Raji!!!

Hiee! So in terms of class this week we have just been learning more about the different gastrointestinal system and more about the respiratory system. We have a quiz monday that I will be studying all weekend for. We did have more interesting anatomy labs this week though. We have been doing palpation (which is feeling basically) on the resident horses and cows. Basically, we have to know where all of the organs are in the animal from the outside which makes sense when you're going to be opening them up to do different surgeries etc.. What I have been most excited about this week though is my new dog!!!!! I have been telling my friends the entire year that I want my first dog to be a tri-color collie since that was they very first dog I ever had. I also said that I wanted to adopt one though since I feel bad for all of the shelter animals that need homes. Then last week a tri-color collie came into the junior surgery!!!! (the juniors do all their spays and neuters on the shelter animals, that way they get spayed/neutered for free before they are adopted). He was perfect ad I had to have him!!! I am very thankful that my parents allowed me to get him:) If I can figure out how to post pictures on here I will. His name is Faraji which means comfort but we're calling him Raji for short. We brought him home yesterday to my friend Ashley & Kim's place, that's where he is staying. He is absolutely the sweetest dog I have ever seen and he is probably a perfect dog to have for vet school because he is very calm and just sits there while we study. So now I have a little friend to comfort me when i'm tired of studying/be a constant reminder of why I'm in vet school :-D Guess that's it for now! Back to class!

Kiira

my least favorite thing in vet school...

So I think I experienced this week what's probably going to be one of my least favorite things in vet school....the gastrointestinal track:/ Although it is interesting how complex it is and how different the cow and horse GI tract are, it is not interesting when you have to dissect the GI tracts in anatomy lab. First of all they were fresh GI tracts and they were huge!!!! Secondly, they were not cleaned out (to put it nicely). It definitely did not smell very good and we tried to get the few guys to basically do it all lol. Other than that, this week we have just been learning more about the respiratory system and then we started the histology and physiology of the GI tract to go along with what we're learning in anatomy. I know I already told my mom and dad but for whoever else is reading I got my midterm grades back! I got 103.3 on the histology part, 95 on the anatomy part and 95 on the day 1 test!!! We haven't gotten our day 2 grades yet but I'm confident I did just as well on it as I did on the other portions. It's definitely nice to know that I understand this stuff and am good at it! Now I am looking forward to the weekend because i'm pet-sitting for a third-year vet student! The CVMF offers free pet-sitting and then people just make donations towards the mission trips we take. I will be watching an australian shepherd, a black cat, and some fish! I plan to take full advantage of having a dog to play with/cuddle with haha. Guess that's it for now. Back to class!
Kiira

Study or watch the superbowl?!?

Ok, so that's not really even a question...studying it is! We have midterms this week so studying is all that i've been doing this weekend, plus i'm not realy a big fan of either of the teams in the superbowl this year so I'm not really interested in watching it lol. I know I told my dad, but for everyone else reading this I got a 95% on my quiz last week! The things we are learning about right now kind of click with me so I'm expecting to do just as well on the midterms this week! It's going to be over all of the cardiology stuff we have learned plus now we are learning about the respiratory system! I never realized how complicated breathing is haha. I find it interesting though and now I actually know what my Albuterol inhaler does (it blocks the Beta-2 receptors in my lungs which then causes dilation of the bronchioles/airways!). Plus in anatomy lab we got to take the lungs out of our cadavers and cut through them to see what the lungs look like on the inside (looks exactly like a sponge!) and then we got to hook them up to oxygen and see what it looks like when they expand! I guess it's good I am easily fascinated by these kinds of things lol. Hmm what else has happened?!.. I spent the night at my friends Ashley & Kim's apartment on tuesday night (well I got snowed in and didn't really have a choice) and then we didn't have school the next day!! They said U of I has only had 6 snow days in the last like 40 years or something and now I've been here for 3 of them!! Unfortunately, Ashley and Kim have two cats so it kind of triggered my asthma which then turned into a cold so I have been taking medicine and trying not to get too sick while i'm doing all this studying. Well I guess that's it for now..hope everyone else is enjoying their Sunday & staying warm!
Kiira