Vet Student at Košice

 Not gonna lie, I've felt pretty emotional for the last few days. I didn't update my blog last week because all I could think about was my cat, but actually I did some cool stuff! On Monday 7th, we did our first post mortem. It was a cat, and we couldn't find many gross lesions, aside from a few very large lymph nodes, and a chronically inflamed GIT. The teacher didn't know the history, as the animals don't always come from the university clinic. It was quite interesting, and I didn't feel as squicked by it as I thought I would (except for the part where we had to remove the brain. Pretty sure that's put me being a pathologist for good). It'll be interesting when we're all a bit more practiced. Unfortunately because we did anatomy online, we're not the best at identifying structures.  We also had our first breeding and diseases of game practical, where we went into the university museum to look at some taxidermy. I have mixed feelings about taxid...

Today was another pretty busy day. Maybe I'm just trying to find excuses to use the trams, but I had an appointment with the Foreign Police to get temporary residency. This was actually my second time going there, as my bank statement wasn't quite what they wanted the first time. This time, however, all the paperwork was in order, and I spent the best part of 2 hours waiting to get my photo and fingerprints taken. Now all I need to do is get a health check, and I will get my card! It'll be a real relief when I've got this sorted. It really was a stressful few hours, as the police officers didn't speak much English, and I don't speak much Slovak!  Later on I will write a post about the whole procedure, as I would have really appreciated a step-by-step guide on how to get the temporary residency! Because the waiting took so long, I missed all of my Food Hygiene practical (it's online, and I had told the teacher I wouldn't be there. It's still annoying ...

Today I observed my first two surgeries at school - this is a requirement for my general surgery and anaesthesia course. We were there to learn about anaesthesia, and observe the procedures. I was so nervous this morning, I couldn't say why, but I was worried I'd have to call and cancel because I felt so sick.  The first surgery was a left eye enucleation in an 11 year old, entire male Yorkshire terrier. He had a history of glaucoma, which was left untreated and developed into uveitis (inflammation of the middle layer of the eye). Several courses of treatment later, the eye was ulcerated and painful, so the owner agreed to take it out.  The surgery was incredibly fast (about 20 minutes, using the transconjunctival approach). It was very interesting to see a retrobulbar block used, as I have very little experience with opthalmology. The dog recovered well, and was sent home with NSAIDs and antibiotic eye drops. At the end, the surgeon mentioned that there was a splenectomy happ...

I spent another two weeks at my local vets, and saw lots of stuff! I gave lots of vaccines, held lots of puppies and kittens, and even took some blood from a chihuahua! I'm so grateful for the time, and I made some good contacts for when I graduate! I hope to come back again, maybe in winter break or next summer. A friend and I have got an apartment for this year, it's a relief to not be going back into dorms! Maybe I'll move back in later, but only if I can get a single room! We got a really good deal, and I spoke to the girl who lived there before so I know that it's a legitimate place.  I've spent the last couple of weeks just hanging out and relaxing. I've managed to keep up with my Anki cards for the whole summer, but I regret not studying more. I'm worried about starting the new term - we start some of the hardest subjects this year. Brexit has made studying in the EU much harder than it needs to be, so I've got to sort out residency stuff which is...