No I'm not dressing up to clean the flat, not yet anyway. And definitely no singing! I'm calculating my escape from work. With the exam season upon most of the university once more I find myself covering shifts midweek which is really bad for my sleep pattern.
One good example would be Monday where I was up just after 7 to go to a full day of lectures and practicals. From there it was straight to work where we were busy non-stop until home time around 0100. The next day I was obviously a bit of a wreck.
I have handed in my application for a job at a climbing wall here in Edinburgh and am just waiting back to see if I get an interview. Fingers crossed.
Friday 25 April 2008
Thursday 17 April 2008
Technique Book
There is a document online known as the technique book that we are meant to fill in each and every time we go on EMS. As the name suggests we tick off various procedures we accomplish during the time on placement. Some, such as IM or SC injection, get ticked off quite a bit whilst others, such as bitch spey, don't get ticked off much at all.
Over the holidays I accomplished much in the way of ticking bits off, but apart from various injections I don't feel comfortable doing on my own at all. Still feel I need adult supervision for loads of tasks and I guess I will for a while, probably until after graduation. The feeling of fear when I was stuck with my own unconscious patient and a scalpel will remain for a while, but so will the feeling of elation when the job was complete successfully.
Over the holidays I accomplished much in the way of ticking bits off, but apart from various injections I don't feel comfortable doing on my own at all. Still feel I need adult supervision for loads of tasks and I guess I will for a while, probably until after graduation. The feeling of fear when I was stuck with my own unconscious patient and a scalpel will remain for a while, but so will the feeling of elation when the job was complete successfully.
Sunday 13 April 2008
Back North
The last day of EMS was Friday and I decided to catch an early train back to Edinburgh with one of the vets on Saturday morning. This involved getting up just after 5 to get ready and finish packing, 7 hours of trains, 3 changes and no sleep or food.
Anyway, I'm back now and have a week to get sorted before the start of lectures. I'll spend some time revising as well as trying to unpack all my kit. Need to find out if the climbing wall is open too because I really need a new job.
Anyway, I'm back now and have a week to get sorted before the start of lectures. I'll spend some time revising as well as trying to unpack all my kit. Need to find out if the climbing wall is open too because I really need a new job.
Tuesday 8 April 2008
Busy or Dead?
Today was really really busy, the kind of day where you get 20 mins to eat anything you can get your hands on and then go straight back to work. Yesterday it was really really dead with a grand total of 6 animals seen all day. Strange thing is I was more tired yesterday.
Saturday 5 April 2008
A First
It's been an amazing week with so many new things to learn and old things to revise. The landmark for me was my first operation where I was doing everything from admitting the animal to bandaging him and sending him home.
"Glen" is a 3yo male entire Border Collie who presented with an 8 cm L-shaped laceration on his right forelimb. His clinical exam revealed the injury was not deep, mainly a tear to the superficial skin layers, with no damage to muscle or ligaments. His history revealed a previous allergic reaction to ACP - a common sedative.
With this information we developed a plan to anaesthatise the dog and repair the hole. I selected my drugs, selected my anaesthetic circuit, intubation equipment and all sorts, obviously with a vet watching. Once Glen was happily asleep I scrubbed up and started suturing. It was different to suturing on fake skin - it was a lot easier to bring the skin together and keep it in place. Again the vet was watching and approved my work. Next a small bandage was put on the wound to keep it clean and some antibiotics and painkillers were given.
Finally Glen was sent home later in the day after recovering from the anaesthetic. He is due back next week for a recheck and the week after for his stitches to come out.
My first real case! It was fairly basic, but complicated enough for my first time. I wonder what next week will hold...
"Glen" is a 3yo male entire Border Collie who presented with an 8 cm L-shaped laceration on his right forelimb. His clinical exam revealed the injury was not deep, mainly a tear to the superficial skin layers, with no damage to muscle or ligaments. His history revealed a previous allergic reaction to ACP - a common sedative.
With this information we developed a plan to anaesthatise the dog and repair the hole. I selected my drugs, selected my anaesthetic circuit, intubation equipment and all sorts, obviously with a vet watching. Once Glen was happily asleep I scrubbed up and started suturing. It was different to suturing on fake skin - it was a lot easier to bring the skin together and keep it in place. Again the vet was watching and approved my work. Next a small bandage was put on the wound to keep it clean and some antibiotics and painkillers were given.
Finally Glen was sent home later in the day after recovering from the anaesthetic. He is due back next week for a recheck and the week after for his stitches to come out.
My first real case! It was fairly basic, but complicated enough for my first time. I wonder what next week will hold...
Tuesday 1 April 2008
Vetting
I've spent the last couple of days seeing practice here in Wales. The practice I am with is a small mixed practice down the Conwy valley where I have been going for the past 9 years. It's is a long time.
So far there hasn't been much out of the ordinary - a few sheep caesars, a cat involved in an RTA and various other "normal" things such as boosters and bandaging. All the time the vets have been testing me and asking questions about basically everything they are doing from drug administration to diagnosis. It's better I look like an idiot in front my friends rather than my examiners, it gives me a chance to learn.
Today my lovely dog came with me. She is fairly old now and has various lumps and bumps, but there was one on her chest that was a bit odd. We took a small sample under sedation and had a look down the microscope. There was only lipid to be seen on the slide suggesting the lump is nothing more than a lipoma, although there is always the risk of a liposarcoma. Good news for the dog - the plan is just to monitor and see how it progresses.
So far there hasn't been much out of the ordinary - a few sheep caesars, a cat involved in an RTA and various other "normal" things such as boosters and bandaging. All the time the vets have been testing me and asking questions about basically everything they are doing from drug administration to diagnosis. It's better I look like an idiot in front my friends rather than my examiners, it gives me a chance to learn.
Today my lovely dog came with me. She is fairly old now and has various lumps and bumps, but there was one on her chest that was a bit odd. We took a small sample under sedation and had a look down the microscope. There was only lipid to be seen on the slide suggesting the lump is nothing more than a lipoma, although there is always the risk of a liposarcoma. Good news for the dog - the plan is just to monitor and see how it progresses.
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