Helping One at a Time

Recently I went to Boston to do a two week externship at Angell Animal Medical Center.   It is a wonderful hospital with a grand history of excellent small animal veterinary medicine...and currently is one of the best hospitals on the East Coast!

I was fortunate to spend my time in the surgery department, where I got to scrub into a bunch of really cool surgeries (don't worry, I won't bore you with the details).  There were some great cases I saw and got to help out with, which further reminded me why I love veterinary medicine!  One of the interesting cases I saw: a hindleg amputation on a gerbil.  Why?  Because it got hit by a train.  A toy train.  Poor 'lil guy!  (This makes me think about all those cartoons with the damsel in distress tied to the railroad tracks.  Maybe there was an evilrat stroking his mustache at the time...)

The case that will stick with me the most is Lucky the Ass Cat.  I was hanging out in the surgery department when a clinician from the associated MSPCA shelter came by to ask for assistance from one of the surgical residents for their Ass Cat (as everyone kept calling her, as you will see why).

*This is Lucky the Ass Cat.  She loved her box and would sleep in it.  Her butt has no hair in this picture; it was shaved for preparation for surgery.

A cat came in that had her tail degloved (this means the skin was torn off).  They didn't know how it happened, but knew that the cat was in some serious pain.  I went with the surgeon, who carefully assessed the patient and determined that a tail amputation would fix her just right.  Even though this trauma had happened and was most painful, Ass Cat was the sweetest purring kitty.  Since the shelter was super busy, I ran the anesthesia on the Ass Cat.  The surgeon performed the tail amputation and Ass Cat did great under anesthesia.

Every day after that, I would visit her to see how she was doing.  She would purr and act like nothing had ever happened.  Thankfully, the shelter renamed her Lucky, but she will always be Ass Cat in my heart*.  She taught me that even under the most traumatic situations, it is possible to act with grace and kindness.  Lucky the Ass Cat was never angry at the world for what happened to her, just happy that people cared enough to take care of her.  And I will never forget the graciousness the surgeon showed to help out an animal in need, glad to be able to help when needed. This case really reaffirmed what I learned in Boston and what I love about veterinary medicine: medicine and love can cure a lot!

*note: Yes, she is a black kitty - my weakness.  And yes, I did think about taking her home, except I already have neglected cats at home!

Learning to be a Vet: Tucson

This past summer I spent some time in Tucson for an externship at my old work place, Veterinary Specialty Center of Tucson.  I loved it!  It was fantastic to see Dr. Gores and Dr. Boulay again, and to meet Dr. Shields.  They are such fantastic clinicians.  Not only was it great to see all the doctors and staff I used to work with, but it was so much fun learning.  

*This is Dr. Boulay wearing his infamous flame scrubs to celebrate my last day working at VSCT (2006) before I went off to vet school.

 

It is amazing how 3+ years of intensive medical training makes you understand stuff that I never did before.  The doctors and technicians were so generous to allow me to ask questions, observe, and scrub in to whatever surgery I wanted. It really enforced what I want to be when I grow-up to be a doctor: a strong clinician who is able to communicate and motivate, who practices excellent medicine and fantastic surgeries.  I was definitely motivated after visiting VSCT!

While I was in Tucson for two weeks, I got to stay with my friend Bea.  Bea and I met at UofA while we were going to graduate school.  But then I figured out my life, much after Keith did and left grad school, and went onto work at VSCT.  Bea, our friend Steph, and I had a great time catching up and just hanging out.  We had a blast together!  We even went out to a party, which is really out of our comfort zone.  Of course, it was with a bunch of rocket scientists.  Seriously.  Nothing like a bunch of drunk rocket scientists and Guitar Hero Rock Band for an interesting night.  Another night we went out for to see a movie and ended up at a video game arcade afterward.  Steph and I rocked at this Japanese Taiko video game.  It was just great to see my wonderful friends.  We had a blast!

Overall my trip to Tucson was a great reminder of what lays in my future, working hard to become a great doctor who has the blessings of supportive family and friends.

Learning about Hotel Living

Things I have learned after staying at the Fansy-Schmancy Hotel* while I was in California checking out possible internships:

1.  Valet parking is cheaper than self-service parking. Also that it's kinda odd to have your Kia rental car valet parked.

2.  The lobby is so big that I got lost trying to check-in.

3.  The rooms are pretty sweet.  Huge flat screen TV and crazy expensive mini-bar...aw, yea!  Gotta love the $12.00 keepsake jar of nuts (plus the 20% restocking fee).

4.  Wireless internet is not free or even cheap.  And you have to pay for it every 24 hours.

5.  Room service is sweet.  When you call they already know who you are.  Weird.  And it comes with miniature bottles of condiments.  (note: the hotsauce was approximately 1.5ml)

6.  Room service food actually comes covered with silver thingys.  And it all comes on a tray.  The person also uncovers it for you.

7.  They serve Diet Dr. Pepper with a fluted glass.

8.  They have Crabtree and Evelyn toiletries, but normal cheap toilet paper.

9.  I have a patio that overlooks a landscaped garden.  That's not that enlightening, but it was unexpected.

10.  Wallpapering the outlet makes it classier...somehow.

11.  The person who cleans the room has handwriting of a child.  This begs many questions, all which I will let you decide what ones crossed my mind.

12.  You can purchase items found in the room to have hotel comforts at home.  They even have a website so you can order it, probably using your costly WiFi.

13.  You can order a fancy-schmancy breakfast and have it delivered at any time with just a mark of a pen.  Note: the price of a cup of orange juice = ouch!

 

 14.  Even a nice hotel can have design oversights.  For example, placing the toilet directly in front of the bathroom door.  Not a problem, you say?  It is if there is a full-length mirror on the back of the door.  Or maybe rich people like to look at themselves...all the time.

 15.  They make a wicked awesome bread pudding.  It was fantastic.

*Note: The hotel name rhymes with Filton, Dilton, or Milton...and does not rhyme with Fa Minta or Mest Questern. 

Good Eats of Seaside Oregon

I have been going through some of our photos from our recent trips and realized I haven't blogged about some really great places that we visited.  Especially some of the restaurants that we went to while at Seaside.  Can you tell I'm totally a foodie?  And while we may not go back for a while, we really found some great places.  So let's go down memory food lane...yum!

One of the places we frequented was The Goose Hollow at the Cove.  It was an unassuming restaurant that was near our hotel.  The main reason we went in was that they were open and not too busy.  Were we in for a surprise!  They had some great music, great food, and great atmosphere. And they have some of the best sandwiches and clam chowder.  Their menu was divided into half: the ruben sandwiches and the non-ruben sandwiches.  Can you tell what their specialty was?  They were fantastic!  We never got to see/hear them, but they had live music every weekend too, which is pretty cool.  

We also walked around the Boardwalk of Seaside, window-shopping and just being touristy.  And when we saw the elephant ears, we had to have some!  After all, what is more memorable from goofing off as kids at a fun place than yummy elephant ears?  And the place we found drizzled all kinds of yummy toppings; of course Keith chose chocolate!  I had strawberry jam with confectioner's sugar: yummy and enough sugar to keep me shopping for hours.  Poor Keith!

What else did we do?  We found the only Bayou restaurant in Seaside, which is creatively called Lil' Bayou.  And of course we had to eat there.  Wearing fake Mardi Gras beads (note: Keith chose the red beads to go with his Coug shirt).  Drinking sweet tea, which I had never had before.  It's actually pretty good, and maybe someday I'll learn how to make it.  So if anyone has a good recipe, feel free to send it my way!

And don't worry, Keith isn't eating all that food...the yummy one in the bread bowl is mine (note: I am wearing blue beads, after Keith switched them for the purple beads I had originally.  Purple beads + yellow shirt = a big no no*).  I have to admit I was kinda nervous to try this famously spicy food, but since it was in a restaurant I think they made it kinda mild.  I only had to drink a few glasses of sweet tea to make it through dinner.  I mean, Keith didn't even break into a sweat...so I know it wasn't that authentic. 

 

Geez, it sounds like we just eat on vacation...but really we do much more.  I mean, look at my other blog postings!  The thing is that I love to take food pictures, especially of really good food.  And even more of places with really good food and cute fake jewelry!

*For those who don't know: the colors of UW, the hated rivals of the beloved WSU Cougars, are yellow and purple. 

On the Road Again

Update: I am currently in Boston (please read that as Bah-stahn) for a wicked externship at the Angell Animal Medical Center.  She is literally living at the hospital and learning a lot.  And eating a lot of killer take-out (no kitchens available to cook real food). 

Eventually she will return back home, as she has many a thing to write and show wicked pictures too.  Maybe some day I will be able to blog regularly...when I have a real life.  (go ahead and snicker, I know it's a fairytale dream, but let me have my delusions).