Still breathing.

So things got kind of crazy after midsemester break. I had two more exams, which I did okay but not great on (although one apparently failed a lot of people, so I'm happy to have passed).

Today I had my sheep anesthesia lab. Luckily it went much, much more smoothly than the canine lab. We were more familiar with the anesthesia record and what needed monitoring and how often we had to make notations in the record, which made a huge difference in how stressed we felt during the lab. Our patient also never stopped breathing, so that was another major plus. I got to do the endotracheal tube this time, which was pretty cool. I also got to perform a median artery stick to collect a blood gas analysis sample. I'd never done an artery stick before, but it was actually not that difficult. Took a little more palpating before I felt comfortable that I was in the right location (veins you can occlude and make them stand up so huge that it's basically like poking a water balloon), but I was able to get a good sample on the first stick.

I think a lot of it had to do with the calming presence of Dr. Warren. He's this old beach hippie who has such a mellow and easy-going nature, and he'll laugh when he sees you doing something wrong and then walk you through why you got it wrong and how to fix it. It felt more like having a mentor present than a judge, jury and executioner. I have heard that one sure-fire way to piss him off, though, is to leave your Doppler on while you're fishing for a pulse. The static drives him nuts.