I present to you.....Dr. Farabeest (for real!)

Three years ago to the day, I created this blog as a way to help me cope with the demands of veterinary school abroad. True, I haven't always been as up-to-date as I would like. Yes, I've forgotten to post pictures on Facebook for basically the last two years, allowing my peers to post tagged photos of me enjoying the last few months on St. Kitts and far fewer pictures of me enjoying my new life in Ithaca.

While I have been *extremely* neglectful in how often I update everyone about my life in a hopefully not-narcissistic fashion, that doesn't mean I've forgotten. It means that life gets in the way. That even on the "easier" clinical rotations I still put myself into bed around 9, sleep until 6-7 and wonder why I'm so exhausted.

So, in honor of my three year mark, I'll give you guys all a taste of what I've been up to since finding out I was accepted to clinical year at Cornell University (since....um....June.)

June:

• Was the anesthetist for our sheep's epidydectomy (castration).
• Was the anesthetist for our donkey's nerve identification surgery.
• Was the surgeon and performed my first canine neuter.
• Was the surgeon and performed my first sheep celiotomy and procedure requiring glove/instrument changes, sewed up my first incision and it looked amazing.

July:

• Hiked up Mt. Liamuiga one last time. Unfortunately never made it back down into the crater, but still always a humbling experience.
• Experienced my first "all-night on emergency" graveyard shift back to back. 
• Put a cast on my first horse limb (it was only a model, shhh!)
• Sold my island car.
• Was the anesthetist for my first spay patient.

August:

• Took the practice NAVLE with all my peers.
• MOVED BACK HOME Saturday, August 19th, 2017.

Two weeks of bliss and riding later....

September:

• M came to visit me and help me move up to Ithaca.
• Officially started my clinical year with Anesthesiology, one of the toughest subjects for me (and the one that I was actually terrified of.) I came out of that rotation with so much more confidence in myself, thanks in part to the amazing team who mentored me and who I truly became friends with.
• Moved to Large Animal Orthopedic Surgery. Was reminded of how little I know of horses. My general care knowledge was excellent, but it was certainly a reminder to keep reading and keep learning. Also reminded me of how expensive good textbooks are. And how huge draft horses are. And how awesome it is to work with Dr. Ducharme.

October:

• Small Animal Orthopedic Surgery - The miracle of fixing knees and fixing hips. Learned how implants can unfortunately fail, and that Care Credit is a lifesaver (Seriously. Get pet insurance. Most vet clinics accept it and it can cut so many costs down!) Was yelled at by an owner for the first time to the point of tears, followed immediately by seeing my first surgeries to correct pyometra and then GDV (gastric dilation and volvulus).
• Ophthalmology - Lots of dogs, but got to see my first eye enucleation in a horse (taking out the eye under standing sedation). Had a very sad case about a cat presenting for blood in its eye who was ultimately diagnosed with cancer.

Oh yeah, we had baby reindeer. This
one had Babesia, a blood parasite which
causes anemia. Luckily he pulled through
with flying color

November:

• Large Animal Medicine - Got to meet the legendary Dr. Divers, one of the nicest and most intelligent people I have ever met. Rounds were extremely informative and after changing my studying habits I retained so much more information. Performed my first atlanto-occipital CSF collection in a calf and managed a very difficult case of acute-on-chronic renal failure in a goat.
• Had my first (and only) two week break and was able to spend my first Thanksgiving in three years at my family's house.
• Took the NAVLE the week after Thanksgiving. The most difficult exam of my life. 7 hours, 360 questions, 1 shopping trip to Dover Saddlery later, and the results were out of my hands until January.

December:

• Small Animal Soft Tissue Surgery - Performed my first spay, saw a laparoscopic ovariectomy, one of my patients had 60% of her liver removed and is currently thriving at home. I was called in on the last day of the rotation and scrubbed into three emergency procedures (two foreign bodies and another i cant remember off the top of my head), performed a surprise neuter on a dog here for another surgical issue, etc. Easily one of my favorite rotations.
• Presented my senior seminar (15 minute presentation about a horse with a rare disease and rarer clinical presentation) to faculty members here at Cornell and I received very good reviews!
• Large Animal Soft Tissue Surgery - my first 3 week rotation. It ended up being combined with Orthopedic surgery so had a lot of similar cases. Saw my first equine broken leg and successful surgical repair!

January:

• Experienced the fun and revealing Sports Medicine rotation, whose chiefs created and are the board leaders for a field that I'm seriously considering becoming board-certified in (even though they made fun of me for wanting all my patients to be horses, which was a total of 0/32). A lot of underwater treadmill therapy, and one week of "doggy bootcamp" which showed markable improvement for a former patient of mine who I first saw on my Emergency Relief shift back in November. Experienced laser and shockwave therapies, which in my mind may help to alleviate post-operative pain. (we were also able to test these modalities on ourselves!)
• On January 16th, I found out that I had passed the NAVLE (aka my national licensing boards). It was such a huge relief for me, but immediately marred by the knowledge that several people close to me did not pass. As a quick note, never give up. There are literally hundreds of articles about people who didn't pass the first, the second, or even the third/fourth times. And they are still excellent, well-respected veterinarians. This test is just a hoop you need to jump through, and if you did not do as well as you wanted to please know that there is a huge network of support available to you. And I believe in you.
• Secondary to that, I postponed letting my friends/family know until about two weeks later. My mom was officially retiring from teaching, and I was able to take time off from Cornell to surprise her at her party and tell her in person. My dad, sister, and M knew within 5 minutes of the results being posted.
• Went riding, and Bebe didn't try to kill me. 
• Just kidding, she always just gets really excited when I come home and pretends to be Ricky Bobby as soon as I hop on her back.
• Pathology rotation- while the idea of necropsy was initially almost abhorrent to me, this rotation quickly grew on me as I gained a deeper understanding of the pathophysiology of diseases within the body. I was able to see pancreatitis, abortion (due to Leptospirosis), multiple legal cases, forensic pathology (which is a hell of a lot like CSI/Criminal Minds!) I was able to see multiple cases of pneumonia, a disease which had always slightly confused me back in vet school.

I don't know why none of my pictures are uploading to here, but I'll try to upload them in a separate post, or to Facebook. Or to anywhere, really.

I'll also try to update with any more major life events, such as if I participate in an internship or when I get a job. Still unsure which would be best for me, but only time will tell. In the meantime, I've been working on a bullet journal, on knitting a blanket, on reading more fun books not related to veterinary medicine, on going to the gym about 4-5 days a week, and going hiking as often as I can with Toothless. See y'all in the future!