Jess's Adventures in India: More Hospital Life

Well, we’ve fallen into the groove of hospital rotations! Today we switched again, putting Cathryn, Jenny, and me into Ortho/Optho. We saw a lot of interesting cases! My distemper dog never came back in, and I assume the worst. I will be presenting her case at the competition next week. Ortho/Optho was a lot of fun, and Dr. Ayyappan was very helpful in explaining exactly what was going on and giving us lots of details. He even let me place an IV catheter in a dog leg, as a special treat to show the Indian students how it’s done with a permanent catheter (usually they use temporary butterfly catheters)!!! I hit the vein first try, and did VMRCVM proud! Cathryn took lots of pictures, and I’ll post them after I snag them from her.

Some of the flowers outside our guest house

A house crow nest

We saw a kite (a bird of prey) that initially came in with a broken humerus that was repaired with a pin. He came in today because the bone has fissured again, and the pin came out. It’s in bad shape, and I don’t know if he has any more options. They put in a valiant effort, something that wouldn’t probably have been done in the US.

The kite looking at the camera. He's drugged.

We saw another dog that came in paraplegic, and Dr. Ayyappan told me that doggie carts only cost between $25 and $300. Amazing!!!! It would be cheaper to fly to India with the paraplegic pet, get the cart specially made, and fly home than it would be to get a cart in the US! I think I’ll keep him as a contact and ask if he would be willing to send specialized carts to my clients in the US in a few years.

Yesterday afternoon we went into the rabies diagnostic department, where we had a refresher on the virus and saw how a fluorescent antibody test is done. Essentially, a positive test results in a fluorescence of green light that can be seen under a microscope.

This evening we spent more time in parasitology, this time looking at flies and ticks. Dr. Latha, the parasitologist, is great to talk to. She even gave us some tips on where to get good traditional Indian clothing, and places we should visit other than what is already on the schedule. Afterwards, we went back to Spencer's Grocery, and I got an ice cream cone and an orange soda. Yum-o. And all for only $1.25!