Goodbye Third Semester

Hello all.  I'm finally done with third semester.  After many long hours of studying and stressing, I have passed and am moving on to fourth.  I actually ended up making the Dean's List.  I don't think I've ever worked harder for anything in my life.

I am now home, on break for two weeks, which basically involves sleeping, eating, and snuggling with my dog. Fourth semester is next, which includes Pathology II, Clinical Pathology, Pharmacology 2, Epidemiology, and Mechanisms of Disease.  I know that the classes will be difficult but the professors aren't trying to "weed" people out by failing them.  By fourth semester, they're just trying to make us all better clinicians.  I'm excited to ALMOST be half way done.

Everything we learned this semester

Thank you Omega. I'm stealing this from you.

BACTERIOLOGY: First, the material that was on the midterm:

Microbiology basics (background, history, taxonomy, biotechnology, structure/function, staining techniques, nutrition and growth of bacteria, metabolism, sterilization, microbial genetics, host response, antibiotics). There were also a few Gram-positive bacteria on there: Staphylococcus aureus, S. intermedius, S. pseudointermiedius, S. hyicus, S. schleferisubsp. coagulans, Streptococcus equi subsp. equi, S. equisubsp. zooepidemicus, S. porcinus, S. suis, S. dysgalactiae, S. agalactiae, S. uberis, Enterococcus spp., Bacillus anthracis, andCorynebacterium pseudotuberculosis.

As for the final, that will include all of the following:

Gram-positive: Corynebacterium renale, Rhodococcus equi, Arcanobacterium pyogenes, Listeria monocytogenes, L. invanovii, Erysipelothrix spp., Mycobacterium tuberculosis, M. bovis, M. avium, M. leprae, M. lepraemurium, M. fortuitum, M. chelonae, M. marinum, Nocardia asteroides, Actinomyces spp., Dermatophilus congolensis, Clostridium perfringens, C. novyi, C. haemolyticum, C. septicum, C. chauvoei, C. difficile, C. piliforme, C. botulinum, C. tetani (and also C. sordelli, C. colinum, and C. spiroforme, but he basically told us not to worry about those)

Gram-negative: Dichelobacter nodosus, Fusobacterium necrophorum, Escherichia coli, Shigella dysenteriae, S. flexneri, S. boydii, S. sonnei, Klebsiella pneumoniae, K. oxytoca, Salmonella enterica subsp. arizonae, S. enterica subsp.diarizonae, S. enteritidis, S. dublin, S. cholera-suis, S. typhimurium, S. newport, S. anatum, S. gallinarum, Yersinia pestis, Y. pseudotuberculosis, Y. enterocolitica, Y. ruckeri, Pseudomonas aeuroginosa, Burkholderia mallei, B. pseudomallei, Pasteurella multocida, P. trehalosis, P. canis, Mannheimia haemolytica, Photobacterium damsela subsp.piscida, P. damsela subsp. damselae, Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, A. suis, A. lignieresii, A. equuli, Haemophilus paragallinarium, H. parasuis, Histophilus somni, Francisella tularensis subsp. tularensis, F. philomiragia, F. noatunensissubsp. noatensis, F. asiatica, Bordetella bronchiseptica, B. avium, Brucella abortus, B. canis, B. melitensis, B. neotomae, B. ovis, B. suis, Moraxella bovis, Taylorella equigenitalis, Campylobacter spp., Lawsonia intracellularis, Borrelia anseria, B. burgdorferi, B. theileri, Brachyspira hyodysenteriae, B. pilosicoli, Leptospira spp. (serovars canicola, icterohaemorrhagiae, bratislava, pomona, and hardjo), Helicobacter pylori, Chlamydia psittaci, C. pecorum, C. felis, C. abortus, C. trachnomatis, C. pneumoniae, Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides, M. mycoides subsp. capri, M. bovis, M. californicum, M. hyopneumoniae, M. hyorhinis, M. hyosynoviae, M. agalactiae, M. pneumoniae, Ureaplasma diversum, Rickettsia rickettsia, R. prowazekii, Coxiella burnetii, Ehrlichia ruminatum, E. canis, E. ewingii, Anaplasma marginale

Yeast/fungi (mycology): Microsporum canis, M. nanum, Trichophyton verruscosum, T. equinum, T. mentagrophytes, T. gallinae, Sporothrix schenckii, Rhinosporidium seeberi, Candida albicans, Cryptococcus neoformans, Malassezia pachydermatis, Aspergillus spp., Coccidioides immitis, Histoplasma capsulatum, Blastomyces dermatitidis

PATHOLOGY I: Cell adaptation to injury, mechanisms/causes of cell injury, reversible and irreversible cell injury, apoptosis, intracellular and extracellular accumulations, cellular pigments and pathologic calcification, edema and its mechanisms, hyperemia and congestion, hemostasis and thrombosis, hemodynamic diseases, shock; acute inflammation; chronic inflammation; tissue renewal and repair, neoplasia, skeletal muscle pathology, dermatopathology, bone and joint pathology.

PHARMACOLOGY I:

Basics: dosage forms (pill, powder, tincture, etc), dosage calculations, factors modifying drug dosage and response, drug disposition (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, pharmacokinetics), pharmacodynamics (half-life, etc).

Drugs:

CNS: Acepromazine, prochlorperazine, promethazine, trimeprazine, ethylisobutrazine, triflupromazine, azaperone, droperidol, diazepam, midazolam, lorazepam, zolazepam, medetomidine, dexmedetomidine, romifine, detomidine, xylazine, antipamezole, yohimbine, tolazine, morphine, codeine, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, oxymorphone, meperidine, methadone, fentanyl, carfentanil, buprenorphine, butorphanol, nalbuphine, pentazocine, etorphine/M99, naloxone, nalmefene, naltrexone, diprenorphine/M 50/50, tramadol, apomorphine, neuroleptanalgesics (just combintations of some of the aforementioned drugs - specifically, droperidol + fentanyl), thiopental, pentobarbital, methohexital, propofol, alphaxalone, ketamine, tiletamine, etomidate, halothane, isoflurane, desflurane, sevoflurane, nitrous oxide, phenobarbital, bromide, levetriacetam, zonisamide, gabapentin, felbamate, valproate, primidone, phenytoin

ANS: Carbachol, bethanecol, pilocarpine, physostigmine, neostigmine, edrophonium, pyridostigmine, demecarium, organophosphates (ecothiphate, isoflurophate), atropine, scopolamine/hyoscine, dicyclomine, aminopentamide, oxybutin, glycopyrroate, propantheline, ipratropium, acetylcholine, nicotine, mecamylamine, epinephrine, norepinephrine, isoproternol, dopamine, dobutamine, ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, phenylpropanolamine, amphetamine, cocaine, MAOIs, phenylephrine, methoxamine, arpacholondine, brimonidine, salmeterol, albuterol, terbutaline, metaproterenol, clenbuterol, isoxsuprine, phentolamine, phenoxybenzamine, prazosin, terazosin, doxazosin, propranolol, timolol, sotalol, nadolol, pindolol, carteolol, levobunolol, metipranolol, atenolol, esmolol, metoprolol, practolol, betaxolol, carvedilol, alpha-methyl dopa, reserpine, bretylium

Muscle relaxants/neuromuscular blockers: Guaifenesin, methocarbamol, dantrolene, succinylcholine, pancuronium, atracurium, vecuronium, mivacurium, rocuronium, tubocurarine, gallamine, alcuronium, fazadinium

Respiratory drugs: potassium iodide, ammonium chloride, volatile oils (eucalyptus, camphor, menthol), acetylcysteine, carbocysteine, bromhexine, theophylline, aminophylline, lidocaine, benzonatate, (a whole lot of the ANS drugs), betamethasone, dexamethasone, diphenhydramine, cromolyn sodium, zafirlukast, montelukast, pentoxifylline, doxapram, (and theobromine, a toxicant, and caffeine, a human drug)

NSAIDs: Aspirin, sulfasalazine, bismuth subsalicylate, etodolac, phenylbutazone, meloxicam, piroxicam, meclofenamic acid, tolfenamic acid, diclofenac sodium, ketoprofen, carprofen, naproxen, ibuprofen, flunixin meglumine, deracoxib, firocoxib, tepoxalin, acetaminophen, DMSO, orgotein, hyaluronic acid, polysulfated glycosaminoglycan

VIROLOGY: I’ll spare you the diseases + associated viruses list, and just write the diseases instead, broken down into those caused by DNA viruses, and those caused by RNA viruses.

DNA: Cowpox, pseudocowpox, sheeppox, goatpox, swinepox, fowlpox, contagious ecthyma, ulcerative dermatosis, post-weaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS), porcine dermatitis and nephropathy syndrome (PDNS), chicken infectious anemia, infectious bovine rhinotracheitis, bovine mammilitis and pseudo-lumpy skin disease, pseudorabies, equine herpesviruses 1 and 4, hemorrhagic disease of puppies, feline rhinotracheitis, infectious laryngotracheitis, inclusion body rhinitis, Marek’s disease, malignant catarrhal fever, African swine fever, feline panleukopenia, canine parvovirus, porcine parvovirus, bovine papillomatosis, canine oral papillomatosis, equine papillomatosis and sarcoids, infectious canine hepatitis, canine infectious tracheobronchitis, equine adenovirus infections

RNA: Bovine leukemia, sporadic bovine leukosis, feline leukemia and sarcoma, avian leukosis, feline immunodeficiency disease, equine infectious anemia, caprine arthritis-encephalomyelitis, maedi/visna disease, rabies, vesicular stomatitis, porcine enteroviral encephalomyelitis, bovine ephemeral fever, foot-and-mouth disease, avian encepalomyelitis, encephalomyocarditis, bovine parainfluenza virus 3, canine parainfluenza virus 2, Newcastle disease, peste des petitis ruminants, canine distemper, bovine respiratory syncytial disease, equine influenza, canine influenza, swine influenza, avian influenza, bluetongue, African horse sickness, rotavirus diseases, avian orthoreovirus arthritis and tenosynovitis, transmissible gastroenteritis of swine, feline infectious peritonitis, bovine coronavirus enteritis, encephalitis-vomiting and wasting disease of swine, avian infectious bronchitis, bovine torovirus, equine sleeping sickness, hog cholera, bovine viral diarrhea-mucosal disease (BVD-MD), West Nile meningoencephalitis, louping ill, equine viral arteritis, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS), Rift Valley fever (RVF), Akabane disease, feline calicivirus, virulent systemic feline calicivirus (VS-FCV), vesciular exanthema of swine, San Miguel sea lion virus, infectious bursal disease

Prion diseases: Scrapie, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, “mad cow”)

Semester 3

So I know I haven't posted in forever and the only excuse I have is that I forgot.  WARNING- this blog has graphic pictures (my mother told me to warn people).
Semester three began a whole nine weeks ago and so much has happened since then.  I passed second semester and so did all my friends so that's a good place to start.  Third semester is a hard semester to pass as we only basically have a midterm and a final in all four classes.  We have Virology (the study of viruses), Bacteriology and Mycology (the study of bacteria and fungi), Pharmacology (the study of drugs), and Pathology (the study of disease).
About three weeks into the semester, I adopted a seven-week old black cat that I named Alfie.  He's gained a whole kg the first month I had him and is a crazy monster.

A few weeks ago, the Friday before midterms, I had my necropsy for Pathology.  We had Spike, a fourteen year old neutered male that was euthanized due to suspected pneumonia.  It was really cool when we found out he had malignant mammary gland tumor that had metastasized to his descending aorta.  Four out of 100,000 male dogs are diagnosed with mammary gland carcinomas.  Here are pictures from that:

Above is the mammary gland tumor upon sectioning.

Above is the tumor on the descending aorta.  So cool!

I had four midterms in about 5 days, each covering about eight weeks of material.  I was very happy with the results and hopefully I can continue into finals.  After midterms, my family came down to visit for about 6 days and we had an amazing time.  It was a nice break after working so hard.

I have about five weeks until finals and six weeks until I come home.  I'll be home August 19 until September 3 and then hopefully, it's back to the island for fourth semester.  Vet school is harder than I could have ever imagined.  I'm learning more information each day than I ever thought I could comprehend in a lifetime.  I look forward to the weekends because I can spend four hours on campus catching up on studying without new information being thrown at me.  Life is good.  We'll see how life is in six weeks.

Twenty Three

So it's officially my first full day of being twenty three.  How does it feel?  Exactly the same as being twenty-two.

It's Saturday night and I'm studying parasites.  Specially, currently I'm studying Babesia bigemina or "Bovine piroplasmosis, bovine babesiosis, and Texas Cattle Fever".  I've learned that there is a ton of parasites that come from Texas...  poor Texas.

Last week was probably one of the most stressful that I've ever had.  With three exams in five days, I felt like I was just living day to day, holding on in the hopes of passing and looking forward to my birthday.
I passed anatomy, which I took on Friday.  Then came Physiology.  And I officially failed my first vet school exam.  However, it was only by one point and because the average was a 72%, the class should be curved in the end.  Which makes it totally a little bit better.  Immunology was on Wednesday and I felt very prepared for that exam, even though it was a killer and I did pretty well.  I had my parasitology presentation after that on Haemonchus contortus, or the Barberpole worm. I realize that the more exams I pass, the more I convince myself that I could really actually be a Veterinarian.  That I may just be smart enough.  If I live to pass the next exam, then eventually I'll have no more exams left and graduation will be upon on us.

Thursday night, we had my birthday dinner at Rock Lobster where we get a free bowl of Sangria and a giant chocolate cake for birthdays.  It was a well deserved break after a crazy week.

I realized recently the importance of having good friends, that are supportive and helpful.  Someone who will answer your crazy anatomy questions in the middle of their studying.  Someone who eats breakfast with you Sunday morning just to get away from the books and the drama of being stuck on an island.  The people you can complain to over and over again but never stop listening.  The ones who keep me sane when island fever, homesickness, stress, and sickness set in.  I know that they are more than just my  friends... They are good people and I will be forever grateful for them.

Back to studying Parasitology.
Happy 60th Birthday Mr. Robinson!!!

Sleepy

Hello all.


I have taken my sleeping pills.  For those of you who don't know what that means, it means that this post may make absolutely no sense.  I apologize.

I have been really busy (nothing new) with exams.  Next Friday, March 18, we have Anatomy.  The following Monday, March 21, we have Physiology and Wednesday, March 23, we have Immunology.  But then it's my birthday!!  YAY!  Finally a break where I can have a good birthday weekend without the stress of studying.


It's amazing that we're almost done with midterms and soon, we'll just have finals to worry about.  I can finally have a break from the stress, the anxiety attacks, the psyching yourself out, or preparing yourself mentally if you did happen to fail the last exam.  
Originally, I was planning on staying in St. Kitts in April but due to some recent medical issues, I will be flying home, arriving on Friday, April 22 and leaving Friday, May 6.  I'd love to see everyone during my short break!

This is on our t-shirts and I think you'll all find it entertaining.  It's amazing how all of it is true:
You know you're a Ross Student when:
10. You can say life's a beach and mean it.
9. You have actually considered swimming home.
8. You graduate vet school with a minor in mechanics.
7.Finding fresh milk at the grocery store constitutes a "good week."
6. You have nightmares about killer centipedes.
5. Beer is cheaper than water. 
4. You plan an entire afternoon to go the bank to deposit your check.
3. Your car is older than you are.
2. You have more sweat lines than tan lines.
1. No day is ever just another "ordinary" day.



I'm off to sleep now. Another long day of studying tomorrow.  Hopefully I'll get in about 8 hours of studying tomorrow to catch myself up and start preparing for my anatomy exam.  Hope all is well. 

I found this quote and loved it:  
One night President Obama and his wife Michelle decided to do something out of routine and go for a casual dinner at a restaurant that wasn’t too luxurious. When they were seated, the owner of the restaurant asked the President’s Secret Service if he could please speak to the First Lady in private. They obliged and Michelle had a conversation with the owner. Following this conversation President Obama asked Michelle, “Why was he so interested in talking to you?” She mentioned that in her teenage years, he had been madly in love with her. President Obama then said, “So if you had married him, you would now be the owner of this lovely restaurant,” to which Michelle responded, “No. If I had married him, he would now be the President.”

Second Semester

Hello.

I realize I haven't updated my blog in approximately 27 years but I do have an excuse.  Exams.  Exams.  and more Exams.   Last week, we had Anatomy on Monday, Immunology on Wednesday, Parasitology on Thursday.  (Then we had a small break).  And then we have Physiology next Wednesday.  Welcome to my life of having no life.

Second semester is hard.  Much harder than first.  But part of it is just the mind games again.  In second semester, we don't have a buffer of people we know who are going to fail before us.  This may sound mean but I guess it's survival of the fittest.  Everyone who passed first is now in second, which means we were all smart enough to make it.  Now the competition is even higher to not be in the lowest 10% of the class.  Thus far, I have passed all of my exams so I'm hoping that I'm not down in the hole of misery.

I moved into my new apartment and Kona is getting much bigger.

  We had a visitor at our house a few weeks ago.  He's now dead, thanks to half a can of BOP and the end of a broom.

I decided I would rather not keep her as a pet.

Mom and I have been trying to figure out our December break and hopefully, all you can make it out on the cruise with you.  It would be so amazing to see all of you and just relax, which is something I'm pretty sure I've forgotten how to do.

Off to study for Physiology.  Love you all

No longer a Firstie.

Hello all.  I'm writing you from my bedroom, in AMERICA!  I have finally finished first semester and made it home for Christmas break.  So much as happened in the last few weeks...
We all survived our first round of final exams.  The stress, the long nights, the back to back exams were just as bad as everyone said they would be.  But we all made it through.  The last day of finals, my roommate and I moved to our new apartment, which means I had to remove my wallpaper (which I did so gladly):



























We all learned more information in the last 14 weeks than I feel I have learned in all my years of school combined.  Our professors shoved information into our brain and expected us to regurgitate every detail that was taught.  And we all did it.  My entire group passed first semester and I'm so proud of all of them.

Friday, I got on a plane and got off the rock.  I landed in Miami, chowed down Chili's, and waited for my connecting flight to Baltimore.  The flight was delayed two hours due to mechanical issues.  I was supposed to land in Baltimore at midnight, catch a cab, and stay in a hotel until the next morning.  When I landed at 2am, my parents and sister were there and I was completely shocked.  I had no idea and it was truly the best Christmas present ever.  I wasn't shocked that they were there but because I had absolutely no idea that this was planned, yet everyone else on the planet did.

I got to spend the next morning with Sara, Hunter, Cooper, and Jeff and it was so nice catching up with family.

After going to the fire station and out to lunch, my family and I headed back to the airport.  My parents and sister were on a different flight back to Detroit than I was.  Their flight had no difficulties... mine again was delayed two hours because of the snow in New York.  So I turned on my St. Kitts patience, enjoyed an Arby's sandwich, and parked myself in between two trash cans and surfed the web.  I finally landed in Detroit at 8:30ish and made it home by 10:00 pm.  I got to see my Kodi monster and took a long bubble bath and finally fell asleep in my centipede-less, sand-less bed.  It's so nice being home but it's weird not having to use my brain or stress every minute.  I'm just using this time to prepare myself for next semester.  It's amazing how we just finished finals and three weeks later, we have to start all over again, from week 1.
We all survived first semester, which means we all know what it takes to survive second-tenth.  I'm so happy to be home and thankful for my friends and family who kept me sane.  I'm off to go shopping today for Christmas clothes and last minute Christmas present shopping.   So happy to be home.