Back In Ithaca, Off To AVMA

Above: Saying goodbye to the goats on my last night in California, exactly one week ago today.

I figure that by now I've lost all my old readers since I haven't posted anything in so long, but I needed to take a break this summer. Now I'm back.

I spent the summer in North Carolina and California. It was wonderful to get out of Ithaca for awhile. I didn't do much veterinary medicine aside from spending two weeks shadowing an internal medicine doctor in a specialty practice.

I did get to see old friends, which was more delightful than I can say and helped me recharge and recover from the past year.

I saw two of the families I am closest to-- SelfSufficientNurse's family in California and EB, D and Ianite in North Carolina. I consider them all part of my chosen family. And as part of that, I got to see two of my favorite kids in the whole world, Precocious Kid (below) and Ianite.

I arrived back in Ithaca Monday. I'm really liking my new place. I've been busy unpacking, settling in and running errands. Friday I leave for the AVMA conference in Atlanta. And when I get back I go into an emergency and critical care rotation (my first rotation in the hospital!) for the week and a half before school starts. I finish the ECC rotation on a Sunday night and start classes the following Monday morning. Fun times. It should be crazy busy but I think I'm as ready as I'll ever be for my second year of vet school to begin.

Block 3a: I Advance With Flying Colors

Above: The view out my new bedroom window. I like all the trees but their leaves don't make that soothing, whispering bronchovesicular sound that the trees at my old place did. Still, I'm settling in and happy here.

I passed 3a. I did really well on the second day despite 1. not sleeping well for the two days prior 2. stupidly deciding it was more important to guard my favorite seat in the library, where I was taking the exam, than eating lunch (I was so hungry by the time I got done around 4:30 that afternoon) and 3. not actually spending much time on the subject material that was the focus of the case on the second day.

I'm thrilled. Summer is starting to sink in. I feel happy again. Now it's just a crazed rush to get out of here by Friday to begin my circuitous journey west (which starts by going to North Carolina).

Simon The Brave: Feeling Much Better! :)

Moving= Vomiting

Simon (pictured above with his beloved orange carrot catnip toy in background) started vomiting at 4 am last night. I tried to go back to sleep. He proceeded to continue to vomit small piles of white foam everywhere. By 8 am I estimated he had vomited about 50 times. Of course, I got teased mercilessly for this once he was at the hospital (50? not 49? or 47? were you counting?).

I got him the first available appointment in the morning (it didn't seem to be a true emergency in the sense that I felt he could wait the four hours until the non-emergency part of the hospital opened). I would have liked to ignore it and wait longer but one thing that I learned as an emergency technician is that things can go wrong pretty quickly if you are unlucky and that ignoring a problem does NOT actually make it go away much as you might wish it did.

My student clinician did a thorough physical exam. A good look under the tongue with a tongue depressor to help revealed nothing. Kidneys are on the small side of normal at 3-3.5 cm. Stool in colon. Nothing very remarkable.

Radiographs, much to my relief, were also unremarkable.

My student clinician sent Simon home with some SQ fluids and pepcid on board.

He CONTINUED to vomit at home. I was just about to lie down for a nap after lunch when my student clinician called to check on him and so I brought him back in for more diagnostics.

Bloodwork was unremarkable. I was relieved. His total protein was high but his hematocrit was normal. BUN, creatinine, everything else normal (except his cholesterol was a little high).

Urinalysis by cystocentesis revealed some WBCs, RBCs and bacteria. He had a urinalysis and culture and susceptibility last week because of his intermittent inappropriate urination problem and it came back negative. What the heck that he now has some bacteria this week on UA??? At any rate, we couldn't attribute his vomiting to a UTI as he has no other clinical signs of one. (Though we will probably start him on antibiotics tomorrow and we did submit a sample for culture and susceptibility so we can switch antibiotics if need be).

We gave him Cerenia (which I know from school inhibits neurokinins)-- he tried to eat me alive while I restrained him for it and I almost got bit (way to go, almost getting bit by my very own fractious cat) and I took him home.

He hasn't been vomiting since.

I just gave him his next dose of pepcid SQ. He tried to eat me alive again. I swear, if he gets kidney disease I am NOT treating him for it. Thank goodness Lindy is sweet for her treatments, if she weren't then she wouldn't still be alive.

We have a recheck appointment scheduled in the morning. Did I mention my student clinician rocked? She was awesome.

Fingers crossed no more vomiting tonight.

And yeah, as for one possibility of what caused it-- stress related to my upcoming move. Same thing happened last year, when Lindy had a bout of prolonged vomiting just before I moved (see this post). Have I mentioned how much I dislike moving?

Barn Next To My New Place

Above: Barn one house down from my new place.
Below: Lindy in a pensive moment. I'm giving my cats to a classmate Sunday so I can go back to California for the summer and I'm feeling sad about leaving them.

It's Hot (By Ithaca Standards)

Above: Coral, my old landlord's dog, grinning after a game of catch.
Below: Another view from the new place.

Love To Water My Soul

is the name of the book I am reading by Jane Kirkpatrick. I think it is my favorite book of the year. The back cover summarizes, "Based on historical characters and events, Love To Water My Soul recounts the dramatic story of an abandoned white child rescued by Indians. Among Oregon's Paiute people, Shell Flower seeks love and a place of belonging... only to be cast away from her home."
Describing her work, the main character says:
"It is not easily described. I find pleasure in making the calves stand firm after a bout with scours or stopping a cat's cough or relieving a horse's bellyache."
And yet there is so much more to it than that, but of course it is icing on the cake that she has veterinary predilections.

If you're going to read this book, I highly recommend first reading Jane Kirkpatrick's _A Sweetness To The Soul_ and also Sarah Winnemucca's _Life Among The Piutes_.