Beamer's biopsy report

Yesterday, I got Beamer's biopsy report back. His lump was 'Cystic trichoepithelioma' which is benign. What a sigh of relief for me, and of course, I am glad that my boy is fine. Though, he is prone to get more in the future, so I'm sure that I'll have more freak-out sessions in the future about him. Growths scare me on goldens- unless I can feel that they are just fat (which this one wasn't) I worry. Sadie, our black lab, has a fatty growth on her, but I don't worry about that one.
Anyway, Beamer is doing fine- just waiting to take out his sutures next Wednesday (which is the first day I work that week).

In other news, the housing hunt seems to be looking up. My roomie and I now have quite a few options and I have some phone calls to make tomorrow to a few places. It looks like most places won't know what they have for July until April, which really sucks since I want to find a place and get a lease signed when we are out for the open house mid-April. We may or may not be looking for third roommate for the fall. It depends on what the rent is on the place we find.

Also, my sister who moved out to California is going to be coming back to visit tomorrow for her spring break. It will be good to see her. And, the super dog expo is Sunday so I'm going to be picking up some gifts for Beamer for his upcoming birthday, which is March 27th. I really didn't get to do too much for his birthday last year since I was in the middle of exams. 

Beamer update

I'm just posting an update after Beamer's big day. He was really pissed off at me when he did not get breakfast that morning. He is such a food motivated dog, too, so that doesn't help.

We did his procedure at about 11am Friday morning. I wanted to try to do it with just a local anesthesia on him and if that didn't work, we could go to sedation. But, he did absolutely wonderful with the local. I held him in my lap while my wonderful vet injected the area with some Lidocaine (after shaving part of his beautiful golden mane).

After 15 minutes, I got him back out and laid him on my lap again while my vet removed his lump. It looked like a sebaceous cyst since we some some white material after removing it. Beamer got 4 sutures in and he was done. He got lots of pill pockets and treats afterwards plus he finally got to eat his breakfast a bit late.

It's been a slight challenge to keep him from playing with Sadie, our black lab. But, otherwise he has been doing really really well. He doesn't even mind wearing his cone at night. Now, it is just a waiting game until we get the biopsy report back. Here are a few pictures of his incision and where it is.

In other news, I started house sitting last night for an old yorkie. I'm house sitting Sunday through Sunday and I have to go during lunch and stay the nights. I meant to take ear plugs with me last night because the previous house-sitter told me he is restless at night, but I forgot. I didn't sleep well probably because of that and just being in a new place. He is on a lot of different medications for his multiple problems as well. It will all be worth it in the end since I'm getting paid $30 a day.

Today is also my mom's birthday! So, a big shout out to my wonderful mom. She has been so supportive of me and my dreams since day one. I couldn't ask for a better mom or best friend. We are both really close and share everything with each other. It is going to be hard to move almost 1/2 way across the country and not be able to see her everyday or even every month like I was when I was at Virginia Tech. So, Happy Birthday, Mom! I Love you!!

This is my boy and I at work today. We did a needle aspirate of his lump but couldn't tell much since it was such a small sample. We are thinking it is just a sebaceous cyst, but I am going to have it removed Friday for his well-being and my own sanity. Of course it will be sent out for a biopsy as well. I'm really glad I found this now since I'll only be working here until July and then I go out to Missouri for vet school. I also have had pet insurance on him since he was 8 weeks old and this will be the first time I've ever had to use it. I only have to pay my $200 deductible.

Beamer, of course, loves coming to work with me and I'm sure he won't know what is coming Friday besides no breakfast... he will be pretty upset. Poor boy.

In other news, I saw yesterday that my Sallie Mae loans are finally deferred. I just don't know for how long, so I need to call them and find out. At least my payment is now only $60 for interest instead of  over $300 a month. I also found out yesterday that there is no Wells Fargo in Missouri, which really sucks since that is the only bank I've ever used. So... not sure what I am doing about that at the moment. Still looking for a place to live and for some realtors to get back to me. I'm about 99% sure I've got a roommate nailed down, so that is out of the way! I'll meet her officially in April at the open house, which I am very excited for!

I'm worried about my boy. He will be 2 at the end of March. About a week ago, he was cuddling with me on the couch. I was petting his chest and found very small lump. Of course, he came to work with me the next day (I work at a vet's office). I tried to find it again and I couldn't. I also had 2 other people feel him over and no one could find this mysterious lump.
A week goes by and last night I am petting him again and I find it once more. It feels about the same, but I am concerned since he is so young, and since he is a golden- cancer is very high in this breed and I am very aware of this fact. I am really glad I took out pet insurance on him for this reason. I have not had to use it yet, thankfully, but I will be grateful that I do have it later.

Anyway, I take him and mark the spot with a sharpie and then be sure I can find it again. Of course, this is after working a really really busy stressful week and I'm finally off for 3 days until Tuesday (I swear I was only home for an hour after work when I found it). He will be coming to work with me on Tuesday- hopefully that black mark will still be there but if not, I am pretty confident I can find it again. It feels like it is just in the skin layer- not soft but not really hard, either. Very small, probably a little smaller than the size of a pencil eraser.

Being in the vet profession, we seem to worry a lot more about the possibilities with the things we see. So, I'm hoping it is nothing, but I think I am about 95% sure I am going to get this removed and biopsied to be on the safe side. The pet insurance will cover everything besides my $200 deductible. I'll also do a needle aspirate Tuesday just to get an idea of what we are looking at.

So here is to me worrying all weekend. If they aren't crazy busy Monday, I'll see if I can take him in then to have it looked at so I can get him in for surgery sooner.

Well, it looks like my decision has been made! First, let me start out by saying that I have been an emotional wreck these past 24 hours. Yesterday at my dad's place (about an hour from where I live) I was checking my Facebook on my phone and there was a post about VMRCVM letters going out two weeks early. My heard dropped about 3 feet when I read that and I started freaking out. I knew that they sent emails out, so I checked mine and nothing. Then I check the online status page and still... nothing.

I then go online to the student doctor forum (I'm a member) and check the VT thread. There are people posting that they got accepted. I am really having a panic attack at this point as I had not heard either way. With VMRCVM you either get wait-listed or accepted at this point after interviews. Someone else then posts that they were wait-listed. Hours go by and a long drive home and still NO WORD. I am feeling sick and nauseous at this point. I tell myself that I'm going to stay up no matter how long it takes which lasted until about midnight last night. Then, I /tried/ to go to bed, which of course I could not sleep... at all. I checked my email at 2am, and then at 5:30am which at that point I decided I wasn't getting any sleep. I had to be at work at 8am anyway.

Finally, I get to work and tell everyone there about the awful time I am having. I decide to check my email again at 8:30 and FINALLY there is an email from Tech. I got wait-listed. One of my co-workers said that I looked so much better after reading it since being stuck in limbo was pure torture. Having others know and not a word on my end was so painful. There were others in my same position, which helped. So anyway, I got wait-listed at my in-state school. Not a big shot, I knew I bombed that interview, it was terrible. I'm not going to go into it again.

After April 15th, you can call and get your wait-list number from them. Which is, of course, the same day that all acceptances are due for the schools. So, I DECIDED I AM GOING TO MIZZOU!! I am so so excited. From my last post, you can tell I was going to have to make a difficult decision if I got accepted to Tech. I really loved Mizzou and was even leaning towards going there regardless. I am so RELIEVED that I don't have to make that choice.

I know that I am going to love Missouri!! It is sure going to be a new experience for me and being so far away from home is going to be hard, but I'm just so excited to be starting a new chapter in my life and that I AM going to be a veterinarian in just 4 short years.

Well, I had a lot of time off this past weekend to think a lot about vet school. I LOVED Missouri when I was out there. The people were SO friendly and welcoming. One of the first people I met was my taxi driver and he was super nice and talked to me about his business he is starting up (with electric taxis). He offered to drive me to and from my interview and back to the airport as well, he was so great and I was really happy to not have to worry about that. Once I got to my interview, the students who were there and calming us down were most welcome at the time. They knew we were all so stressed. The committee during my interview was also really kind as well and of course, how can I forget the admissions staff, they were wonderful! The interview, or at least how I remember it, went really smoothly and I didn't stumble at all. I felt confident in all my answers and it seemed to go really well. It was just a traditional 15 minute interview.

Anyway, what I am getting at is that I just really loved Mizzou and their program and school. The best thing I love about the school is 2+2 program they have- 2 years of classroom and then 2 years of clinical. Most schools only have 1 year of clinicals, so that extra year is going to be super helpful. Something that I am also liking, which I originally didn't like, are the periods they have. Instead of 2 semesters, they have 4 periods a year. You still get the usual breaks, which is nice (though summer break is only 6 weeks long... ugh). You have fewer classes at once but it is crammed into a shorter time.

Another awesome thing is that you can get in-state tuition after the first year of school and it is apparently really easy to get. The open house is sometime in April, which I will be going to if I am attending Mizzou. I'll meet some of my future classmates and hopefully find some friends and a place to live.

Plus, all these signs I am seeing are pointing me to Mizzou. Everywhere I look, all I see is Missouri. The most noted being a license plate that I saw on a car saying M1zzouuu or something along those lines. I saw that car not once but twice! AND, their mascot is a tiger, which has been my favorite animal since I was young...

Now with VMRCVM, it is the school I had always dreamed of going. Almost every vet I worked for went there. I attended undergad at Virginia Tech and VMRCVM admissions always came to talk to us about school.

The interview I had was a mess- the multiple mini interview. I hated every second of it. From the nerve-wracking 2 minutes to write things down  about the scenario to the 6 minutes of having to talk to someone. I was basically always talking to the interviewer and I ran out of time during each of the 8 scenarios. I just did not and still really don't feel confident about how I did at all. The whole day was a mess, really, with the snowy weather making it worse. The waiting for the interview wasn't too bad and some students came and talked to us. The waiting was a bit excessive as we got started late in our group. By the time that we got done with the interview, I just left and didn't even stay for a tour (which I did want to go on). The weather was just getting so bad that I wanted to get home. At this point, we either get in or get waitlisted. So, as of now, I am still in the waiting game. March 1st had better get here soon so I know.

VMRCVM's program only has the 1 clinical year with 3 years of classroom and has the basic schedule just like undergrad with semesters. When I was down for the interview, I just didn't get that same great feeling I got when I was at Mizzou. I don't know if it was that interview, the weather, or what that made me feel that way. But, whenever I think about Tech, I just don't feel good about it. Maybe I won't have an issue deciding between these two schools because I'll get waitlisted at Tech, or maybe I will if I get accepted.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Blacksburg and that area. It is my in-state school and will be cheaper to go there. I'll only be 3 hours from home and that is something that I really need. I am really close to my friends and family and when I am at school, I talk to my mom about once a day. So, if I got to Mizzou, being 14 hours away from home is going to be really hard.

So as of now, I am still waiting on Tech, but that is how I am feeling at the moment. I might have a really hard choice to make in a few weeks.

It's been nearly 3 weeks since I have been admitted to vet school. I still just cannot believe it. Every time I think about going back to school in August I am just filled with so many different emotions; disbelief, happiness, excited, anxious, even a touch of sadness. I recently joined the student doctor forum (which I really wish I had found about a year or two ago instead of just last week) but it is a really great resource. It's also a great place to talk with some of my potential classmates at Mizzou if I do attend there in the fall and maybe even find a roommate or two. But, that is getting ahead of myself. I am still waiting to hear from VT and I am getting more and more anxious by the day. We are supposed to hear by March 1st, so basically any day from now until then. Every time there is a new post on the VMRCVM thread on the forum, I almost have a heart attack thinking someone has heard something. As I have gotten farther away from that horrific interview at VT, I am feeling better about it. I still have to say I am not a fan on the multiple mini interviews (MMI) and would much rather have a traditional interview. I'm not sure why I'm thinking so much about interviews anymore for vet school since I did end up canceling both my Auburn and Tuskegee interviews, so I don't have any more to worry about.
I also did hear from NC State last week and I didn't get in there. It was what I expected since they don't do interviews and they only have 20 out of state spots, so the odds were stacked against me. No hard feelings over it.

So basically, for now, I am just counting down the days until March 1st until  I hear from VT. I really just want to know where I will be going in August, whether that is in Columbia or Blacksburg. Lately, I've also gotten really excited about Mizzou- so if I end up there, I will be alright with it. The biggest thing with it being so far away; that will be really difficult for me. But, I figure I'll probably be so busy it won't be too bad. Plus, I'll always have my Beamer boy with me. Mizzou's vet school does things a bit differently compared to VT. One thing I really like is that you get 2 years of classroom and then 2 years of clinicals (2+2) vs. VT that has 3 years of classroom and 1 year of clinicals. Mizzou also has periods instead of semesters, which is very different. And... you only get 6 weeks for summer break, which kind of stinks. But, if I have to, I'll deal. Definitely not a deal breaker for me.

All in all, I'm just hoping to be back in Blacksburg for the fall. I miss it so much and that brief visit last month was not enough. There is an open house in April for both VT and Mizzou (on different weekends) that Mom and I are going to go to and hopefully find a place to live and meet some classmates.

Other than vet school stuff that I've been trying not to focus on, my vet tech classes seem to be going pretty well. I have 5 days off (until Tuesday) and I've been working on a bit of it daily. This past Friday was supposed to be my interview at Auburn. My terminology class finally seems to have picked up to something interesting. Radiology is really dragging since this is the 3rd week (soon to be 1 month in) that I've been reading about how an x-ray machine works and how x-rays are produced as well as all the electrical components. Lets just say... I'm tired of reading about all of that and I just want to move on. Also, I've got a few pet sitting jobs lined up which will help out a lot in saving for a new laptop and among other things I'll need for school in August.