Whirlwinds, Puppies, and Quilts

I have to admit I don't remember much of what I've done recently except yesterday. It has been really busy lately. We have a dog that we were told hasn't eaten in four days yet it has so much energy for not eating. In surgery Uncle Chuck pinned a fractured leg on a dog, and pinned a broken leg on a cat, carved grooves into I think the femur on both legs to fix a luxating patella on a little yorkie, had a spay and a neuter. At the end of the day there was a mastiff that came in for a c section. There were 16 puppies that went out the door crying their lungs out. We also saw a cat that the owner had been putting frontline on that was anemic due to the massive amount of fleas on her. We ended up doing a blood transfusion from one of the cats that the clinic is trying to find a home for. There was also another quill dog that came in but it didn't have quite the Santa look that the other one had had. The yorkie came with a brother who got a dental but he has what is know as a collapsing trachea so we didn't tube him. When he gets stressed he starts breathing more rapidly and sounds like a duck. I ended up having to hold him a while after his dental until he quieted down.

Uncle Chuck's oldest son Jordan came up with his girlfriend for a couple of days. While they were here we stayed at Camp. Caryn went to pick them up at the airport and then they met us in Old Forge where we watched Inception. What an ending. It certainly is quite the conversation starter. The next day I did a lot of reading while Jordan and Emily went to the house and then grocery shopping for the stuff to make dinner and Chuck and Caryn went to Croghan. I then helped make dinner. After dinner we played Trivial Pursuit. Today I am just hanging out at the house catching up on a few things while Chuck is out fishing and Caryn makes her way home from dropping Jordan and Emily off at the airport.

This is a picture of a quilt I made. It is the view from the bell tower of the St. Lawrence cathedral in Trogir, Croatia. I made it before I left for my uncle's.

This is the picture I took on my trip that the quilt is based on. As you can see I took the artist's liberty with it and made it brighter, without the influence of civilization that is in in the picture, and it came out pretty well. I seem to do one quilt a year so far but we'll see if that keeps up with all the excellent pictures I have that can be turned into something amazing. One week left and I'll be able to see what I can do with the time I have left until school. TTFN

Tourniquets, Intubation, Vaccines, Relaxation

Well I have been busy. They have started to have me help out more and more and are keeping me busy. So far I have held dogs while they are being given shots or blood is being drawn. This means that I have one are with the elbow under the neck and the other arm is acting as a tourniquet on the leg closest to it. Once they are sure they have hit a vein (they draw blood in the syringe) I let up on the leg if it is a shot but keep my hand on if it is for drawing blood. I have also intubated dogs and I have prepped one for surgery. The other day I watched bladder surgery where a bladder stone was removed. The stone looked painful. Most recently I have started to draw vaccines. The techs are really nice especially the ones at Otter Lake. Amanda and Alicia give me bits of information about what they learned in school when it pertains to something we are doing. It is really a learning environment here.

When I'm not at one of the clinic sites I am mostly at camp. The other evening Uncle Chuck and I went for a canoe ride with the dogs. We even ended up seeing the loon that seems to have a residence somewhere on the lake. This weekend we have been kicked out of camp by Aunt Caryn. She is having a bunch of friends over. Uncle Chuck will be going camping with a friend so I have the house to myself this weekend. I'm thinking of going into the clinic on Saturday just to see how another vet works (Uncle Chuck really thinks I should as I spend so much time with him). Then who knows what I will end up doing. We still need to get food as we spend so little time here and there isn't much.

Well until the next update. TTFN.

Arrival

It's been a few days since I made it to Lowville. Since I have been here I have seen a lot. The first day I came to Uncle Chuck's house and hung out for a little and then when he came back we went over to his camp which is on Chase Lake. I went for a dip in the lake and while there saw a duck with five ducklings that would come very close to humans. The next day we went to the Otter Lake clinic which is a very small but quaint building. There is only one receptionist and vet tech. I watched two spays with hernia repairs, a neuter (all dogs), and a tumor removal of a tumor on the skin. Then we had the office visits where I learned that a vet's job security is people feeding their dogs and cats wheat and milk products as there is a certain protein that creates an allergic reaction. The day went very long. After finishing there we went to the camp where we stayed the night.

Today we went back to the Otter Lake clinic where there was a cat spay and then office visits. One of the more interesting ones was a dog with a bone stuck around his mouth. It was one of those rawhide circles and he somehow got it over his canine teeth and it was stuck there. So we got it off for him. Then we headed to the Lowville clinic for more office visits. Over these couple of days I have seen many cats and dogs as well as kittens and puppies. One client is even trying to get Uncle Chuck to take one of her papillon puppies that is the runt (and what a cutie he is) he is resisting however which is what you have to do or you would acquire too many pets. Well I have the day off tomorrow so maybe I will go to camp and hang out in the lake if the weather keeps being as hot and sunny as it has been. I'll keep you posted. TTFN

Leaving...again

Well everything is going great here. I am getting ready for my internship at Countryside Veterinary Clinic in Lowville, NY. I leave Monday and feel like I have so much I have to do on top of working at Hannaford. I still have to pack but my bicycle is ready to come with me and take me to my job if I find I need transportation. I started a quilting project that I meant to start a while before I left but just wasn't in the quilting mood. Of course I want to get it done before I leave so that is adding to the to do before I leave list that I feel is growing. If I can get to a point in the project that just requires thread and needle and an iron I could take it with me but I have the feeling I am going to need a sewing machine to finish it. Who knows maybe I will drag out my mom's old machine, some of her thread and bobbins and they will find their way into the car.

Tonight I went to the Hannaford in Franklin to work. I got paid for the mileage as well as my hours. Interesting crew there. It seems like most of the people from front end I meant were recent hires. They really appreciated my being there as it was busy and they were trying to train someone in the service center. Not used to having to drive a long way to get home after work though.

The house is coming along great too. Went out there with my mom to drop off water and cookies around 11 and they had most of the 1 inch foam boards up on the outside of the house. These will be used to help insulate the house and the siding will go up on top of them. When I go out to Lowville I will have to rely on my mom's blog to keep me posted on the progress of the house as I won't be able to help in any way or even go and just look at it.

What else do I want to do before I leave besides quilt, work, and look at the house? Well I want to read (there is so much I want to read that I just can't fit them all in), hike (Alex and I still haven't gone anywhere although we did have our fun in the creek), and hang out with my friends. In the time I have left I feel like there is "so much time and so little to do. Wait a minute. Strike that. Reverse it."

Well next time you hear from me I should be in Lowville. TTFN