So I survived one of the worst weeks of the semester on my schedule, which calls for a celebratory post.

I decided to think of this week like a drawn-out hurdles race. There were four major hurdles to overcome: radiology final exam on Monday, drawing blood on our surgery patient on Tuesday, equine exam Wednesday and surgery on Thursday. Identifying the big obstacles instead of focusing on every little detail that might have been stressful was a helpful strategy.

The exams both went really well. The surgery dog was/is a challenge.

There are probably confidentiality rules in place that say I shouldn't give out too much detail, but suffice to say he's a young, large, hyperactive, anxious and fearful beast. He has been next to impossible to restrain without him freaking out (four people holding him and still no rectal temperature possible!), a combination of fear and just not used to it (he came in as a stray). He has this cagey look about him that immediate set off my distrusting antennae. Anyway, I successfully castrated him yesterday with minimal issues and he has been (knock on wood) recovering well.

As a side note, I think the reason I never wanted to write much about my spay (or post on Facebook like my fellow surgeon classmates have) is that I'm afraid to jinx their recovery. Yeah, they're through the hard part (surgery and anesthesia), but there are still complications that can arise - their incision site can bleed or get infected or be chewed on, they can chew their cone into pieces, etc. Until I discharge that dog, I'm going to worry about him in some form or another.

I came in to check on him this morning and he has been a lot more friendly with me than before - he still has his slightly sketchy moments but overall he is improved. It's going to be a long weekend going in to SOAP him every morning by 8:30am but discharging him and one last midterm exam are the last two things in the way of two weeks of glorious, blissful, unimaginable freedom before finals start. Another bit of happy news is that he is already spoken for by one of the shelter volunteers, so I know he'll be going to a good home when he's done with his ordeal here :)