Week 3

June 17

When I came in this morning I expected Chloe and Shaina. To my surprise, I saw Chloe and Lyndsey, a girl from my school I've known for years who I had no clue went to this clinic. Our first client that was brought in was a 7 month old miniature pincher, and she was the cutest little 4.48 pound thing. We snuggled with her all day during our free time. She was there for a spay and a hematoma repair.

There was also a big dog, Bentlee, who was there for vaccinations and a bath. I bathed him with Chloe, and we were sort of clueless on how the bath and machines worked, so it was really fun. And Bentlee was such a relaxed dog; he didn't care at all. I clipped his nails too.

We had a German Shepherd come in for an exam that I helped with a lot. I drew his vaccinations and held him, and talked to his owner who was very sweet. The dog's name was Dozier.

After a while we needed to go to the barn to check on Rant, the pig. While out and about, I took a bunch of pictures of the different animals and such:

Week 2

June 10

For a while I was the only intern there. And for a while not many people came in. So Jenna showed me how to work the computer system and where some things were. There was the most adorable little chihuahua there all day that day. His name was Dinky. Whenever I had free time, I got Dinky out of his cage and cuddled with him. He was there for a dental. While he was anesthetized for his dental I clipped his nails, and that was the first time I'd ever done that. I only hit like two quicks (the vein in his nails).

Also, Kristin, another lady who works there, randomly came in with a bucket full of tiny kittens. It was literally the cutest thing ever. She said they were going to be farm cats so we shouldn't love on them too much, but we just couldn't help it.

Another intern came in at around 11 because she was supposed to give a dog a bath. Her name is Taylor, and she's pretty funny and very talkative. The dog was a great dane, so it was huge, so I went to help her with the bath. I had never bathed a dog other than my own before, and especially not one so gigantic.

Jenna taught Taylor and me how to properly draw vaccines. I stuck myself with a needle once, but they said everyone does that. I've got it down now, and drawing vaccines is easy.

After that it was a slow day, and the last appointment was a cat to get euthanized. I didn't really want to see that so I went home.

Week 1

June 3

June 3 was a loooong day. But I had so much fun. I walked in the door at around 8:20 and was greeted by Dr. Hayes' assistant, Jenna, and another intern. All the other interns go to this school, so I was the odd man out. Another girl came in a few minutes later and talked to the first girl. I learned their names were Shaina and Chloe. They turned out to be very nice and helpful.

Dr. Hayes arrived at the same time as our first patient, a cocker spaniel who was going to get neutered. I was new to this whole environment, so on this day I mostly observed. We took the cocker out of his cage and lay him on the preparation table, where Jenna showed me how to plug in oxygen. Dr. Hayes had me read the word "isoflurane" off of a bottle, which he then told me was the anesthesia we were going to be using for this dog. While Dr. Hayes was getting a mask to put over the dog's face to start his anesthesia, his grandson, Will, was holding up different sized tubes to the dog's face. I learned that these were tracheal tubes, and they are hooked up to the oxygen and isoflurane in order to anesthetize the dog as well as keep it alive. The correct size tracheal tube is the same width as the distance between the dog's two nostrils.

Jenna then showed us how to properly prepare the dog for surgery. She shaved the area, scrubbed it with surgical scrub multiple times, then scrubbed it with alcohol. After this, we picked him up and took him to the surgery room and tied his legs to the table. This was the first surgery I had ever watched. My first actual in-person experience with blood and organs and all that. It didn't gross me out. I did, however, have to leave the room, but that was only because it was so hot. The 'goriness' of the procedure didn't bother me at all.

I was in charge of checking the dog's heartbeat during surgery, and watching him to make sure he woke up alright. He was taking a while to wake up, so Dr. Hayes gave him a shot that would help. Jenna warned me to keep my hand on him because they tend to wake up quickly. I thought she meant abruptly. That is not what she meant. One second this dog was out cold, and the next is was awake, up, and springing towards my face. Thank God Dr. Hayes was there to help me catch it. It was an experience alright, and I said, "Hey, well now I know."

We had another surgery after that; a tumor removal on a sweet old dog named Dixie. After her surgery she was bleeding in her cage so we wrapped a bandage around her. The rest of the day was patients for check-ups, so Jenna showed me how to check them in, and Dr. Hayes let me watch the exams. We also went to the barn where the horse, Maggie, was having a specialist come in to look at her foot, so I observed that too. Dr. Hayes took Chloe and me to another barn to see the sheep, and he told us to catch the lambs. To catch a lamb you have to grab its back leg or its fur, and lambs do not like having their back legs or fur grabbed. We were chasing lambs around in their cage for a while, but it was really fun and funny, and good exercise too.

Later in the day, two men brought four horses to us, which we had to do some blood work on and fill out paperwork. The fun part about this was that since horses look a lot alike, to distinguish them, we had to draw their markings on the paperwork. It probably looks like a 3 year old drew the horses I drew. But it was fun, and they were very sweet horses, and I had never before been so up-close-and-personal with multiple horses.

At the end of the day Dr. Hayes said he'd see us next Monday. I drove home and checked my email, and this is what I saw:

Laura, I couldn't talk in front of the other intern yesterday, but I want you to come in as often as you can  this summer. I don't want the word out that you are getting special treatment. And if it comes up I will address it then. I want you to be able to take over the clinic. You need to learn as much as you can about how the clinic works so I can rely on you to help me after Jenna leaves in 2 weeks. I am glad though you weren't here today because I had 7 interns. 

That email made me SO happy.

June 5

When I walked in this day, there were already four other interns there who all knew each other. I just sort of sat there for a bit. Then Dr. Hayes came in and told everyone that today I was head nurse, I was in charge, and to listen to everything I say. While terrifying, this also made me feel really good. And so I made sure the oxygen, surgery table, and surgery light were on, the packs were ready, etc. But they did most of the work. Today, instead of small dogs, we had three giant black labs to spay/neuter. This time, instead of Dr. Hayes/Jenna, I shaved the area, scrubbed it, picked the tracheal tube, and tied it in place. I also chose who was responsible for what, and watched over them. It was really interesting to be in charge, because I really could see and was responsible for what needed to be done.

Later that day we went to the barn to clean the donkeys' feet and groom them. I groomed a donkey for a while, and boy that thing could shed, but after a little bit I went home.

Before

I'm on my way to becoming a senior in high school. Wow. I never thought the day would come. Along with its glory, this also means it's time to crack down and decide what type of project I'm going to spend 200+ hours on over the course of the next year. I choose to intern at a veterinary clinic.

Being a vet has not always been a top option for me, and honestly, there are still many other options I'm considering. If anything, I figure this project will be a good trail run to see if I like it or not. My veterinary interest was ignited by the death of by dog and best friend Sunny, who died (a year ago today actually) of Kushing's disease. I was devastated. I still am. And to make matters worse, not even a year later, my other, less-friendly but still love-able dog Jack died of Addison's disease. With my house empty of dogs, of my two best friends, I had never felt so lonely in my life. It was horrible. On Sunny and Jack's behalf, I swore to do my best to help and save other people's pets, so they (meaning the owner AND the pet) would not suffer.

Working at a vet clinic for my project seemed like a great idea, but I didn't know where I could do it, or if I were even allowed. I had almost lost hope when one day Mrs. Logsdon, a well-known woman in our community, came to talk to my class about possible projects and connections she has that could lead us to a mentor. Her presentation was mostly focused on environmentalism, however she vaguely mentioned that she knew Dr. Hayes at Locust Trace Veterinary Clinic. I was so excited. I emailed her about him right there from my seat in english.

Mrs. Logsdon was a huge help in connecting me to my mentor. She set up and accompanied me to a meeting with Dr. Hayes to discuss my project, which he accepted, and had the school administration eventually (they didn't like it too much since I didn't go to their school). I went back several weeks later to fill out some forms with him, and he told me I would start interning on June 3. And so I went and bought my scrubs and farm boots and showed up at 8:30am on June 3.