Getting Hit by a Car

Yes, yes. It's been a long time since I posted last, blah, blah, blah.

Funny story time now:

It was July 1st, 2009. I was heading home after being on call for Community Veterinary Services. It was 9:30pm as I turned onto Friendship Road (between Little Dooey's and the cemetery). I see a cat in the middle of the road, not moving.
"Shoot, it's probably dead, but I'll stop anyway"
I pull over, get out, look at it. No, it's not dead. It's breathing rapidly and it's eyes are looking around wildly. I walk back to my car for a towel. By the time I'm back to the cat, cars are driving towards me from the right side of the road. They slow down and watch me, being sure to leave their brights on, as I gently pick up the cat. I carefully stand up and step out into the right lane. And I see headlights. Five feet from me. Not stopping.
"They're not stopping. I'm going to be hit by a car. I don't want to be hit by a car"
And then there's an impact on my right side and something made of glass breaks and I'm flying through the air.
"This is going to hurt. I am going to die. I really hope they don't run over me."
I land, bump the ground hard on my right side, and skid on the asphalt. The entire time I expect a tire to squish my head, but I felt calm about it for the most part. When I come to a stop, I open one eye, then the other eye, and think,
"No...no broken bones. No concussion. No massive bleeding. No internal hemorrhage...alright...not that bad!"
My shoes are on opposite sides of the road, I have nasty road rash on my right wrist, abrasion on my right hand, both feet, and both knees. I have a growing bump on my head and bruises all over both legs. Clumps of my hair on the road.
The police and the ambulance arrive and check me out. The cat was thrown 15 feet from me and I was thrown myself about 10 feet. I broke the left headlight of the car. Thankfully, I was wearing a long sleeve shirt and pants! All in all I was fine but went to the emergency room to be checked out.

The people who hit me were really nice about it! They are a sweet engaged couple getting married in a week. They took me to the emergency room and stayed with me until I left and Jeremy came to take me home. As far as getting hit by a car goes, it was the best possible outcome!

First week of surgery

This place is amazing!!

Also, I made NO Cs! Yayayayayayay! But, dang, it was close! I made exactly an 80 in small animal and my final grade in diagnostic imaging was a 77, but there was a final course grade curve of 3 points, so score!
I take this as a definite sign that G^d wants me to specialize in something someday.
Down here in clinic land I love it! It's all very intuitive. The clinicians point you in the right direction (sometimes) and then leave you to it. I like just playing with stuff until I figure it out. I was playing around with the radiology machine yesterday.
I've had a femur fracture, a medial patellar luxation, a MPL recheck, a euthanasia, and a cat that was attacked by something. Tomorrow I have a granulomatous meningoencephalitis pug patient coming in. Yeah, it's crazy!
Most of the people down here know (and I think like) me too. I've gotten familiar with everyone after running down here everyday to ask Amy a question or doing HB stuff or working as a surgery tech.
I could do this for the rest of my life :)

Surgery!

My first day of small animal surgery was yesterday and today! It's FANTASTIC! I'm actually doing stuff! My first two cases were a broken femur and a recheck on a luxated patella that is going to have it's other patella operated on tomorrow. Two surgeries in two days! That's pretty good! Some people only get into surgery 3 or 4 times the whole six weeks!
We are doing a FHO on the broken femur, but I'm missing it because of UVIS training >P
stupid UVIS.

Grades

We're halfway through exam week! 3 down, 3 to go!
So far we're looking at straight B's, which is faaaannnntabulous.
Assuming I get the full 100 point lab grade and I made a 77% or higher on the final, then I have a B in SAMS!
I continued my mediocre B streak throughout the entirety of food animal.
And the Pharmacology final was brutal. I made a C on it, but my grade averages out to a nice mid-B.
In Equine I have a mid-B. If I make above a 67 on the final I'll get to keep it.
Low B in Diagnostic Imaging. There are only two tests, the midterm and the final both worth 100 points. Making below a B on that final would be disaster.
In Special Species we only have to know about chickens, and the professor essentially handed us the exam.

I've never made this many B's in my life, but right now mediocrity is great with me!

And we're back!

To say that this has been a stressful semester is a
severe
severe
understatment.

When I'm stressed to my breaking point, I usually go ahead and break. Why not finish what I've started? So I break, and then I hide from everyone and wallow in self-pity and self-dislike until things improve.

I think I'm on the upswing...just in time for exams!
I have mostly Bs and one A. Small Animal will be okay as long as I make an 80 on the final.
Wedding things will be alright as long as I don't think about it.

In 8 days I will be a Junior!

Also

Since leaving HB I can go all day without getting a single call or text! I had the best afternoon yesterday. I came home and I stayed home and studied. I didn't have to run all over town doing dog stuff. It's so nice just to sit.

The eyes have it

By the way, the eyes behind my blog title belong to Jeremy. Hypnotizing, isn't it? I have it as my desktop, and sometimes during class I just sit and stare :)

7 days

I went in to testify on Thursday. It was not the most stellar day that I've had in my life. I had slept about 3 hours for the last two nights studying for the small animal test that morning and then had a surprise lab that afternoon. I was pretty beat. The Honor Court met in a imposing conference room in the main office of the vet school. They had me come in and say what happened in my own words, and then I was done. It was slightly anticlimactic! I had imagined being interrogated mercilessly.
After me, my friend went in to tell their side of the story. They later told me that everything worked out okay, and that no one was expelled.

Yesterday was our 3rd special species exam. On Thursday we have our second Pharmacology exam, and that's the last pre-final tests we will take! I have about 7 days of class left!

Spring is fully broken

It was a productive Spring Break, which is a welcome change from all Spring Break's in years past. My floors are done, studying was accomplished, surgery packs were wrapped, Grandmother's were visited, puppies's appointment was made, dresses were tried on, BSG was completed, and puppies were returned to Starkville for the week.

I'm peopled out, but am resigned to the return to school. Three more weeks and then I am done with major classroom work forever! Hopefully!

I've picked on a pattern of people pleasing I've developed. It's non-productive and detrimental to my current life. Beginning work on eliminating it.

Breaking spring

Lots to catch up on over spring break! We finished my floors on Monday, wrapped surgery packs Tuesday, and are starting to catch up on BSG. Today hopefully is hair cut and clean house day, followed by a drive to Gamma's in the afternoon.

I've had two dreams in the last two nights about failing tests. Better get to work on the next small animal exam...

Pharmacology test continued

Dr. Langston is letting us keep our grades! Yes!!!

Oh, me. I feel like my sophomore year, and especially this semester, has been one disaster after another. Nothing entirely catastrophic, but it's close to the edge most of the time.

Staying up all night tonight to study for the Food Animal test tomorrow!

Pharm test tizzy

We had our first pharmacology test yesterday. I had some old exams that had been passed down to me from a third year that I shared with my class on a public forum on the school's website. Most people saw it, looked over it for 30 min or so, and went in to take the test.

It was the same test. I had given the entire class of 76 the test. Afterwards I immediately told the professor and emailed the class telling them what had happened. The professor said we would likely have to be retested. Most of my class (including myself) had stayed up most of the night to study for this and were not happy.

I got an email from somebody calling me out on a shady incident from last semester from which they extrapolated I had known that the old exam was illegal. See, last semester I asked a few juniors for help with an upcoming test. So they got together and came up with a list of things that they could remember from the test and sent it to me with the instructions to put my name on it and to share it with everyone. I passed it off as a study guide and went on studying as usual. Seems it was an eerily accurate study guide, as they had remembered a lot and the test was unchanged. I got a few askance glances from that.
I'm not sure how legal that sort of stuff is....but I like the help.

I sent out an apology to my class, saying I was sorry for screwing them over. And everyone was very nice and replied back saying it was ok and they didn't hate me. My class is really gracious.

I also quit HB until this semester is over so I can save my GPA. There's also a tizzy in HB right now about drama.

Is it spring break yet?

You can never go home again...

Or at least I can't, because then I don't study. I stayed at the lab until 11pm just so I would get things done.

I was surgeon for the neuter today. I did rather well, which was a pleasant surprise. We were in and out of lab by 2:45, which is very fast for us.

Carrie lost her cat Rupert on Monday and her foster puppy last night. She's about had it. I have too. We feel like dogs get dumped on us without asking if it's too much or if we can find people. It's, "Hey, can you find enough fosters for 20 dogs because they need to be in foster in 3 days."
...very out of touch with what's going on.

Can I elope, please?

Seriously. That would be nice.

TOO MANY CHOICES! I DON'T LIKE WEDDINGS

Adventures are just bad planning...

I got called in Friday night around 7:30 pm after no action all week. I was pre-warned that I'd have to drag in the scope table from the TPLO room but luckily that did not come to pass.

It was a little 15 hand Thoroughbred that had started colicking at 3pm and got to MSU at 6, was in surgery by 9pm. She had an intussception. Her ileum had gotten caught in Meckel's diverticulum and in the space of 6 hours had several feet of dead colon. She was euthanized at 10pm. Myself and the students there were allowed to come up and feel of the intestines, which was really cool! It's a rare chance that we get to touch a mostly-live horse during surgery. I got home around midnight and went to bed around one.

Saturday-
slept in. Studied and cleaned and got and elliptical around 4! Yay for ellipticaling! Now I can study and run in the comfort of my own home. Another late night of studying.

Sunday
SNOW!!!
Called Jeremy and had him drive over and pick me up early so we could run around and take pictures.
Lunch with Lewises
THERE ARE SO MANY INVITATIONS! WHY ARE THERE SO MANY INVITATIONS???
Grandma BJ
more study-study and clean-clean

Monday
ellipticaled in the morning and more cleaning
Poor Rupert
paid attention in class- go me!
Food animal case discussion- yes it was a trichobezoar (yeah!)
Talked to Dr. Grace about my D. She said not to freak out but to study a little everyday, and to cut down on extraneous activities
So hyper. Almost annoying so. Sorry Jer :(

Tuesday
Up at 4:30am, studying, looking at bridesmaid dresses and thinking about colors. Burgundy? Maroon? Purple?
Diagnostic imaging is really cool
Neuter today- I'm surgeon!

It's over

I made a 67 in small animal. HB is so over for me.

There are 400 points possible in small animal. I can still fix this if I drop everything in my life and do what I should have been doing from the start.

Grades

84 on Equine test, 8.5 on equine quiz, and 80/90 on Equine lab test, which means I have about a mid-B in there
74 on first anesthesia test, 98 on second anesthesia test= 86 average
81 on first Special Species test


I'm holding almost straight 85s this semester....don't know if that's good or bad. I want to get an internship for which I need a 3.5 and I'm not sure if I'm going to cut it. I had 2 B's my freshman year, 1 A last semester, and so far straight Bs. If I make just one more A, will that get me a 3.5? I'm not sure if I actually want to do the math.

Anesthesia

So....the test is Tuesday? Hmmm, thought it was on Wednesday. I'm really not very good at life.

Jeremy

That man (my fiancee, woot!) is a rock sent from G^d to keep me sane. No one can ever say that Jeremy didn't get to see me in a variety of situations while we were dating. He's stuck around through two exam weeks, many dog run-aways, illness (mine, his, and various dogs), gashed knees, embarrassing moments, kitchens full of puppy poo, Christmas, Thanksgiving, birthdays, parvo, euthanasias, and he even dug a hole when we buried Brett together.

It's really unfair that's Jeremy has gotten to watch me go insane. Why do I have to be the one who looks bad all the time?! When is it going to be my turn to play the good guy?

Half-Full

Note to self: Be more optimistic
Step 1: Use more exclamation points!
Step 2: Remember that EVERYTHING WILL BE OK!!
Step 3: If all else fails, sell everything and elope. Live in California in hippie commune.
!!!!!

I volunteered to watch a litter of 6 adorable parvo puppies over the weekend as Dr. Meg had to go out of town. It was just for a weekend and only 2 out of the 6 six were ill so it wasn't a big deal.
On Sunday night, Jeremy and I leave the lab to give the puppies their nightly fluids. We have the really sick one, Matthew, wrapped in a towel on the table when he starts to flop around and then collapses and voids his bowels. Jeremy and I were both sure we had just seen Matthew die. We take him outside so the smell won't fill up the house and then I call Amy then Meg telling them he's dead. A necropsy was suggested so we're about to head to the school to put Matthew in the necropsy freezer when I do a last vitals check. He was alive.
It seems he had gone into a hypoglycemic seizure. I had no Karo syrup on hand (but I will in the future!!) so I was no help. Matthew starts to cry and groan continously in a really pitiful way. The decision was made to euthanize him.
Jeremy, me, and Matthew drive up to the vet school to the emergency entrance. We sit in an exam room for 30 min, talking to a really nice senior student while we wait for the shot to drawn up.
I had been rattled when Matthew had his seizure, and rattled when he was still alive, but I started to get weepy in the exam room because there was nothing to do but listen to him cry, which he did continously.
Of course through it all Jeremy was a rock and let me wipe my off my tears on his jacket.
Luckily, I didn't have to stay to watch.

Although this semester has been rather distressing, there is no doubt that this will make me a better vet. And maybe a better person. I can only hope ;)

When I was in my mid-late teens I used to pray earnestly that G^d would challenge me and teach me to be humble and make me wiser and kinder and more compassinate. WHY DID I DO THAT? (jk)

Plans! (not the Death Cab for Cutie album)

I had a test this afternoon in Equine (eek!)and I didn't get anything done yesterday (obviously) and I love parentheses (duh). I skipped class all day and took the test at 1. T'wasn't so bad. I love Dr. Linford! That dude rocks my socks off. And right before the test I was running all around the auditorium showing my ring off to whoever called and that was entertaining.

I keep forgetting that people besides my parents read my blog.

Anyways, plans! Wedding is October 3rd in Tuscaloosa! You are invited, I think! If you're reading my blog then you must love me enough to be invited (unless you are a stalker, in which case you frighten me and are not invited)

Comments on the date:
October 3rd is soon, yes, this is true. First choice was in December but a cousin was getting married in December and now Eric and Laura are, so that is right out! Next options were the week before school starts back in January, Thanksgiving, Fall Break (Oct 3-6), or May 2011. October 3rd it was then! And besides, my Mom and Jeremy's Mom and Julieann (the beloved maid of honor) are planning it all anyway. I'm just going to show up hahahahaha!

Comments on the engagement in order of commonness:
1. Congratulations!
2. I want to see the ring!
3. I love your ring!
4. I love you both, I am so happy for you!
5. Who is this? (from three people who didn't have my phone number when I mass-texted)

Funny comments on the engagement:
Person: Well now that you got the ring you should jump him. Salon (an online etiquette/cultural site) said it was ok
Me: Yeah, I'll get right on that....in 8 months.

I want to frolic over yonder hills of green meadow in jubilant celebration!

Me on the phone with my grandmother: And then I gave him a big hug!
Gamma: Well I hope you did more than hug him!

Coach Schmidt's Text conversation with me:
Me: I'M ENGAGED!!
Coach: Who is this
Me: This is Joy, I'm getting married!
Coach: Great WHO
Me: Geez, I really hope this is Coach Schmidt. The guy is Jeremy Lewis he's majoring in computer engineering and he's tall dark and handsome!
Coach: It is I
Me: Awesome! You need to get on the facebook and keep up with all this stuff!
Coach: I would know how to get on facebook
Me: You don't know how to get on facebook or you do know how to get on facebook?
Coach: It is not possible

This is the day that we thought we would never see...

I'M ENGAGED! WHOA! Sorry they're blurry. The camera is uncooperative.

Story is:

I told Jeremy I would meet him at my apartment for lunch at noon. I get here at noon and he's already here and there' a big vase of roses in my living room with a sweet not that reads, "Je t'aime plus que heir nons que demain." which means, I love you more than yesterday but less than tomorrow. It's one of our things.

He then gives me a candy heart that says "Marry me" on it. I had given him this same heart as a joke a few days ago, and so I laugh and eat it, and carry on looking at the roses.

"Joy, I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you." Jeremy says

"Oh, I know!" I reply, chewing on my candy heart.

Jeremy begins to fumble in his pocket and realization dawns on my face.

"Oh no you don't!" I say

"Don't what?"

"This is a set-up for a fake proposal! I know you don't have a ring! No, I don't believe you! Get off the floor, c'mon!"

Jeremy was on one knee by this time, with a shiny box in his hand.

"Joy, will you marry me?"

and the rest is obvious :)

DRAMACITY

Monday
Owned by SAMS test
"I'm sure that was exciting, but I've got reptiles!"- Dr. Austin
No, no, that's not pot, Dr. Austin. Those are cherry tomatoes
FAMS lab- castration on tennis balls, dehorning on corn cobs, toggle pinning with honeydew melons
"Can you show me how to cut my balls off? Eww, that didn't sound right. Sorry ya'll"
Being entranced and disgusted with The Haunting
Went to bed early- I wasn't going to study anyway

Tuesday
One of the professors (Dr. Lathan) played a Chris Daughtry music video for us before class
Surgery lab- castration. I am assistant (yay!)
Studystudy
I took a personality test. It said I had martyr syndrome. I think it was right.

Wednesday
I GOT ENGAGED! WHO CARES WHAT ELSE HAPPENED??

Thursday
Skip all classes to study for imminent eq test
Eq test not that bad
wander down to eq and hear love stories
Sleep a lot

Friday
HB drama with Jack Russells, Kendra, and run aways
Doctor's appointment in Tuscaloosa. I will be so happy when I don't have to go any more! Sadly that is about 3 years away.
Bessie (one of the three surviving parvo puppies) was run over this morning
Dress fitting and the persuasive Mrs. Madea
Dinner with the folks
Take Byson home with me to have his funky eye thing looked at. Move Momma Dog back to Carrie, clean house

Saturday
sleep in
pick up the NEW litter of parvo puppies from the fabulous Dr. Meg in Columbus
Meg has a really cool house
Drive around looking at really cool antebellum houses with the Fiancee (woot!) with 6 poopy puppies
Studystudy at the Simrall engineering lab
Dinner and Pictionary man at Mandy's house with Abbey, Kristen, Brent, Amelia, Steven, Jenna, Julien, and the Fiancee (woot!). Plus the animals Cato, Libba, Phoebe, and Chloe
Teach Jeremy the finer points of subcutaneous fluids
Give the whole lot tamiflu (it really works!), kayopectate mix, and a tad of clavamox
Back to lab to studystudy anesthesia

The two sick ones are looking pretty meh overall. The kinda sick one is getting worse and the really sick one is miserable, poor dude. He cries whenever he's picked up because he knows he's going to be stuck with needles. I feel like whenever I give them fluids it just flows out the other end. I think the whole litter of 6 is going to break one by one.

Pictures- you love it, I love it.

Because pictures are more fun than reading

Thursday, Feb 5th- Sunday Feb 8th

10 month anniversary! I attacked Jeremy's car with streamers and heart decals at 4am this morning
The fourth puppy throws up, making it 5 for 5 that have clinical signs of parvo
Got up at 4am, took care of surgery dog, pranked Jeremy's car, gave subq fluids and Tamiflu to puppies, emailed fosters about send-off this Saturday, washed dog bedding in bleach, washed my own clothes, rearranged living room, and washed dishes
Retrieved Byson from the Columbus shelter today
RUF
Brett's not looking so good...

Friday
Blood and mucus all over the back of my patio in the morning
Don't get to school till 10 because of puppy worries
In vet school, parvo puppy is the magic excuse to get out of anything
Go home at 3 to check on the puppies. I open the door to the patio and everyone runs to me, but Brett. I look in the kennel and there he is. Dead. I'm moderately calm, but as I call Jeremy to help me dig a hole I start becoming emotional. I don't wait for Jeremy to leave work but go ahead and maneuver Brett into a trash bag. He is stiff and cold; he probably died soon after I left. I'm just starting on the hole when Jeremy arrives. He finishes digging the shallow grave, and that was the end of it.
I'm weepy for the rest of the day

Saturday
Now Bessie isn't looking so good. Meg Sutton talks to me over facebook and offers me free antibiotics and other meds for Bessie. Make a trip over to Columbus later that day to retrieve them.
StudyStudyStudy

Sunday
Sleep in because I was up till 4 the previous night
Bessie's better!
Church
Picnic at church with wiffleball and Dewey and Missy
studystudystudy
Go to Kendra's to check on her foster dog, Sam, who has been vomiting. I give him a shot of Cerenia left over from the puppies and make an appt for him to come into the vet school in the morning

Wednesday, Feb 4

Last night, two more puppies break with Parvo. I got home late because my group had surgery lab that day and I stayed up at the school so I could take care of the dog without giving her Parvo too.
I get home, let the dogs in, and immediately the littlest one throws up three times in a row and then lies down and starts shaking. I call Amy, I call Dr. Westbrook and get my options. I go back to the vet school and get fluids and give the little one and another that was looking puny subcutaneous fluids.

In the morning, they were both looking perkier. I gave everyone Tamiflu, food, and water and repeated the subq fluids on the two puny ones. Lets hope for the best!

Food animal lab- we cut into a living cow's abdomen and felt around in there. The cows were later euthanized. It was pretty cool! I got to cut through the external and internal abdominal obliques, the transversus abdominus, and the peritoneum! I also got to suture them back together later.

Wal-Mart raid looking for anti-parvo supplies (bleach, mostly) in my bloody coveralls
Jeremy cleaned my diarrhea kitchen for me :)
Setting up a large tent over my patio
missing LOST in order to find the Tamiflu hidden by the dumpster (it was like a drug pick-up)

Pics

Brenda is the brown one. Dewey is the biggest dog.