This was my first full week back at both the vet and school, after OPI. I had, and still have, some catching up to do in school, which is putting a bit of a damper on my mood. I expected second semester of senior year to be a breeze, but it is turning out to be a lot harder than I thought. Not only that, but my parents don't want me to have any C's, and even though I tell them my grades this semester don't matter at all, they say that my grades matter to them and should matter to me. Also lacrosse season just started, so between that, make up work, and my third space, I am spread pretty thin. Tuesday nothing much happened and I mostly just sat there and cut shapes out of this bandage tape stuff the vets put on the animal's casts (Picture of an octopus I made below). At around 3:30, an orange cat came in for just a check up I think. This cat wasn't exceptionally cute or anything, but I took an instant liking to him, probably because his name is Morris and so is my dads. They put him in one of the cages and he starting meowing and meowing and meowing. I went over and starting petting him and scratching his chin through the wires of the cage, and he stopped meowing. I spent a good 15/20 minutes just petting this cat, up until I left haha. Friday, however, was much more exciting. The veterinarians had told me on Tuesday that I would be able to see a surgery, which was cool because they usually don't do surgeries after 2 o'clock on Fridays. Friday ended up being a very busy day. The veterinarians had done other small surgeries and had a lot of other things going on. A dog named Louis was brought in to be euthanized. He was 16 years old in human years, and the veterinarians had known him for a very long time. I'm not even sure why it made me sad, but I was holding back tears, and wasn't too successful. Kim, one of the veterinarians, sniffled and I looked over at her and she was crying. She looked at me and said "I know he's old, and I know it's the right thing to do, but it makes me so sad". Louis was a little wiener dog (I think). After he was euthanized, Lei (another veterinarian) made a paw print clay thing for his owners and then tied him up in a plastic bag. Finally the surgeon arrived and apologized for being late. He and Kim then sterilized the room and I had to put on a mask and hair net type thing before being able to enter the room. The surgeon worked so fast, For an ACL surgery for a dog, the bone must be broken and then the LCL is wrapped around and used as the ACL, at least that's what I remember him saying, I could be wrong. After that part of the surgery is complete, a metal plate is screwed in over the bone and then the different layers of skin are stitched up. The whole surgery took about 45 minutes. I asked the surgeon if he liked his job and he said he liked the surgeries. For his job he has to travel a lot and is always on the road. He said the only time he can think and is calm is during surgery, which I thought was very cool. Before moving to America he lived in Queensland, Australia and worked on lions and tigers and kangaroos and all sorts of big animals. Once I told him I was from Australia too, he warmed up to me a lot. I hope this surgeon comes back because he's very good at what he does, and what he does interests me a lot. Someone at the vet that I really really like is Kim. It's not because she's really nice, or super cool, but she just seems very real to me. She doesn't sugar coat things, and she isn't showy. I can tell she has worked really hard to get where she is, and still works hard everyday. Something I have in common with Kim is that she continues to want to learn. She takes hebrew classes, and practices hebrew outside of her classes, and goes to different veterinary classes at different places, the next one she's going to is at UC Davis. Kim is probably the person I talk to the most at the vet. She asks me questions and I ask her questions. Last week I asked her about the tattoo she has on her finger and her face seemed to light up when I asked. She told me she got it when she was twelve with her mom. She's from Missouri I believe, and the tattoo is of a violet. Kim seems to be interested with what I have to say, and she really cares about the animals. When I dyed part of my hair blue Kim asked me why I did it and said that no one ever realizes that what they have is pretty and that they don't need to mess with it. I like Kim's honesty and franks towards situations. I think she is a humble person, and I respect her for that. She treats the other veterinarians respectfully and always helps out those that are less experienced than her (which is almost everyone else). Kim has a way with the animals and so much knowledge, if one of the other veterinarians can't get a needle into a cat properly, Kim tries and gets in done in one go. She stands out to me because she is different. Some of the veterinarians are cocky or uninterested, but Kim makes me feel like part of the Vet. This is Kim. I think from the picture you can tell a lot about her. This is the octopus I made. Believe it or not, the material is harder to work with than it may seem. Aannndddd this is me right before going into the room to watch the surgery.
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For my third week I was at OPI for one of my days, and was able to make it to the vet on Friday. Again I arrived to a cat being declawed. This time was a little different because the laser broke half way through, forcing Dr. Hagler to resort to an old school method of declawing. He began to cut the nail out with a scalpel. This resulted in a great deal more blood than before. During the procedure, Marilyn (Dr. Hagler's wife/the behind the scenes lady/manager kinda) came down and started sympathizing with the cat. She said, "oh isn't it so sad when their poor little tootsies get like that", and then said something like "but you know it's either this or they end up at the pound because they're so wild". I interpreted this situation as Marilyn justifying the procedure, which is very cruel, to herself and also to me. She was saying that these cats with bad tempers had to be declawed so they wouldn't hurt their owners and end up being put down. I later discovered the cat was being declawed because the owner didn't like the fact that the cat was scratching the furniture, and that the cat is actually very well mannered, a little bit different from the situation Marilyn painted. On a happier note I found some amusing diagrams about cats/dogs and the level of risk they have at different weights. Dr. Hagler said he had seen a cat in the extreme weight range, and that it was uncomfortable talking to the owner about it because the owner was just as big in proportion. I neglected to mention that my old cat was between serious and severe in weight. And now for my research book. I read the book Animal ER. This book is basically composed of several truer short stories about what happens in a veterinary hospital. The thing I found most interesting were the ties between what I saw and what happens at the vet I shadow at, and the events at the veterinary hospital in the book. In both the book veterinary hospital and Mt. Diablo Veterinary Medical Center, there are days when there is a lot going on. Unlike the book however, I find that my time at the clinic falls short to the excitement that accompanies the veterinarians in the book. Sometimes I find myself doing very little, and become bored. The action that goes on in Animal ER, however, is most likely embellished, and only portrays the best and most exciting stories. In reality however, there is a lot of behind the scenes stuff like stacks of paperwork, forms, drug logs, and tedious phone calls with over-protective pet owners, that the book neglects to mention. Also, the vet I work at hasn't done any intense surgeries or medical procedures, like tumor removal or eye surgery, while I've been there, and the patients are cats and dogs, nothing like the elephants or other exotic animals mentioned in the book. All in all I think Animal ER really glamorizes the veterinary industry as a whole. I'm sure in the top ranks some veterinarians live the lives portrayed in Animal ER to a degree, but at the veterinary hospital I work at, there isn't the constant commotion and intensity portrayed in the book.
This week as a whole was great! I had an amazing time on OPI, and no doubt it will be the highlight of my senior year (or one of them at least). I made a lot of new friends and it was really really nice to get away from the stress of school and friends. I loved not having technology for that week, and kinda hate my phone now a little bit haha. I had so many hesitations about going and the night before I left for Washington I didn't fully believe I was actually going through with OPI. I'm not sure if I would have regretted not going, since I wouldn't know what I would be missing, but now that I know what I would have missed out on I am so insanely happy that I went. I don't know if OPI is that amazing every year, or if we just had a really great group of people, but I can't believe people aren't fighting to go on it, more than that I can't believe I was so close to not going on it. OPI was a confidence boost in a way, because it showed me that I can go into a group of people I barely know and come out with a handful of new and very close friends, and not only that, but have an amazing time getting to know everyone too. Seizing opportunities, making the best out of situations, and becoming comfortable in new environments is definitely something I learned the importance of at OPI, and definitely can apply these to working at the vet. Recently I have become more confident and am less afraid to ask questions or make conversation with the veterinarians, and I find that I enjoy the vet much more now. During my second week at Mt. Diablo Veterinary Medical Center, I had the pleasure of watching a cat get declawed. When I arrived at the vet, the declawing was in process. I was told to put on protective glasses, and later discovered it was because of the laser they use to separate the claw from the cats foot. I will describe what I saw and smelled because it made me feel uncomfortable and caused me to question the intentions of the veterinarians. The first thing I noticed was the smell of burning hair and skin too I guess. The head Veterinarian was using the heat of a laser to essentially burn through the skin of the cat. There was a girl there who was shadowing like me, only she was allowed to help and do things. I asked her why they couldn't just clip the nail like they do for dogs, to which she said that declawing a cat was like removing our finger from the second knuckle. That was when I began to feel uncomfortable. The cats paws were bloody, and I felt so bad for the cat. After the nails were removed Dr. Hagler (the main veterinarian) stitched up the paw where the nails were and then put on a little boot. Shortly after one of the Veterinarians noticed that the fluid bag was empty and that the cat had much more water than it should have. The intern girl that had told me about the claws, had walked away from the bag instead of monitoring it, and now the cat had a huge layer of water under its skin. Apparently this didn't pose too many health risks thankfully. I know that the veterinarians were just doing their job, but I still feel badly for the cat and that what they did was borderline animal cruelty. The cats are given ketamine to knock them out and as a painkiller too I guess. When the cats wake up from their procedure they sway their heads around in a very weird way and look very out of it and delirious. Dr. Hagler said it's the ketamine that makes them do it. Below I'll include a picture of the cat that had just been declawed, right after he woke up. His name is Mr. Chow. Another patient that came into the vet was a dog with an ear ache or ear infection. I got to look at the cells taken from the inside of the dogs ear under a microscope (image below). I like using the microscope because I feel like a scientist, although I can't distinguish between the different things I see under the microscope. It's also very hard to take pictures through the microscope lens, but the pictures always look so cool, when they are good quality. Every time I am at the vet, there is usually a decent amount of time where there are no surgeries going on and the veterinarians are doing paper work or looking through different files. This is my least favorite part about going to the vet because time goes by very slowly and I am usually standing awkwardly by one of the veterinarians reading one of the books in the book shelf, not understanding most of what I am reading. Occasionally I'll see words or diagrams I recognize from Psych, Bio, or House (the doctor TV show I'm currently very into), and feel like I'm ready to be on my way to med school, not actually, but it's still nice for the momentary second of understanding. During one of the breaks in action I looked at an X-Ray with Dr. Hagler. He told me the different parts of the dog, that were obvious and pointed out the little white line on the top of the dogs neck (a microchip). I can't quite remember what type of dog it is, but I'm guessing wiener dog because its small and fat. On Friday a dog came in for a check up, I think, and she had little pink bows in her hair and I thought it was really cute. This is her below with Edward, or Edwardo, as Dr. Hagler calls him. He's a little shy or maybe a tiny bit socially awkward, but is very nice. It is interesting how some animals are very comfortable with the Veterinarians and how some are not at all. Kim (one of the Veterinarians), said once "I love my job, but how many animals do you think look forward to seeing me again". I think that most of what the Veterinarians do is necessary, but the animals act distressed because they are in distress. Now maybe sometimes the animal is just having a little tantrum or is not very well mannered, but I don't think that the animals pain and discomfort should be dismissed and treated with punishment. I don't know what a solution for this would be, but if an animal is acting like it is in pain, it probably is, and I personally don't think animals should be put in pain if there is a way to treat or help them without it. Regardless, I really think the veterinarians have the best interest of the animal at heart most of the time at least.
As first semester came to a close I had to narrow down my options and pick a third space. I knew I wanted to work with animals, and was open to many different possibilities. I decided to shadow at Mt. Diablo Veterinary Medical Center for my third space, as it provides me both the opportunity to be around animals, as well as learn about their physiology and health.
I started at the Vet on Tuesday (1/27/15), and will be going Tuesdays 2-4 and Fridays 2-5. I was a little nervous and unsure of what to expect, since I am not the most confident in new situations. My nerves soon went away (for the most part) as Marilyn (the lady I talked to on the phone and who's husband is the head vet) gave me a tour and made me feel very welcomed. I got to choose my very own scrubs and after the tour Marilyn went out to lunch and my shadowing began. The surgery that stood out to me on the day was a cat getting neutered. I don't like to see animals in pain, and even though the cat was anesthetized, it seemed like he could feel it. This made me a little uncomfortable. By the time 4 o'clock rolled around I was ready to go. My legs and feet hurt from standing and I wasn't wearing the most comfortable shoes. The next day I met with Mr. Fitz and we discussed some of my goals and how I felt about my third space. One concern we discussed was if I was going to get bored. At this point I wasn't really looking forward to returning on Friday, and things were put in perspective when Mr. Fitz asked me if I would still enjoy the vet after 100 hours. I was not sure if I would. Another thing that slightly discouraged me is that I am not allowed to help clean up, or do much else other than shadow due to liability and insurance coverage. I don't want to be a burden, and want to pull my weight. On Friday I felt very professional and adult-like, as if I had a real job and responsibilities outside of school/friends/sports/family. I liked this feeling a lot. I stopped by Starbucks (just to add to my feelings of adultness) and arrived a few minutes early. Friday happened to be a slow day, which I actually preferred because I got the opportunity to ask a lot of questions, and do things I didn't get to do on Tuesday. I looked through a microscope at some skin cells (picture 1) and read about common diseases of cats and dogs. I found out that it is quite frequent for cats or dogs to have diabetes, which I thought was weird. I am learning about genetics in AP Bio right now, so I asked Dr. Hagler if it was more common for pure bred animals to have these diseases and problems because of inbreeding. I already knew the answer, but it made me happy when he said "yes, very good Emily!". I'm not sure why it made me happy, but I think it's because it was kind of real life confirmation of information I learned in the classroom. On a different note, there was also a really cute corgi puppy that was brought in for a check up (picture 2). I left that day more confident in my choice of third space. The people at the vet are so nice and are great people. They want to help me, and found things for me to look at and things to do to keep me busy and learning. I am thankful that my third space has people as great as them. My goals for this semester are to learn, have fun, become more confident, and develop relationships with the people I now "work" with. I am very interested in biology, and I know there is a lot of information I could learn from the vet. Something that surprised me on my first day was that they had a stem cell thing (I'm not quite sure exactly what it was, I will ask). Such a small place having such advanced and really cool technology is awesome, and stem cell research is fascinating to me, so that's something else I'll be having first hand knowledge of. I really want to have fun, or if not fun, then be engaged and not bored. I don't think this will be too much of a problem, but it could if the days become repetitive. On the second day I already felt so much more comfortable and confident at the vet. This is largely because of the people who work at the vet. They make me feel welcomed and they are very helpful and willing to give their time to me. Confidence is something I have gained a lot of over the past years, but something I would still like to work on, or at least learn how to fake haha. My last goal is to develop a good relationships with the people at the vet. By a good relationship, I mean one where I don't feel like a burden, and where I know I can ask questions and not be annoying. I also want them to like me. They are doing a lot for me, and I already have a lot of respect for the different people there, it would mean a lot if they liked me, and enjoyed my presence. I want to make cookies or brownies to bring on Tuesday to show them I appreciate the time they're spending to help me have a meaningful third space. I think I'll make some vegan cookies. We'll see how they turn out. I am still not sure if I will get bored, or if I will continue to enjoy the vet, but I think the best way to not get discouraged is to take it day by day, instead of looking at the whole picture. I will say that I am more excited for Tuesday than I was for Friday! |
AuthorMy name is Emily Burch. I am a student in the WISE program at Miramonte. This is my WISE journey (I think that's a good word for it). Archives
May 2015
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