It's inevitable now...

Hello, everyone. 

Those who have followed my blog posts regarding my illness have come to learn that I have been booked to have a colonoscopy. I was referred for this procedure in February, and just last week I met with the doctor that will be doing my procedure. Because my surgery is dependant on the results of my colonoscopy, I've gotten in stat and the official date of my hell procedure is June 18th. 

I am less than excited. As you can imagine, I'm not very excited to go to the hospital only to be violated by a probe up my butt. NOT COOL, MAN. 

And now for some colonoscopy humour:

Is this all TMI? Yes, I do think so. But here's the thing. I'm having a colonoscopy because I have a disease called Endometriosis. My Endometriosis is aggressive and extensive, and it has spread throughout my pelvis and onto my bowels. I will be having surgery with a gynaecological urologist because my doctors suspect the endometriosis has infiltrated my bladder and/or ureter. 

So yes, sharing with you all that I'm going in for a colonoscopy is a little bit TMI (frankly I'm not too proud to declare to the internet that I'll be having a probe up my butt) but the thing is, I want to raise awareness for endometriosis. I want everyone to know that this disease isn't just bad cramps, and that it has detrimental effects on the rest of the body.

So while I wish to parade about my specialist's office with a picket sign that says "NOT FAIR" I realize that I'm saddled with a disease without a cure and that's just the way it is. I can learn to manage my pain, but for now, that's about all I can do. 

Have you had an experience with a colonoscopy? If you have, feel free to share in the comment section below!

My life has changed!

Hello, everyone! I apologize for vanishing off the face of the inter-webs for nearly a month. I've been very busy, and I have some exciting news to share! 

When I created my blog, the tagline was "The daily musings of a duck loving pet shop employee embarking upon Farmerhood" While I was driving home the other day, I realized that that tagline no longer applies to me. I'm still a duck-lover, that's never going to change. And I am no longer really embarking upon farmerhood. I moved off the acreage to live in the city with my boyfriend, so apart from my gardening, I'm not much of a farmer. And I am no longer a pet shop employee. My 2 years of employment in the pet shop industry has come to an end, as I have been hired at a Veterinary Hospital. Let me tell you, it's been a rough month, but I am coming around and loving my job. 

So, at the end of April I graduated from my journalism program. I now have a diploma, and it was an awesome feeling to complete my schooling. I was so done with school. Right after graduating I was hell-bent determined on getting a job at a veterinary clinic. 

Me, late April 2015:

Believe it or not, I was hired on the spot at one of the city's most popular 24hr emergency veterinary hospitals. This is a big deal! I was hired as an assistant to the hospital's AHT's and Veterinarians. It is my job to: 

• run lab-work 
• complete lab paperwork and enter results in the system
• maintain the lab equipment  
• write discharge notes and instructions
• trim nails 
• restrain animals
• clean kennels 
• walk dogs 
• bag deceased animals
• make memorial paw prints after a pet dies  
• tend to the patients' IVs
• feed the animals admitted in hospital 
• call in and tend to all strays and wildlife
• manage paperwork create discharge bins
• make and sterilize surgical packs 
• prep animals for surgery
• set up, assist in, and clean the surgical suits 
• and much, much more. 

I am now on rotation work (5 days on, 5 days off) and I work 11 hour shifts. Labs and surgeries prove to have rather steep learning curves, and I've been flooded with so much information.

Me, after learning about all my responsibilities:

I pretty much spent my first shift bagging dead cats, which I found incredibly difficult. I love animals very much, and I get attached to the patients rather easily. I get tremendously sad when I watch animals die, and I find it to be difficult to bag them and bring them to the morgue. 

Me, every time an animal dies:

Me trying to pretend that I didn't see an animal that needs bagging: 

Me, when I actually have to do the bagging:

After I put someone's pet in the freezer I feel like:

On one of my first shifts, I had to bag up a hare and her baby. Both were euthanized in hospital, and I was rather upset as the baby hare was just brand new and healthy. After bagging both up with the most tender care, I carried them downstairs to the morgue. Unfortunately, I forgot the code to get into the morgue, and couldn't get in. I ran back upstairs, and to my complete horror, couldn't find a single co-worker. Everyone was gone. There wast a veterinarian at the computer in triage, but he didn't know the code to the morgue. So I spent close to 15 minutes running around the hospital with dead bunnies in a bag, looking for someone who could help me get into the morgue. Fun stuff right there. I went home and cried that day, actually. 

While it's taking some time for me to get the hang of things, I'm really learning to love my job. I love my scrubs, and I love being with animals all day. Unfortunately, 90% of my patients bite and/or scratch me, and I am covered in cuts and bruises. I love it though. Animals are the best. I sincerely don't mind being covered in fur and having my arms and hands bedazzled with band-aids. I like working the centrifuge and using the refractometer to identify the USG of a urine sample. It's so cool. The only thing that's quite daunting is the amount of lab results I have to manually enter to patient files. On my last shift I had an actual mountain of paperwork. 

When I see stacks of paperwork on my lab desk: 

I'm so stoked with my job, and I feel confident that I am in my career. I'm currently deciding if I want to go to school to become a Vet Tech, or if I'm gonna go balls out and go for the full meal deal: 

DANIE THE DVM.