Vets and Wildlife

Two days ago I returned from a month in South Africa! I went with a programme called Vets and Wildlife, where I was paired up with a wildlife veterinarian. The vet I worked with was based near Hoedspruit, which was a little town in Limpopo Province, near Kruger National Park.

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The A is where Hoespruit is.

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So on this programme, we gained a ton of experience working with various wildlife species, in particular: buffalo, sable, nyala, impala, roan and rhinocerous. We also had a bit of experience working with leopards, which was incredibly amazing! They were so fuzzy and cute when they were anaesthetised, but boy were they terrifying when they were awake! We wrestled awake buffalo calves, watched rhinos being darted from helecopters, and had a ton of fun riding around in the back of a pickup truck, bumping along the motorway and in the bushveld!

I also met a whole bunch of new and interesting people. The vet, Dr. Muller, and his assistant, Debbie, were fantastic, and taught us a lot. We also worked with a bunch of other students, and even one from our own uni (a 3rd year)! 

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Sitting on a buffalo calf to keep it still while taking blood.

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Writing down microchip numbers for a rhino - each horn is microchipped and also the rhino, in order to prevent and track poachers.

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Doing a skin scraping on a leopard at Moholoholo Rehab Centre

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Feeding an orphaned baby Eiland (Kirsty is on the right feeding an orphaned sable)

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Aside from the work, we also got to do a bunch of really fun touristy things. My favourite experiences were Tshukudu Game Lodge and Camp Jabulani.

At Tshukudu, we did a morning walk with 2 hand-reared lion cubs and a cheetah (also a dog). We arrived at 6:20am and set off while the big cats walked around with us, playing with each other and posing for pictures. Although they weren't in their "natural" setting, it was still incredible seeing these animals close up, and seeing that they really are just like giant housecats! The cheetah even purred when we pet it!

After the walk, we were served a delicious hot breakfast of eggs, bacon, fruit and porridge, and then we had a game drive. We didn't see too many animals on either the walk or the game drive, but we mostly went for the cats anyway!

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Petting a lion cub at Tshukudu Game Lodge

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Ntombe against the sunrise

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Sheila the lion cub

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Ntombe

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Petting Ntombe the cheetah

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At Camp Jabulani we went on an elephant-back safari. Again, we didn't see too many animals, but we were just happy to be riding the elephants anyway. They had such fantastic personalities - mine kept prodding my guide for more treats, and even it's baby, Mambo, kept pulling at my leg to try and get attention.

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Riding my elephant Lundi with my guide Nyasha

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Lundi's baby, Mambo

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On one afternoon we went to see Jessica the Hippo, who is the world's only tamed hippo. At first I thought this would be kind of silly, but actually it was pretty amazing to see this hippo up close, and be able to pet it and scratch it's back, since they're usually thought of as so dangerous.

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Feeding Jessica her sweet tea

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Standing next to a giant Baobab

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We also took a day to go into Kruger National Park, where we saw tons of animals and had a fantastic time.

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Rhinos with their horns! It is becoming rare to see rhinos that haven't been dehorned, which is being done to try and counteract the recent poaching problems. 

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Elephants!

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Oxpeckers sitting on a zebra's back

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A typical South African Sunset in Kruger National Park

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Because of the dryness and the dust, South Africa had gorgeous night skies

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So anyway, my trip was amazing, and I got to fulfil one of my longstanding dreams to go on a safari (and this was even better because we got to touch the animals!)

I just arrived back in Edinburgh on Sunday morning, and started into final year on Monday morning. My first rotation - ICU nights! Although I wasn't too pleased about having to spend another week away from home, I am rather glad to be getting ICU nights over with.

So far we've had a pretty good time - my group is awesome, we all work well together and no one is too quiet or too overpowering, and we're not competitive with each other. Plus in the day and a half I've had so far, I can see how much more involved we get with cases, and how much the clinicians actually explain to us, and ask us for opinions. Although I'm still nervous for certain rotations, and I'm going to have to do a ton of studying, this looks like it's going to be a pretty fun year! :)

6 months of updates!

I know I've been AGES since last I wrote, but I'm finally here now! So much has happened, I doubt I'm going to be able to remember to update about everything, but I'll do my best.

So to update on the eyes - they're doing great! I can still see better than 20/20, and although I occasionally get dry eyes when I'm really tired or right after I wake up, it's still wonderful to be able to see!

Classes started up again in January, this time we were learning Equine and Exotics! It was a good course, although not really what I want to go into practice for, but I enjoyed learning about it, especially the exotics!

In April I went with Andrew's family to Northern Ireland, which was a lot of fun. I'd been to Belfast before to visit a friend, but we never really saw much outside the city. This time, because we were going for a big orienteering event, we got to see a bit of the countryside! The event was really neat, it's called the JK, and has elite orienteers from all over the world competing. Andrew and his family competed in it as well, and for one of the days he competed Andrew came in first!

We also took one day to go sightseeing, and did a bus tour of Belfast, which was very cool, but also a bit strange. The tour-guide talked about the 'Troubles' which occured in the 60s between the Catholics and the Protestants, and are still very much occurring today, and drove us through the parts of the city affected. It was very strange to see people who probably lived through the troubles watching a tour go by, just going about their lives, and the big 'Peace Walls' which are covered in barbed wire. They had all these paramilitary murals on the walls and stuff. It's hard to explain, but it was very sobering.

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Paramilitary murals

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We still got to see some happy things on our day out. We went to see where the Titanic was built, and Queen's University. Andrew and I also went to Giant's Causeway, which is this awesome natural rock formation that resulted from an ancient volcano. It was very beautiful, and a nice relaxing day to spend with Andrew! :)

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View looking towards the causeway as we come down the steep stairway!

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Hexagonal rocks that make up Giant's Causeway

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View from the bottom, looking up to where we stood earlier.

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Andrew and Me!

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In May, we had the Dick Vet Ball, which was organised by our year. The theme was Wizard of Oz. It was held at Murrayfield Stadium, which is where the Scottish Rugby team play, and was a really fun time, and a good excuse to get dressed up. Plus the dinner was fantastic!

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Andrew and me, in our finest!

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Anik and Me, posing by the cowardly lion that Anik painted!

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We took exams in May and June, and I actually passed all of the written exams for once! I was pretty pleased with myself, because I studied hard. The only thing I didn't do so well on was the practical farm animal clinical exam. I always get so nervous during practicals, which is really annoying, because I know I know the information! But essentially we were in final year at that point! Thus, at the end of May, we got something very exciting - our Final Year Jackets! They are so comfy and warm, and they have our names on them. The best part is, though, that we are finally in final year!! The only thing left to do was the CLIC course (communications and stuff), which was lots of role playing with fake clients and discussions on communication skills.

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Erin, Anik and Me showing off our final year Jackets!

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I then went home for a spur of the moment trip to surprise Jamie and Claire for their bridal shower! So I spent the weekend in Boston! We got to see a Red Sox game, and just hung out, which was nice. I love my friends!

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Beautiful brides to be, Jamie and Claire!

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We played toilet paper bridal boudoir, which was hilarious. :)

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I then popped back to Scotland for Heather and Boney's wedding in St. Andrews, which was beautiful, and a really awesome time! We got to play a few rounds on the putting green at St. Andrews and eat at the cafe where (supposedly) Kate and Wills (cause yeah we're on a first-name basis, haha!) met for coffee.

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Mr. & Mrs. Andrew Bone!

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I then went BACK to the USA to do 2 weeks of work at the New Canaan Vet Hospital, had an awesome time at Claire & Jamie's bachelorette weekend and an awesome dinner at Ninja NY, and then Andrew joined me for some New England fun!

First, we had a 4th of July BBQ with my dad and Anna Marie, then we headed off to New Britain, CT to meet my good friend Liz. We hadn't seen each other in probably 7 years or more, so it was great to see her! We were as crazy as ever, and wasted no time before giggling like we used to!

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The infamous Liz and Me, being silly, as usual!

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Andrew and I took 2 days and went to NYC. The first night we saw Avenue Q! It is, quite possibly, the most hilarious show I've seen. It is also one of the most creative. We were cracking up through the whole thing! The next day we went back into the city and took the ferry to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. It was really fun, but REALLY hot and sunny. It was kind of neat to see the Statue, and Ellis Island, and think about all the people coming to America and how that must have been the first thing they saw. It was very neat.

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Lady Liberty

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Liberty Island in the Rain

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As we were coming back on the ferry we got completely soaked through, but it was totally fun and worth it, and made the heat of the day go away, so it worked out!

We then spent the weekend in Boston, hanging out with Claire and Jamie and the gang and helping out with some wedding preparation, before heading up to Maine! We toured Colby College, where I did my undergrad degree, and then headed up to Bar Harbour for some sightseeing and relaxation!

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Andrew and I just arrived at our B&B, Cleftstone Manor!

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A Bar Harbour dinner - yum!

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We drove up to the top of Mt. Cadillac (sadly no time to hike), and enjoyed the view!

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We also found some mini golf! Yay Pirates Cove!

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Then we headed back down to New Hampshire to meet up with everyone and have a wedding!

The night we got there we all put on our 'bridesmaids' shirts, and went out on one of Jamie's family friend's boats for a trip to dinner, and ate yummy food and drank tropical drinks on a beach bar. It was a really fun time, and I enjoyed meeting Claire's friends from childhood, whom I'd heard much about but never actually met before.

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Bridesmaids!

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Claire was a beautiful bride! Sadly, Andrew didn't have a good view of Jamie, but she looked awesome too! We'll have to wait for the professional shots! :)

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Bridal party!

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Their cake was gorgeous!

Everyone enjoyed Andrew's kilt :P

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The wedding itself was amazing, held at the Common Man Inn and Spa everything looked so gorgeous, and the party was the time of my life. I can't wait to have a wedding of my own, and I hope it goes just as well!

So anyway, I am back in Scotland at last, and I've been busying myself with the last few weeks of EMS. Anik and I did a week of exotics together at Easter Bush, which was really fun - we got to see bearded dragons, tortoises, parrots, and rabbits, and I learned how to crop-feed a pigeon!

Right now I'm doing a week of ICU, which is incredibly tiring. We started at 9am on Monday morning, and we work through until 9am next Monday morning. Basically we're working night shifts for the week, and we have shifts at 4:30pm, 7:30pm, 9pm, 12am, 4am, 7:30am. Basically during those time we need to walk all the animals, TPR (which means take a temperature, heart rate and respiratory rate) of most of the animals, and do any medical treatments that need done. That is the basics, but we've had a bunch of cases that need constant monitoring, which means that someone needs to be there the whole time making sure the animal is ok. We've had this for a few animals that had to have blood transfusions (you need to make sure the animal doesn't have a reaction to the blood given), and a few animals that just weren't doing so well. The intern on duty, Helen, is incredibly nice, and lets us help with a lot of the treatments, and is really great about teaching us how to do everything! Sadly she's leaving today to enjoy the weekend, so hopefully our next intern will be just as great!

We actually got some sleep last night, which is why I'm awake now, but I think I'm ready to go back to bed now, at 10am! We're halfway done, at least!

I'll try to be more proactive about writing in this thing, but given that final year is probably super busy, we'll see. I'll update when I can! :)

Update and a half

Hey all! So two things to share with you all:

My eyes: Feeling almost back to normal, although they're horribly dry at the moment, so I have to put lots of fake tears in them. This is a very common side effect of LASIK, since in the creation of the corneal flap they sever a bunch of nerves in your eyes. These nerves, which normally fire and stimulate your lacrimal (tear) secretion, obviously can't when they're severed. So until they heal (a few weeks to months) you get dry eyes. Fun, eh? Nothing to worry about though, as long as I keep using my drops often!

In addition, I have such better night vision now. It's revolutionary, seriously. Before with contacts or glasses I would see a sort of starburst around EVERY light. Obviously, with dimmer lights like traffic lights it wasn't so much a problem, but even when someone didn't have their bright headlights on, they would dazzle me, and god forbid the roads were wet I could barely see anything but light. I actually thought this was how everyone saw lights.

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This was more or less what I saw around every light when driving at night (traffic lights, streetlights, reflections, brake lights). Not quite this badly, but badly enough that I did not enjoy night driving. (ironically, this pic is from a LASIK complication website. Ha!)

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NOW, however, all I see is a little bit of halo around the lights, which should go away as my eyes heal. I drove home from campus in the dark yesterday, and I could look straight at headlights and still see the rest of the road. Without the new CustomVue Wavefront it is possible that starbursts can get worse and other problems can develop (which is why I found the starburst pic on a LASIK-bashing website), but Wavefront takes a computer scan of the surface of the lens, and works to smooth out the aberrations as it corrects the prescription.

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Now all I see is slight halos. Much less obtrusive. I'm sure we can all agree that, even if for whatever reason these halos don't go away, it's SO much better than the way it was.

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Anyway, so the second thing I wanted to share is a blog: Hyperbole and a Half. **NOTE: if you are offended by the occasional (humorous) use of swear words and some (very) mild politically incorrectness, please be warned that it is used often on this site, however it is done in such a way that I don't find it offensive, and frankly neither should you.**

If you can overlook the swear words, this illustrated blog shares some hilarious stories, all accompanied by the funniest drawings. The entry in particular that the link above will bring you to is one about the author's move across country with her two dogs. The link to the whole blog is in my side bar. Make sure to check out this entry as a priority: The Year Kenny Loggins Ruined Christmas. Enjoy! :D

Exams, an Edinburgh Christmas, and 20/20

Sorry, it's been awhile! Things have been busy busy busy, as usual!

To update you on the last post, the snow led to an entire week of no classes, which was amazing. Especially because it gave us more time to study for the exam! Results haven't come out yet, but they will soon. Cross your fingers for me!

So after the exam we had Christmas Break. I decided this year to stay in Edinburgh, since my family had come here for Thanksgiving. It was very different from my typical Christmas, but I enjoyed it a lot! We got up around 9, packed the kitty up and went to Andrew's parents house for coffee and presents, then had a delicious Christmas lunch made by Andrew's mother. Christmas lunch in the UK is a very similar meal to the Thanksgiving meal, only they usually have brussel sprouts as a vegetable. Oddly enough, this previously hated vegetable has grown on me, and I really enjoyed the entire meal!

Not to focus on things I got for Christmas, because it's not about that, but a few of my favourites were awesome slipper-socks and a headphone cord tidy from Andrew's parents, earrings and a necklace from my dad and Anna Marie, a good book and a funny pair of earrings from Andrew, and a funky necklace from Andrew's mum. I enjoyed giving gifts to everyone as well. I got a warm fairisle sweater for Andrew (which he knew he was getting because he almost bought the same thing when we went shopping, and I had to tell him to put it back), and a giant tub of Haribo. For Andrew's dad I got an iPhone case for his new iPhone, and for his mum I got a cute cat knick-knack (and normally I try to avoid knick-knacks, but it was too cute I couldn't pass it up - also I'm horrible at finding gifts for parents).

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My little mini-tree. Cute, but I decided I needed a real one this year...

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My wonky tree

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Once we spruced (ha) it up with some trimmings and presents, it looked quite nice!

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Andrew opens a long tube of Jaffa Cakes from his parents

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Andrew's mum and dad

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The cat was a little thrown off by all the wrapping paper and sparkly things (also Andrew trying to cuddle her)

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The Christmas table with all the yummy foods.

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Even Tsuki got to enjoy some yummy turkey!

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Andrew shows off some confetti and a crown from his cracker.

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After all of the lunching and presents, we played board games for the afternoon. It was really fun and relaxing to just chat. Definitely a lot less crazy than Christmas with my family! :P

For New Year's, Andrew and I went to Andrew's friends new house for a get-together. It was a sort of pot-luck thing, and so we got a whole variety of different food to try. It was very good! At midnight we all walked down the street to a little park by a church, where a bagpiper led us in Auld Lang Syne as the clock struck midnight (or, close to it anyway, everyone's clocks were different!)

The rest of Christmas break was just relaxing and studying for the exam we had this morning, epidemiology. Now, I'm sure this subject is relevant to some people, but I am not particularly interested in statistics. So I found this exam to be a bit challenging. I just don't see the point of memorizing formulae.

Anyway, so my most exciting news, is that after the exam this afternoon, I got LASIK! Because of my high prescription, I also had to get IntraLase and CustomVue Wavefront, all of which are variations on the typical LASIK procedure. To be honest though, both of those variations make the procedure more effective and safer, so it was fine by me!

I was really nervous after the exam. I knew it would feel a bit uncomfortable, and I guess because I really didn't know what it would feel like I was pretty anxious. The surgeon checked my eyes over one last time, gave me the last option to back out, but I figured I'd already come this far, so I might as well keep going.

First, they put two different drops in my eye. One was an anaesthetic, which made my eyes feel really strange, very numb and sticky-like. A second drop was put on, and I'm not quite sure what it did, but it must have enhanced the anaesthetic, because my eyes got even more numb.

Then came the squeamish part. (Seriously if you have issues with people touching your eyes, you may want to get over it before considering this procedure). A suction cup was applied to my eye while the initial flap was created(which doesn't hurt, it just feels like a lot of pressure, and your sight kind of cuts out). That was the part I'd been dreading. I don't know why but the idea of my sight suddenly blacking out terrified me. But actually it wasn't so bad, just a bit uncomfortable. The nurse kept having to remind me to breathe during this whole thing, so I must have been nervous, haha!

After the flap is created, which sort of feels like a puff of air in your eye almost, they do the other eye in the same way. They use a little mini squeegee thing to move the flap back. Then they put an eye speculum to keep your eyelids open, and move you underneath the laser machine. This part was a bit uncomfortable as well. Not painful, but because you're underneath a really bright light and half your cornea's been moved, it's REALLY bright, so the whole time my eyelids were fighting against the speculum to close my eyes. Fortunately I did my research, so I knew that the laser doesn't fire if your eye's not in the right position, so although I was trying to keep my eyes still, I wasn't freaking out about it. Plus, the whole time the surgeon was telling me how well I was doing. The laser clicks away and you can see a blurry light flashing above you, but you can't feel anything at all. You can, however, smell the laser burning your eye, which is kind of neat (yeah I know, I'm weird).

Anyway, after that they put a bunch of drops in your eye and put the flap back in place with the squeegie and smooth it all out. Again, this didn't hurt, but it didn't feel particularly good either. The surgeon asked me if I wanted to continue with the other eye, and obviously I said yes.

Finally they moved the machines out of the way and let me sit up. It was SOOOOO weird. I could see! It was a bit hazy and everything was sort of indistinct, but it was mostly clear! Far away things are still a bit fuzzy around the edges, but supposedly that resolves in a few days/weeks.

For the first 1/2 hour after the procedure, they put you in a darkened room, and I was still revelling in my new eyesight, and my eyes felt pretty good, although a bit gritty. As soon as I got out into the light however (they light up the upper floor of the Princes St. Optical Express like the surface of the freaking sun), and the anaesthetic wore off, it was another story. My eyes started stinging and watering, and it was painful, and I pretty much had to keep my eyes closed the entire way home. Not everyone has this reaction, so don't let this dissuade you, but this is why they tell you to go to sleep right when you get home. Sadly I had a 40 minute car ride home. Once I got home, I took some ibuprofen and took a 3 hour nap.

When I woke up at dinner time to take my first round of eyedrops, I felt sooo much better. My eyes are still really sensitive to light, but I've been keeping my room dark, and the computer on the dimmest setting, and every few minutes it gets better and better.

I have a whole bunch of drops (Antibiotics, Steroids, and lubricating drops) for my eyes that I can apply for the next week, and I have to wear sunglasses in bright light, and I also have to wear a really snazzy pair of goggles while I'm sleeping so I don't accidentally rub my eyes. They are amazing.

Trust me.

Don't believe me?

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My sexy goggles.

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I'm not quite sure why this feels so life-changing, when I have the same results with contacts, but something about it is amazing. It is just so nice to see! No more fumbling about with glasses in the morning to read my alarm clock, no more worrying about forgetting glasses/contacts when I go on trips, no more spending oodles of money on glasses and contacts and contact solution. Awesome.

I am a very happy bunny :D