Oh hello again Life, nice of you to drop by

I woke up this morning with a headache and sick to my stomach.  Since I couldn’t get solid food down reliably, I decided to stay home from school.  A friend in the class got recordings of the lectures that I can get off of her later this week, so I should be ok.

Around 2:00 pm I found out that my bestie killed himself sometime last night or early this morning.  This is the same one who’s girlfriend killed herself when she broke up with him and he wouldn’t take her back.  She blamed him, several of her friends blamed him and left abusive comments for him to read on facebook, and he blamed himself.  Now he is dead.  I now realise that he cut me out of his life because he knew that I’d be able to tell when he was serious about doing it.  He is very good at fooling people, but hasn’t been able to fool me.  The others let their guard down because he did a very good job of playing “okay”.  I don’t blame them, even if they had watched him like hawks for months they would have eventually grown weary.  Being on suicide watch is exhausting.  He would have waited for them to lower their guard and done it when he saw his opening.  He was a stubborn asshole.  I place all of the blame squarely on his shoulders.  Just like I place all the blame for his ex’s suicide squarely on her shoulders.  Nobody can MAKE a person commit suicide, it is a choice.  It is a selfish choice, quite possibly the most selfish choice that a human can make.  She abused him and he was left quite utterly warped when she was done.  Now they are both dead.  I wish like hell that she had never existed, or that she had succeeded the first time she tried to kill herself and so never existed in my bestie’s world.

I’m going to see a councillor this week.  The funeral is looking like it will be next Monday (a week from today).  Until then, I have things that won’t stop just because some selfish jackass decided that killing himself was the answer to his problems.  There is an Anatomy test next Wednesday to study for, an Anatomy lab this week and next that I can’t miss, and final exams to study for.

A Riot of Spring

The weather this week has been very “Island Weather” also sometimes called “schizophrenic” when its particularly bad.  The mornings start off cold (about 3-5 degrees Celsius), rainy and windy and gross, then the sun comes out for a bit in the afternoon to give you hope and possibly trick you into putting your washing out to dry, as soon as you start thinking the day might be alright after all its gusting winds and raining just enough to be annoying.  Ah spring, such a lovely season.  We were blessed with a very mild winter so it would seem that we are cursed with a very spastic spring.  Only 45 days until I fly home though, I can deal with 45 days of any kind of weather if it means flying home to Southern California’s beautifully consistent warmth.

Lectures today were good.  First lecture was Animal Handling on pig welfare and handling.  Not much on handling so much as “this is how they are farmed commercially”, but still interesting.  Reinforces that I never want to own pigs, unless of course there are bodies that need to be disposed of (more omnivorous than say cows, oh man that article is priceless, I’m seriously laughing so hard it hurts).  The one thing I remember most from the lecture is that lots of straw is best for pigs because it keeps them busy and keeps piglets from getting crushed if the sow accidentally rolls on them.

Second lecture was Biochemistry.  I don’t really want to talk about it.  Mostly we talked about different anaemia’s caused by vitamin deficiencies.  B12 and Folate deficiencies can cause similar symptoms initially, but B12 deficiency can cause irreversible nerve damage so it is important to test for it if Megaloblastic Anaemia is seen in the blood work.  All of this, of curse, is related to protein and fat metabolism   Thankfully this was the last lecture on protein and fat metabolism, next week we start the section on “integrated metabolism” and then we are done.  Hopefully forever, this class has been the worst taught biochemistry class in existence.  I know that I can do biochem, I got an A in the other biochem paper taught at Massey.  That paper had the exact same material that was covered in the semester test that I only just barely passed.  Everyone else in the class is equally frustrated with the class.

After lecture’s I waited in the vet tower for my future flatmates to show up so we could check out a potential house to rent.  We got there, stepped inside, and realised that the house was Cold and quite damp.  We didn’t even bother looking through all of the rooms.  There is another flat that we are going to look at on Sunday, hopefully not as old and damp.

Flat hunting meant that I missed Grand Rounds this week, but next week I should be able to go to both Grand Rounds and Post Mortem  rounds.  Not sure why going to see dead things is so exciting, but I’m looking forward to being able to stay for the full time in PM rounds.

I made up my last Animal Handling practical today.  Cattle Handling 101 was both better and worse than I expected.  It was not nearly as intimidating as I thought it would be, and I was able to do it with some of my new friends in the class which was nice.  However, we managed to pick the three worst cows for doing things to.  Our first cow was a little headshy and while we were able to put the rope halter on her and get her into the headbale, we had trouble holding on to her.  The second cow we chose for the next set of tasks was even worse about having her head held, we didn’t end up doing anything with her.  The third and final cow is apparently the worst one they have about that sort of thing.  We still managed (with help) to get a gag into her mouth (it is a metal wedge that holds the teeth apart so that we can check the mouth for lesions and cancers and stuck stuff.  We also got a handle bar type thing into her mouth so that we could slip a rubber pusher down her throat (it is used to push large chunks of food down when they get a little over excited about eating and forget to chew).  I’m reasonably sure at this point that I am not destined to be a cow vet.  These were cows from the “tame” herd and so were used to getting messed with.  This meant they knew the tricks for getting away with things, but also that they are going to be easier than most of the potential patients in the future of cow vetting.  I’m not giving up on cows just yet, just not entirely sure its my calling.  I do so love sheep still.

 

Post Test NOT Tired For Once

I actually woke up feeling very refreshed this morning, not the usual so exhausted that I don’t even want to think about waking up that happens after a test.  My morning was very lazy because today was my late start for the week.  This set me up for a really good day overall.

Lecture today was back to Biochemistry, and like usual I felt like a survivor at the end.  Today we went through protein oxidation again focusing on specific steps that he says we don’t need to know but should understand.  I have no idea what that means.  Looks like I’ll be studying it all and hoping for the best.

Lab today was using electrodes to create an ElectroCardioGram (ECG) and listen to heart sounds. My group is very fun, but not the most organised.  We were the last group done and didn’t get through as much as we probably should have.  Luckily it isn’t graded on anything other than having been completed.  The professor asked us how the test went and we got to complain about the lack of time to answer questions.  Hopefully if we complain to all of the lecturers next year there will be some change and future students won’t have to deal with that nonsense.

After lab I took the bus into town and had sushi for lunch.  Salmon sashimi, miso soup, and green tea.  It was super delicious.  Then I took myself to the new-age-hippie-store and bought a Loreena Mckennitt CD for in my car.  Now all I have to do is figure out how to get the CD player to actually work.  After that I walked back to the bus stop, checked the time, and then got gelato.  Caramel Late flavoured gelato might be my new favourite thing.

Back at school I had a follow up appointment with the councillor.  Because I’d been having such a good day we had a quick check in and then worked on general stress lowering activities to help me with study stress.  This should help my overall health quite a bit.  I have one more appointment with her during the study break and if everything is still going well then I won’t need to see her again this year.  She has been a big help, I am very glad that I went to see her.

Now I am off to bed so that tomorrow can be another good day.  Grand Rounds are tomorrow, and my Cattle Handling practical if I’m feeling up to it (and the weather holds).

Physiology Midterm 2

That test can die.  It can burn to death and then crawl into a hole and DIE.  There was way too much information and not nearly enough time to study it and definitely not enough time to actually take the test.  We will see how that turns out.  No use worrying about it anymore. Ska is the word of the day.

In better news, I got my Animal Handling test back today with a grade of 80%.  Definitely not bad for being sick for a full week of lectures and making up answers on the spot for parts of it.  It’s been a big confidence boost for just about everyone in the class.  For the question that I made up answers for half of it, I got 8/10 points.  I’m impressed with that alone.  It might be below average but I’m happy with it.  For the amount of study that I put in and the fact that one question was on something that I didn’t study at all, its a respectable grade.

Lectures today were sparsely attended as quite a few people chose to stay home and study rather than attend lectures that are relevant to the final exams.  I don’t understand that mentality at all. Why would you sacrifice your final grade for a few extra study hours on a midterm?  It makes absolutely no sense to me.  Then again one of my flatmates attends almost none of her lectures and is still passing so I guess its a viable strategy.  Just not the strategy I prefer since I tend to learn better when I hear information while reading it.

So in Animal Handling this morning we learned about sheep handling, which was the same as last year’s sheep handling but much quicker.  In Physiology there was more on respiration which included more math but still seems pretty straight forward.  In Anatomy there was more locomotion focusing on gaits of horses.

After Anatomy was RADIC (Radiology and Diagnostic Imaging Club)  where we went through a few chest X-rays of dogs with various problems and then voted for next year’s club representatives.  Only one person ran for each position so it was an easy vote.

The test was two hours earlier than I expected so while I managed to study Endocrinology pretty well, I didn’t get anything done in Cardiology and only barely covered Histology last night.  During the test I left a few of the histology questions blank, but feel confident in about 80% of the answers, rushed through endocrinology but only guessed on about 20%, and gave myself extra time for cardiology where I guessed a good 50% of the answers.  Luckily cardiology was multiple choice so I have some chance of still getting it right.  I thought through as logically as I could each answer, we will see how it goes.

When I got home I comforted myself with another Young’s Double Chocolate Stout and Reel Big Fish.  Now it is bedtime.  Hopefully tomorrow isn’t too draining.

Hind limbs are not as cool as front limbs

Today was difficult to get out of bed again, thanks to rain and darkness due to daylight savings and living in a rainy place.  Somehow I was able to drag my sorry carcass out of bed and to school on time and ready to give the presentation with my group.  We did well and got compliments from other people both on the presentation and on the horse (to the horse owner not the rest of us, that would have been weird).

First lecture this morning was about cattle yards, I’ve already seen/heard that lecture so I didn’t have to pay too much attention.  Second lecture we started in on Respiration in Physiology and there was WAY too much mat involved.  I kept up but not sure I followed.  Thankfully we don’t need to know the equations or use them for anything, just understand the concepts, which I should be able to do.  Third lecture started in on locomotion, which I would think would be a physio thing but apparently we are doing it in Anatomy.

We got our Anatomy Assignments back today.  I managed a 6/10, which is passing and only slightly below average which was 7/10 so not terrible.  The comments said that the writing was adequate but lacked polish (well it was a rough draft that I couldn’t be bothered sprucing up since its a tiny percent of the overall grade), and that the picture was adequate but didn’t add anything (well I’m not an artist, he was lucky I included one at all).  So for what I turned in it was a fair grade.

For lunch I really wanted a burger, but the only burgers in the cafeteria were fish burgers and I wanted a chicken one, so no burger for me.  Instead I ate the lunch that I packed, and it was good, but not a burger.

Lab today continued with the hind limb, working on the last of the upper limb and then moving down to the lower limb between the stifle (knee) and hock (heel).  We were not focused or very awake so it took forever, but we managed to finish before we got kicked out.  We couldn’t find everything we were supposed to look for, but there were pro-sections done by the demonstrators that were labeled that we could look at so we didn’t miss anything.

After lab I drove one of my classmates home (she lives really close to me and on the way to pizza) and then picked up pizza for dinner.  Not cooking is the best kind of cooking for after lab.  Plus no dishes.  I have had a headache since lab ended and been exhausted most of the day, so I haven’t studied anything.  Getting a good night’s sleep so that I can be awake tomorrow is more important than studying when I won’t retain anything.  So good night internet world, until we meet again, adieu.

Almost forgot to post tonight

This time I can blame it on studying though, which is a much better potential excuse (that I can save for later because I didn’t have to use it this time).  Physiology test is on Wednesday so I’m doing plenty of study mixed with breaks for relaxing my focusing muscles.

Daylight Savings was this weekend, so I lost an hour of sleep between Saturday and Sunday during a time when I really should have been sleeping but was instead up watching movies with one of my friends that I made my first year of pre-vet.  The movies were terrible but the company was good.  I managed to get some study done over the weekend, but not nearly as much as I had hoped because on Sunday I ended up feeling really lousy and slept for a good chunk.

Today I woke up and there was no sun streaming through my window to greet me.  This made me grumpy, and sapped all of my desire to actually get out of bed.  Unfortunately the tug of responsibility overcame my desire to go back to sleep and I managed to make it to class on time if not terribly bright eyed.  First lecture was half Equine Behaiour lecture and half Case Study presented by my classmates.  The case study was hilarious but not terribly informative, I really hope we aren’t tested on it.  Second lecture was the last lecture on the Cardiovascular system and he lectured on Stress and Hypertension and then Exercise.  Both were interesting but I struggled to keep up because I was so tired.  Third lecture was Biochemistry and we finished up fat metabolism and moved onto proteins, I still have trouble keeping up with him and feel drained after his lectures.  Fourth lecture was Anatomy and it was Awesome.  It was drawing parts of the nervous system, and even though I’m terrible at drawing, it was fun and engaging and I remember more from it than I do from the other lectures.

After lectures I had a group meeting for the case study we are presenting tomorrow morning.  We looked over the power point and decided who was going to say which parts.  I get to talk about positive reinforcement and negative punishment as ways to get a horse to stop rearing.  Should be good.

After that was the Biochem tutorial which was actually quite helpful in getting the big picture stuff that he leaves out of lectures.  When that was done my future flatmates and I went and looked at a potential place to live next year.  The place was really nice, but not what we need.  There weren’t enough bedrooms, it was too far from school, and the yard wasn’t set up for dogs.  Hopefully we can find a better place.  One with the same number of bedrooms as advertised on line.

Friday’s post

I ended up staying up too late to get a post written last night, so I am making up for it this morning.  It’s still Friday somewhere, so it totally counts as a Friday post.

First lecture was started with MUVSA (Massey University Veterinary Student Association) elections.  We voted on President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Bar (event coordinators).  The people that I voted for did not win, but I’m not terribly concerned with it.  I’m sure that the elected people will do a fine job.  Though I am annoyed that the Girls won the Bar after their terrible campaign making light of alcoholism and setting feminism back a couple decades (why should they be picked? tits and ass of course! *rolls eyes*).  The lecture was boring and I didn’t pay much attention because it is literally ALL in the study guide.  Thankfully he is done for a while and I wont see him again until the end of the semester (a couple weeks break).

Second lecture (immediately following first lecture) was Biochemistry.  More lipid (fat) metabolism.  The lecturer goes through his slides so fast that it’s hard to keep up.  He also puts huge blocks of text on some of his slides (quite literally what you aren’t supposed to do).  At the end of each lecture I feel like a survivor.  I am very thankful for the book to look up what I don’t understand.

After lectures I stayed in the vet foyer studying Physiology for the test next week and waiting for Grand Rounds.  There were three cases presented: Water balloon cow, Snake bite dog, and Leaky puppy.

The water balloon cow was what is called as a “Hydrops” cow.  Upon presentation there were two options, either the water was in the foetal part of the placenta or the maternal part of the placenta.  Either way there was an extreme accumulation of fluid that made the cow look barrel shaped.  The cows that usually present with this are generally very dehydrated and thin.  She was in relatively good condition and upon physical examination it was found that she had started parturition (giving birth) but couldn’t push because her uterus was so extremely distended.  Because she was at a lower risk of shock and in relatively good health they opted to drain the fluid and assist the birth after supplying her with oral fluids and electrolytes.  The risk for shock in less healthy animals is thought to be due to the sudden release of pressure on some of the big veins that go through the abdomen (caudal vena cava being one of them) causing a sudden, substantial increase in blood flow back to the heart.  This cow was fine with the pressure drop and delivered two very small non-viable calves.  She was a 5 year old Jersey with enough value to be worth saving.  If she doesn’t get pregnant again they will likely cull her but since she gave birth early in the season she should be able to have enough time to recover before being bred again.

The Snake bite dog was a case from the US where rattle snakes are the most common venomous death monger.  The little dachshund cross came in laterally recumbent (lying on its side) and very weak with a very swollen paw.  They suspected rattle snake due to blood spots on the dog’s bed and that the dog lived outside in a run while the owners were away.  They took blood samples to test and make sure before dosing with anti-venom and treated for shock (which the poor thing was clearly suffering from).  The tests came back positive for things that indicate a snake bite is likely and a new and experimental anti-venom was tried.  The first dose didn’t cause a marked improvement so after waiting an appropriate amount of time they gave a second dose.  The second dose caused a mild allergic reaction (not as common in other species as it is in humans) which was treated.  The dog was still puffy and sick when it was discharged 3 days after presentation, but was able to walk and gaining strength.  Since it was an emergency facility and all of the follow up appointments would have been with the usual vet, they don’t know how the dog is doing now.

The final case was a 12 week old female Borzoi puppy.  The breeder brought her in with siblings for a routine checkup and mentioned that she was constantly “damp” and peed on her bed, though was able to urinate normally as well.  Upon ultrasound examination they found that she had an ectopic ureter (the tube from the kidney to the bladder inserted below where it should and bypassed the sphincter that holds the urine in until the properly potty trained puppy goes outside).  The old method of fixing this problem was to go in surgically, cut the ureter and move it to where it should be.  Because Massey vets are too cool for that (and because that procedure held quite a bit of risk being a long surgery with a high chance of hemorrhage) they opted to go in with a tiny scope and tiny scissors through her urethra and cut the ureter back until it was at the level of the bladder (basically opening up the top of the tube so that it goes to the right place, sorry no pics available for that one).  The breeder took her home and she is still slightly incontinent, but hopefully with her first heat the hormones will help with that.  Her new owner (she was sold) has scheduled for her spay to be at Massey after her first heat.  They would normally recommend that she not be spayed, but because this is a heritable condition they don’t want the genes passed on (intentionally or accidentally) so will be doing what is best for her and future generations of Borzoi dogs.

After Grand Rounds was my Animal Handling practical for Cats.  Which meant two hours of snuggling and petting various sweet cats being used at the Massey Research Facility.  They are running nutrition trials on the cats so feeding them various things and seeing how the cats do on the food.  There are some clearly food motivated cats (Tubby Tim hoovered up any food in his vicinity) and some not food motivated cats (one eyed Iko was thin and couldn’t care less about proffered treats).  The building is not labeled because of the crazy PETA types who are opposed to animal testing (even though these cats live the sweet life).  Anyway, we learned how to carry cats, hold cats for blood draws, and how to pop pills down their throats.  Thanks to Littlun (my cat back home) and her asthma I am very good at popping pills down cat throats.  The one other Cat Person and I finished first and passed the test so got to leave by 4 instead of 5 and I caught the early bus home.

For dinner I heated up the last of my leftover soup, and about halfway through consuming said soup my flatmate asked if I wanted to do pizza with her and some of our friends.  FAIL.  I had been craving pizza all day, so finished my soup and agreed to pizza anyway.  I didn’t eat much of it but what I did eat was delicious.  We stayed up talking and hanging out until almost 11:00 pm, and that is why I didn’t get my post written yesterday.

Physiology lab day

Drove myself to school again, getting close to the end of my 1/4 tank of gas so I probably won’t drive tomorrow.  Since I drove myself, I didn’t have to sit around in the library for an hour waiting for my lecture and instead had a very lazy morning.  It was quite pleasant.

Lecture was Biochemistry and we learned about fatty acid synthesis in the liver.  The lectures are finally getting into new material so they are actually interesting.  However, I got back my grade for the midterm for Biochemistry and am less than impressed.  Not terribly surprised since I couldn’t answer one of the 10 point questions, but still disappointed overall.  The points that I earned for each question: 1) 9.5/10, 2) 7.5/10, 3)  7/10, 4) 1.5/5, 5) 1.5/5, 6) 8/10, 7) 3/10, 8) 3.5/5, 9) 5/5, for a total grade of 66.4%.  This is a passing mark but still depressing as it is the lowest score I have received on any test this semester.  The average mark for the test was 69% and the top mark was 97% so my grade is firmly below average.  This is also the first time that I have been below average on a test.  Guess I will have to study harder and not rely so much on my prior knowledge.

Physiology lab today was about blood pressure.  We learned how to take blood pressure and pulse and filled out several tables.  Not sure what we were supposed to get out of them.  At the end of the lab we watched a neat vivisection on a sheep where they did a lot of terrible things to it (while it was anesthetized) like compress its chest and abdomen, inject it with adrenalin, stimulating the vagus nerve (which stopped the heart when done at a high enough volt/amp), and pinching off the carotid arteries.  It was an old video and I’m reasonably sure they killed the sheep after and used it for a class or something.  It means we don’t have to do the experiments ourselves and can save all of the modern sheep from that.  I took my blood pressure and pulse with the automatic machine that we used for part of the lab.  Something is wrong with me because sitting in lab not doing anything my blood pressure was 141/97, my mean arterial pressure was 117 mmHg, and my pulse was 87 bpm.  Which was higher than our test subject during heavy exercise.  Its either from being sick or I was having some sort of secret panic attack that only my body knew I was having.  Looks like I should go see the doctor again.  My lymph nodes are still swollen (though not as bad) and I’ve been coughing for a couple of weeks.  I wish that I had one of those portable digital blood pressure cuffs so that I could take it again while I am home and resting.  Its got me a little spooked.

I’m starting to study for the Physiology test that is next week.  It covers endocrinology and cardiovascular physiology as well as the histology labs.  I guess this is instead of having a separate practical exam.  The cardiovascular part will be multi-choice, the endocrinology will be short answer, and the histology will be anybody’s guess.  So that is taking up most of my “free” time.

My bestie “friend broke up” with me today.  I’m surprisingly relieved by it.  It means that I no longer have to throw energy into something that is not giving me anything back.  It means I have closure.  I have been dancing to Ska music all afternoon (when not studying or eating) and that has helped me get through the more intense emotions.  This puts me at 4/5 best friends walking out of my life.  Not the best track record, maybe I should fix my picker.  Or stop turning my best friends into siblings or dating them so that they leave the “best friend” box and enter the “family” or “significant other” box.

 

That’s it for me tonight.  Here is a picture of the Beast.

 

it has a butterfly sticker on the passenger side back window because he is secure in his masculinity

Tired again

Seems to be a recurring theme with the day after the test.  I’ll be going to bed early tonight to make up for it.  I drove myself to lectures this morning as my flatmate left the house before I even woke up.  Not sure where she is, but she hasn’t come back yet.

We have been bombarded with campaign speeches from various third year students all week as voting for various elected positions is on Friday.  We have heard why we should pick Boys For Bar and why we should pick Girls For Bar.  We have been given compelling reasons for both presidential candidates and both secretary candidates.  Honestly, I don’t care.  I don’t know any of them well enough to know if they are suited to the job.  The BFB campaign did promise some non-alcohol related activities and that does appeal to me.  The others are pretty arbitrary, either way I’m sure whoever gets the job will do well.

The Girls For Bar campaign speech made us late for the RADIC meeting so I missed the first half of the first case (or maybe the first case and the first half of the second case).  The part that I did see involved fluid in the space around the lungs.  The next case was a poor dog that kept coming up lame on the same leg.  The first time was a torn ligament that was repaired, the second time was a broken toe (caught in a fence as she was jumping over) and the third was noticed after the toe was repaired as joint problems in the metatarsal joints.  The thought is that the initial surgery caused an infection which has been slowly eating away at the bone.  Once they figure out what type of bacteria is in there they will treat it aggressively and then fuse the joint because there is no more cartilage to make it comfortable to move.  This dog is a very high value working dog so the expensive surgeries to keep her working are worth it.  The next one was a dog that came in because it had collapsed and was having trouble breathing.  The poor thing pretty much had no lung space that was functional and was in kidney failure.  They drained over 2 mililetres of fluid from around its lungs and the x-rays showed pretty much that there was no part of its lungs that were functional.  The last one was a dog that came in for abdominal bleeding.  They took ultrasound first and noticed air filled nodules around the liver so they took radiographs.  On the radiograph it was clear that the liver was enlarged and that gas filled tumors were pushing the other organs out of the way.  The bleeding was coming from the liver.  The poor dog also had very clear tumors in the lungs.

After RADIC I took a walk around campus and sat by the river/stream thing.  It was nice to be out on a sunny day, especially since it is supposed to be rainy for the foreseeable future.  Then I went to see the councilor at the school and talked about a lot of the issues that I have been having.  I have things to work on now to help me be more stable.  No worries, I’m not nor have I ever been at risk for self harm, just on an emotional roller coaster that is no fun.

Leftover minestrone soup for dinner and lots of relaxing tea.

Anatomy Midterm 2

Woke up much refreshed today.  Funny what a full night’s sleep will do for a person.  I went to lectures and even paid attention.  During the usual Anatomy lecture slot there was the second multi-choice lab test.  We were given 15 slides with 3 questions each pertaining to a picture on the slide.  Two minutes were given per slide.  I managed to get 35 of the answers correct and changed a few wrong answers to correct ones.  There were 7 slides where I answered all three questions correctly, and no slides that were all wrong.  Overall much better than the first test (though only one point higher).

I also picked up my Physiology midterm1 (the second midterm is next week) today.  There is absolutely NOTHING helpful comments wise.  I had spelling errors circled and “semipermeable” inserted where I forgot it (hurray being rushed for time).  Still managed 32/40 so not terrible.

This is the last week of welfare lectures before we start presenting case studies.  I am so very glad of that.  This lecturer is the epitome of terrible.  He reads the handout or study guide shamelessly and doesn’t indicate at all what might be important.  He tries to make jokes and gets awkward laughs from the 6 people who were actually listening.  There are no visual aids at all.  According to the third years that I know he does get better when teaching physiology, but this series of lectures is not looked back on fondly.  I hope its part of the curriculum that is changed for next year’s students.

Physiology continued with circulation and small vessels.  There is far too much physics and not enough biology.  Though we did learn about NO (nitric oxide, nitrogen monoxide) and how it works as a vasodilator.  The small molecule is actually produced by the single layer of cells lining the blood vessels (endothelial cells) as part of a larger molecule which is stored in the cells.  When blood flow increases it causes distortion of the cells which triggers the enzymes near the basement membrane (side not facing the blood) to cut the NO off of the larger molecule so that it can diffuse out of the cells.  Since the NO molecules are so small they rapidly diffuse in all directions (including into the blood).  When they reach the smooth muscle of the vessels, it causes the muscle to relax which widens the opening (lumen) and lowers the pressure.  The NO that gets into the blood can trigger down-stream muscle cells to also relax causing a wider range of effect.  This is why Nitroglycerin works for angina patients.  The pain is caused by the coronary vessels being too constricted, the Nitroglycerin is converted to NO and causes the vessels to dilate.  This is also part of the trouble with shock.  When all of your vessels suddenly dilate at the same time you get a severe drop in blood pressure.  Blood can’t get back to your heart, so your heart is pretty useless at pumping which causes all number of problems.

After the midterm, my Animal Handling practical group got together because we are presenting a case report next week.  Our group is presenting on one of the member’s horse’s rearing problem.  We hashed out most of what we are going to talk about.  One of the members is going to turn the notes into a PowerPoint and we are going to get together on Monday to go over it.  The presentation isn’t being graded so we aren’t terribly worried about it.

After the meeting was Anatomy Lab.  Today we started in on the hind limb, which naturally made me think of chicken legs.  Each of the muscles that we looked at corresponds to one on a drumstick.  Made us all very hungry.  We also palpated bony landmarks on a recently deceased racing gray hound.  The lack of body fat made following the hip bones very easy but finding things beneath the thick muscles was challenging.

I drove the Beast to school today, giving a lift to the flatmate who usually gives me rides.  I made sure to park where there weren’t a lot of other cars and actually got in straight on my first shot.  Leaving was another story.  I pulled out of the space fine, but when going to scan my paystub at the exit, I managed to be too far away so had to reverse and pull closer.  Luckily there was nobody behind me.

Quote of the day: “Well, recreational pharmacology is alright” – physio/anatomy lecturer (the Anatomy paper coordinator while giving a Physiology lecture) The context is unimportant, but I think we were talking about ECG’s