Ali's little Almanac

2009-10-22T19:32:00.001-04:00

Wedding Video

Clapi Clapi , Good riddance, Cali dreaming , not sleeping and Armageddon in apartment : yup : sounds like the end of the year to me !

2006-06-19T22:53:00.000-04:00

Wow - it's been a long time ! So much has happened ... the words that come to mind right now concerning my mental, physical and emotional status are basically Dazed and Confused, along with exhausted, excited, blue, ballistic, freaking out, fidgetty ... basically, the very normal and usual emotional roller coaster that comes with all those big forks stuck in the road :-)

So what's new - well - I am now a vet, for starters, which is kinda exciting - I can now validate your passport applications (among other practical things like actually earning money). Hurray.

I am packing up and leaving for San Diego, California, in 7 days. So there is basically no walking space in my apartment (although some evil tongues would tell you there's nothing new about that) and I am going to scream if I have to fill in one more piece of paperwork.

I will be moving in with 2 other interns in a very cool house in Spring Valley. Actually, just the name Spring Valley sounds awesome. Spring Valley , Saint Hyacinthe. Spring Valley, Saint Hyacinthe. Yup, sounds somewhat more exotic.

Also very new : I can order beer in Spanish. Our class trip down in the Dominican Republic was fun - lots of sun, rest and sharing moments and memories ... The DR is a very interesting country. Sparkling resorts taking up the whole shoreline, poverty and dumps minutes away, the beauty of the small inland villages, the smile on people's faces ... they are poor but they could teach any one of us what being happy means.

So ... more news soon :-)

Here are a few pics !

xx aLi

Punta Cana

Punta Cana ...

Christian is a producer who made us visit his coffee and cocoa (and tons of fruits and yummy stuff) farm. He just may be the happiest person I have ever met.

Our class mascot on our last night ... Dave and I at prrrom

La St Jean in Jonquieres, with Diane, Yan and Guillaume !!

You can check out more pics at http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/olive231_alibabs/album?.dir=/e512scd&.src=ph&.tok=phXbxNFBlol3JBBJ

One day in equine anaesthesia ...

2006-02-20T20:20:00.000-05:00

It's always fun to show people around my school :-) A vet hospital can be full of surprises !

Let me give you a little peek into the equine anaesthesia department in which I am working this week ... most of the surgeries performed here are laparotomies for colics (open up, see what's wrong and hopefully do something about it !!) and arthroscopies (little camera inside joint, most often to go and get some unwelcome bone chips out of there - we call it DOC - dissecans osteochondritis).

8:AM : We start by putting a sterile catheter in one of the jugular veins, and we suture it into the skin to be sure it'll stay in place, even if the horse starts crashing around (especially when waking up).

8:30 : Horse is tranquilized, groomed, recieves pre-op antibiotics and anti-inflammatories. We spray some smelly blue stuff on it's hooves so they stay clean and won't get slippery.

8:35 : Horse is brought into the induction room, and is squeezed between a matress and the wall. At that point, when he starts relaxing, we inject the drugs to knock him out. Usually, it takes about 10 seconds to 1 minute depending on the agents we chose and the horse's previous state of sedation. We usually manage to get the horse to sit like a dog and then go down smoothly.

8:40 : Horse is down. We stretch out his neck, open his mouth and put a metal cylinder between his front teeth. Then we pass a lubrified endotracheal tube through the cylinder and with a little twistin' , it usually goes down like a charm. We tape the tube to the jaw to keep it in place, and pump some air into the tube's wall to make it air-tight. At that point, the horse is ready to be moved into the OR.

8:45 : the horse's legs are tied up to a machine that lifts him up onto a wheeled mattress that we drive quickly into the OR, where we hook him up right away to a ventilator with oxygen and isoflurane (an anesthetic volatile) and another gazillion monitors including an electrocardiogram, a direct arterial blood pressure, a pulse oximeter (shows how much oxygen is in the blood), an expiration gaz analyzer and an oesophagal temperature monitor. All these wonderful parameters are summed up on one very colorful and beeping screen, that becomes your very own favorite TV show for the next 2 to ... ughhh hours :-). In the meanwhile, the surgery crew is clipping and prepping the surgery site. Local anaesthetics are given if required by the type of surgery. Masks and hats come on, the surgeons come out of their scrubbing room and the blue ballet begins. Sterile drapes fly, instruments clatter ... we're on :-)

9:15 (at best) : "First incision" says the surgeon, as we anxiously check our monitors and the horses reflexes to make sure he's sleeping tight and doesn't feel a thing. The next hours will be spent making sure the horse stays stable. We have our monitors to help us with that, plus blood gas analysis in order to have direct insight into what's going on inside. Fluids and drugs are constantly adjusted.

Later (much later) : "End of surgery" says the surgeon (or usually the intern, because they get to do the stitching while the surgeon moves on to more exciting things - ) and the ballet starts again, the other way around. Everyone is pretty pleased to take hats and masks of, it gets pretty stuffy underthere. It's the best way to get a pimple to bloom, though. ;-) We get the horse "lighter" so he doesn't take forever to wake up (we decrease the amount of anaesthetic gas he recieves) and take all the monitors off before transfering him into the "wake up" room. We leave the tube in, keep him under oxygen, and check him for any signs of incoordination (starts with rapid eye movements) so we can tranq him again if necessary. We don't want him to try and get up while his motor coordination is down, he could get badly hurt. This phase usually takes 20 minutes but can last up to 1 hour, depending on the horse, how long he was under, how incoordinated he is, and so on. When he starts moving his limbs, we get out (mamma mia) and observe him as he tries to get up; we can help with cables if necessary. It usually takes 2 or 3 tries, the wiser the horse the lesser the falls, and we go and get that tube out of his trachea when he starts chewing on it. This way, we are sure he won't be fighing for air while he's straining to get up. He's usually a little hung over but ready to go back to his stall about 15 minutes later ... and by that time, we're more than ready for lunch, and the OR has already been cleaned for the afternoon procedures :-)

So it's busy but fun ... sometimes it's hard to stay awake especially when they dim the lights and the beeping of the monitors slowly numbs your brain ... I'm on call 24-7 for 2 weeks during this rotation, so when you've taken a night emergency, it's even more challenging ... but there are several of us, and we team-work it out :-) Brownies, anyone ?

OK ... that's plenty for now ... you never know when your next chance for a meal will come up so I'd better get started on something !

Internship matching results will be coming out soon ... da dice are rollin' !
California dreaming, on such a winter's day ...

xxx Ali - your very own drug dealer

WOO-HOO !!

2006-02-03T20:49:00.000-05:00

I passed the Navle (Vet board exam ... ) !!!! :-)

YEAH !

It's still a little surreal ... I'm looking forward to the reality of the fact I'm actually DONE to kick in !

Thank you everyone for being such great friends and carrying me through this in thought and prayer. I feel very blessed. I have been humbled by your encouragement, support and love ! Thank you so much !

May my shadows prove the sunshine :-)

xxx Dr BaBs

More pics ...

2006-01-24T22:49:00.000-05:00

Le Louvre

Abbey !

Ocean Beach, San Diego, CA

Ocean Beach

Surf it Babe :-)

Flying into Phoenix

Welcome 2006 !

2006-01-24T21:51:00.000-05:00

Welcome 2006 ! Wow, if this year is anything like its beginning, we're in for some massive craziness, I tell yah.
3 weeks of holidays felt GOOD, intensely good. Spent Xmas in Toronto with Aunte Joce and Uncle Peter, Granny Couver, Cuz Greg, Rob and Chris and his wife Sarah and baby Abbey. It was Abbey's first Xmas, so that was very exciting :-) .
On the 27th, off to Paris to go and spend 2 weeks with mum and dad, who basically spoilt me till I got rotten for the next 25 years. I don't know if this is a known fact, and I'm sorry for all you guys out there that weren't aware of it, but I happen to have the best parents in the world :-)
Time was basically spent sleeping, watching the season 3 of 24 compulsively with mum and Baileys (having an addictive personnality runs in the family), visiting friends in Paris and Lyon, ranking internship positions ... and ending up planning a flash trip to San Diego for a position I'm extremely interested in ... someone said insane ? I know and agree :-)
So basically : Paris - Amsterdam - Toronto (overnight) - Phoenix - San Diego (overnight) - Las Vegas - Toronto (overnight) - Montreal and school the next morning. It was a little blurry, ewwwey and I became a little claustrophobic in the meantime but ... it was a blast and I would do it again :-) California is beautiful !! I didn't have much of a chance to check out the city itself because I spent most of my time at the clinic, but I hope I'll be back somewhere around there in June ... oh well, we'll see !! Very exciting !
So now back to reality (oops there goes gravity) and everything is slowly fading into a colorful blur ... here are a few pictures :-) I'm having a great time in general practice at school, seeing tons of fun stuff (and puppiiiies !!) and looking forward to anesthesia and emergency for the next 2 weeks .
Love from out here, where the temperature is going nuts, from + 10 to -20 in a day ... but where we can eat lots of "poutine" and "pudding chomeur" to feel warm and fuzzy inside :-)
Cheerios !
aLi - Babs

Sacré Coeur (Montmartre)

Notre Dame

Pilou and Caro !!

La Croix Rousse, Lyon

God came near ...

2005-12-19T20:16:00.000-05:00

Oh holy night!
The stars are brightly shining
It is the night of the dear Savior's birth!
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
Till he appear'd and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!

Truly He taught us to love one another
His law is love and His gospel is peace
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother
And in His name all oppression shall cease
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy name.

Merry Xmas !
Don't forget what this is all about ...

aLi

Finally DONE !

2005-12-11T21:14:00.000-05:00

Well I never thought this day would come ... Navle is done, at last !!! (that was my board exam, just in case you were wondering if I'd been squashed off the face of the earth these last few months ... ) It actually went well enough. Far too much studying involved, though ! I'm expecting the results around the end of January, which is also about the same time for the internship results ... times of change are coming up ! Last night we had our post-Navle senior party, it was great ... and a snick nostalgic, of course . (although getting up at 6 this morning was pretty rough - on call on a Sunday morning , ew - ) . It hard to believe 5 years have zoomed by ... augh ! Not being here with these people next year is definately going to be weird -
So .... 2 more weeks and first vacations since the end of August, that'll feel nice :-) I should be spending a few days in Toronto with family, and then 2 weeks in Paris with my parents. Haven't seen them since May ... MISS YOU GUYS !!!
I hope everyone is doing well :-) Thanks for news and keeping in touch, I know I've been a pretty terrible terrible terrible nerdy and busy freak ... (and I'm sorry to say that things will probably not be getting any better ... oops ... )
Enjoy this festive season ... One man come in the name of love -
aLi

Class supper @ St Hub's !

The Dec 5th Navle team ! We're DONE ! (what on earth am I doing with my hands ?)

When reaching a "moo" point ...

2005-11-15T11:29:00.000-05:00

My soul, wait silently for God alone,
For my expectation is from Him.
He only is my rock and my salvation;
He is my defense;
I shall not be moved.
In God is my salvation and my glory;
The rock of my strength,
And my refuge, is in God.
Trust in Him at all times, you people;
Pour out your heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us.
Selah

Psalm 62:5-8

Wake me up when October ends ...

2005-10-21T22:21:00.000-04:00

First frost , first gloves ... and first sunny day in 2 weeks :-) Things are going smoothly, thank you very much - There is a date to the creepy Navle : Dec 5th in Ottawa it will be . If you can spare a thought and even better a prayer ... it would be very much appreciated :-)
Just watched the Motorcycle Diaries. Had been dying to see it ... and so glad I finally did :-) It's awesome.
Other movie to catch ... Crash. Pretty darn good. Mum, yah won't like it :-)
Switchfoot's new album has been out for a month now, check it out. Really good, as usual -
OK weekend on call ... better get to bed ... dreams of Latin America in my head ...
How's the sun shining in your part of our little planet ? Isn't it freaky how tiny we are ??
xxx
aLi

"But when I look at the stars, I feel like myself "

October 1st

2005-10-01T23:49:00.000-04:00

October 1st ... enough already !!
Lots (and lots) of work ... sorry I'm not giving much new (ffffine, NO NEWS is more like it ... ) but things are absolutely crazy ... I'm looking forward to some slowing down, sometime, somewhere ... Xmas maybe ?? hmm-
School is great, learning tons (and forgetting probably even more), on call every second weekend ... realizing I'm in my final year gives me the creeps (and a pretty deep feeling of satisfaction !) - I know - quite the paradox - Not a clear idea of what next year will be like ... guidance, Someone ?
I usually go and spend 1 or 2 days on weekends down in Montreal to get some sleep, warm food and fresh scenery ... so here are the latest ... Wedding dress shopping with Van and Ashley (last week- exciting) , 4 hour bike ride (and what a RIDE !) today with Jo-Anne ... I have to be up and rolling tomorrow morning at 7, and I am expecting my butt to hurt so bad that I want to start crying now !!! I thought I was fit - the verdict is no. Ahh , but it was worth it :-) What a splendid splendid day !!!
Next weekend is Thanksgiving in beautiful Magog ... so more to come soon ...
Lots and lots of love .... I'm sorry I'm being so darn silent but I can't really do much better ... please forgive me ?
God bless :-)
aLi
(ouch, my BUTT !)

Hmm ?

2005-09-22T14:57:00.000-04:00

Ohhhhh so THIS is how you do it !!! I've been trying to figure out how to add pictures into my text without having to make a new annoying entry every time ! AHA !
OK, so here are a few random pretty pictures, mostly from 2004 ... just for kicks :-) Enjoy -

Bonifacio, south of Corsica. It's like Winners. You should go.

Sunset near Ajaccio, Corsica again

Les Calanques de Cassis @ 7AM ... Beautiful South of France ...

My mama and my dada :-) I love you !!!!

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the best fat cat in the world (kidding he's NOT fat ! over my dead body !) : I give you : SUSHI !!!!

And finally, a Paris favorite ... can't keep that french side hiding for too long can I ?? :-P

2005-09-19T13:18:00.002-04:00

Guillaume and his parents ... and me :-)

2005-09-19T13:18:00.001-04:00

Such a GREAT show !!!

2005-09-19T13:18:00.000-04:00

Lights come on

2005-09-19T13:17:00.001-04:00

Oh where, oh where could my baby be ... ?

2005-09-19T13:17:00.000-04:00

The Centre Bell was FULL !!

2005-09-19T13:16:00.001-04:00

Pearl Jam ...

2005-09-19T13:16:00.000-04:00

our little whale team !

2005-09-19T13:14:00.001-04:00

Jawbreaker, the cool whale !

2005-09-19T13:14:00.000-04:00

The little white house in Chicouimi

Fall !

2005-09-19T12:57:00.000-04:00

Hello, hello !
Well ... a tiny bit of news :-)
Things have been speeding up slowly but surely, first month back at school was pretty smooth since I was in pathology ... looking at slides, chatting about parasites, visiting quaranteens and slaughter houses ... this week is really gory in autopsy ... but this whole month has been absolutely great for studying for that big Navle in november, and I will definately appreciate the slow pace once I'm actually out of it and back in real clinic life :-)
Apart from school ? Exciting stuff :-) Starting to plan my friend's wedding next august, seeing long-lost childhood friends again yesterday, whales in Bergeronnes and Pearl Jam at the Centre Bell of Montreal with my french buddy Guillaume and his parents ... it was GREAT !!!
The indian summer is settling in, the weather is switching to cocoa temperature, and I like THAT :-)
Here come a few pics ...
Ta-ta for now :-)
God bless
aLi

Let's get this party started !!

2005-08-30T03:58:00.000-04:00

Hullo, hullo !
Well this is, ummm ... my new blog !! Woo-hoo !
I've just come back from a terrific summer in France, Montana, Vancouver ... and today was actually the first day of my final year at school (and in St Hy) ... again ... woo-hoo !
Thanks Adam (Dr. Spud !) for making me discover this terrific blog-thingy ... so much easier !! Maybe one day will come when I can actually think about my friends and they can see me pop up on their computer screen. Now that would be AWESOME, eh ?? What ? Who said "thanks, but no thanks ??" ahhhh - whatever :-)
Have a good one :-)
aLi

2005-08-30T03:56:00.000-04:00

and here we are at Dorval ...Touze, you're the coolest ! :-D

2005-08-30T03:55:00.001-04:00

Flying back to Montreal ...

2005-08-30T03:55:00.000-04:00

Last night, last goodbyes at Cypress ... is the summer really over ?? :-(

2005-08-30T03:54:00.002-04:00

Squamish !

2005-08-30T03:54:00.001-04:00

Up to Squamish ...

2005-08-30T03:54:00.000-04:00

And fun times some more ! Hey there Nate !

2005-08-30T03:53:00.000-04:00

Fun times !

2005-08-30T03:52:00.002-04:00

Nate's kayak traces ...

2005-08-30T03:52:00.001-04:00

Long Beach, Tofino

2005-08-30T03:52:00.000-04:00

Back to he island ... Tofino !

2005-08-30T03:51:00.001-04:00

Fun gang :-)

2005-08-30T03:51:00.000-04:00

Checking out Victoria with James :-)

2005-08-30T03:50:00.001-04:00

Good times with Granny !

2005-08-30T03:50:00.000-04:00

Ferry rides

2005-08-30T03:48:00.001-04:00

4th (long) stop : Vancouver, BC !

2005-08-30T03:48:00.000-04:00

3rd stop : Seattle

2005-08-30T03:46:00.001-04:00

And the frienships :-D

2005-08-30T03:46:00.000-04:00

The joys of real life practice !

2005-08-30T03:45:00.000-04:00

Second stop : Beautiful Montana !

2005-08-30T03:44:00.002-04:00

Beautiful France !

2005-08-30T03:44:00.001-04:00

Caroline, my car, my hero !

2005-08-30T03:44:00.000-04:00

It starts in France ... St Tropez