First Canine Surgery

This afternoon I did my first surgery at vet school. The dog hasn't died yet, to my knowledge. :)

My group got started late (for some reason whatever group I'm in is usually slow... maybe I am the important (bad) variable there), and I had a couple issues to deal with during the surgery, so we were the last to finish.
I thought I was about ready to close the incision, when I noticed blood in the surgery site. Grrr!! I searched a bit for the bleeder and told Dr. Gustafson (he's back on the Fenestra scene!) about it. He thought (and rightly so) I should try to figure it out for myself... and usually I don't like others doing my jobs for me. In this situation, however, it seemed rather difficult to find the bleeder and I was getting stressed -- not hysterical, but not happy either. My independence was hard to come by and I wished for more help. As it turned out, he did end up finding the culprit tissue for me. And I was glad for his help at the time, but now I wish I would have searched harder on my own... next time...

One comment about my scrub attire: "Nice dress you've got there. Did you have to special order it?" And they didn't think it looked strange -- which is nice. I'm not one to be very self-conscious about how I dress, especially if I'm dressing that way for a good reason. But I think it's good to be properly aesthetic -- you could probably make a Biblical case for it. (For instance, "modest" does not only mean "not sensually pleasing"; it relates to generally decorous dress.)

Another comment (with regard to the skin closure), "Your dexterity is good, but you need to review last spring's lecture about closures." Yes, I will be doing that. And I think part of the problem was that I let my brain semi-shut down. There was information up there I could have used to my benefit if I had been actively processing the technique as I performed it.

The surgery was neat, over all. I get to do a different type in a few weeks. Yippee!