Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Tribute to the South

I'm taking a moment out of my vacation from torture to pay tribute to the South. As mentioned in my profile, I am originally from the South and am currently displaced due to work necessities. So, as part of my internship, I get 3 weeks of a specialty rotation in which I get the chance to go out of the hospital and spend time working in different settings. I chose to go to 2 different universities and participate in a radiology and ophthalmology rotation. This may sound like work but is in reality a vacation from the Northeastern area and the hospital at which I am doing my internship. It has been heavenly!!!!

I wound up bowing to the well meant concerns of friends and taking a nap prior to driving out on March 15 (rather regret the wasted time but they are probably right that it was safer for all involved - or uninvolved - parties). The result was that I drove through the night and arrived home in the early evening Monday. I found myself in Virginia at 4 a.m. and stopped for breakfast; it was so refreshing. The door was held for me, people spoke with a smile, and I could actually order a biscuit and gravy without everyone acting as if I had 4 heads with green horns sprouting from them. God it was good to be back in the South. Such a refreshing change from the typical Northeastern experience.

The time I've spent on this rotation has just served to reinforce my opinion that, while a visit to the Northeast has been interesting and enjoyed, it is definitely not where I want to spend the rest of my life. The pace is too fast, the people too stressed, the anxiety level too high, and there is far too much traffic!! I wish that I could get them to realize that there are many things in life more important than money and "prestige."

So, I give major tribute to the South; land of my birth and where I grew up. I've enjoyed my visit home thoroughly and hope to return on a more permanent basis soon (although it doesn't look as if the time is quite ready yet.) I would encourage everyone to visit and appreciate a different way of life but, please, don't too many people stay since it would become too crowded and lose its charm;) I guess you can take the girl out of the South but you just can't take the South out of the girl.

Unfortunately, I have to return next Monday to finish out my internship time. I'm afraid that leaving again is going to be one of the hardest things I'll ever have to do.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Updates

So, Dr. May B. Insane did indeed escape from her place of torture... ah... employment. She arrived home sometime this morning, yeah! I've been working a lot lately (for some reason people seem to want to get their cats spayed recently. Surely it can't have anything to do with the advent of cat mating season?). Haven't seen any real interesting cases lately. Tomorrow I go down and palpate some cows for my boss for pregnancy using an ultrasound. I don't usually do cattle, but I will occasionally. I prefer using the ultrasound. I'm not the world's greatest palpator, but AM very good with the ultrasound. This way I can get good results at very early ages as far as positive or negative for pregnancy. And yes, palpating DOES involve stocking my arm up a cow's rear end. Just so you have the complete mental picture.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

The Great Escape

Countdown has now moved from weeks to days to hours. In precisely 30 hours, my EDT will have arrived and I can't wait!! The pessimist in me realizes that it is highly unlikely I'll actually walk out of the door on time but 9a.m. Sunday morning is the goal to hit the road home for my cherished vacation. I'm probably going to succumb to the pressure of those around me and not drive immediately after the overnight shift but...we'll see how I feel at that moment. I've managed to almost accomplish everything needed prior to leaving including being already packed except for the last minute things [you know, the dogs, my purse, myself;)], having the car checked over and oil changed, cleaning the apartment (almost done!) and making list after countless list.

So as we are reaching those final hours I'm still waiting to see if the rug is ripped from beneath my feet. Don't have a clue where I'm headed in life but on Sunday I'm running as fast I can in a southern direction.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Sorry again

Sorry guys, been busy at my "day job." It IS my job, you know. Everybody wants their cats spayed in the spring because they all go into heat and make kittens! :) Also, having some flooding problems and that's not good- my clinic flooded within the last 5 years and it was NOT fun. I promise I'll post something more than a note soon.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Embarrassing moments

Posting for a second time on the same overnight because this has been the most boring overnight ever!! I've seen one emergency that was very much a "treat and street" issue. In our copious free time, the staff and I began talking about many different topics typical of vet-type people and we got on some of the escapades of our own pets which inspired me to share the following story from my vet school days.

I have a large number of pets and while in vet school had multiple cats and three small dogs that got to live with me (the rest lived with my mom, who is wonderful by the way). The dogs were a cocker spaniel mix (the "precious princess"), a bichon frise (the "special one"), and a recently acquired poodle (aka Cujo). The precious princess was a marvel at getting into things, particularly the garbage, then being on the couch appearing perfectly innocent while the boys were caught amongst the mess when I came home. (I do, by the way, typically crate them but being an indulgent mom sometimes fell for the sucker line of "I won't be gone very long, they'll be fine out.") I was bright enough to not fall for her innocent act but obviously not bright enough to avoid repeat offenses.

The incident that comes to mind was when she got into the bathroom garbage and availed herself of some, er, feminine products amongst other things. I arrived home to find the shambles and her vomiting. Of course, as any self-respecting vet student would, I jumped the gun and was convinced that she was obstructed and would require surgery not, at that point, realizing just what she had eaten. My favorite surgeon was on so I began to make preparations for rushing her in to the small animal clinic when she vomited again and produced, yep--you guessed it, a tampon. After that she was fine. To say the least, I was mightily relieved because I then began picturing an exploratory surgery, finding the foreign body, removing it (with myself scrubbed in side by side with my mentor), and discovering the nature of the offender. Foreign bodies usually result in half the hospital making guesses and bets on what it will be anyway and then the whole hospital discusses what was found afterwards...