Oh man its been a crazy last fews weeks!
Week 1 in Critical Care was fantastic! I was able to see and do many great things. All the clinicians, interns, and techs were very helpful.
- CPR and emergency drugs (The intern setup a scenario for us and let us practice on a dummy)
- Managing a patient on ventilator
- Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia
- Ultrasography - T FAST and A FAST scans
- Pericardial Peritoneal Diaphragmatic hernia (the sac around the heart is continuous with the abdominal cavity)
- Recumbency care
- Learning the basics around the hospital- filling pharmacy orders, how the different departments interact, who is responsible for what.
- Basic care- setting up fluid pumps, syringe pumps, changing bandages
- Blood transfusions
Week 2 - Vacation! (Much needed)
I drove down to Utah, with a pit stop in Emmett to drop off Mitch and Winter at the McBrides'. (Thank you for taking care of them!) Monday afternoon was Ashley's high school graduation. There were over 600 kids in her class. Afterwards following at crazy parking lot driving experience with Brandon and Grandma Kay we had dinner with Amber and Zach, Kamie and Garff, Brandon, Ryan, Max, Grandma Kay and Grandpa Karl at Longhorns. It was a blast, I laughed and laughed. Zach kept embarrassing Amber until she slinked down below the table to cover her face. I just wish Randy had been there. The next day Mom and I went shopping for scrub pants and suitable shoes. Wednesday, Mom and I flew down to Las Vegas to spend a few days together. I think I'll have to do a separate entry for that trip - too much to share. We flew back to Utah Friday morning.
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| Waiting for the volcano to erupt at the Mirage |
Randy finally arrived that evening. We celebrated by stuffing our faces at Texas Roadhouse. Saturday, Mom, Dad, Randy, Jason, and I went to the temple. Mom, Randy, and I did initiatories while Jason and Dad did baptisms. Randy, Jason, Dad, and I went the Air Force Museum. It was cool to hear my dad tell stories about the different planes. Later that day Chantel drove up from Orem and all of us went out to dinner and then went bowling with the Coxs. Sunday involved church, home videos, and dinner and games with the Coxs. That evening I had to say good bye to my sweet heart once again and he made the trek back to Idaho. Monday, Mom, Dad, Jason and I drove up to East Canyon to spend tim with my mom's family. Jason rode a mountain bike down a creek bed in the rain while I visited with my aunts and grandma. Later Mom and Dad let me have a go on the ATV down at the ranch. Too soon it was time to start loading up the car to head to Idaho. My good friend Maria came over while I packed and loaded the car. It is always good to visit with Maria, I wish it could have been a bit longer.
Week 3 & 4 - Rigby, Idaho
I spent 2 weeks at Mountain River Veterinary Hospital for my SIPE (the student selects any clinic they want). I stayed at my dear friend Brittany's house. Brittany and I have been best friends since high school. I met her when I moved to Florida (the second time) and we roomed together at BYU-I. It was fantastic to spend so much time together. She works two jobs so I read a lot of books and watched a bunch of movies when she wasn't home.
Some of the interesting\fun things I participated in include
- assisting in the delivery of a mini foal. This was my first time witnessing a foal being born
- assisting in a C-section of a dog who had 8 healthy puppies.
- drew blood from about 100 rams for Brucella testing
- performed joint injections on a dog
- spayed 2 dogs and a cat
- floated 3 horses
- assisted in several surgeries- jaw fracture on a horse, spinous process fracture on a horse, infected umbilicus on a foal
- dehorning goat kids with a laser
- neutering cats
- milked mare and tubed her foal (foal wasn't eating enough)
- came up with treatment plans for a variety of patients
Randy came over to visit on the weekend. When we checked into our hotel, Randy was wearing his Idaho Fish and Game Shirt. The man who was helping us check in gave us the government rate which saved us about 50$! We enjoyed dinner at Jonny Carinos and then picked up some groceries for the weekend. Saturday started with Reeds Dairy Ice cream at 11 am and perusing the local farmers market. We then headed up to Rexburg for lunch at Mill Hollow (we used to go here on dates all the time as they serve delicious sandwiches). After lunch we went to the temple to do sealings. It is always a wonderful experience to be in a sacred room with my husband serving husbands and wives who have passed on become sealed together for all eternity. We also participated in some sealing of daughters to parents. The sealer spoke Spanish and performed the ordinance in Spanish for those families who were from Spain. It was such a tender moment and a reminder of what is really important. We later met Sylvia and Bryan for dinner that lasted just shy of 4 hours! It has been a year since we saw them last and we had a lot to catch up on.
After church on Sunday, Randy had to leave to get back to work. I took my scriptures and headed out to enjoy the sunshine on the banks of the Snake river. It rained (I mean poured) almost every day for the 2 weeks I was there so I wasn't about to sit inside while the sun was out.
My last day at MRVH came and I had to start the 4.5 hour drive to Emmett to pick up the little ones. I stopped over in Twin Falls to meet Randy for dinner. I wish I could have spent longer then an hour with him, but I'll take anything thing I can get. Saturday, I woke up with a terrible stomach ache that lasted all day, but we made it home to Pullman safe and sound. I some how managed to get 3 loads of laundry done and make it to the store for necessities. I rounded off the evening with fruit juice popsicles (best thing ever! And the only thing that sounded appetizing to me) and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Life is good. I start on Equine Medicine in the morning!
