Honestly I don't know how I am going to do this for 2 and a half more years. I am so tired. Not so much physically tired but mentally and emotionally exhausted. Most of you know my schedule but for those of you who don't let me lay it down for you.
Monday and Wednesday I have school from 12:20 pm until 5:05 pm. Tuesday and Thursday class from 11:00am until 2 pm. I also have to do math homework, write papers for my Comp class, sketches for my art class and make sure all of the slackers in my speech group are doing what they are supposed to. I do this on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons. My math tests are done in my own time also, and there is one of those every other week in the math lab at school. I generally do those after class on Wednesday…those take about an hour.
Then there's work. That is Thursday from 6pm until 2am and then Friday, Saturday and Sunday I work from 4pm until 2am. This means that there is no day that I can go to sleep before 3 am (generally it is 4 or5) because I have conditioned myself to stay awake to accommodate my work schedule.
Work for me is basically running like a chicken with my head cut off around the hospital for 8 or 10 hours. Most of you are work friends, and if you are, you can just skip down to the next paragraph because I am now going to explain what I do at work. This is non-stop controlled chaos most of the time. As technicians we are responsible for placing IV catheters, taking blood samples, performing X-Rays, obtaining samples from places on a dog or cat that you don't even want to think of, changing bandages, inducing and monitoring anesthesia and surgery, cleaning up after doctors(and everyone who doesn't clean up after themselves), Giving clients updates on their pets (we have 150 cages in the hospital where I work, although we have yet to fill those) cleaning cages, checking in patients (like the triage nurse at the human ER), Hourly treatments which includes walking medicating and checking patients (every hour), I am one of the few that have learned to operate the CT machine so if that needs to be done I am the one who does it. Sometimes I get a break to eat but more often than not I don't. So there you have it I do that 4 times a week (don't get me wrong I love it!).
On top of this back breaking schedule of work and school, I feel responsible for all of the techs at work learning "everything you ever wanted to know about being a Veterinary Technician" …so just for fun in my non-existent free time I do a class at the animal hospital 4 times a month….this lasts for approximately 2-3 hours.
When I get home form work and school the fun is just beginning!! I have the pets to take care of. They all need to be fed twice daily so this happens generally at 2 o'clock in the afternoon and then again when I get home from work at 2:30 am(or really more like 3 or 3:30 by the time I get here) This is fairly cut and dry and I kind of do it on auto pilot. Although I do have to make sure each pet gets the meds they need. Lily gets a handful(literally) of vitamins and several powders twice daily, Suks gets fatty acids(only at night) Daddy gets flax, fatty acids and Vitamin A, and Violet has to have her crazy meds twice daily(bad deal getting that one mixed up and in the wrong bowl). The only cat that has to have something is Jenna J. she gets L-lysine twice daily (she thinks I am poisoning her). Violet has to run on the treadmill once daily for about an hour but that can be done while I am doing homework (she loves it). Somewhere in this schedule chores have to be done, these are the most neglected, so therefore my house has turned into a hell hole. My laundry goes from my body to the basket to the end of my bed and then back on my body (Thank God I work in scrubs). The animals run wild and tear up paper towel rolls that I clean up a couple of days later (they might as well have fun with it.) I think I might drown in pet hair soon. I do manage to run the vacuum around occasionally but not near enough, for those of you that know me you know not having a clean house is killing me. I just walk by it and ignore it. Sometimes I stand and look at it then laugh my butt off. I do manage to shower everyday and sometimes I brush my hair.
Don't get me wrong I love this stuff. I love the pets (all of them) and I made the decision to go to school. I also adore my job which is why I am going to school in the first place…so I can learn new stuff and continue to be one of the best there is. At the beginning of the semester I was so excited and full of energy. I am sure that after my winter break I will recharge and be able to do it all over again but I can't wait to sofa surf on the couch for hours and stare mindlessly at the television, play Tiger Woods golf until my fingers ache and sleep until I feel like getting up. Six more weeks and Winter break starts. What a good idea someone had giving college students such long breaks! Anyway my eyeballs feel like they are slowly working their way out of my head. I also want to give Kudos to all the people who have gone before me and managed to get through this, some of you with kids as well (I have no idea how the hell you pulled that off). You are my inspiration and when I feel like I can't go on I think about you guys and then it's not so hard anymore and I can keep going for one more day. This is dedicated to you guys. May I make it through this to see you all another day.
