A whole month. Wow.
Yesterday I stabbed myself with a 18 gauge needle in the finger. For those of you out there that have never done that, it hurts. A lot. Today it hurts more...I think I might have stabbed to the bone. Ow.
Both a good and a frustrating day today. I need to be more aggressive in my handling of animals and my technique in drawing blood. I still jump when I shouldn't, and I know that it's just experience that will take care of it, but still, I feel horrible when I jump when a cat snaps at me. I understand that while they are all accommodating (and they very much are), they also need to run a business, and I know that I have to get gently pushed to the side if I'm not really helping....I just hate not being able to help, or feeling like I don't know what needs to be done. I'm trying, but it's frustrating. I feel like I should be perfect the first time I try something, and it doesn't work like that. Try try again, I suppose.
-Saw the cutest french bulldog today (this is not something I will often say) with a lepto vaccine reaction. Poor guy, his face was swollen and he had broken out in hives. A quick benedryl and he was back to normal! Sweet sweet dog.
-Gave a kitty enema today. Exciting. The cat, who was very sweet, also had these fish hooks for claws...and nailed me with one of them accidentally when I picked him up. He got it so far in that it hooked into my skin and we couldn't get it out for a moment. That was not too much fun, to be honest.
-Helped hold a squirmy pug that was covered in hotspots while she got clipped and cleaned up. This proved to be a disgusting ordeal. There was something very interesting about this dog, though...she was a he! A true hermaphrodite, at least before they performed an operation to make it a 'she' instead of a mystery sex. Cute pug.
-Spoke to a family about their lyme positive dog. I'm trying to do more go homes and admits lately since I'm in surgery (and a bit of kennel) coming up this next month. I'm really excited!
-Helped do another quill dog...the practice owner's dog!
-A CVHS (central vermont humane society) dog came in that needed to be shaved, and I had never seen such a matted, disgusting dog. They just about halved this dog's weight by shedding all the excess hair, the poor thing.
-The dogfight dog went home...I feel so bad for her, going back to a life of being picked on. One of the techs was saying that one day the dog is just going to snap and let the other one have it. I'm not sure if I want her to be right or wrong.
-The bacteria urine dog is still there, and looking a bit better, but not much. Here's hoping!
-I got to do a tech appointment by myself today! It's the small things, like pulling blood, that make me happy. I also got some blood on a 18 year old dehydrated cat! I was thrilled.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Day.....13?
Busy day! Well, they're all busy, but this one was a very phone and perscription oriented day. I filled a lot, did a lot of callbacks/rechecks, and spent some time with the computer system. I also got grumped at a few times today from some grumpy people who just wanted someone to grump at. A little stressful, people were a bit upset today from just the stress of starting the day (apparently they front doors were unlocked and there were clients INSIDE the clinic, waiting for people), which consisted of a VSNIP family with three dogs dropping off for snipping, and they had three loud and crazy kids, one of which insisted on quacking through the admit. Really.
-Got to help on a dog fight repair today. Poor dog was just the victim of an agressive housemate...and so lives in the basement, apart from the other dog. I feel so bad for her, and her ear was just about bit off. Poor girl.
-Did a lot of phone calls and such, which was boring, but still good to do. It makes me feel smart when I can answer someone's questions!
-Met one of the nastiest, angriest cats I've ever seen...and then another one came in right after it. They had to put it back in the carrier with three techs, gloves, and a broom.
-A dog that came in yesterday with a high bacteria load in her urine is still there, but not doing so well. She vomited up the nastiest stuff, which was just bile but about the stickiest stuff ever. I just hope that she's okay, she's very lethargic and not interested in moving around a lot.
-Pulled a heartworm test today on the biggest wolfhound I've ever seen...125 pounds! Gorgeous dog, and such a sweetheart. Also did more vaccines and rehitched a catheter.
-Got to hold off on a gigantic, and very grumpy, cat (what is it with nasty cats?), and I am starting to prefer dogs even more. Sure, now I say that and I'll get snapped at.
Bed time!
-Got to help on a dog fight repair today. Poor dog was just the victim of an agressive housemate...and so lives in the basement, apart from the other dog. I feel so bad for her, and her ear was just about bit off. Poor girl.
-Did a lot of phone calls and such, which was boring, but still good to do. It makes me feel smart when I can answer someone's questions!
-Met one of the nastiest, angriest cats I've ever seen...and then another one came in right after it. They had to put it back in the carrier with three techs, gloves, and a broom.
-A dog that came in yesterday with a high bacteria load in her urine is still there, but not doing so well. She vomited up the nastiest stuff, which was just bile but about the stickiest stuff ever. I just hope that she's okay, she's very lethargic and not interested in moving around a lot.
-Pulled a heartworm test today on the biggest wolfhound I've ever seen...125 pounds! Gorgeous dog, and such a sweetheart. Also did more vaccines and rehitched a catheter.
-Got to hold off on a gigantic, and very grumpy, cat (what is it with nasty cats?), and I am starting to prefer dogs even more. Sure, now I say that and I'll get snapped at.
Bed time!
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Day 12
I can't believe I've been here almost a month! Craziness.
-Did the recalls this morning, which was an interesting experience to do all of them. The phones were ringing off the hook when I first got in, which makes sense after the holiday. I also got hung up on for the first time!
-Called back the URI cats...and one died. Didn't talk to the lady, but hopefully the other kitten is doing fine.
-I forgot to mention this last week, but a stray was brought in from Burger King, a little calico kitten. She's so cute! Very friendly and a typical kitten spaz case. She was adopted today...I'm going to miss her!
-Did some more blood draws today, and missed a vein on a lab that was twitching around. Cute lab...but I really wanted to hit the vein! The other tech said I just need to go for it and not worry about missing the vein. We'll see!
-Got to help de-quill a dog. Poor pup, it was a big shepard and she had quills all the way into the roof of her mouth. We got them all, but that can't be comfortable.
-Spent a lot of time on the phone today, but I'm getting to do more calls and such, which is good experience.
-Still feeling a bit out of place, but I think that's because they're so well staffed that I'm just an extraneous body. Oh well, I hear that there will be people taking time off soon, so hopefully I can just jump in.
Still very tired, working two jobs sucks, but at least there were no skunks last night!
-Did the recalls this morning, which was an interesting experience to do all of them. The phones were ringing off the hook when I first got in, which makes sense after the holiday. I also got hung up on for the first time!
-Called back the URI cats...and one died. Didn't talk to the lady, but hopefully the other kitten is doing fine.
-I forgot to mention this last week, but a stray was brought in from Burger King, a little calico kitten. She's so cute! Very friendly and a typical kitten spaz case. She was adopted today...I'm going to miss her!
-Did some more blood draws today, and missed a vein on a lab that was twitching around. Cute lab...but I really wanted to hit the vein! The other tech said I just need to go for it and not worry about missing the vein. We'll see!
-Got to help de-quill a dog. Poor pup, it was a big shepard and she had quills all the way into the roof of her mouth. We got them all, but that can't be comfortable.
-Spent a lot of time on the phone today, but I'm getting to do more calls and such, which is good experience.
-Still feeling a bit out of place, but I think that's because they're so well staffed that I'm just an extraneous body. Oh well, I hear that there will be people taking time off soon, so hopefully I can just jump in.
Still very tired, working two jobs sucks, but at least there were no skunks last night!
Thursday May 24th (Day 11)
Good day today! Although I think it was one of the longest...but that might be because I'm driving to Toronto very very early tomorrow morning. Exciting!
-Got to do some more surgery things today, such as help move a gigantic great dane from the table to recover....which then bled all over me.
-Saw two black kittens with upper respiratory disease. One was looking a bit better, more spry, but the other wasn't doing too well. I went in and worked with them, wormed them, cleaned their ears, and gave the sicker one some subcutaneous fluids. I then changed my top and scrubbed the heck out of my arms so I didn't give something awful to my cats here.
-Washed some instruments and learned how to make their packs.
A pretty average day, although that dane was an interesting case (the lump, as well as the dog, were both just HUGE), as were the kittens. Now...Toronto!
-Got to do some more surgery things today, such as help move a gigantic great dane from the table to recover....which then bled all over me.
-Saw two black kittens with upper respiratory disease. One was looking a bit better, more spry, but the other wasn't doing too well. I went in and worked with them, wormed them, cleaned their ears, and gave the sicker one some subcutaneous fluids. I then changed my top and scrubbed the heck out of my arms so I didn't give something awful to my cats here.
-Washed some instruments and learned how to make their packs.
A pretty average day, although that dane was an interesting case (the lump, as well as the dog, were both just HUGE), as were the kittens. Now...Toronto!
Wednesday May 23rd (Day 10)
Today the skunk is a little less horrid, only when you're next to me can you smell it (or at least that's what I've been told, heh).
-The original abscess kitty came back! The hole (where the drain was) was still open, but he's looking a lot better. They stitched him up and he's good to go!
-Tried some more recheck calls in the morning. I'm just waiting for someone to hang up on me.
-Today was the day of body fluids. I got peed on twice, bled on, and pooped on. No vomit, thankfully. We all joked that the smell of everything on me would cancel out the skunk.
-Got to sit with a nice chocolate lab today who had gotten into compost and had some toxicology issues. He turned out okay, but we definitely spent an hour cuddling while he had to calm down and stop shaking.
-Man, I hate the smell of skunk now.
-The original abscess kitty came back! The hole (where the drain was) was still open, but he's looking a lot better. They stitched him up and he's good to go!
-Tried some more recheck calls in the morning. I'm just waiting for someone to hang up on me.
-Today was the day of body fluids. I got peed on twice, bled on, and pooped on. No vomit, thankfully. We all joked that the smell of everything on me would cancel out the skunk.
-Got to sit with a nice chocolate lab today who had gotten into compost and had some toxicology issues. He turned out okay, but we definitely spent an hour cuddling while he had to calm down and stop shaking.
-Man, I hate the smell of skunk now.
Tuesday, May 20th (day 9)
I can't believe I've been here three weeks! Or at least this is the start of my third week.
Today was overshadowed by one very important event that kept me up till 3 am the night before (I get up at 6am): my dog was skunked. I've never seen it as bad as he had it, it was yellow and dripping off his chest, with a slightly swollen red area where it hit him. Thinking I was being smart, I rushed him inside to get it off of him before it dried....and instead stunk up the entire apartment. Me, my dog, my two cats, my apartment, my car, my clothes, and even my shoes, smell like skunk. The first thing I heard when I walked into work? 'Did a dog come in that got skunked?' 'Do you smell skunk?' 'Was an animal skunked?' All day long was that joke, and really, I DID smell. Skunk Off is probably one of the best substances known to man. I came home today and cleaned everything, bagged what I couldn't clean, and hope for the best. Funnily enough, Murph smells better than I do at this time.
-Did more blood draws today, and tried to step in and do what I could, but the highlight of my day was performing (partly, since I was learning), a cat neuter. Man, when they say to tug...they really mean it! Definitely an interesting experience. The cat was a total sweetheart, woke up and wanted to love everyone...although he was growling during the procedure!
-Today went fast, and very well. I think it was my best day yet, I felt like I kept busy without even trying and did okay. I seem to have some sort of scale dyslexia, and keep mixing up the numbers, though.
-We have meetings on Tuesdays, and I feel so bad, but I keep almost falling asleep to them! They're interesting, like today we talked about online pharmacies versus regular perscriptions and filling our own with an online option.
-Staying up to deskunk a dog takes a lot out of you, I'm wiped.
Today was overshadowed by one very important event that kept me up till 3 am the night before (I get up at 6am): my dog was skunked. I've never seen it as bad as he had it, it was yellow and dripping off his chest, with a slightly swollen red area where it hit him. Thinking I was being smart, I rushed him inside to get it off of him before it dried....and instead stunk up the entire apartment. Me, my dog, my two cats, my apartment, my car, my clothes, and even my shoes, smell like skunk. The first thing I heard when I walked into work? 'Did a dog come in that got skunked?' 'Do you smell skunk?' 'Was an animal skunked?' All day long was that joke, and really, I DID smell. Skunk Off is probably one of the best substances known to man. I came home today and cleaned everything, bagged what I couldn't clean, and hope for the best. Funnily enough, Murph smells better than I do at this time.
-Did more blood draws today, and tried to step in and do what I could, but the highlight of my day was performing (partly, since I was learning), a cat neuter. Man, when they say to tug...they really mean it! Definitely an interesting experience. The cat was a total sweetheart, woke up and wanted to love everyone...although he was growling during the procedure!
-Today went fast, and very well. I think it was my best day yet, I felt like I kept busy without even trying and did okay. I seem to have some sort of scale dyslexia, and keep mixing up the numbers, though.
-We have meetings on Tuesdays, and I feel so bad, but I keep almost falling asleep to them! They're interesting, like today we talked about online pharmacies versus regular perscriptions and filling our own with an online option.
-Staying up to deskunk a dog takes a lot out of you, I'm wiped.
Saturday May 19th (Day 8)
List! (Short day, only from 9-1)
-Not a good day, the receptionist's cat had to be put down....as did the diabetic dog. The little dog definitely put everyone in a mood...and the owner, the nice little old man, had to comfort the two vets that worked on him. I think everyone had tears in their eyes.
-Murphy, my dog, was with me since I was going to my friend's graduation after work, so I brought him inside and pulled a heartworm test on him. He's negative!
-Today went fast, but after the first two casualties, I wasn't sad to leave. Poor guys...it seems like when it rains, it pours.
-Not a good day, the receptionist's cat had to be put down....as did the diabetic dog. The little dog definitely put everyone in a mood...and the owner, the nice little old man, had to comfort the two vets that worked on him. I think everyone had tears in their eyes.
-Murphy, my dog, was with me since I was going to my friend's graduation after work, so I brought him inside and pulled a heartworm test on him. He's negative!
-Today went fast, but after the first two casualties, I wasn't sad to leave. Poor guys...it seems like when it rains, it pours.
Thursday May 17th (Day 7)
Another list day! (I like lists)
-Feeling okay with turning on the morning routine, although on Thursdays I get in around 9am, so it's all done.
-Busy day. We had a lot of ins and outs, including a few rechecks that I knew when they came in. One of them was a dog that had previously eaten a sock, which was doing fine.
-We had a little white terrier that was sick from BEVS that came in. Her owner is a nice guy, older man who had just lost his wife...and his pup isn't doing so well either. She's severely diabetic, looks like renal failure. They're keeping her overnight, but she's a bit perkier when I left, so here's hoping.
-We had one of the receptionists' cats come in, lethargic, not eating, ADR (I have heard the doctors use this phrase, I can't tell you how happy it made me), and had the darkest urine I have ever seen. It was almost black for all that it was so dark brown. On the same note, cystos are really common, moreso than I ever thought. Still not a big fan of them, though.
-Used the copy machine today!
-I've been peeking in on more surgery (they're well staffed, so most days I find myself without even busy work to do...so I go and look over peoples' shoulders, ask what they're doing, etc), and got to help do some prep and such. It's much more fun than front tech work!
-Nine hour days suck.
-Feeling okay with turning on the morning routine, although on Thursdays I get in around 9am, so it's all done.
-Busy day. We had a lot of ins and outs, including a few rechecks that I knew when they came in. One of them was a dog that had previously eaten a sock, which was doing fine.
-We had a little white terrier that was sick from BEVS that came in. Her owner is a nice guy, older man who had just lost his wife...and his pup isn't doing so well either. She's severely diabetic, looks like renal failure. They're keeping her overnight, but she's a bit perkier when I left, so here's hoping.
-We had one of the receptionists' cats come in, lethargic, not eating, ADR (I have heard the doctors use this phrase, I can't tell you how happy it made me), and had the darkest urine I have ever seen. It was almost black for all that it was so dark brown. On the same note, cystos are really common, moreso than I ever thought. Still not a big fan of them, though.
-Used the copy machine today!
-I've been peeking in on more surgery (they're well staffed, so most days I find myself without even busy work to do...so I go and look over peoples' shoulders, ask what they're doing, etc), and got to help do some prep and such. It's much more fun than front tech work!
-Nine hour days suck.
Wednesday May 16th (day 6)
Good day today, although I still feel extraneous and I hate that. Everyone is really nice, though, and encourage questions, which is always nice. Things are a bit crazy in every day life and at my other job, so I'm going to do a list again:
-Doing more blood draws and did my first vaccination today. Fun! (if sort of terrifying)
-Dr. Quinn keeps trying to convince me to work in small animal medicine, even though she knows I want to do research. It's kind of nice to feel like I'm working well enough that people want me around!
-Feel pretty comfortable with perscriptions for the most part, although I am still trying to remember where everything is.
Hmm...sort of a mediocore day. Not a whole lot going on.
-Doing more blood draws and did my first vaccination today. Fun! (if sort of terrifying)
-Dr. Quinn keeps trying to convince me to work in small animal medicine, even though she knows I want to do research. It's kind of nice to feel like I'm working well enough that people want me around!
-Feel pretty comfortable with perscriptions for the most part, although I am still trying to remember where everything is.
Hmm...sort of a mediocore day. Not a whole lot going on.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Day 5
Good day today, did the regular opening stuff (some of it, like start up x-ray), but most of it was done by the time I got there. I was sort of extraneous in the beginning, we were down a tech for a bit and most of the first hour was surgery admits. I had never done one, so today I got to follow along, learn what to say and do, and then I got to check a little rat terrier in for a neuter. It wasn't very complicated, just going over the estimate, showing the optional things, like blood work, and explaining each point and what getting the bloodwork, or not, would mean. The guy was very nice, and his little terrier was too, for the most part.
The terrier was good until I got him in the back and drew up his BAG injection (I forget what that stands for, I need to write things down, but it's a mild muscle relaxant and anesthetic) which every inpatient gets unless they have an allergy or some other reaction to it. I got to do my first needlework on this little terrier today, and of course, he's got to be a screamer. The minute I touch him with the little pinprick he howls like I beat him with a mallet. Even when they went to put in the ace and such, he carried on like they were pulling his toenails off. Oh, speaking of screaming things, I got to assist on a cystocentesis last Thursday...on an incredibly unhappy cat. What is it with cystos and unhappy cats? I got to help later with a very nice, if really fat, dog, so that was a bit better.
It was a busy day, so I'm going to make a quick bulleted list of the things that stand out:
-Learned how to do admits. Yay!
-More labwork and I got to work a bit more with the vet machines, doing electrolytes and bloodchem screens.
-Today was the day of angry animals. Had a nasty little schiperkee (sp?), shar pei, and a cat that tried to eat my hand off. Of all the animals that have taken a swipe/nibble at me, a little one pound kitten was the one that freaked out and gave me some battle wounds. Cats.
-Forgot my lunch today. I almost ate the fax machine, thank heavens there's a creamee stand about 1/4th of a mile away.
-Apparently, while doing recalls (checking in with patients, seeing how post-op patients are doing, etc), I found another kitty that had the exact same circumstances and wound as abcess kitty. Weird! I had to ask someone to make sure I had the right file.
The thing that sticks out for today, along with this just one rabid-acting cat, was that I was involved in my first euthanasia. I held the kitty while the other tech administered the dose and I am not afraid to admit that I had to count to ten a few times to keep myself from crying. I didn't think it would be that hard to just hold the vein on a little emaciated kitty, but it was. Poor cat, rest in peace, honey.
Now I'm going to go and rest, long day tomorrow.
The terrier was good until I got him in the back and drew up his BAG injection (I forget what that stands for, I need to write things down, but it's a mild muscle relaxant and anesthetic) which every inpatient gets unless they have an allergy or some other reaction to it. I got to do my first needlework on this little terrier today, and of course, he's got to be a screamer. The minute I touch him with the little pinprick he howls like I beat him with a mallet. Even when they went to put in the ace and such, he carried on like they were pulling his toenails off. Oh, speaking of screaming things, I got to assist on a cystocentesis last Thursday...on an incredibly unhappy cat. What is it with cystos and unhappy cats? I got to help later with a very nice, if really fat, dog, so that was a bit better.
It was a busy day, so I'm going to make a quick bulleted list of the things that stand out:
-Learned how to do admits. Yay!
-More labwork and I got to work a bit more with the vet machines, doing electrolytes and bloodchem screens.
-Today was the day of angry animals. Had a nasty little schiperkee (sp?), shar pei, and a cat that tried to eat my hand off. Of all the animals that have taken a swipe/nibble at me, a little one pound kitten was the one that freaked out and gave me some battle wounds. Cats.
-Forgot my lunch today. I almost ate the fax machine, thank heavens there's a creamee stand about 1/4th of a mile away.
-Apparently, while doing recalls (checking in with patients, seeing how post-op patients are doing, etc), I found another kitty that had the exact same circumstances and wound as abcess kitty. Weird! I had to ask someone to make sure I had the right file.
The thing that sticks out for today, along with this just one rabid-acting cat, was that I was involved in my first euthanasia. I held the kitty while the other tech administered the dose and I am not afraid to admit that I had to count to ten a few times to keep myself from crying. I didn't think it would be that hard to just hold the vein on a little emaciated kitty, but it was. Poor cat, rest in peace, honey.
Now I'm going to go and rest, long day tomorrow.
Day 4
My first Saturday!
As in all practices like this, Saturdays are dreaded shifts. No one wants to work them, not only because of their positioning on the calender, but because they are historically one of the busiest, and craziest, days of the week. I'd heard stories from the other techs, doctors and receptionists, and didn't expect this clinic to be any different than any other place.
I wasn't disappointed, since when I walked in at 9 everyone looked up in passing, arms full of charts, cats, a random dog or two, and smiled in that overly-stressed way that people have when things are busy busy. Of course, just about the time I get there two patients cancel and there is a lull not more than 10 minutes after I clock in so I have suddenly nothing to do. I think that's the worst part of this job: not knowing enough to pick up something and just do it, but knowing enough to think I could try.
Other than that, not a hugely exciting day. The abcess kitty went home, and is apparently doing well. I'm glad he went, but I hope that I get to see him when he comes back in to remove the drain! Hmm, not much else. No surgeries, just go homes (like a doggie that had a sock taken out of his stomach. The sock smelled atrocious) and office calls. I felt a bit more comfortable today, and a bit more like I could actually contribute.
So far, so good!
As in all practices like this, Saturdays are dreaded shifts. No one wants to work them, not only because of their positioning on the calender, but because they are historically one of the busiest, and craziest, days of the week. I'd heard stories from the other techs, doctors and receptionists, and didn't expect this clinic to be any different than any other place.
I wasn't disappointed, since when I walked in at 9 everyone looked up in passing, arms full of charts, cats, a random dog or two, and smiled in that overly-stressed way that people have when things are busy busy. Of course, just about the time I get there two patients cancel and there is a lull not more than 10 minutes after I clock in so I have suddenly nothing to do. I think that's the worst part of this job: not knowing enough to pick up something and just do it, but knowing enough to think I could try.
Other than that, not a hugely exciting day. The abcess kitty went home, and is apparently doing well. I'm glad he went, but I hope that I get to see him when he comes back in to remove the drain! Hmm, not much else. No surgeries, just go homes (like a doggie that had a sock taken out of his stomach. The sock smelled atrocious) and office calls. I felt a bit more comfortable today, and a bit more like I could actually contribute.
So far, so good!
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Day 3
I think my feet might fall off. Seriously, I need to get up and take a shower but I just don't think I can stand. I learned that the dress code was very lax, techs aren't encouraged to wear full scrubs unless they're a surgery tech (which makes me very sad...I love scrub pants!), and some don't even wear scrubs at all....and everyone wears sandals. It took me until today to try it with my tevas....and I think that was a mistake. I love sandals, and I'll wear them again, but not those ones. I think my feet grew, they've been pinching for a while, but damn....the last 6 hours were torture. It's also just a bit of a mental block to think about wearing sandals since I'd have gotten my butt kicked if I ever did that at any of the practices I've been at before.
Abscess kitty is doing okay, he went under the knife today and got all the necrotic tissue around the wound taken off (the doctor working on him thinks that it could have been a fan belt or something like that since it seemed burned to her), castrated, vaccinated, and had a drain put in. He is now one hurtin' kitty! But I think tomorrow he'll be much better, he was waking up nicely when I left, so it looks good.
It was a busy day, but not so busy for me for the most part. I did what I could, a bit more prescriptions and spoke a bit more with the doctors, who are very nice, and tried to stay out of the way during the busy rush times. I did get to help with some more challenging animals, like a grumpy kitty and a really wiggly, but nice, dog. I still think really angry and vocal cats are worse than dogs...although I have no wish to be bitten in any shape or form!
A neat thing that happened today was that I got to assist in an x-ray. I'd never done that before, and while I just held, it was still neat. I also got to play with the vet test machine a bit more and do more pharmaceutical things.
Hmm...there might be more, but it's taken me about an hour to write this because I keep falling asleep in my chair. Is this a taste of what vet school is going to be like?
Abscess kitty is doing okay, he went under the knife today and got all the necrotic tissue around the wound taken off (the doctor working on him thinks that it could have been a fan belt or something like that since it seemed burned to her), castrated, vaccinated, and had a drain put in. He is now one hurtin' kitty! But I think tomorrow he'll be much better, he was waking up nicely when I left, so it looks good.
It was a busy day, but not so busy for me for the most part. I did what I could, a bit more prescriptions and spoke a bit more with the doctors, who are very nice, and tried to stay out of the way during the busy rush times. I did get to help with some more challenging animals, like a grumpy kitty and a really wiggly, but nice, dog. I still think really angry and vocal cats are worse than dogs...although I have no wish to be bitten in any shape or form!
A neat thing that happened today was that I got to assist in an x-ray. I'd never done that before, and while I just held, it was still neat. I also got to play with the vet test machine a bit more and do more pharmaceutical things.
Hmm...there might be more, but it's taken me about an hour to write this because I keep falling asleep in my chair. Is this a taste of what vet school is going to be like?
Day 2
(I didn't get a chance to post this last night so I'm doing it today)
Day two was a little better, I felt a bit more comfortable and a bit more aware of what I could/should be doing. I still played shadow to people, and I'm sure I'm going to start to annoy people by constantly asking what needs to be done, if I can help, is there anything I can do, can I run that heartworm test, etc. Really though, I want to learn, and I want to try to learn as much as I can, even things that I haven't seen yet in school, like radiology or dentistry. I started filling a few perscriptions as well, which was interesting, but I yet to have a password for the computer so I have to ask someone to log in so I could print out a label.
I started wandering a bit on my own, such as going out and taking clients on my own and ranging around cleaning things, fixing up rooms, that sort of thing.
Some interesting things that happened:
-A very strange lady who walks her cat from the bus stop on a leash to the hospital, brings the doctor a baked potato sometimes, and is really chatty, came in with her cat. Her kitty horked up a gigantic grass hairball (from eating grass on his long walk from the bus stop, I assume), and I cleaned it up. Apparently, she was impressed with my puke-scooping skills, and was praising me to the receptionists. Everyone found this very funny and told me I was hired. I said that if all I needed to do to impress people was to clean up puke, my life is going to be easy!
-A tom kitty came in, having been out lost for a week with no vaccines, with bunches of scars, thin and dehydrated, covered in flea dirt and just plain dirt, and a nasty abscess on the side of his neck. Nice cat, but just a bit freaked out and in pain. I held him (since I was the one around that had my rabies, I'm really glad I got those!) for the exam and subsequent meds and vaccines, but I really liked him. They admitted him and decided to drain the abscess tomorrow.
Other than that it was a pretty good day, fairly routine it seems like, and I got to talk to more people and see more things. I don't feel like I'm really contributing a whole lot, which I understand since it's just my second day, but I hate feeling like I'm not a functional and skilled member of a place that I want to contribute to. Oh well, with time I'm sure!
Day two was a little better, I felt a bit more comfortable and a bit more aware of what I could/should be doing. I still played shadow to people, and I'm sure I'm going to start to annoy people by constantly asking what needs to be done, if I can help, is there anything I can do, can I run that heartworm test, etc. Really though, I want to learn, and I want to try to learn as much as I can, even things that I haven't seen yet in school, like radiology or dentistry. I started filling a few perscriptions as well, which was interesting, but I yet to have a password for the computer so I have to ask someone to log in so I could print out a label.
I started wandering a bit on my own, such as going out and taking clients on my own and ranging around cleaning things, fixing up rooms, that sort of thing.
Some interesting things that happened:
-A very strange lady who walks her cat from the bus stop on a leash to the hospital, brings the doctor a baked potato sometimes, and is really chatty, came in with her cat. Her kitty horked up a gigantic grass hairball (from eating grass on his long walk from the bus stop, I assume), and I cleaned it up. Apparently, she was impressed with my puke-scooping skills, and was praising me to the receptionists. Everyone found this very funny and told me I was hired. I said that if all I needed to do to impress people was to clean up puke, my life is going to be easy!
-A tom kitty came in, having been out lost for a week with no vaccines, with bunches of scars, thin and dehydrated, covered in flea dirt and just plain dirt, and a nasty abscess on the side of his neck. Nice cat, but just a bit freaked out and in pain. I held him (since I was the one around that had my rabies, I'm really glad I got those!) for the exam and subsequent meds and vaccines, but I really liked him. They admitted him and decided to drain the abscess tomorrow.
Other than that it was a pretty good day, fairly routine it seems like, and I got to talk to more people and see more things. I don't feel like I'm really contributing a whole lot, which I understand since it's just my second day, but I hate feeling like I'm not a functional and skilled member of a place that I want to contribute to. Oh well, with time I'm sure!
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Day 1
Holy crap, I'm tired.
So...where to start. I got there at a little past 8 (the traffic in Montpelier was killer) and parked in what was luckily the employee parking. I walked in and told the receptionist desk that I was there to work. They said to just go on back and see someone, so I went back into the lab/surgery/pharmacy area and ran into two of the morning techs. I made some greetings, met the office manager, got a bit of a tour (I had one before, but it was nice to do it again, took some of the nerves off) and then chatted with one of the techs about scrubs (she had gotten an order of them delivered to the hospital that morning). From there I went downstairs and sort of just stood in the corner for a minute or two, feeling very out of place and nervous, until I saw someone that I thought I might be able to shadow and struck up a conversation. I ended up following her around and asking all those newbie questions, 'what does this do?' 'what's your normal routine in the morning?' 'why does it make this sound?' 'where did you get that and where are the others?'. They didn't seem to particularly mind, and I figure that the best way to figure something out is to ask questions, so I kept on going. The tech I followed around in the morning (Rachael? I'm horrible with names) was very nice, as was the rest of the people there. I follow her through the morning appointments for the most part (I bounced a bit between her and another front tech, Amy), and we just went around and she showed me the morning routine, which consisted of things like turning on the x-ray machine and fan, keeping the door open so it doesn't overheat and explode, turning on the vet test machine (it's the same as the one in school, which made me feel a bit better, as silly as it sounds), checking the boxes in the lab (they're labeled by day and contain callbacks, things like that) and showed me where the lab stuff was kept (in a box right next to it). She also showed me how to file a few things, like lab pending work, what to do with files that are all set, files that need results, how to write in the results, where the stickers are, the snap test they used for heartworm (there were so many today!) and a few other things I'm sure I've forgotten in the information overload that was today. Oh, and we read culture broths in the morning, too, almost forgot. I was a little disappointed to find out that they send out all their lab work and that urinalysis is read by the doctors. Not that I'm a huge fan of the barren field that is usually a urinalysis test, but I was hoping to get to do a little lab work. I spoke with a tech about it, and she said that most hospitals don't do their own labs and send them out. Bummer!
After a few the patients starting coming in, and I was taught how to check them in. Basically, I go out (they've got this nifty little light system that blinks or lights up depending on the type of visit (an outpatient/inpatient or tech visit versus a regular doctor office call) and so the tech sees the light, goes out, grabs the chart from the box, turns off the light, looks it over and determines how to approach it (if it's a tech appointment or office call, for example). For regular calls we take a little laminated sheet and write the patient's last name, the patient's name, room number (there are 3), and the time of the visit, then snag the patient, weigh them (in the room for cats, out in the lobby for dogs) and then bring them into the room and tell them the doctor will be with them in a moment. The doctor comes in, looks them over, comes out and writes on the laminated sheet what they want done and gives it to their tech, who goes back in and gives vaccines, takes blood, whatever needs to be done. For tech appointments, the tech goes in and does whatever needs to be done directly (such as very nifty drain removal I did today on a dog that was so sweet and older than dirt), and then tells them they're all set, etc. I didn't do any surgery admits today, but I've seen them done and they look fairly straightforward.
So the appointments began, and we went in, looked them over/did whatever the doctor wanted, then went back and ran whatever tests needed to be (such as a heartworm and there was one bg/fructosamine test which we sent out) then told the patient to have a nice day. That was basically what the day consisted of (I got to look over the shoulder of one of the surgery techs as she did a dental and learned that we do extractions too, and that I can learn all that while I'm there. I'm very excited! I want to assist in surgery so much, I can't wait), and most of the appointments were skin allergies and annuals (heartworm (we use a combo snap for three tick borne pathogens, heartworm, lyme and erlichia I think, it's abbreviated as 'hle' and I can't spell erlichia), vaccines and routine checkups). The most interesting case during the day was one of the surgeries...a dog that ate a puzzle piece and a little rubber cow-shaped eraser! The x-rays were really funny, you could clearly see the cow. Another interesting one was a dog with some sort of corneal ulcer that was given a prescription of rimadyl and when his 'mom' went to stop at the creamee stand to get them a treat (lucky dog, I would have bitten someone's leg for ice cream this afternoon), the dog got into the rimadyl and ate the whole damn thing. She brought the dog back and we helped it puke up all the drugs.
We had a group lunch/meeting this afternoon that was kind of interesting, but on a not-veterinary level. There was some issues that came out in the meeting, about people being on time, taking long lunches, etc, but the worst part of it was that a man who is apparently a financial consultant came in...and spoke just like an infomercial motivational self-help speaker. Nice guy and all, but in the afternoon warmth and warm breeze, a full stomach and this man's diatribe, I just about fell asleep. I felt so bad! How horrible would it be to nod off in the middle of my first day during a staff meeting. I swear I have a touch of narcolepsy.
Anyhow, towards the end of the afternoon I broke off a little bit and doctors started to ask for my help, so I just followed them around, asked if they needed anything when I didn't have anything to do, and ran some heartworm tests on my own, packaged up a few samples, and worked with some of the other techs (not the lady I was shadowing) in doing other things, like administering subcutaneous fluids to a skeletal siamese.
I'm sure there are things that I'm missing, but that's the basic gist of today. It was good, and I feel okay about it, but we'll see what tomorrow brings. Nothing bit me yet, but I did get a bit nibbled by a fractious pug.
Oh, there is one other thing. About 10 am there was a euthanasia. I didn't go in for that, not because I didn't want to (well, I'll admit, I didn't really want to), but because it wasn't my place to. It was a diabetic cat, old and dying. His name was Harry.
Well, that's it. I'm going to take a shower, drink a glass of wine, and sleep for as long as I can, I'm wiped.
So...where to start. I got there at a little past 8 (the traffic in Montpelier was killer) and parked in what was luckily the employee parking. I walked in and told the receptionist desk that I was there to work. They said to just go on back and see someone, so I went back into the lab/surgery/pharmacy area and ran into two of the morning techs. I made some greetings, met the office manager, got a bit of a tour (I had one before, but it was nice to do it again, took some of the nerves off) and then chatted with one of the techs about scrubs (she had gotten an order of them delivered to the hospital that morning). From there I went downstairs and sort of just stood in the corner for a minute or two, feeling very out of place and nervous, until I saw someone that I thought I might be able to shadow and struck up a conversation. I ended up following her around and asking all those newbie questions, 'what does this do?' 'what's your normal routine in the morning?' 'why does it make this sound?' 'where did you get that and where are the others?'. They didn't seem to particularly mind, and I figure that the best way to figure something out is to ask questions, so I kept on going. The tech I followed around in the morning (Rachael? I'm horrible with names) was very nice, as was the rest of the people there. I follow her through the morning appointments for the most part (I bounced a bit between her and another front tech, Amy), and we just went around and she showed me the morning routine, which consisted of things like turning on the x-ray machine and fan, keeping the door open so it doesn't overheat and explode, turning on the vet test machine (it's the same as the one in school, which made me feel a bit better, as silly as it sounds), checking the boxes in the lab (they're labeled by day and contain callbacks, things like that) and showed me where the lab stuff was kept (in a box right next to it). She also showed me how to file a few things, like lab pending work, what to do with files that are all set, files that need results, how to write in the results, where the stickers are, the snap test they used for heartworm (there were so many today!) and a few other things I'm sure I've forgotten in the information overload that was today. Oh, and we read culture broths in the morning, too, almost forgot. I was a little disappointed to find out that they send out all their lab work and that urinalysis is read by the doctors. Not that I'm a huge fan of the barren field that is usually a urinalysis test, but I was hoping to get to do a little lab work. I spoke with a tech about it, and she said that most hospitals don't do their own labs and send them out. Bummer!
After a few the patients starting coming in, and I was taught how to check them in. Basically, I go out (they've got this nifty little light system that blinks or lights up depending on the type of visit (an outpatient/inpatient or tech visit versus a regular doctor office call) and so the tech sees the light, goes out, grabs the chart from the box, turns off the light, looks it over and determines how to approach it (if it's a tech appointment or office call, for example). For regular calls we take a little laminated sheet and write the patient's last name, the patient's name, room number (there are 3), and the time of the visit, then snag the patient, weigh them (in the room for cats, out in the lobby for dogs) and then bring them into the room and tell them the doctor will be with them in a moment. The doctor comes in, looks them over, comes out and writes on the laminated sheet what they want done and gives it to their tech, who goes back in and gives vaccines, takes blood, whatever needs to be done. For tech appointments, the tech goes in and does whatever needs to be done directly (such as very nifty drain removal I did today on a dog that was so sweet and older than dirt), and then tells them they're all set, etc. I didn't do any surgery admits today, but I've seen them done and they look fairly straightforward.
So the appointments began, and we went in, looked them over/did whatever the doctor wanted, then went back and ran whatever tests needed to be (such as a heartworm and there was one bg/fructosamine test which we sent out) then told the patient to have a nice day. That was basically what the day consisted of (I got to look over the shoulder of one of the surgery techs as she did a dental and learned that we do extractions too, and that I can learn all that while I'm there. I'm very excited! I want to assist in surgery so much, I can't wait), and most of the appointments were skin allergies and annuals (heartworm (we use a combo snap for three tick borne pathogens, heartworm, lyme and erlichia I think, it's abbreviated as 'hle' and I can't spell erlichia), vaccines and routine checkups). The most interesting case during the day was one of the surgeries...a dog that ate a puzzle piece and a little rubber cow-shaped eraser! The x-rays were really funny, you could clearly see the cow. Another interesting one was a dog with some sort of corneal ulcer that was given a prescription of rimadyl and when his 'mom' went to stop at the creamee stand to get them a treat (lucky dog, I would have bitten someone's leg for ice cream this afternoon), the dog got into the rimadyl and ate the whole damn thing. She brought the dog back and we helped it puke up all the drugs.
We had a group lunch/meeting this afternoon that was kind of interesting, but on a not-veterinary level. There was some issues that came out in the meeting, about people being on time, taking long lunches, etc, but the worst part of it was that a man who is apparently a financial consultant came in...and spoke just like an infomercial motivational self-help speaker. Nice guy and all, but in the afternoon warmth and warm breeze, a full stomach and this man's diatribe, I just about fell asleep. I felt so bad! How horrible would it be to nod off in the middle of my first day during a staff meeting. I swear I have a touch of narcolepsy.
Anyhow, towards the end of the afternoon I broke off a little bit and doctors started to ask for my help, so I just followed them around, asked if they needed anything when I didn't have anything to do, and ran some heartworm tests on my own, packaged up a few samples, and worked with some of the other techs (not the lady I was shadowing) in doing other things, like administering subcutaneous fluids to a skeletal siamese.
I'm sure there are things that I'm missing, but that's the basic gist of today. It was good, and I feel okay about it, but we'll see what tomorrow brings. Nothing bit me yet, but I did get a bit nibbled by a fractious pug.
Oh, there is one other thing. About 10 am there was a euthanasia. I didn't go in for that, not because I didn't want to (well, I'll admit, I didn't really want to), but because it wasn't my place to. It was a diabetic cat, old and dying. His name was Harry.
Well, that's it. I'm going to take a shower, drink a glass of wine, and sleep for as long as I can, I'm wiped.
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