Radiographs and Intubation

Well, I am officially a full-time vet tech intern! My first official day was yesterday, and I love working with vet staff all day. Plus I get 2 more hours of sleep in the morning :)

I'm posting my very first radiograph and intubation that I performed on a raccoon. Radiograph is just the technical term for x-ray. The raccoon I x-rayed has a fractured jaw right along the midline on her lower jaw. Megan sutured her back up so her jaw is more stable. She's super feisty and I hope she makes it to release. I've posted the radiograph picture, and a close up to show the intubation. Intubation is when you place a tube into the animal's trachea that is hooked up to our oxygen and iso gases. This helps keep the patient asleep during long procedures. The tricky part is finding a tube that is large enough to fill the entire trachea so air doesn't leak in, but small enough it doesn't rupture the trachea. Then you have to have the correct placement so that the gases are able to get to both halves of the lung. I did it on my first try!

Also, Newbies arrived yesterday. I'm no longer a Newbie! We had one new girl from Ohio move in to our trailer. Kristen moved out and Corrina moved in to her room. Which means, I am no longer sleeping on the top bunk! No longer crouching to go to bed, no longer having only a foot of space between me and the ceiling. I am on the bottom bunk, right next to a window. I'm super excited. Well, until my next post, love and miss you all!