Surgery Block

I did it! Made it through surgery block in one piece! It was one of the more intense three weeks I've had in my life, but I had a lot of fun and I learned a lot. During block, school and exams continued as normal, on top of a pretty demanding schedule and multiple patients in our care. Lucky for me, I got partnered with two good friends Matt and Chelsea. Chelsea and I got to work together for DC 1 and DC 2 last year, so I was really excited to have her in my group because we've worked well together. Matt and I are co-Vice Presidents for our class council together, so I was also stoked to have him in my group too!

Week one was a good introduction to what surgery block is all about. On Monday, we met our first patient who was a sweet Pitbull mix named Zeus. We were also tested on our surgery skills on day one. During the week, we ran pre-operative tests to assess Zeus' health status for his neuter. Then on Wednesday, my group and I ran anesthesia together for his procedure. A fourth year student came in to perform the neuter while we monitored him. The surgery suite is set up into 10 different stations. So once things get rolling, there are 10 procedures going on at one time. During surgery, there are multiple doctors scrubbed in who wander the suite to help as needed. We also have an anesthesiologist who rotates around to help make sure things are going smoothly. As stressful as the surgery suite is, it's also kind of low pressure because nobody hovers over you and questions your every move. Instead, the doctors are there for support and all you have to do is call them over. They were awesome at helping us think through things too instead of just giving us the answer. So things went really well for Zeus during surgery. He had a really long recovery, but ultimately he recovered well.

Every day (even the weekends) during block, we went in for patient care one to two times a day to assess vitals and give any medications. The Friday of our first week, we had a lab where we practiced skills such as liver biopsy techniques and a gastropexy (adhering the stomach to the abdominal wall to prevent it from twisting). That Friday also happened to be Halloween! The last two years I have missed out on Halloween because we have had an exam the following day and I stayed in to study. But this year, I was not going to miss out! A group of friends and I did a group costume of Alice in Wonderland together and we went to the school Halloween party. It was a really fun night!

Week two was our first week of surgery. Zeus went back to the shelter (to hopefully be adopted!) and we got a new patient for the week! Her name is Maggie and she is a Dachshund-Jack Russel mix. We did a physical exam and ran pre-op bloodwork and urinalysis. Matt was the surgeon, I was his assistant and Chelsea was his anesthetist. I scrubbed in to help Matt with Maggie's spay. It was a successful procedure and he did an awesome job. We both had an exciting moment when Matt made his incision and Maggie's skin bled (totally normal!). It wasn't my first time assisting with a live procedure, but it had been a long time and we don't get to practice on live tissue, so seeing the blood sort of surprised us. Also, Maggie had really tiny organs so I helped Matt externalize the ovarian pedicles. We both got excited about handling live tissue that was warm. It was a really fun experience and it eased my nerves to help Matt with his surgery prior to being the head surgeon the following week. Maggie had already been adopted prior to her surgery which made us all really happy (and kind of sad because I wanted Matt to adopt her), so she left at the end of the week to go to her new home.

Week three was by far the craziest of the block. It was the final week, we had two patients (and thus two surgeries) as well as a round of midterms! Prior to being the surgeon and the anesthetist, we had an oral exam of our skills and knowledge of what to do in certain surgical scenarios. The dog I was assigned to spay was a sweet lab mix named Stella. And Chelsea's patient was an adorable little Pitbull maybe beagle mix named Meredith. Again, we did physical exams and ran bloodwork at the beginning of the week. I was the surgeon on Wednesday, Chels was my assistant and Matt was my anesthetist. I was really really nervous while we were prepping Stella, while I did my surgical scrub and when I was making my incision. Once I started, I was less nervous. Stella had a few minor abnormalities that gave me a little bit of a challenge. She had probably already had puppies because her uterus and ovarian pedicles were large! And she might have been just about to come into heat and she had a lot of vasculature to her organs. Also, she had a ton of fat! Fat is annoying to deal with during surgery! Fortunately, I had some good help from the surgeons and ultimately her procedure and recovery went smoothly. She spent the night in the VTH ICU because her recovery went past 7:00 (policy!). My group and I grabbed a pizza together and then went in for her two hour recheck later that evening. But my night wasn't over there! I went home and wrote up Stella's surgery report. Needless to say, it was a late night. The next day was Chelsea's surgery day. I ran anesthesia and Matt was her assistant. Meredith's spay went really well. And she was textbook for anesthesia for me. Chelsea did an awesome job (though I wasn't able to watch the whole thing, just bits and pieces of the procedure). At the end of the week, the girls went back to the shelters to be adopted. I have no doubt Meredith will be adopted quickly! She was a ham. I checked on Stella today and she still has yet to be adopted. I am really really hoping she finds a home. She is an absolute sweetheart. Early in the week, she was developing kennel cough, but by the end of the week, she was feeling better and her personality really came out. Stella was very mellow and just wanted to be loved on. She'll make an awesome family dog.

During that last week of block, we had an exam on the day I had surgery on Wednesday and on Friday. We had patient care through the weekend and then exams on the Monday and Tuesday. I am super thankful to have had Amanda help me through those six days. We had dinner together in the Bustad lounge multiple nights in a row during several intense late night study sessions. The exams all ended up going fairly well, but that week was a blur!

We got the week off for Thanksgiving and so I definitely caught up on sleep. Tomorrow its back to school. We have two more weeks of regular classes and then one week of finals. This semester flew by! After this, we only have one more semester of sitting on our butts in the classroom. We get reminded almost every day that we'll be on the clinic floor in six months and out looking for a job in 18 months. Crazy!!!

I submitted my draft of my fourth year schedule. We still have to add in our supplemental rotations, so its not finalized yet. I'm also still trying to figure out where to go for my SIPE (student initiated rotation). I'm looking for a mixed animal practice, but I've got some time to figure it out.

Before I wrap it all up, I have some pictures from surgery block! Until next time!
xoxo

 Zeus! He was full of energy!

I went to a corn maze down in Lewiston, ID with a group of girlfriends before surgery block. Of course Cassie (my vet school twinsie) and I had to take pictures as a cow and a potato!

Our Alice in Wonderland group costume!

Heather and I awaiting our oral exams for surgeon and anesthetist. Of course everything is alphabetical, so I was last on the list for my exams.

Chelsea's patient Meredith! Such a cutie pie!

This was my last day with Stella Bella. It was so hard to say goodbye to her. Somebody adopt her pleeeeeease!!!!

Stella got super cuddly in the days following her spay. Look at that face!

Stella broke my heart every time I put her back in her kennel. She would jump up on the fencing like this to watch us walk out the door.

My friends were amazing surgery support. These were the goodies I got from them the day of my surgery. I joked that I should do surgery every day because it was like my birthday! And look, Amanda got me a Nevada Wolfpack surgery cap (and I should note that UNR reclaimed the Fremont Cannon at the rivalry game last night--no matter where I end up, I'm always first and foremost a member of the Wolfpack)!!!