Day 24 - Callie getting better

This is Callie post-biopsy and 15 days after original picture.  The blood on her upper eyelid is from the biopsy and drainage.  I think I did use some steroid ointment in her eye to get resolution this quickly, but it did 100% improve.  :) Yay for histiocytomas (as opposed to really bad cancer.)

TWO D/A's today and TWO calvings.  I'm pooped.

Day 23 - Callie and the Eye Mass

This is Callie.  At the time of this picture she was a 4 year old Collie. She came to see me because of this swelling of her lower eyelid. 

When I saw it - my reaction was rather one of shock and surprise.  I had no idea what this was!

So I took pictures and emailed them to my favorite veterinary ophthalmologists on the planet - Dr. Diane Hendrix and Dr. Dan Ward - both of whom were my professors at UT.

They wrote back and suggested a biopsy instead of me trying to remove it. 

The owner REALLY wanted me to remove it - but I would be removing way too much of the lower eyelid for my comfort level.  I looked at diagrams that suggested using a slice of her lip and swinging it up and suturing it in place of her eyelid - but opted not to try it.  :)  I like surgery and all - but am not a daredevil. 

Biopsy came back as a histiocytoma!  A completely benign skin mass that we see commonly in young dogs either on the face (usually on the bridge of the nose) or even more commonly on the feet or legs.  These masses just go away on their own.  So cool.

I loved Dr. Ward's response when I emailed him the biopsy results "That's one big honkin histiocytoma!" 

He's fun.  I like him. :)

Callie's eye mass did completely go away on it's own.  And I got a pretty cool picture.  If you enlarge it you can see me in my lab coat in the reflection of her eye.

Day 22 - Tattoos!

Ok, so every group of people who work together long enough eventually have some sort of bonding 'event' that cements them together as a team. 

For our vet clinic,  it was tattoos. 

That is my foot on the left, my boss (at the time) Dr. Bowman's calf, and my two licensed veterinary technicians, Jenny and Jenny on the right. 

The plan was for all 4 of us to go and get our tattoos done at the same time.  In the end, only three of us went at the same time.  Butterfly Jenny was due to go to the beach the day after our appointment and you really shouldn't lay out in the sun or get in the ocean with a fresh tattoo.  So butterfly Jenny did hers a week before the other three of us did. 

It was a fun night.  :) 

Dr. Bowman is no longer my boss - as he recently sold the practice to a vet we've worked with for 6 years - Dr. Nice.  But Dr. Bowman is still practicing - just as an associate vet now (like me!)  Sadly, the technician Jenny on the right no longer works with us. 

So, the three tattoos on the left are still together and still a team. 

 It may not be for everyone - but it worked for us. 

:)

Day 21 - My First Car..... Wreck

Ouch!  This was my first car.  It was a great little car, too.  I paid for it with my own money.  I was saving for a horse - but I was never allowed to buy one, so I bought a car instead.  

This was my 1989 Dodge Shadow.  My 4-door, 4-cylinder, cruise-control and a tape-deck car of awesome. 

This is it after I plowed it into a bank.  A bank with a big rock in the middle of it.

It was winter.  I was a freshman college student at East Tennessee State University and it was 1995.  I was home most weekends and volunteered at a local vet clinic.  Even though I was a volunteer and was not paid, they expected me to be there to help them on Saturdays.

It had snowed a few days prior and the snow melted during a warm spell on Friday.  The temperature was below freezing Friday night, though, so I knew there would be icy spots on the road Saturday morning.  I lived off of a very curvy, very hilly highway.  Route 70.  It was formed from an American Indian trail.  Did I mention that it was curvy?

But I know this road.  I know the sway and lilt of it.  I know when to brake and when to accelerate.  And I know where the icy spots usually are.

Picture, if you will, a hard right banking curve.  The water flow would be coming from the left - at the top of the curve - across the road in the heart of the curve - and exiting directly in the middle of the bend on the lower right side.  Gosh, I hope that made sense.  That water flow was about 12-14 inches in width and on this particular Saturday morning - it was frozen solid.

I slowed down before entering the curve and my front tires went over the ice without a problem.  The problem came when my back tires hit the ice - and I was already turning in the curve.  The back end of my car simply shot out from under me to the left and my car was then pointed at a tree-filled bank into a creek.  I remember not panicking - but I did over-correct.  I turned my car hard to the left and found myself facing the bank head on.  I hit it (and the big huge boulder) with considerable force.  Right before the Shadow had impact, I put my right arm out to catch my poodle, Scooter who was riding shotgun with me.  I missed.  He hit the dash and ended up in the back seat.

I opened my car door and could hear all of this hissing and popping coming from underneath the hood.  I thought the car was going to explode!  I pulled my dog from the back floorboard (he was freaked out, to say the least) and walked quickly away from the car.

It was early morning - before 7am on a Saturday.  Cell phones were not commonplace at that time and I did not own one.  I was not quite sure what I was going to do.

Just then, another car came down the road from the same direction I had been traveling.  And he did the same thing!  His front tires went over straight but the back end of the car was thrown left on the ice.  He did NOT over-correct and managed to straighten himself out after a bit of fish-tailing.  I felt sure he would stop to lend me assistance.  Here I was, a young girl holding a small dog on the side of the road on a cold winter morning and my car is in the ditch.  Did he stop?  NO!!!!!!!!!

Jerk.

But soon after that a lovely woman in a houserobe and slippers came running down the hill behind me.  She gently took me and my dog inside.  She told that she had heard the noise and just thought it was a dynamite explosion at the rock quarry they lived next to.  Then she remembered it was a Saturday!  They don't blast at the quarry on Saturdays!  She threw on her robe and came outside to see what might have happened and she saw me.  She told me later that when she first saw me, she thought I was holding a baby.

She let me use her phone to call my parents and her husband went down to put his car in front of mine with his hazards on so no one would hit it.  And they called the police for me.

I sat down and put the dog on the floor.  He pooped.  Right there in the floor.  Poor guy - he was a little stressed from the whole situation.  I cleaned it up with toilet paper and flushed it down their toilet.

I had to walk down to talk with the police officer about what happened.  And then my parents arrived and I had to tell my dad what happened.  That's when I burst into tears.  And I did not stop for a full 12 hours.  :)

I remember going to a basketball game that night.  And I was still crying.  Ha.

The impact was so severe that I busted the engine block of my little car and it was rendered totaled.  I was wearing my seat belt (and I did not have an airbag) but remarkably I was not hurt.

My knees were bruised from hitting the dash - but I somehow did not have a seat belt bruise or burn or anything.

Scooter and I sure were stiff and sore for a few days - but were otherwise no worse for the wear.  I remember being hesitant to drive again for a while.  I suppose that's normal.

This was my first, and only, car wreck to date.  Here's hoping there will not be another!

Shew!

And no, I was not speeding.  :)

Day 20 - The Silly Todd

Ok, so this picture is odd because I cut it all round and stuff for a scrapbook of my vet school career.  However, it is also hysterical. 

This is my friend, Todd.  He's a wonderful guy, a fun friend, and though I have never worked with him as a true 'doctor' I am sure he is a wonderful veterinarian.  He also has a blog!  You can read it here. 

This particular picture was taken during our second-year anesthesia lab.  I do believe Todd was having a little fun with his very sedated little patient.  :) 

If we didn't have fun at our job - we wouldn't do it.  And I'm glad that Todd is one of those people in my life who help to remind me to have fun and enjoy the ride! 

:) 

Day 19 - The Andes Mountains of Ecuador

Wow!  That's what I remember thinking when I took this photo and that's still the reaction I have when I look at it now.  This was taken in the summer of 2000 on my very first overseas mission trip to southern Ecuador.

I was a 2nd year veterinary student at the University of Tennessee's College of Veterinary Medicine at the time.  As a 1st year student I had gotten involved with the Christian Veterinary Missions student group.  It just so happens that my assigned faculty mentor for the duration of my 4 years at UT was the faculty leader of the CVM group.  His name is D.J. Krahwinkel and he is a masterful small animal surgeon.

He is also a farm boy from KY - and loves cows.

The summer between my 1st and 2nd years of vet school I was on Summer Project in Panama City Beach, FL (see post from 2 days ago.)  During that summer my heart was stirred to do mission work and through my involvement with CVM, I realized that I was learning a skill set that would be quite useful in the mission field.  There are a lot of people in the world whose only source of income and survival is their animals.  And in those places there is often a shortage of veterinary care and expertise.  And in some of those places, there has been no exposure to the love of God and His plan of redemptive freedom.

What a cool mix - veterinary missions!

So, Dr. K takes a trip every year to do just that.  He normally takes along 2 senior students (as they have received adequate training to be helpful to him.)  But in 2000, he asked me - a lowly 2nd year student - to go with him and a senior student named Lynne.  I was ecstatic!!!

I have learned through the years that anytime I set out to do a trip like this, obstacles will arise.  And arise they did!  But God was faithful to provide and all things fell into place for me to go.  The plan was to travel for 8 days to southern Ecuador - high in the Andes mountains - and vaccinate and deworm cattle in the region.  We were working with a local church-planting missionary who made all the arrangements.  We had vaccines and supplies generously donated to cover treatment of over 300 animals.  

We flew from Knoxville, TN to Houston, TX - my first major flight.  And then we flew from Houston to Quito, Ecuador.  We landed at night - and I'm glad we did!  The flight into Quito is very winding through high mountain ranges and the airport is right in the middle of the city! The flight was not very long - and we were actually still in the same time zone.  But we soon found out that we were victims of a common practice - our luggage had been replaced by cargo.  We had no vaccines, no dewormer, and no clean clothes.

We were better off than another family that waited in the airport with us.  They were traveling the next morning by boat for a 2 week camping trip to the Galapagos Islands.  They had not received any of their luggage, either.  No tents.  No sleeping bags.  No food.

I'm not really sure what they ended up doing..... but I remember feeling awful for them. And for us!  We paid for that luggage - how dare the airline bail on our bags to bring cargo instead!  Did they have no sense of decency???

Grrrr.  I still get a little riled thinking about it.

So, the next day we did a little shopping so we could have some basic toiletries and such.  We exchanged money, visited the Equator, and went back to the airport in hope that our luggage was there.  It was not.  We went ahead and boarded our plane for the Loja province and off we went.

I had a water bottle in my carry-on.  Dr. K did not.  So, I shared water with him the first day or so.  This turned out to be a major mistake.  :)  His wife and several folks at the vet school had begun to get sick with a nasty chest cold.  Dr. K had a tickle in his throat but assured us it was just allergies.  In about 48 hours he and I were so sick.  Lynne managed to stay healthy - but he and I were really suffering.  We were actually quite relieved to find out that his wife was sick at home - that way we knew we were not dealing with some funky South American disease that might kill us.  :)

But before we got really ill, we made the flight to Loja.  It was an OLD plane.  The flight was crazy.  I could look out the windows of both sides of the plane and there were mountains RIGHT there.  When we landed, everyone on the plane cheered.  Dr. K explained that sometimes the landing is a bit rougher.  In fact, the previous year when he had come here it had not managed to stay on the runway and they ended up in the mud.

Glad he told us that AFTER the landing.  :)

We were in Ecuador for a total of 8 days.  We finally got our luggage on day 6.  We each had to buy shoes (rubber boots) to get around and hike in. (Can you say 'blisters'?) We had to purchase more cattle vaccines and dewormer.  And we had to deal with dirty clothes.  :)  And being sick.  And having to endure it raining almost everyday when the rainy season was supposed to be over.  And having our vehicle break down.  And having the missionary we were being hosted by steal our money and overall be a jerk to us.  And risking our lives to drive down a muddy, bumpy, steep mountain with no guardrails to keep us from falling off a 400ft cliff.

It was an experience I'll never forget.

I'm not sure really what impact we had on the farmers we worked with.  I'm not sure we really made any advancements for the ministry or the care of their cattle.

But I learned a ton.  I was stretched to trust God in completely new ways.  I met kind people who lived simply and were content with their humble circumstances.  I drank the best orange juice and coffee of my life.

And I got to be reassured by the view in the picture above that I was right where I was supposed to be at that moment in time.  And I really am so glad that I was.

Ecuador is a beautiful country with beautiful people.  I am thankful that I visited and even more thankful that I survived to tell about it.  :)

Day 18 - Jenny's Wedding

So, we spent all day at a wedding today.  We have been to a LOT of weddings this year!  (well, last year since it's now the first day of a new year. :)  So, I thought it only fitting to post a wedding picture. 

I am NOT a wedding photographer.  But I do like to take pictures at weddings.  Big difference.

This particular wedding pic is of Jenny - one of my friends (and one of my veterinary technicians.) I would consider Jenny one of my first friends here in VA.  Working with her everyday as I navigated the transition from student to doctor helped to cement our relationship.  She was an encouraging, patient, supportive helper to this rookie doc and she taught me (and continues to teach me) so much.  

I took indoor pictures of her - just like the professional photographer - but they turned out crappy.  As the 'real' photographer was putting away her equipment, I beckoned to Jenny to come outside.   It was a clear day in early October, there was lovely late afternoon warm glowy light, and the church they were married in had these incredible stone arches outside.  I HAD to take her picture out there!  

I took one roll of colored pics and then took a roll or two with black and white film.  It was not long before the 'real' photographer saw what a great opportunity there was and joined me in photographing the couple in this glorious setting and light. 

They are a beautiful couple who had a beautiful wedding and had some beautiful pictures taken.  I don't mean to brag, but if you go into their home, the wedding pictures they have in frames on display are the ones that I took.  :)