October 18, 2011

Work, Feces, Work, Blood..and Spanish ;)

Work
Yesterday, I worked from 10:30 - 12:30 at school.  I got to help with the incoming animals for the week, caged all five of the cats and gave all of the new arrivals water.  Then, I weighed all of the new animals for the week by myself (not all of them sit nice like Humans do ;), and helped with paperwork.  I absolutely love working with my instructors on a different level.  They are a lot of fun to work with, and we have a quite a few laughs.


Feces
In Parasitology, we ran some fecal samples.  We centrifuged them after adding some liquid and used the microscopes to look for parasite eggs.  I didn't find any, but some others found some.  Not the coolest thing in the world to do, but it's necessary and a very useful diagnostic tool for catching parasites!  



After Parasitology, I worked for another hour just did some quick paperwork, filing, and laminating.  I had lunch and then it was on to Hematology.

Blood
In Hematology we had a quiz, a lecture, and then we went on to our Lab Practical.  We had to do a cephalic veinipuncture on a dog and most of us just had to get a "flash of blood" in the needle.  John needed some people to actually draw the blood so we could do the other part of the practical (I'll get to that).  

I volunteered to be one of the people to actually draw blood.  I got blood on the first poke :)  Unfortunately, the dog jerked and my needle pulled out without getting the complete amount that we needed.  Since we needed more, I also volunteered to draw a second time.  I, again, got it on the first try and this time it went perfectly!!  


We also had to take the blood that some of us drew and do some bloodwork, including packed cell volume and total protein like we've done before (see here) and blood smears (and here).  We also learned a new technique for counting cells.  

I was at school from 10:30 am to 9:30pm.  A whopping 11 hours.  Oofta!  I'm glad I only do that once a week :)

Spanish
Today is Tuesday, and my day off, and I always work on my online Spanish homework.  I get my entire week's worth of class done on Tuesdays, so it's not really a day off.

Tomorrow I have Imaging, work at school, Parasitology, and a little more work.  I'll write soon!

October 15, 2011

Time For An Update, Ya Think?

Hello there...it's been a while, huh?

Well, first off I'll recap the end of last quarter.  I'll just show you my Final Exam Scores for Anatomy and Physiology :)



I studied like hell to get those grades, and it obviously paid off :)

Now, for Pharmacology.  It was definitely my most difficult class, and I had a 93% going into the final.  Our final exam was weighted 30% of our grade, so I had to do very well to get an A in the class.  I decided to host a Study Sleepover with some of the girls from school.  We had pizza, drinks, girl talk, and studying until 4 in the morning....and it paid off.  All of us got better grades than we had on most of our tests all quarter!  I got a 96% on mine...and it actually RAISED my grade to a 94%!


I finished the quarter with all A's again :) 4.0 after three quarters!!

New Quarter
October 3rd I started a new quarter.  I am taking Hematology (Blood), Parasitology (Feces), Imaging (X-rays), and Spanish I (Online).  It's going pretty good so far.  On Monday I stuck my first dog with a needle, and got it in the vein on my first try!  I've developed some x-rays, although I haven't taken any yet, and looked at some fecal samples for parasites.

I've also started my new job at school and I love it!  I do random tasks every day, such as filing, file making, laminating and stocking.  Every day is different and they are extremely flexible with my school schedule.  I basically set my own hours and I get paid!  Best job I've had... so far ; )

Next week I have several quizzes and a lab practical.  I've been very busy, being at school about 8 hours on Wednesdays and Fridays, and almost 11 hours on Mondays.  I have Tuesdays and Thursdays off, which is really nice.  I use Tuesday as my homework day and I work at Marketplace Thursday mornings.  I usually have Saturdays off, which is really really nice to have, and I work Sunday mornings.  I really like the schedule I have.

I'll try to keep you updated a little better.  Sometimes I just forget to blog, and other days I'm just too lazy :P

Will write soon!
-Cherie'