past 10 years.  This afternoon we got to watch the necropsy (an autopsy on animals) of Bob and then take a look at his kidneys.  Bob's kidneys had cysts and subcapsular cysts and he had progressively lost over 1/2 of his body weight.  As sad as it is, I think it was a very good choice by the zoo and K-State to euthanize him before his health declined further. 


On the bright side - I'm in the elective, Special Interest Anatomy and we saved one of Bob's forelimbs and one of his hindlimbs for our class to dissect next Wednesday.  It will be an exciting thing to check off my bucket list... "Dissect a tiger.  Check!"

Just one of the many things you never expect you'd do or see at vet school.  It's always full of surprises :)

I've included a few pictures of Bob in his final days - I'll spare you the pictures of him on his final day... after a little work had been done :)

SPRING BREAK!

It's SPRING BREAK!!!! ....almost.

Less than 3 hours until one full week of freedom.  What does freedom include?  Road tripping with the Grieves fam, sleeping in, wedding planning, and spending hours upon hours attempting to get caught up in all of my classes :)

I survived the craziest month of school in my life and am still waiting to get results back on 4 different tests.  It's weird how it takes 2 weeks to run a scantron through a machine to score our tests ;)

Happy Friday!

2nd Year Woes

Everyone said 2nd year is the worst year - is it possible to agree without sounding like a Negative Nancy?  If so, I agree x1,000,000... and then some.

Spring 2014:
21 Tests in 18 weeks.
2 Presentations in front of the whole class
1 Project that is pass/fail for the entire class
1 Paper
 ..and last but not least, I have to collect 10 poisonous plants and make a display of them.

Now let's break that down even more:
2 tests per week from now until Spring Break

This week:
Monday: Pass/Fail Radiology Project Due
Tuesday Morning: Class Presentation
Tuesday Afternoon: Clinical Pathology Test
Friday: Systemic Pathology Test

Now, so I'm not a complete Negative Nancy (because I'll admit it, I am being one) let's talk about all the great things happening...

This month I started the #WeddingBody2014 plan.. which involves doing the Couch-To-5K program.  I'm only on the second week, but so far so good!

I've enjoyed some absolutely BEAUTIFUL springtime weather.

And I've been learning how to suture in Special Interest Anatomy! Can't say I'm very good - or that I really know what I'm doing.. but I'm getting much more coordinated with the needle holders and forceps and don't feel completely ridiculous using my left hand to do things... just a little ridiculous :)

Study Buddy

Study view from the Quiet Room @ CVM Library

Comparing trampoline accidents to cardiology problems... just a typical Clin Path class

1st Attempt :/

2nd Attempt - much improvement!

Right side: 1 week later, trying to remember; Left side: 1st attempt at continuous suture.

"Oh, were you trying to read that?"

Spring Semester!

Current highlights of Spring Semester 2014:

1) I still love any class taught by Dr. Mosier, my boss from home's nephew.  Last semester it was General Pathology, this semester it's Systemic Pathology.  Right now we're learning about gastrointestinal tract pathology.  This means lots of talk about nasty mouth sores and diarrhea.  But for some reason, it doesn't sound so bad when Dr. Mosier explains about it :)

Late night Radiology studying

2)  My second favorite class this semester is Clinical Pathology.  This class teaches us how to interpret basic lab data and explain the pathogenesis (timeline of disease/how the disease develops) of diagnostically important lab data of animals with common clinical disorders/diseases.  Right now we're learning how to interpret blood work, what it means when animals have high levels of certain white blood cells, and the different types of anemias.

DC loves K-State!

3)  We had two snow days last week and they was the most magical moments of my entire second year.  Okay, that may be an exaggeration.  But I definitely used those 2 days to get caught up.  Okay, that's an exaggeration too - I used those two days to get less behind :)  The spring semester started with a bang and it's been a whirlwind of mass amounts of material being thrown at us.

4) I survived my first exam of the spring semester - Radiology.  Can't say this is my favorite class :/  I find everything we're learning so interesting, but our professor likes to call on students and have them describe radiographs for the class. The thought of getting called on and put on the spot sounds like a form of torture to me.

Anchorman at the Newseum in DC

5) Up this next week?  A test in Pharmacology II.  This test covers GI drugs, ophthalmic pharmacology, and antifungals :)

Outside of school I've stayed busy wedding planning, a trip to Washington, D.C.,

and enjoying time relaxing with friends and family! -- Although there hasn't been much relaxing going on ;)

Happy New Year!

Once upon a time there was a naive vet student who thought she would be good at keeping up a blog about vet school.  Then she entered her second year of vet school and realized how absolutely ridiculous that was.

So here we are - it's already 2014!  Where did the time go?  I would say a majority of it was spent studying more than I have ever studied for final exams.  Luckily, all of that hard work paid off and I survived the dreaded finals week!  Thanks to all of my family and friends for their support and love during the entire semester :)

Instead of writing a novel about the past 2 months - I'll fill it in with pictures... here we go!

Spent Thanksgiving with the Grieves Family - Uncle Go and Mr. Joel :)

Last day of class!

This is how school makes us feel :/

Babysitting this ornery little boy :)

Late night snuggle buddy

Late night study buddy that just couldn't keep up :)

Just one of the many reasons I hated Parasitology - nasty little Sand Fly

Sympathy from the librarians during finals week

Lab Time!

Only the vet school library would have an animal-themed Christmas tree :)

It's November!

Study Buddy

It’s November!  What does that mean? Only 9 exams and 3 papers stand between me and Christmas Vacation!  More importantly, only 2 exams stand between me and Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving will be interesting this year - I will be writing my 3 papers, preparing for finals, AND going wedding dress shopping :)  So this will be a nice week to catch up on both school and wedding planning and I can’t wait!

Oh were you studying?

In school, things have been a little crazy over the past 2 weeks.  And by a little - I mean I turned into a zombie and have since been resuscitated into a human-being again.  I had 4 exams within 8 days of each other, finishing last week with a 3-hour written exam in Pathology on Monday and Wednesday with a Parasitology exam.  All four seemed to go really well, but we’ll have to wait a while to find out!

Halloween Mug from Cole!

Pathology is still my favorite class.  We have since moved topics from Hemostasis to Inflammation and now Developmental and Metabolic Diseases.  

Parasitology is still not even close to my favorite class.  We are currently looking at ruminant (cow, sheep, & goat) parasites.

In Pharmacology we have been looking at cardiac and respiratory drugs and have had some guest lecturers.  It’s been pretty enjoyable - especially because what we’re learning seems very applicable to a clinical setting.

Sunrise over Manhattan!

Bacteriology is the test of this week - including the bacteria: Bordetella bronchiseptica, some forms of Clostridium, Pasteurella, Campylobacter, and more.  Trust me - nothing exciting.

Western KS Sunset

There has not been much time for “outside of school” activities since my last post, but this past weekend I was able to make up for that.  Friday, I headed back home to celebrate my grandpa's 98th birthday!  I also was able to see my best friend, Summer and stop by Hays Vet - and through that I now have a place to live and work this summer!  Yep, that's right - I will be spending my last official summer "vacation" working at my favorite vet clinic and living with one of my favorite people!  I also had enough time for Cole and I to take our engagement pictures this past Saturday.  We love our photographer (www.melissaandbeth.com) and had such a wonderful afternoon, but won’t have our pictures back for a few more weeks.  We can’t wait!  We finished out the weekend with church and lunch with both sets of our parents before we had to get back to reality.  It was a weekend for the books :)

That’s all for now - Happy Monday and Happy Veterans Day!