Pig Dissection

We're starting our pig dissection.  It is very exciting!  We bought our pigs from Carolina Biological  The pigs were not raised for this purpose-- they are a product or the pork industry and were stillborn.  If they weren't preserved for scientific use, they would have been thrown away.

Joseph's quote of the day:  "If these pigs would have lived, they would have ended up as bacon.  mom, where did they come from?"  Me: "We bought them from a place in Burlington, North Carolina."  Joseph: "Oh, then they would have become barbeque then."   

Here are a few pictures from today.  We just went over basic anatomy and then opened them up.  We'll go through the organ systems in upcoming days. 

Puke, Pokies and Pigs

Sometimes, life revolves around bodily fluids.  I hate to admit how much this is true in our lives.  J had a bad stomach ache last night, couldn't describe the pain, so I sent him to bed.  He and S have bad stomach aches a lot. It's been life since they were born, so we really think nothing of it.  He woke up throwing up just after midnight.  From the top bunk. His older brother narrowly escaped from bottom bunk, he got out of the way  in a flash.  I've never seen S get out of bed that quickly before.  It's been a long day.  He threw up 30 plus times and had a slight fever by morning.  This afternoon it is almost 103 and seeming to climb.  The one pokie went well. 

The Mito cocktail is not pleasant going in and it is worse coming out....and it turns everything bright orange.  The dead fish pills (L-carnitine - we call them dead fish pills because they smell like dead fish) and the riboflavin--- I cannot even begin to tell you.  Mito moms will know what I am talking about. He was throwing up until 3 am and we were also cleaning carpet.  Love the Little Green Machine.  He woke up again a few times between 3 and 6 and has been okay since then.  Except for the high fever that started this afternoon.

I've scrubbed with bleach and Lysol.  Went over it again with antibacterial cleaner..... I'm a bit on the OCD side when it comes to vomiting viruses.  They scare me.

In other news, our pigs arrived, but we didn't show them to J.  Figured a pukey day wasn't the right day to do that! I'm excited about dissecting the pigs with the boys. We bought these from Carolina Biological. They are not raised for dissection-- they preserve pigs who were stillborn who would be thrown out in the trash. 

I Am a Tomboy

Imagine my shock when my boys told me I was a tomboy!  I protested. Then they reminded me, "Mom, you were in the Army."   Oh, yeah, I see your point.  This conversation began because I was telling them how excited I am that our pigs will be arriving soon.  I love dissection!

I have such fond memories of dissecting things in high school. I was fortunate to have biology I and Biology II (Medical Life Science).  Through these courses, we dissected a worm, a fetal pig, a cat, a dog (it had been put to sleep and donated to the class) and a fetal horse.  In college, we also dissected things and one of the experiments I remember most was done on a live turtle-- we poured digitalis and caffeine on his heart and recorded the effects. What's not exciting about these things?  Matthew thinks he can use the "It will take me from my REAL school work" line to get out of participating in dissection. It won't work!

The boys think only tomboys like to dissect things.  I disagree.  I'm only PART tomboy.  I balance it with all my cooking, baking and gardening, right?  I wear skirts to Mass.  I don't wear make-up often at all and I think that goes with embracing my natural feminine side.