Exams, ahhh!

Exams start on Friday! Ahhhh! We start with our clinical skills exam on Friday and I'm not really sure what it entails yet because so much of what we did this block was review. We had some behaviour stuff, stuff about taking a history, a review of suture patterns, a review of one-handed and two-handed hand ties, and a review of instrument ID. I guess I could practice gloving and gowning but they've tested us on that twice already...
I had my food animal rotation last week and it was okay. It was good to kind of get around a cow and know that I can complete a physical exam. Our cow was exceedingly healthy so that was... disappointing in a way? They told us that the exams aren't wellness exams as second years, we're supposed to see something sick and diagnose and treat it but... my calf was healthy. Oh well.
I've been spending a lot of time in anatomy which is good and bad. It's good because I tend to avoid it and so I feel that much better about it but, on the other hand, I feel like I've been slacking in my other classes a little bit.
My MCB presentation, on white muscle disease and damage due to free radicals went pretty well. I haven't gotten the grade back, but I can't anticipate not getting a B or higher. It's 40% of my grade, so here's hoping!
I got a few new clients over the last couple weeks! I got to take care of a super cute golden retriever puppy just for a day, I got to take care of Rosie again, I took care of a cocker spaniel mix and poodle mix a couple times, and then an adult golden retriever this weekend. It's definitely a great way to make money on the side! I've also been using Swagbucks and tutoring on InstaEDU. It's not going to pay for school, but any money I don't have to take out in loans helps.

Zoey!

Rosie

Riley and Tess

Ty, the grown up version of Zoey

Ty's housemate, Kitty

I got moved into my new apartment... I ended up having to talk to the VP of the company that owned the building. After getting essentially no response from the general manager for two weeks, the VP fixed my problem in less than 12 hours. I now live in a one bedroom apartment in a little bit nicer of a location, although it kind of sucks being on the backside of the building -- still better than commuting to class every day though! It's nice having a little more space, but that wasn't my problem to begin with. I loved my little studio apartment (although getting more space for the same amount of money is fabulous) and I love living at this complex. I just didn't like the fact that I didn't have a bathroom for weeks and my complaints were largely ignored. The new apartment has some issues: the windows don't lock, the bathroom light doesn't work, and as of today the shower doesn't get hot but at least I have a bathroom! Funnily enough, the other apartments I was looking at when I moved here just opened two days ago! They started being built around the same time as this complex, but took a little bit longer. They're giving leasees one free month of rent, and it looks beautiful! I was really concerned that I won't be able to get into a studio next year because I really can't afford to live here in a one bedroom, but if that doesn't work out, I could move into a studio apartment that's 100 sq feet bigger than what my studio was for $100 less a month. I'll have to wait and see what my rotation schedule is like to really make that decision but it helps reduce my stress to know that I have options.

My plan for the days leading up to exams include making cling sheets for the physiology of bone healing, phosphorus homeostasis, antimicrobials (maybe pharmacology in general), complement cascade, bilirubin cycle, clotting cascade and fibrinolysis, and maybe some anatomy stuff with skulls. I'll probably start the MCB study guides tomorrow, and practice some suturing over the next few days. 

Calcium homeostasis and bone growth is done!

Oh, and I decided to make a change yesterday and go blonde! 

Halfway through!

Alright, we're officially halfway through block one! And, just like any other vet student, I feel perpetually behind. That's life!
Dog sitting has been picking up, with me getting a client every weekend, so that's pretty good. I'm doing some odd jobs on the side to make money, which doesn't really add up to much but when you're living 100% on loans, that's all you can do! I've signed up with something called Swagbucks and I basically play videos in the background of my laptop and computer and get points. I'm getting a couple $5 Amazon gift cards a week this way. For anyone interested, this is my referral link: www.swagbucks.com/refer/rwwilliams You don't have to sign up under me, obviously, but I get a little kickback from it, which is nice :)

Rosie that I dog sat for

Gus!

Sadie and Lance

The last week, in my apartment, has been a little frustrating. Since I moved in, I've noticed a bit of an issue with taking a shower and having water kind of drip all over the floor... When my mum stayed with me, she said to be careful of pulling the shower curtain all the way closed to prevent that from happening. Well, Taylor stayed with me for awhile and said that he thought my apartment smelled funny and that it was Piper. I didn't notice the smell, and I've had Piper for a year, so I didn't think that was the case. After he left, I noticed that the bathroom mat was soaked and just disgusting. Problem solved! Taylor hadn't been pulling the shower curtain closed and now there was standing water that smelled bad. I cleaned it up and it seemed to get better -- by the time he left, I'd started to notice the smell. Well, it came back... Then the filter light on the AC came on. Oh! It's the filter. Easy, fixed, done. Smell went away.. and it came back. What the hell? So, I took a shower one night and noticed that the floor was absolutely flooded... So, I did a test. I turned the water on, pulled the curtain and sat outside and watched it. No water was escaping around the curtain. I left and came back later to find the bathroom flooded. Great. I called maintenance and they investigated to find out that there was a leak behind the shower knob. They said they'd have to patch it and change some of the wood because it was rotting. Okay, fine, they told me a few days. That's doable. A specialty company came in to evaluate for more damage and found out that all the drywall was damaged and basically ruined, so they have to tear apart my entire bathroom after putting dehumidifiers in there because they found mold!
As of now, I have a blow up mattress in another apartment, and I'm basically living in both apartments... They told me it'll take 2-3 weeks (I'm thinking it'll take longer), and they can't help me move any of my stuff so I'm just out of luck. So, that's frustrating and I wrote a really long email to management about how ridiculous that is. If they can't provide a fully functional apartment for that amount of time, they're violating the lease.
Other than that, I went to the LA County Fair on Friday, since WesternU students got in for free, and that was a lot of fun! We didn't realize we were supposed to print the coupon so we just showed up with our IDs... Luckily enough, the gate captain let us in because we said we were vet students! We ate delicious, disgusting fair food, did an olive oil tasting, and saw all the animals. Since starting vet school, I have a hard time seeing animals in captivity at zoos, aquariums, etc. Petting zoos and circuses are especially difficult. I overheard someone say the animals brought in were from Cal Poly, so I'd assume they're taken care of but I don't know how they don't become acidotic, I don't know how the rabbits don't get stressed and die, and I don't know how the horses don't colic.

A little bit more exciting: I got to monitor anesthesia on a guinea pig last week! They kind of freak me out because guinea pigs and rabbits just tend to die... Mine was great however! His name was Peanut and he came in for a castration. He recovered remarkably well, which made me happy!

Recovering my piggie