Rats 01-03

"Today I performed my first survival rat surgery. This means that the surgery was performed with the intent of the animal surviving and functioning, as opposed to a surgery where the animal is immediately sacrificed for autopsy and/or tissue analysis.

I didn't name my rat. She was quite pretty, with large red eyes that many other people would probably associate with evilness. To me though she looked quite cute. very curious, and friendly if only a bit timid. I really hope she wakes up, although that only means that she will be put down in a week or two."

So that was a week ago today. Last Friday, two days after surgery, she was doing fine, sniffing around the cage like any other rat. Monday around noon I went to lab and discovered her on her belly, quite stiff. She wasn't smelling terribly bad, so it's likely she only died early that morning or so.

It was really strange lifting her dead body. It wasn't the same feeling as picking her up when she was anesthetized. She was stiff and lifeless, retaining her rigor mortis state as I pulled her up by her tail to examine her. Her abdomen was dark and looked as if there were blood pooling inside. The stitches that I had closed her up with were intact and looked wonderful still, but things weren't working on the inside apparently.

We proceeded to operate on another rat, this time with a resident and my boss. They were trying to accomplish something a little more technically challenging than the first one I had done. It became increasingly frustrating and at one point, when we were tearing apart things that we weren't sure of what they were, some said, "Well we're not going for survival surgery here anymore." By the end we had shredded those little ureters of hers, which were only maybe a few hundred thick to begin with probably.

So here I was at the end, she lying there with a tube over her head that pumps anesthesia to her, legs splayed open, big incision down her belly, with all her guts spilled out to one size, bladder shredded in half, and no ureters to speak of. Ramzi did the ultimate act, pulling her tail until her neck and vertebrae sheared and snapped. I picked her up and together we put her in the plastic bag from the freezer where we had placed the first one.

We have one more test rat that we'll be working on tomorrow. Unfortunately she'll probably meet the same fate as the last.

needz brakez

i biked 9 miles yesterday!

there are so many hills and valleys in this area. i didn't bike to work yesterday because it was a threatening to rain and my breaks are non-functional wet. the area has a natural slope, with a big hill right outside of CWRU campus. going to work is mostly downhill, and coming home is mostly uphill. my gears also don't work at the moment, so going up this hill is out of the question. i have to walk it up. hopefully i'll get all my bike parts fixed soon and won't have to worry about killing myself. i should also get a helmet probably.

Such Great Heights 00

Well, I suppose this is a good time as any to start documenting. I think this time, out of all the times, is a time of need. And so from this need, I must produce.

Yes, that was wonderfully enigmatic! In more concrete terms, I've moved to Cleveland! Last Friday, Eric and I drove down with a U-Haul full of my life, everything I've collected and toted around for the last 10 years. It was almost 10 pm by the time we arrived, due to construction on the highway along the way. Eric was a trooper and hauled in a ton of stuff that night, including my bed and tv. We set up the bed and watched the tv with it still only supported by the styrofoam padding blocks. And quickly proceeded to passed out!

Saturday was spent unpacking and eating magic brownies. Delicious. We met up with Jenny and Bill at a martini bar and had a delightful time. Eric's beer kept disappearing while I slowly sipped on a rummy herb drink. I was becoming terribly upset that Eric would be leaving in the morning, so we decided to postpone his departure for a day. We watched Rio, now that my tv was actually set up on its real stand, and I was amused to learn that there was a Rio edition of Angry Birds where the targets are monkeys.

Monday, which was yesterday, was wonderfully exciting. Eric managed to make it back to Detroit in one piece. I had meetings all day with everyone in the department. It was definitely intimidating to be the new member of the team. I am super excited that there will be lots of projects for me to get started with. There are about 3 different clinical projects that I'll hopefully be getting off the ground in the next month. Then there is also the basic science lab, which I must admit I have slightly less enthusiasm for. I'm not sure if I will be expected to pipette things; the chairman mentioned that I should go watch some tissue washing technique and I was a tad taken aback. The rat surgery project just seems so much more exciting! I was very pleasantly surprised with how well spoken, precise, and generous the chairman was. He took a moment to speak with me and introduce me to everyone in his lab, and gave me a brief explanation of expectations. I'm to meet with him and bossman to discuss overall goal points and projects. Hopefully things will be up and running soon!