I had my first patient... and she went home alive :)

It's been a long few days, and I can barely keep track of my days anymore.

Tuesday, about an hour after coming home, I got called in and was at school till 1am doing midnight treatments. I enjoyed working with Amy and Sam - it was Amy's first day, and so I'm glad I went in since Sam was still scrubbed in to the colic surgery.

We did the routine treatments on all of the in-house critical care cases. We milked some mares (done either to keep them to continue producing milk for when the babies can nurse or to feed that milk to the babies through a nasogastric tube.

Wednesday, I had my first patient! It was an older mare presenting with respiratory distress. She had a few month history of coughing and a heart murmur. While not good for the horse, it was very easy to hear (and feel) the murmur and the lung sounds. I was able to ultrasound her heart and lungs, which was pretty neat to do! We took some radiographs, looked at the lung pattern, and decided the treatment. We sent her home on steroids, antibiotics, and recommended meds for the murmur. I got to sign (and write) her discharge papers! She went home, and though she doesn't have a good prognosis, she's only being used as a pasture pet and will hopefully enjoy the rest of her life comfortably!

These 16 hour days are wearing on me. I'm nearly finished helping at the Franklin Co Emergency Management office, though... YAY!