Coolest thing you did/saw this week.

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So all this waiting to know something is driving me crazy. I am sure others are in the same precarious situation. So I thought it would be cool to post here the coolest thing you have seen or done this week. This should distract us somewhat yea?:rolleyes:
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-I saw the Occlam's Razor fail-I guess it does so pretty often but it is the first time I've personally witnessed it. I doctor I shadow had a patient with what seemed to be a pretty obvious case of Patulous Eustachian Tube. He had a hunch it was something else...a much much rarer condition. Lo and behold, the CT scan of her head showed that she has Superior canal dehiscence.

-Ok the second thing isn't medicine related but still cool-I was less than 5 feet away from a hawk that just caught a squirrel. I actually saw him land with it in his claws and just sit there. That bird was HUGE. Poor squirrel...not fun being a part of RAW nature.
 
One of my biology professors told he will set up an independent research for me next year.
 
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I Work as a lab tech in a pharmacology lab at a med school.

Training one of the new tech today to euthanize rabbits. We kill the rabbits then dissect out their aorta for smooth muscle twitch testing with steroids. Well we use barbiturates to euthanize them. We weigh the rabbits then calculate the lethal dose and do 1.2x that dose. Anyway we had a baby rabbit today so it didn't fit in the cage restraints that well (need to restrain them during the injection or else they move during the injection... bad). Yea so anyway this little rabbit was to small for the cage, and 'lo and behold he spazzed and twisted just this new tech was giving the injection:scared:.

Tore the vein open and made a bloody mess (literally) and also destroyed our injection point into the rabbit. About 70% of the solution was injected before it happened, which was pretty close to the LD, so the rabbit became essentially brain dead within 30 seconds... but he was still very much alive and breathing.

The new lab tech (female) had her hands covered in blood and was crying at the rabbit who was half dead, and bleeding the death. I quickly alerted the PI and asked where we should inject the rest of the solution. He said "too late for that, the rabbit is hemorrhaging blood... begin the dissection."

So with this rabbit still alive, and with the other lab tech pretty much in a state of shock, looks like I was the one to spur of the moment do my first surgery on a live being.

The PI stood back and crossed his arms, I swiftly moved over to the instruments tray and began grabbing scissors, forceps, a scalpel, and anything else I would need. I went back to the rabbit with a fistful of metal and took a second hesitation before diving in and cutting into the pericardium, and then moving on to get a clear view of the heart, still beating. We needed the descending aorta so I tried to nudge the heart to one side with a probe, but since it was beating it kept moving back to where I didn't want it.I finally decide to just move in and use my gloved left hand to hold the heart up... and man that was creepy, trying to hold a beating heart up with 3 fingers so I see the aortic arch. I found it and raised an eyebrow at the fact that arteries nearby were translucent enough that I could see the blood flowing through them. Anyway I took a short breath, lined the scissors and made my cut, unleashing the blood supply into the chest cavity.

I got some paper towel and blotted it up as I felt the heart go limp in my other hand (that was a weird sensation). Once that passed I dissected out the the rest of the resending aorta pretty quickly. By this point a small crowd had gathered in a semi circle around me under news that I was 'operating on a live rabbit' I got a slow applause by some of my co-workers when I finished, but the best was the PI Looked at me and smiled "Nice work, you would make a half decent surgeon"


To bad he already wrote my LOR like 3 months ago :(
Oh well, it was a pretty exciting experience regardless.
 
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Went skydiving for my b-day on Wednesday
 
Saw Monday night football live at the beginning of the week. Always awesome, but seeing the last page of my biochem midterm after doing 3 midterms in 3 days was the best feeling ever. Yay it's the weekend!
 
Found out i'm gonna be a doctor.
 
UEFA Champions League funness. Real Madrid got their asses handed to them.
 
mrmilad said:
Found out i'm gonna be a doctor.
Click to expand...

:thumbup: Same here. Makes for a good week. Anytime anything bad happens, or class is boring, or I don't get enough sleep... it's alright. I'm going to med school next year. :D
 
I watched all the seasons of 30 rock from start to finish.

Is Lacipart's post a joke? I can't tell.
 
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Lacipart said:
I Work as a lab tech in a pharmacology lab at a med school.

Training one of the new tech today to euthanize rabbits. We kill the rabbits then dissect out their aorta for smooth muscle twitch testing with steroids. Well we use barbiturates to euthanize them. We weigh the rabbits then calculate the lethal dose and do 1.2x that dose. Anyway we had a baby rabbit today so it didn't fit in the cage restraints that well (need to restrain them during the injection or else they move during the injection... bad). Yea so anyway this little rabbit was to small for the cage, and 'lo and behold he spazzed and twisted just this new tech was giving the injection:scared:.

Tore the vein open and made a bloody mess (literally) and also destroyed our injection point into the rabbit. About 70% of the solution was injected before it happened, which was pretty close to the LD, so the rabbit became essentially brain dead within 30 seconds... but he was still very much alive and breathing.

The new lab tech (female) had her hands covered in blood and was crying at the rabbit who was half dead, and bleeding the death. I quickly alerted the PI and asked where we should inject the rest of the solution. He said "too late for that, the rabbit is hemorrhaging blood... begin the dissection."

So with this rabbit still alive, and with the other lab tech pretty much in a state of shock, looks like I was the one to spur of the moment do my first surgery on a live being.

The PI stood back and crossed his arms, I swiftly moved over to the instruments tray and began grabbing scissors, forceps, a scalpel, and anything else I would need. I went back to the rabbit with a fistful of metal and took a second hesitation before diving in and cutting into the pericardium, and then moving on to get a clear view of the heart, still beating. We needed the descending aorta so I tried to nudge the heart to one side with a probe, but since it was beating it kept moving back to where I didn't want it.I finally decide to just move in and use my gloved left hand to hold the heart up... and man that was creepy, trying to hold a beating heart up with 3 fingers so I see the aortic arch. I found it and raised an eyebrow at the fact that arteries nearby were translucent enough that I could see the blood flowing through them. Anyway I took a short breath, lined the scissors and made my cut, unleashing the blood supply into the chest cavity.

I got some paper towel and blotted it up as I felt the heart go limp in my other hand (that was a weird sensation). Once that passed I dissected out the the rest of the resending aorta pretty quickly. By this point a small crowd had gathered in a semi circle around me under news that I was 'operating on a live rabbit' I got a slow applause by some of my co-workers when I finished, but the best was the PI Looked at me and smiled "Nice work, you would make a half decent surgeon"


To bad he already wrote my LOR like 3 months ago :(
Oh well, it was a pretty exciting experience regardless.
Click to expand...


your seriously one of the most self obsessed guys i have ever seen on the internet. all your posts show how seriously ******ed you are.
 
Chased a squirrel around the library in the morning. Came back later that day to see the girl's bathroom barricaded off with a "Do not enter: WILD ANIMAL INSIDE" sign.
 
I gave tours for a couple hours last night at my med school. Not really, particularly cool... BUT it got me away from studying, some time to clear my head.

Then I was slapped into reality when I had to head up to lab to review some material I didn't know.
 
I was really short on sleep and decided to rest my eyes while waiting for the professor to come to class. All of a sudden I was jolted up when I heard a loud thump behind me. A girl had fainted and landed pretty hard. I ran to security and she ended up being alright.

EDIT: Not that I think this is "cool" but it is the most interesting thing that happened.
 
the NMR of the product of a reaction I ws doing for research came out exactly as I predicted.. it felt like I aint a virgin no more..lol
 
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Lacipart said:
I Work as a lab tech in a pharmacology lab at a med school.

Training one of the new tech today to euthanize rabbits. We kill the rabbits then dissect out their aorta for smooth muscle twitch testing with steroids. Well we use barbiturates to euthanize them. We weigh the rabbits then calculate the lethal dose and do 1.2x that dose. Anyway we had a baby rabbit today so it didn't fit in the cage restraints that well (need to restrain them during the injection or else they move during the injection... bad). Yea so anyway this little rabbit was to small for the cage, and 'lo and behold he spazzed and twisted just this new tech was giving the injection:scared:.

Tore the vein open and made a bloody mess (literally) and also destroyed our injection point into the rabbit. About 70% of the solution was injected before it happened, which was pretty close to the LD, so the rabbit became essentially brain dead within 30 seconds... but he was still very much alive and breathing.

The new lab tech (female) had her hands covered in blood and was crying at the rabbit who was half dead, and bleeding the death. I quickly alerted the PI and asked where we should inject the rest of the solution. He said "too late for that, the rabbit is hemorrhaging blood... begin the dissection."

So with this rabbit still alive, and with the other lab tech pretty much in a state of shock, looks like I was the one to spur of the moment do my first surgery on a live being.

The PI stood back and crossed his arms, I swiftly moved over to the instruments tray and began grabbing scissors, forceps, a scalpel, and anything else I would need. I went back to the rabbit with a fistful of metal and took a second hesitation before diving in and cutting into the pericardium, and then moving on to get a clear view of the heart, still beating. We needed the descending aorta so I tried to nudge the heart to one side with a probe, but since it was beating it kept moving back to where I didn't want it.I finally decide to just move in and use my gloved left hand to hold the heart up... and man that was creepy, trying to hold a beating heart up with 3 fingers so I see the aortic arch. I found it and raised an eyebrow at the fact that arteries nearby were translucent enough that I could see the blood flowing through them. Anyway I took a short breath, lined the scissors and made my cut, unleashing the blood supply into the chest cavity.

I got some paper towel and blotted it up as I felt the heart go limp in my other hand (that was a weird sensation). Once that passed I dissected out the the rest of the resending aorta pretty quickly. By this point a small crowd had gathered in a semi circle around me under news that I was 'operating on a live rabbit' I got a slow applause by some of my co-workers when I finished, but the best was the PI Looked at me and smiled "Nice work, you would make a half decent surgeon"


To bad he already wrote my LOR like 3 months ago :(
Oh well, it was a pretty exciting experience regardless.
Click to expand...

Not that im AGAINST animal testing... but how the f**k is that cool? One swift injection to the heart would have ended it. I mean, I've gotten a "oh, thats cool" moment when i've euthed animals ive never euthed before, but to dissect a living animal??? Have some respect for the animals you're experimenting on!!! And even if a heart shot would have ruined your reseach, you still could have gone for the liver.
 
sunshinevet said:
Not that im AGAINST animal testing... but how the f**k is that cool? One swift injection to the heart would have ended it. I mean, I've gotten a "oh, thats cool" moment when i've euthed animals ive never euthed before, but to dissect a living animal??? Have some respect for the animals you're experimenting on!!! And even if a heart shot would have ruined your reseach, you still could have gone for the liver.
Click to expand...

I would have just done a cervical dislocation (IACUCs will usually allow them on smaller rabbits without any anesthesia, and on larger ones with).
 
sunshinevet said:
Not that im AGAINST animal testing... but how the f**k is that cool? One swift injection to the heart would have ended it. I mean, I've gotten a "oh, thats cool" moment when i've euthed animals ive never euthed before, but to dissect a living animal??? Have some respect for the animals you're experimenting on!!! And even if a heart shot would have ruined your reseach, you still could have gone for the liver.
Click to expand...

agreed. what lacipart described is unethical, and is prohibited by institutional animal care and use committees and federal law.
 
kami333 said:
I would have just done a cervical dislocation (IACUCs will usually allow them on smaller rabbits without any anesthesia, and on larger ones with).
Click to expand...

+1!!! Blunt force trauma to the head, against a wall is an approved form of euth, and would be more ethical than what took place!
 
I whored out my mad calculus skills for $20/hr. Also, I witnessed my friend's hand turn pale white after he stuck it in a tub of ice and salt for 30 seconds.
 
Premending: I'm sorry you feel that way, and it hurts me to read that. Given the tone of my post though, I can see what you mean.

I wrote that rabbit ordeal last night when I was tired. I left out some key details and exagered a few tidbits to make the story sound more interesting, but on reflection the proposed story I gave sounds more horrible then amusing.

Let my clarify a few things.

- The rabbit was under full and complete anestesia. He was given about 95% of a lethal dose and his heart rate was less than 30 bpm. The PI wanted to first do a quick EKG to ensure the animal was brain dead, but after examining its vitals and pupils he determined the animal would be dead within minutes anyway so he told me to go ahead.

- I am not someone that gets a joy out of killing animals, and I was all but horrified to cut the living animal. The PI ensured me the animal could feel no pain what so ever and told me to urgently make the cut.

- As soon as I cut into the pericardial sack the lungs collapsed and the heart slowed, the heart stopped beating within seconds and well before I actually cut the aortic arch.

- Everyone, PI included, was a bit on edge and acting nervously and quickly. Yes it's easy to sit back know and critique and think of better methods, yes on refelction a cevical dislocation would have been a better choice but the lab has never done one before and we didn't think of it. Haste was an emphasis.



The reason I posted the story was not because I think killing live animals is "cool" and "exciting". But I'm sorry, I don't go skydiving or win poker tournaments in my spare time. For the last 7 months I have worked 9-5 doing PCR and other mundane tasks. This was the only "excitment" and unpredicability that I have encountered in months.
I apologize for offending some of you.
 
mrmilad said:
Found out i'm gonna be a doctor.
Click to expand...
Hey, Congrats! and to SteinUMstein as well

Back to Topic: last weekend I finally saw a Code Blue in the E.R.
so cool, and patient made it :)
 
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Lacipart said:
Premending: I'm sorry you feel that way, and it hurts me to read that. Given the tone of my post though, I can see what you mean.

I wrote that rabbit ordeal last night when I was tired. I left out some key details and exagered a few tidbits to make the story sound more interesting, but on reflection the proposed story I gave sounds more horrible then amusing.

Let my clarify a few things.

- The rabbit was under full and complete anestesia. He was given about 95% of a lethal dose and his heart rate was less than 30 bpm. The PI wanted to first do a quick EKG to ensure the animal was brain dead, but after examining its vitals and pupils he determined the animal would be dead within minutes anyway so he told me to go ahead.

- I am not someone that gets a joy out of killing animals, and I was all but horrified to cut the living animal. The PI ensured me the animal could feel no pain what so ever and told me to urgently make the cut.

- As soon as I cut into the pericardial sack the lungs collapsed and the heart slowed, the heart stopped beating within seconds and well before I actually cut the aortic arch.

- Everyone, PI included, was a bit on edge and acting nervously and quickly. Yes it's easy to sit back know and critique and think of better methods, yes on refelction a cevical dislocation would have been a better choice but the lab has never done one before and we didn't think of it. Haste was an emphasis.



The reason I posted the story was not because I think killing live animals is "cool" and "exciting". But I'm sorry, I don't go skydiving or win poker tournaments in my spare time. For the last 7 months I have worked 9-5 doing PCR and other mundane tasks. This was the only "excitment" and unpredicability that I have encountered in months.
I apologize for offending some of you.
Click to expand...

You do realise that not all anaesthetics provide pain relief - which is why you give peri-operative pain relief for most of your anaesthetic protocols. (Both in human and vet med) As pentobarbital/phenobarbital is the most commonly used euth solution, i guessed you used that - WHICH PROVIDES NO PAIN RELIEF!!!

Regardless of whether or not the animal was "about to die", it was not dead! Would you do a live dissection on a human, just because it was under a questionable anaesthetic? I dont think so. So give that rabbit the extra .5mL it would have needed, or the quick blow to the head it would have needed. It doesn't matter how you justify it. Live dissection of an animal is cruel, inhumane and unethical. If the animal ethics committee of your lab knew about this, they would have a field day. Don't take animal testing for granted. It's idiots like you and your PI who put the privilage of animal testing in danger for all of us, because you are MISUSING YOUR ANIMALS!!!
 
my first acceptance packet! :thumbup:

officially proud member of the class of 2014
 
got to see some pretty sweet polycystic liver disease

also, kicked my friends ass at old school nintendo dr. mario... as long as my future patients are infected by a multitude of yellow, red, and blue bugs i'm going to be an amazing doctor.
 
I went to the UNC-FSU football game on Thursday night. It was fun until Butch Davis squandered our 18 point lead and FSU squeaked by us. :mad:
 
phonyreal98 said:
I went to the UNC-FSU football game on Thursday night. It was fun until Butch Davis squandered our 18 point lead and FSU squeaked by us. :mad:
Click to expand...
Man, that wasn't Butch. UNC couldn't cover to save their lives, and the offense totally fell apart when it mattered. That was a very frustrating second half.
 
sunshinevet said:
You do realise that not all anaesthetics provide pain relief - which is why you give peri-operative pain relief for most of your anaesthetic protocols. (Both in human and vet med) As pentobarbital/phenobarbital is the most commonly used euth solution, i guessed you used that - WHICH PROVIDES NO PAIN RELIEF!!!

Regardless of whether or not the animal was "about to die", it was not dead! Would you do a live dissection on a human, just because it was under a questionable anaesthetic? I dont think so. So give that rabbit the extra .5mL it would have needed, or the quick blow to the head it would have needed. It doesn't matter how you justify it. Live dissection of an animal is cruel, inhumane and unethical. If the animal ethics committee of your lab knew about this, they would have a field day. Don't take animal testing for granted. It's idiots like you and your PI who put the privilage of animal testing in danger for all of us, because you are MISUSING YOUR ANIMALS!!!
Click to expand...

Um.. it sounds like as long as the animal was unconscious, he was not misusing it. It is true that barbiturates are poor analgesics unless administered to unconsciousness but as long as the animal was unconscious then it should have been fine.

Other procedures, like whole body perfusions, are performed while the animal is alive but given a lethal dose of anesthetic. Pentobarbital is part of the accepted protocol for these procedures. As long as the animal is sufficiently under and doesn't feel pain (I know in mice you can check for this looking for pelvic limb withdrawal reflex, tail pinch test, etc) then it is acceptable (and, during a perfusion, necessary) to open up the animal while it is still alive. I don't see why this is an issue at all, as long as the animal was unconscious, which from his account it seems that it was. I mean, yeah, it's not for the faint-hearted and a cervical dislocation would probably have been a better choice, but the animal does not feel any pain.
 
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I take my other one back. Watched Bama block the Vol's game-winning kick. RTR B*TCHES
 
...and they gathered around me in awe of my awesome scalpeling skills. the women curtseyed and the men bowed. my PI offered his daughter to me serenade.
 
tmcleavor said:
Man you guys have boring lives. The only fun exciting thing Ive seen is the skydiving post. Get your heads out of the sand and go experience life. Scare yourself everyday. Tv watching doesn't count as a fun exciting week. :confused: Okay off my soapbox but seriously you only live once.
Click to expand...

I happen to find medicine and crazy ass nature cool.
get off your soapbox-this isn't the place to tell anyone how to live.
 
tmcleavor said:
Man you guys have boring lives. The only fun exciting thing Ive seen is the skydiving post. Get your heads out of the sand and go experience life. Scare yourself everyday. Tv watching doesn't count as a fun exciting week. :confused: Okay off my soapbox but seriously you only live once.
Click to expand...


Yea...that's what I do..I watch tv all week. It's not like I need to study or go to class or anything.
 
got into school :) then the next day assisted with a very impormptu bypass, first one ever done on our floor. my job sucks but sometimes some cool stuff happens that make me realize I only need to do this a few months longer.
 
Went to Yankees/Angels game 6!

awesome game..had a few beers and a yankee stadium hot dog..
pettite pitched a great game, we made some clutch plays, and mo came in for the 6 out save..best game i've ever been to

and from now on, I will only be sitting in the bleachers..bleacher fans are awesome..though i still feel bad for the poor girl wearing an angels hat, and to the guy sitting next to us wearing a phillies shirt/hat
 
vman51 said:
Went to Yankees/Angels game 6!

awesome game..had a few beers and a yankee stadium hot dog..
pettite pitched a great game, we made some clutch plays, and mo came in for the 6 out save..best game i've ever been to

and from now on, I will only be sitting in the bleachers..bleacher fans are awesome..though i still feel bad for the poor girl wearing an angels hat, and to the guy sitting next to us wearing a phillies shirt/hat
Click to expand...

Damn Yankees!! :rolleyes:

Philles....:thumbup:
 
Texas A&M vs. Texas Tech final score. :laugh:
 
On Tuesday, I observed 2 surgeries...kind of got passed back and forth between two ORs :)
First one was a mastoidectomy and tympanoplasty on a patient with hemangioma which has infiltrated their mastoid bone.
It was really sweet because the surgery was done almost entirely with the use of the microscope and I got a pair of eyepieces to look into as I sat half a foot away from the patient's head. Try to avoid touching the blue then! It was an exercise in stoicism lol.
Second one was a Functional Larascopic Sinus Surgery on this guy with chronic sinus problems and sarcoidosis. Some ANGRY mucosal membranes there! The coolest part were the tools equipped with light emitting diodes. The computer detected signal from these and superimposed them on the MRI images of the patient's head. Learned about this in class, since I am a chem major and all but first time actually seeing it in action...very cool in my opinion.:D
 
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