Sick days

How has this week gone?  Well.. it's one to remember that's for sure.  It's been a roller coaster of sickness... And despite getting A's on two quizzes while having a 101 fever, I just couldn't ace a test with one eye.  Yes.. that's right.  Yesterday morning I took my physiology test over the cardiovascular system only being able to see out of one eye. Needless to say, I'm hoping that Friday's test will be my worst grade of the semester.

Somehow this cold/flu that I've been fighting (and thought I was recovering from) turned into the worst case of pink eye I have ever had.  By Friday morning I couldn't open my left eye more than a slit because my upper eye-lid was so swollen.  Lucky for me, after hardcore antibiotics the swelling has gone down, because now my right eye also is infected.  Oh joy.  On the bright side, I've gotten to spend a lot of time at home with Little Bear and have become great friends with my new doctor in Manhattan :) -- and I think Cole enjoyed getting to postpone Valentine's day for a while :)

Thursday evening

Friday morning

Thursday night

Update on school? Still love Gross Anatomy and Epidemiology.. Physiology is a lot harder than last semester, but I don't hate it.. aaaand I still hate Immunology :)

This week in tests: my first Bovine Theriogenology test on Tuesday, a Gross Anatomy quiz Wednesday, and my first Epidemiology test on Friday!  Busy, busy busy!

Outside of sickness and school the excitement of the week is that Cole is an uncle AGAIN! His oldest brother and sister-in-law welcomed baby Joel into this world on Friday!  Just what this world needs.. another Grieves' man ;) We already love him so much and can't wait to meet him :)

Top 10

In case you were wondering – I’m a huge fan of lists.  So here are my top 10 observations from my first two and a half weeks of the semester.

1.       Gross anatomy is still my favorite class – even now that we’ve moved onto large animals.

Study Buddy!

2.       I really, really enjoy my epidemiology class – the professor is great and everything we learn makes complete and logical sense.
3.       Physiology just got way more confusing – but I got to perform an ECG on myself (or maybe I should say my lab group performed it on me).

ECG time

4.       Immunology is the worst class ever – so boring, so long, and the professor always lectures into our lunchtime (easiest way to make me cranky is to prevent me from eating).
5.       Dissecting large animals is much messier and smellier than dissecting small animals – if I have mutant children it’s due to the large amounts of formaldehyde I’m being exposed to
6.  Scalpel blades are sharp.  It is best to keep them away from your thumb.  This experienced helped to remind myself once again that I handle animal blood much better than my own :)
7.       I have a much shorter attention span than I did pre-break.  I also require much more sleep at this point in my life than I did last semester.  Both are problems in my life right now.

My new friend, Dalton

8.       If you’re looking for another good blog to read check out bloggingfoodforthought.blogspot.com – I just posted last week on a “cow-wash” :)
9.       No tests yet this semester – I could get used to having my Friday’s off! Unfortunately, our first test is coming up this Friday.
10.  Last, but not least - just because we haven't had tests doesn't mean I haven't been putting my knowledge to work.  We now have 20 point quizzes every other Gross Lab period - and I am constantly amazing myself and how much easier it is to learn structures on the horse that I learned in the dog.  They really are very similar and it's such a great feeling to pull info out of your head you forgot you even learned the first time around  :)

That's all for now!  Happy Tuesday :)

New Semester, New Beginnings

Six days left until my glorious Christmas break finally ends, and as much as I'm going to regret saying this I'm so ready to be back to school.  However, the two things I will miss most when school starts are 1) Sleeping in and 2) My daily routine filled of watching How I Met Your Mother -- of course it's no Big Bang Theory, but I still love it.

I have a whole new set of classes this semester and am looking forward to most of them.  We have four core classes this semester (last semester we only had three) - I'm also in two hours of electives.

Here's the rundown on my core classes:

Gross Anatomy II - basic anatomy of cattle, horses, pigs, chickens, and lab animals.  Also includes large animal dissection, which will be a whole new experience for me.

Physiology II - digging deeper into the functions of the cardiovascular, endocrine, respiratory, renal, digestive, reproductive and thermoregulatory systems.  This class will also focus on the criteria necessary for evaluating an animals health.  This class also has a lab period (something that Physio I didn't) so it will be interesting to see what exactly we do in this lab.

Immunology - learning and understanding the immune system and its role in fighting diseases.  Basically we'll hear the words "antigens" and "antibodies" about 50 times a class period - or so I'm guessing :)

Epidemiology - this is a new word for me.  After skimming over the class syllabus I've learned that we'll be learning about describing diseases, disease transmission, diagnostic methods and tests, and population health management.  I can't say it sounds like the most exciting class this semester, but hopefully I'll find some parts of it interesting.

Aaaaand here are my electives:

Comparative Embryology - learning about developmental anatomy and normal structure and function of the anatomy as it develops.  It also covers developmental diseases.

Bovine Theriogenology - this class is focused on cattle reproduction. 

So here's a little explanation for the electives... we basically had four options to choose from and I chose the lesser of the evils.  Neither of them are exactly what I would choose to learn more about, but hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised and maybe I'll even develop a new love for cattle.  However, I wouldn't bet on it - I think baby cows are cute and I like steak, but that's as far as our love goes.

So that's what's in store for the next 5 months!  Hopefully they will go as well as the first 5 :)

Christmas Break

Surprise! I'm alive!

I know, I know.. it's been a while.  But after finishing up with finals sitting down at a computer and having to use my brain just didn't sound appealing. 

So what exactly have I been up to since school has ended?  Well, after reveling (that's a word, right?) in the fact that I GOT MY A in Gross Anatomy - I decided I deserved a little time off.  I have successfully been quite possibly the laziest person in the world over break.  It's been absolutely wonderful.  Here is a list of things I've checked off my "to-do" list:

1. Slept in
2. Snuggled with Little Bear
3. Snuggled with my favorite little boy, Eli
4. Sang Christmas music at church
5. Got an espresso maker from Cole and am becoming a barista (or trying to)
6. Read "The Help" -- and watched the movie, but the book is much better
7. Started reading "Water for Elephants" (a gift from Cole's parents) -- movie will follow :)
8. Spent some time in Topeka with the Grieves fam
9. Spent some time in Plainville with my Grandpa
10. Spent some time in KC with the Addison fam
11. Worn sweatpants almost every day

So as you can see, my days have been very busy and I've clearly had no time for blogging :)  Okay.. that might be a lie.

Just keep swimming...

SO CLOSE!

In 48 hours I will be completely done with my first semester of vet school.  Friday afternoon can not get here soon enough :)

So far I'm very, VERY happy with all of my grades...  A's in the electives and B's in the core classes (Physio and Micro) - Friday's final is in Gross Anatomy and could potentially be my only core class A, so let's keep our fingers crossed.

Little Bear has been a very supportive study buddy with me at my parents house, although he'd be even better if he could bring me some Starbucks.  Cole has been so supportive as well, but he'd be better if he brought me Starbucks too (hint hint!)

This past weekend my family and Cole's family got together to celebrate Cole graduating from KSU.  As of 4:00 today he was all done with finals and officially a college graduate! I couldn't be more proud :)  - aaaaactually... I could be more proud if I had some Starbucks :)

Bear helping write some notes...

Bear helping pack my bookbag...

Bear learning how to use a stethoscope...

College of Business Graduation :)

That's all for now - more updates to come after this ridiculous week is finally over!

Home Stretch

Good Morning, Mom!

Holy Cow - I just finished my 15th week of vet school.  Is this real life?  Only one more week of classes left, a week of finals, and I am 1/8th of the way toward being a doctor!

Here are the updates...

Physio -- Successfully got a B on the ridiculously long, 12-page, short-answer test right before Thanksgiving (despite my fever).  I was so proud of my grade - considering I felt like death the day before - but I kind of get the feeling I wouldn't have done any better even if I was as healthy as ever.  We also had another physio test this morning and I got an A.  This test was only 35 multiple choice questions - much more my style :)  After calculating my grade, I have to get a 100% on the final to get an 89.5% in the class - enough to hopefully round to an A.  Maybe I'm crazy - but I'm going for it :)

Microanatomy -- Meh.  Definitely ready to be done with this class.  We're currently learning about blood cells and hemopoeisis, which is essentially the formation of blood cells.  We are done with regular tests in here and just have the final left.  I'm at the point, where even if I get a 100% on the final I can't get an A, but I would pretty much have to bomb it to lose my B.  I guess that means I should be happy and not stress about the final? - yeah right.

Our perfect patient, Lark!

Gross Anatomy -- Still by far my absolute favorite class, and my highest grade.  Dissections of the head were kind of a disaster before Thanksgiving, and everyone is so behind in lab, but at least we're all at the same level right?  This week, we've done my favorite thing so far - Live Dog Labs.  Essentially its a room full of dogs, that the vet students can bring, and we work on palpating and identifying all of the structures we've dissected this semester on real dogs.  At the end of both lab periods we've had 50 point quizzes over what we've found.  And now I am going to brag about how I got 100% on BOTH.  Naturally I think I'm a genius now, because isn't working on live dogs what I'm going to be doing for the rest of my life?  I probably don't even need to study for the final, I could be a vet right now-- kidding Mom, I'll study lots :)  Also - I had to look up how to spell genius, so maybe a few more years of school wouldn't hurt.

Is the flash too bright?... Sorry Cole, I had to :)

Life outside of vet school -- Spent Thanksgiving relaxing with the family.  I had high hopes of everything I was going to accomplish over break, and successfully accomplished absolutely nothing.  But it was an absolutely phenomenal break.  I spent some time with my sister and her husband, my dad's side of the family in Plainville, and Cole and his family.  I also spent all week snuggling with Little Bear and started season 3 of Big Bang Theory - does it get any better than that?  I think not.

So that is my life in a nutshell.  Next week is considered "dead" week, but let me tell you - it is alive and kicking.  I have 3 tests and a paper and presentation due, BUT all of my classes are wrapping up - some of them I don't even have next week.  A 5-week Christmas Break is the light at the end of the tunnel, so let's just pray I make it through these next two weeks :)

Thanksgiving is Here!

Welcome to Thanksgiving Break! What am I doing right now?  Relaxing on the couch and watching TV for the first time in a long time.  And it is absolutely magical :)

Dr. Bear

It's been a pretty interesting couple of days.  I woke up in the middle of the night Wednesday with a fever and all of the fun cough/congestion that goes along with that.  So, in the interest of my well-being (and to save everyone else from getting sick before the holidays) I stayed home all day Thursday.  It finally broke my perfect attendance record, and I'm not sure how I feel about that.  After a day of recuperating (and attempted studying) I had to get up this morning and go take my 130 point Physiology test.  Let's just say, it could've gone worse (it also could've gone better).  Luckily though, I have a stable grade in that class that hopefully won't be too affected by one test.

Best Lab Group Ever :)

Other than that school is pretty boring.  We have been dissecting brains in Gross Anatomy lab and looking at the kidney in Microanatomy.  Now for the next few days, my goal is to not think a single thought involving school -- and then maybe start cramming for finals :)