It's the thing, I guess....

Of mice and memories

2007-10-03T13:12:00.000-05:00

Over the past few days I've been reorganizing the basement, trying to finish unpacking boxes, and clean the house. I'm about one quarter into each project. Unpacking is hard because I've been going through boxes that haven't been touched in 5-6 years and have uncovered numerous old photos and various other sentimental items (ie it's taking me a long time). Some things I've uncovered: the old funny quotes sheet from ISR, large framed photo of my championship high school football (soccer) team, photos that used to hang on my vet school locker, pre-Euro european money (francs, lire, deutchmarks, etc), keys to locks that no longer exist, and various other trinkets.

Also, some of the boxes are very dusty, and being cardboard in a humid basement, slightly musty as well, so I'm feeling a little wheezy.

Phoenix is thrilled with all the unpacking and reorganizing. I finally uncovered a bag of cat toys filled with approximately 20 play mice, and now I'm finding them all over the house. Phoenix has been waking me up the past two nights to play fetch around 3-4am (it's hard to sleep when the mouse drops on my face and the cat's batting at it). This morning I woke up and found I was laying on 3 mice that were carried into bed by the cat.

Maybe it's time I hide the remaining mice and finish the projects.

Estimates

2007-10-02T00:08:00.000-05:00

Why is it so hard to get estimates for things to be done around the house? We have been trying for at least 3 weeks now to get estimates on concrete edging around the house (to no avail). Oh, well we actually got one estimate, but now the phone number to use for contacting the person is no longer in service. Hmmm......

Tomorrow I will attempt to get people to come out for estimates on fencing. I really don't want to take the dogs on walks after dark when it's cold outside. Hopefully fence estimates will go better.

Red Sauce

2007-09-14T12:58:00.000-05:00

Although the carpet in the new house is a shade or two darker than the old house, for all intents and purposes it is still rather white. The number of times the dogs have gotten into the garbage and gotten items out of the trash in the new house can no longer be counted on two hands. The biggest problem as I see it is that they are not content to chew on the disposed items on the tile, but instead drag all the garbage (piece by piece) to the living room to chew on. And for some odd reason, the only things the dogs really go after are those covered in tomato sauce.

Luckily, my steam vac has been able to get the red sauce out of the carpet every time. Thank God for steam vacs.

Ponderings

2007-09-07T10:26:00.001-05:00

Ever wonder why, when you have a ton of things to do in a morning, you sleep through your alarm clock?

Hello? Anybody there?

2007-08-02T01:08:00.000-05:00

Our phone system at work is broken right now-not a good thing for a national hotline that people rely on. Over the past few weeks (actually since the beginning of summer), the powers that be have been trying new things and we little people suffer the consequences. Lately we have been operating on emergency mode at least once every few days. Basically what this means is instead of the calls going to each person in an order determined by the person that has been free to take a call the longest, ALL phones in the call center ring every time a caller comes in. Imagine, if you will, appproximately 30-40 phones ringing at once, while even while you are on the phone. Also, when in emergency mode, there can only be 3 incoming calls (which then need to be transferred away asap), so during busy times, lots of calls are missed or dropped.

Tonight the ultimate happened. The phones stopped ringing entirely for almost 30 minutes. During the busiest time of night. We had nothing to do but sit and wait. The phones came back up, but the system was only limping along at partial strength.

Makes you wonder where the callers (owners and vets) go/who they contact if we're not available....

Presents

2007-07-13T10:07:00.000-05:00

It's always good to get presents. Seems like I'm getting an abundance of them this week. Since moving into our new house, we've been doing some upgrades around the house. It's not that our old stuff is bad, I just want to finally have matching furniture (like a grown-up), and stuff that isn't made out of particle board with a fake wood coating. The old things served their purpose, but now that we have a nice house, I want nice things to go in the house. And slowly but surely I'm acquiring my nice things.

It started with the fridge: we were content to take our fridge from the old house, but the people that purchased our old house wanted it left behind. So we decided to get a new fridge, and not just an equivalent one, but a better one - french doors, bottom freezer, automatic filtered water (those are the biggest upgrades). Oh and it's a little more energy efficient than our old one as well.

Next we ordered new office furniture. The desks from the old office were perfectly functional, but completely mismatched (Chuck's was an ash, and mine was particle board oak colored). We also have a very nice solid oak bookshelf, and a cheap black filing cabinet in the room. In our old house, the office was at the back of the house, and rarely seen or ventured into by guests. In the new house, however, it's right next to the front door, and practically the first room seen by guests. Hence the upgrade.

Since our new house is....well...new, we had to buy blinds too. For all the rooms. So the next thing we ordered was the blinds.

Our new house has a few more rooms than the old one, so that required us to get more bedroom furniture. Luckily we didn't have to pay for new furniture-my parents had a spare set for me in storage, and Chuck's parents gave him a beautifully restored set as well. Of course, the restored set doesn't have a mattress, so we're going to upgrade our bed from a queen size to a king - which means getting a brand new bedroom set (and sheets and comforters, etc) for it (ok, so maybe we didn't need to get new master bedroom furniture, however the current stuff is slightly beat up from the dog chewing the wood as a puppy, and the set is old, as in it was my grandparent's wedding set, then my parents, then handed to me. I'd like to be able to pick out my own furniture rather than get hand-me-downs at this point in my life). Our current mattress is going on the restored set.

Next on the list is a new sofa and loveseat. Our old ones are very broken down, not comfortable, and ugly-so much so that I have to keep slipcovers on them. I haven't yet figured out what to get, so that's going to stay on the list for a while.

This week has been especially good - the restored bedroom furniture and a few extra gifts (all our crystal wine glasses) were delivered by Chuck's parents Wednesday. Thursday the first of the blinds was delivered. Today the remainder of the blinds came in, and the new office furniture is due to arrive at any minute. Since these are the only things we've ordered so far (The fridge was put in 1.5 months ago, and the new bedroom and living room stuff hasn't been purchased yet), I'd say that's pretty good to have it all arrive at once.

Finally

2007-06-22T14:18:00.000-05:00

So, all the hard work finally paid off. The old house is done (it's sad to not be able to walk through it or let the dogs run in the back any more). We got our new fridge (which is huge, but I haven't figured out the placement of the shelves yet). The grass at the new house is starting to take root and turn green (what water drought?). I have my cats back again, and the adjustment went well. Now I just need to finish unpacking all the boxes and putting stuff away.

Sold!

2007-05-21T22:33:00.000-05:00

Woot!
So now the question is....what do we do for a fridge?

Sigh

2007-05-21T20:42:00.001-05:00

Negotiations suck!

Cat Rescue

2007-05-17T15:30:00.000-05:00

Here's a story of a cat rescued from a fire in Britain

Sleep Interrupted, Again

2007-05-12T11:39:00.000-05:00

I finally got one full night's uninterrupted sleep (oddly when Chuck wasn't home). Unfortunately it wasn't last night. I'm just a little mad right now (probably because of disruption in my plans). Last night I worked until 11:30pm, got home just before 12am. I tried to go to bed, but Chuck kept tossing and turning, so I didn't actually fall asleep until close to 1:30am. I planned on sleeping in a little (being Saturday and all). The phone rang at 9:10 am-it's a realtor wanting to show the house at 10am. Since we have to be out of the house at least 15 min prior to the showing (in case they show up early), I didn't have enough time to wake up, straighten the house, shower, and leave. So I cut out the shower part. Chuck and I went to breakfast, and arrived back home at 10:50 (note-20 min after the time the house was supposed to be shown).

Many times the realtor doesn't leave an indication that they've been through the house, and so when we arrived home, it wasn't unexpected to see that all the lights were still on and no business card was left. I hopped into the shower around 11:10am (40 min after the house was supposed to be shown), and sure enough, the people come by to walk through the house just at that moment. Not even a phone call from the realtor to say they're running that late. I guess we're just supposed to be out of the house all day (forget doing yard work or running errands or even taking a shower before going to work at 3pm, because I guess people aren't supposed to have plans on Saturday). Let's just say I was a little ticked off.

Needless to say, I don't think those people will be buying the house.

Sleep interrupted

2007-05-10T13:51:00.000-05:00

Working odd hours makes it very difficult to keep a routine. One week I might be working evenings, so I need to get all my housework and laundry done in the morning, the next I might be working early mornings, and have to do all my stuff in the evenings, in addition to helping with dinner and social events. Some weeks I work both the morning and evening shifts, with a day off in between.

Back in December and January, it was easy. I worked the evening shift for pretty much the entire months. I would wake up, work out, eat breakfast/lunch, catch up on tv shows I missed the night before, straighten the house, then go to work.

For the past month or two, however, I've been working 3-5 days mornings, then 3-5 days evenings, then back again. It makes it very hard to keep any kind of routine going. Not to mention all the additional stress of painting, keeping the house immaculate for showings, being booted out of the house for showings at random hours, and trying to pack to prepare for moving. I try to work out, but who has the energy to squeeze an hour workout in daily (not to mention all my workout equipment-elliptical machine, resistance bands, etc are in storage). Also, since starting softball, I keep injuring myself (pulled muscles, bruises from missed catches, and hip pain)-guess I'm not as in shape as I used to be.

The one thing that has really not helped with all this back-and-forth scheduling is people interrupting my sleep. For the past 3-4 days, I keep either getting accidental late night calls from drunk people or people calling at 8am (sometimes both).

If you're trying to call someone at 12:30am, you better damn well make sure you have the right phone number, and if the person on the other end tells you that you have the wrong number, by all means DON'T KEEP CALLING THE SAME WRONG NUMBER FOR THE NEXT 2 HOURS. I really don't want to hear the phone ring at 2am (having been on call for medical emergencies periodically over the past few years-I am trained to automatically leap out of bed to answer the phone-it's an unfortunate habit). Also, what ever happened to businesses not calling before 9 or 10 am to a private number? No, I don't want to be solicited to sign up for a new mastercard or fill out a survey when I've only had 5hrs of sleep.

The worst part is, once I get up to answer the phone, the dogs automatically assume that it's time to get up, so they don't let me go right back to sleep. I have to let them out, feed them, stop Oscar from eating Macy's food, then try to relax enough to go back to sleep (then the phone rings again, and so it goes).

Must....Not....Kill....Dogs

2007-04-20T16:14:00.000-05:00

Words cannot even describe how mad I am at the dogs right now.

My brand new (less than one year old) car now has a nice tear in the driver's side leather seat. I suspect Oscar did it when I briefly stepped out of the car at Dave's house. Mind you, I spent 4 hours Wednesday completely cleaning the interior of my car, so it looked like new. I'm sure I'm the only one that will notice, but now I'll see it every time because it's on my own seat.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

New House

2007-04-18T11:29:00.000-05:00

Here's the link to photos of our new house. Although our current house has been shown several times, no takers so far.

Lost and found

2007-04-18T11:27:00.000-05:00

My parents recovered their dog 2 days later. Apparently it was quite an ordeal, but luckily I wasn't involved. Also, my mother-in-law finally found her kitten that had also escaped the house and run away (Snoopy was missing for several weeks). So all are home safe and sound.

Have you seen me?

2007-04-08T22:12:00.000-05:00

My parents' new dog ran away from their home today while they were visiting me for Easter. I can only hope he turns up safe.

Accepted

2007-04-03T17:23:00.000-05:00

Our bid was accepted. Now comes the stressful part of selling our house.

Anyone looking for a house (besides Stucker)?

Something new, something old

2007-04-02T18:31:00.001-05:00

We did it...the bid is in, now comes the waiting....

To update the progress on our current house, we still have to finish the ceilings in the living room, main bedroom, office, +/- the guest bedroom, touch up the trim, have someone clean the carpets, and clean the house. Oh, and box up/remove all unnecessary stuff. All by next weekend.

Happy First Day of Spring!

2007-03-21T22:42:00.000-05:00

Hope everyone got to get out an enjoy the nice weather today. I sure did (contrary to the instructions that I was given to "drop dead" by a non-client today).

Stress

2007-03-20T11:08:00.000-05:00

Chuck and I are trying to get our house ready to sell. It seems like a straightforward plan: get the painting done, clean the house, clear it out, put a for sale sign in the yard, then buy a new house. Who knew all this could be so stressful. Trying to find a decent realtor, worrying about actually selling the house and getting the price we want so we can buy our ideal new house, looking at new houses, deciding on whether or not to bid on the new house, worrying that it's going to cost too much and we won't be able to get enough money from our old house for the new house, and so on. As you can see, I've been thinking about this a lot lately. So much in fact (on top of worrying that I'm not going to be able to get all the painting/cleaning done in time) that it's starting to cut into my sleep.

To make matters worse, work is slightly stressful right now as well. I'm still trying to help write the paper, and haven't made nearly as much progress as I'd like. Also, with the pet food recall and normal increase in call volume this time of year, I hardly have time to think about my cases until either my dinner break or after work-despite having 2hrs where I am not answering the phone, I have still been averaging 29 calls a shift. Since I get off from work, come home and try to go right to bed (I generally have been working till 11pm), I end up dreaming about work. In fact, I can't recall a night this week that I didn't dream I was on the phones working up cases-not good for getting a peaceful night's sleep.

I just keep telling myself that all the stress will be over soon, and it'll be worth it.

Pet food recall

2007-03-17T16:12:00.000-05:00

In case you didn't know, there has been a large recall on wet cat/dog food. The complete list is here: Pet food recall

Getting things done

2007-03-17T16:07:00.000-05:00

Finally! Progress has been made.

The kitchen is finished (for the most part). I got all the painting done on the walls, now the only thing left is touching up the trim and repainting the door to the garage in the kitchen. Oh, and I guess thoroughly cleaning it. I couldn't believe how dirty it was behind the fridge and stove-ugh!

Also, Chuck has replaced all the screens in the house (THANK YOU). Now if we can keep the dogs from destroying them again...any suggestions besides keeping the windows closed?

So now all that's left is painting the bathroom, painting the ceilings, touching up trim, cleaning the garage and carpets. It doesn't seem like that much now.

Spring Cleaning

2007-03-11T22:34:00.000-05:00

No, I've not actually started the full spring cleaning yet (although with the nice weather it's very tempting to throw open the windows and begin). I'm really starting to get the itch for a new house, and it's affecting Chuck as well. We had initially hoped (plans from last summer) to have the house ready for the market this February (yeah, right). So that didn't happen. But lately I've been looking at the available houses in our area, and have found some that I kinda like.

So, in order to actually get our house ready to sell, here's the list of things that need to happen:
-paint the kitchen
-paint the bathroom
-paint the ceilings
-touch up the trim and baseboards (see a theme?)
-replace all the damaged screens (in other words, all but one screen)
-steam clean the carpets

Now, if only I had time to do all these, in between working, writing the paper for publication, exercising, watching basketball, and taking care of all the normal household chores.

Unsettled

2007-02-25T22:31:00.000-06:00

Ever have one of those evenings where you just feel unsettled? It's not fun when the feeling lasts all night.

Snow Dogs

2007-02-23T14:35:00.000-06:00

The dogs are having lots of fun now that the snow is melting. It's really amazing how different both of my dogs are from each other (of course, being different breeds it shouldn't be that surprising). Oscar, having very little hair, hates the winter weather. If the temperature's below 30, many times he'll refuse to go out entirely. He'll even stand with one leg lifted up out of the snow at all times when outside. Macy on the other hand, having some Arctic/Asian breeds in her, loves the snow and cold weather, and will stay out for hours at a time, regardless of the temperature.

During the snowstorm last week, a large snow drift (approximately 2.5-3 ft high) surrounded our backyard patio, and the dogs were trapped near the house. Since the snow has melted, though, the drift is now much smaller, and the dogs can (sort of) walk over it-they keep sinking into it too. I'm a little worried that they're going to jump into the neighbor's yard, though, since the drift is solid and high enough for them to step over.

************************************************

Last weekend we went skiing with friends-mostly people we tailgate with. The weekend was a lot of fun, if just a little cold. Luckily there was snow on the ground, but the slopes were a little icy. I haven't been snow skiing since 3rd year of vet school (and really have only ever been snow skiing 3 times in my life). I only got mildly injured while sledding, not skiing, this time (although it was worth it). It was nice to get out of Champaign for a while.

Busy

2007-02-07T00:55:00.000-06:00

Insomnia Cookies Apparently they have 24hr cookie delivery service for those late night cravings....best cookies I've had in a long time, and they were even warm! Thanks!

To all of those trying to reach my office on the phone between 7 and 10pm: We apologize for the long wait. We were doing our best, but when there are only 10-11 people on the phones and we get 100 calls an hour during this time, we are not going to be able to answer all the calls on the first ring. Thank you for waiting.

Tonight was insanely busy. Usually our call volume is high on Thursday-Sat evenings during this time. Between 8 and 9pm tonight though, we received almost 100 calls (a ridiculous number). Unfortunately we were only able to answer approximately 69 calls (when you account for 11 total people on the shift, 2 on dinner break, one consulting only, that means only 8 people could answer phones), that equals out to about 7min per call per person (easy calls generally take 5 min, hard calls generally take upwards of 10 min). Or you could say approximately 1.5 calls were answered a minute, again an insane number. To make matters worse, people were waiting on hold an average of 7-9 minutes to talk to us. Surprisingly, few people were truly angry at the wait (or if they were angry, they kept it to themselves).

Fortunately, the higher ups recognized our efforts and rewarded us with cookies. I also treated myself to a much needed drink after work (and almost got my car stuck in the snow, but that's a story for another day). Now off to bed.

A Hard Day's Work

2007-02-03T01:24:00.000-06:00

Thank God It's Friday! (or Saturday now)

This evening was by far one of the worst evening shifts I've had in a very long time. I had no less than 3 abusive callers, too many hang ups (where my phone rings, but the caller hangs up before I can answer the phone) to count, and a handful of difficult callers. This isn't counting the one or two stressful, difficult cases I had as well. To top it off, I was ignored by the rude people at Panera at dinner-a sure way to get my temper fuming.

I don't understand why certain individuals feel the need to be abusive to trained professionals trying to help them. It does the caller no good, it does the animal involved no good, and just frustrates the professional. The squeaky wheel may get the attention, but if it's loud enough or squeaks too often, it will just get replaced or thrown away, not fixed. If you're being irrational or abusive to me, I do not have to put up with it. It is not your right to take out your frustrations on me or call me names. And please don't swear at me and hang up immediately after-it takes away the satisfaction of disconnecting you before you're done (tongue-in-cheek).

Hang ups are not as bad as they seem. In fact, I would rather the phone is hung up before I get the call, because then I don't have to deal with the arguments, yelling, or hear any information about the animal that won't be treated properly by an owner that cannot place the animal's health above their indignation or self-interest.

Difficult cases are usually fun and stimulating. It's interesting to do some research and read the literature or go digging for information on a substance for which we don't have quick information. It becomes overwhelming at times though when you get several in a row and you can't seem to get caught up.

The icing on the cake this evening, though, was the people at Panera. I had only a short 1hr break to visit with Chuck, and we chose to eat dinner at Panera. Our main entrees went smoothely, but I decided to return to the counter to order a much needed chocolate dessert (and a refill on Chuck's drink) with 10 min left before I had to return to work. Plenty of time I thought, but no! The person ahead of me was the employee's relative, it seemed, and instead of quickly completing the order and moving to the next person-me, I waited in line for the full remaining 10 min, then left without even having an employee acknowledge me. (How long does it take to order a beverage, 4 bagels, several dessert items, and pay?) Mind you-there were only 2 people in line, the person ordering and me. 10 minutes! Good grief! After I said goodbye to Chuck and approached the door, that person was still at the counter talking and ordering, and there was still a line behind her! By the time I left Panera, I was so upset, mad, and disappointed by everything (work, food, having to return to work), that I ended up crying all the way back to work. At least the remainder of the shift was only slightly less traumatic than the first half.

Now I have a full weekend (2 days) off, a dinner with friends Saturday night, and the Bears in the Superbowl Sunday to recover from the hellish night.

Wish You Were Here

2007-01-31T14:58:00.000-06:00

Or maybe it should be "Wish I was still there". Yesterday I returned to work after having almost 2 weeks off for vacation, and the transition went surprisingly smoothly. The only bad part was having to defrost my car at 11:30 pm when it was only 10 degrees out (ugh). It was so nice to get away for a week. The average temperature was close to 85-90 degrees and weather beautiful for the entire week. I have more thoughts on the trip, but I'll likely post those later as I'm still trying to get caught up on the mountain of laundry (although the truth is, I don't know why I'm working so hard on the laundry-we can't wear any of the clothes for another 4-5 months).

The photo above was taken at Labadee, Haiti. I tried to find photos that both Chuck and I are in, but strangely I only have a few from my camera, and those aren't even great photos.

Vacation!

2007-01-18T16:18:00.000-06:00

Hmmmm....guess I really haven't posted much in a while. Guess my life and work have been pretty routine for the past month-I've been working evenings and weekends a lot. I never did post about jury duty (don't worry Maria, I still plan to eventually), and I have some thoughts on work I'd like to post about, but that's a subject for another day.

Today officially marks the first day of vacation. I haven't been on a real trip (ie flying to another state or foreign travel) for almost 2 years. Saturday we leave for Florida, and Sunday we hop on the cruise ship for a 7 day Caribbean cruise. I can't wait-a little fun and relaxation in the sun and warmer weather. I'll write about it when I get back.

Chocolate and Presents

2006-12-21T20:12:00.000-06:00

For anyone still trying to figure out what to get others for Christmas, one sentence of advice: DO NOT GIVE CHOCOLATE TO PEOPLE THAT OWN PETS. Chocolate, including Lindt Lindor truffles, Hershey's kisses, Whitman's assorted chocolates, and See's candies, are attractive to both dogs and humans, and while they may be a little fattening for us, they can cause serious problems in any size dog. Dogs have much more sensitive noses than we do, and can smell the chocolate in the nicely wrapped package sitting under the Christmas tree. Trust me, I know. For the past week, at least half (likely more than half) of the calls in to work have been about chocolate. I could probably recite the information in my sleep (luckily I haven't had dreams about it yet, but there's still 3 more days until Christmas).

As for me, I have finally completed my Christmas shopping today (does it count if the other person bought 2 of their own presents?). And no, I didn't get chocolate or candy for anyone.

Let the baking begin

2006-12-03T20:12:00.000-06:00

Over the next 2.5 days, I am doing my holiday cookie baking. The grand list includes sugar cookies, white chocolate pretzels, chocolate macadamia bark, peanut butter spritz, chocolate truffles, pecan tassies, date pinwheel cookies, sandies, and chocolate chip meringues. Don't worry, they're not all for me. I'm actually hoping that if I'm around enough of the sweets I make tomorrow and Tuesday, I won't want to eat any for the rest of the holiday season (we'll see how that goes).

Hmm...maybe I should work out first both mornings, then start baking.

Current score: Cats 1, Cris 0

2006-11-29T16:29:00.000-06:00

Round 1: Crissy sprayed small amount of pet deterrent on Christmas tree. Phoenix climbed into said tree and flattened/bent downward two level 1 branches, and one level 2 branch. Phoenix also seen chewing on branch tips.

Outcome: Crissy doused tree in pet deterrent spray, regardless of her own health (some wheezing and coughing shouldn't hurt, right?). Round 2 to come after ornaments and garland are hung.

Holiday Spirit

2006-11-28T22:31:00.000-06:00

It's officially the holiday season now. We received our first Christmas card in the mail today. Many of our neighbors have their outdoor holiday decorations up. And the busiest shopping day of the year has passed (I only went to one store during that day).

For some reason, though, I just can't seem to get in the holiday mood. I think it's taken me longer this year than any other to put up the holiday decorations. So far I've been working on it for 4 days, and am still not done yet (trust me, we don't have that many things to put up-it's just procrastination). I also haven't even started writing my Christmas cards yet.

I've been on jury duty this week, and have had an irregular schedule. For the past 4 days I've been working evenings (and it's been very busy at work). In fact, Sunday night I worked till 10:30pm, then Monday morning I had to go in for jury duty at 9am. Then I had to work my normal job in the evening from 3-11pm (although I ended up staying until midnight since we were so busy). Luckily today I had the day off, but didn't get much done as I slept more than half the day. Tomorrow I go in at 1pm for more jury duty (even though it's my only other day off from my normal job this week). I don't find out what my schedule is Thursday until tomorrow evening (ie, if I have to go for jury duty or work my normal job shift from 7am-3pm).

I don't think I do well with erratic scheduling. I haven't been able to eat well, don't feel like exercising, have had bad headaches all week, and haven't been sleeping well. I guess you do what you have to, though, to get things done.

Maybe tomorrow while I'm sitting in the jury room, I'll start writing Christmas cards.

Sleep

2006-11-20T17:58:00.000-06:00

Grr...for some reason lately, I seem to need more sleep than usual. Most people I know generally need 8-9hrs of sleep a night, and they ususally get it (luckily for me, since I don't like dealing with grumpy people). I usually only need about 6.5-7hrs of sleep, which is more than adequate. I don't need naps, and am not tired with that amount of sleep. However, in the last 4 days, every time I have a spare minute, I seem to be falling asleep. It's rather annoying, especially wasting half your afternoon or evening taking a 2 hr nap. I don't think I'm getting sick, so why should my body tell me I need all this extra sleep?

Hmm...most likely it has something to do with bouncing back and forth between working morning and evening shifts (Thursday and Friday I worked evenings. This week I work mornings for 3 days, then evening for the weekend. Next week I swing back to mornings again). I have a feeling it's going to be a long, sleepy next few weeks.

Big Plans

2006-11-17T12:38:00.000-06:00

For the first time in over 3.5 months, I have an entire weekend free (ie I don't have to work one day during the weekend, and there are no football games, plans to travel, or friends visiting, excluding Dagny's owners). This means I get to try to accomplish things. Let's see how many things on my list I can accomplish:

- Update my computer address book
- Transfer files from my old computer
- Organize the garage
- Organize the house closets
- Find things that have been missing (ie CO2 cannisters, etc)
x Bathe the rest of the dogs
x Hang outside Christmas lights (weather permitting)
- Print photos from the computer
x Make Christmas gift list (for myself and others)
x Go see a movie (haven't been to the movies in a very long time)

Hmmm, guess I'm going to have a busy weekend!

Upgrades

2006-11-14T13:05:00.000-06:00

I love my new computer, but it definately has it's down side. I haven't gotten all my programs uploaded or preferences set. In fact, today I tried to print, and realized one of the printers still needed drivers loaded. Grrr....

Also, blogger is trying to get me to upgrade to the newer version as well. I probably will shortly, but why do all these things need doing when I don't have time?

Christmas in November

2006-11-10T18:40:00.000-06:00

After such a ho-hum, depressing, boring, bad week, it's finally Friday. And what a good day it is!

Between being sad about my vet school friends returning to their respective cities, the dog eating 1.5lb of chocolate and needing treatment, sleep deprevation, waking up late for work, and Chuck being gone, it's been a really long week.

Now things are going so much better. The December schedule came out, and I have Christmas Day off! (I wasn't really expecting that). And even better, I got my biggest Christmas present early. Chuck returned from Chicago and apparently decided today would be as good a time as any to give the present to me. I finally got my new computer (as I type-online, no less-I'm sitting at the kitchen table not attached to wires). It's bigger, faster, and all around better than my old one, and even has a built in camera.

Can you tell I'm excited?

Photos are up

2006-11-06T08:25:00.000-06:00

Chuck has finally updated the photo album on his website, so photos from the year's tailgates, weddings, and social events are up.

Photo Album

Rat Poison

2006-11-01T17:26:00.000-06:00

I never realized how certain toxic substances could be so cyclical. For example, around Valentine's day and Halloween we get a lot of calls about candy and chocolate (big surprise). August (aka start of the school year) we get tons of calls about ADHD drugs. At the beginning of summer, it seemed that stimulants and weight loss drugs were slighly more common. And over the last 2 weeks, at least half of my calls at work are about rat poison. In fact, yesterday I only had 3 calls that were not about rat poison.

ATTENTION PEOPLE: please keep the rat poison outside, and keep your pets away from it. I am not a mind reader, and can't tell the type of rat poison based on it's appearance. Why do you keep trying to describe it to me? Also, when your pet gets into it, don't panic. The pet is not going to die immediately from it. Give me a chance to help you before wailing about how you've killed your pet.

Grrr....

Overdue

2006-11-01T17:20:00.000-06:00

It's been a while since I last posted. Sadly, not much has changed. The dogs are all feeling fine again, and getting along great-I think they'll be very depressed when Dagny returns to her original family in a few weeks.

I missed out on the fitness bonus at work. It's hard working out for at least an hour a day, every day. I was doing good at the end of the month, but by the time I got motivated, it was too late to make up the time I missed. Plus, I decided the $25 bonus wasn't worth killing myself over. But I have every intention of keeping up with the working out so I'm in shape for the January cruise. All of my talk about working out has motivated Chuck as well (about time!).

For Halloween, I dressed up in a Greek Goddess costume for work. My friends were game for going out in the evening, so one of them dressed in an Army uniform and another as Darth Vader. The rest went as themselves. Apparently if you're wearing a Darth Vader costume, lots of random people will talk to you. There was talk about next year everyone dressing up as Smurfs, and me as Smurfette-that would be a sight, but probably won't happen.

This weekend can't come fast enough. One of my old vet school friends is getting married outside of Champaign, so a few other of my friends are coming back to town for the wedding. I haven't seen these girls in almost 2.5 years-in fact, the last time I saw them was at my own wedding-and I can't wait to catch up with them. Tomorrow is a mini girls' night out to celebrate (haven't had one of those in a very long time as most of my friends now are guys). Unfortunately, the football game Saturday is in the afternoon, so we're missing out to go to the wedding (originally we thought the game was in the morning, and would have been able to go).

I'm really looking forward to the next few months-so much is going on. November brings Guitar Hero 2, a concert, and Thanksgiving in Michigan with my extended family. December brings holiday parties and Christmas. January is the Caribbean cruise with my family, Chuck's family, and about 50 of their friends. February is the ski trip and the car races. As I said, lots to look forward to.

Happy Halloween

2006-10-30T23:45:00.000-06:00

Stressed

2006-10-09T13:03:00.000-05:00

It seems that things are not exactly going according to my plan. I had to work all weekend for homecoming, which wouldn't have been bad except I was severely lacking in sleep. The game was a disappointment, losing in the last second, but tailgating was fun as always.

Saturday I got a jury summons, so it looks like I'll be on jury duty Nov 27-Dec 1. The November schedule came out at work, and I didn't get all the days I need off assigned to me. Now I'm scrambling and begging people to switch with me. Also, two of my "weekend" days (ie days off for the month) are during my Jury duty time, so in essence I lose a weekend next month. I'm also working the evening shift on the other days, so it looks like I'll be doing whatever it is I need to for jury duty, and working all evening on top of it.

Sunday one of the dogs injured herself, and now is limping around on 3 legs, when she's walking at all. I'm hoping pain reliever and restricted exercise will solve the problem, but if not, it looks like another trip to a friend's clinic tomorrow.

Working out is going ok, except I'm already 3.5 hrs behind for the month (to get the bonus, we have to work out an hour every day for the month of October). I'm sore all the time, tired all the time, stressed about the schedule, and stressed about the dog. Not fun!

Back on the Bandwagon

2006-09-21T10:13:00.000-05:00

Even though January looks a long ways a way, I'm already starting to prepare for it (especially since I know it's going to take a while to get ready). We're going on a cruise in the Carribean, and I really want to look halfway decent in summer clothes in the middle of winter. I was doing well for a while at the beginning of summer, working out every day and actually losing weight. Then came summer and the schedule filled up. I stopped working out and ended up gaining all the weight I lost back.

So in an effort to lose weight (and in the process get ready for the crusie), both Chuck and I are trying to work out on a regular basis. So far this has not been going smoothly-my schedule flip-flopping from morning to evening to morning makes it hard to establish a routine, and when I do work out, I'm always sore now (I hate being out of shape).

Luckily, next month my workplace is helping out-they normally only have one fitness month a year in April, where they provide fresh fruits and veggies, eliminate all the office candy, and give whoever works out a bonus (ie a certain amount of money for swimming 50miles, running 100miles, or biking 200miles over the month). This year they decided to have 2 fitness months, and the next one is in October.

I also signed up for a water aerobics class through the park district-partly to work out, and partly to meet new people in town. I really liked the water aerobics classes while I was in vet school through the University, but I always did it with a few close friends. Last night was my first class, and I was nervous because I was doing it alone (didn't know anyone who had signed up for it), and because it was in a place I had never been before-the pool at Centennial High School. I had a lot of fun. One of my vet school professors is in the class (although I didn't recognize her at first), and there are several women around my age in it. A few of them work for Carle Hospital. It was a pretty good workout, and the instructor is allowing us to use the pool for laps for approximately 15 min before and after the class as well.

I'm only moderately sore today. It's tough getting back on the bandwagon.

Dagny Update

2006-09-17T13:48:00.000-05:00

This post is more for Amy, Ben and Bryn than anyone.

Now that things have settled down around the house, Dagny is doing pretty well. Although we still have the guinea pig, Dagny had relinquished complete control of the office where the pig is living and now allows the other dogs to visit the pig as well.

She also successfully made another trip to stay with my parents, and did much better this time. Last time she stayed there, she had issues with my mother. This time, the adjustment went well. She only escaped from my parent's control once, and this time it wasn't entirely her fault. Last time she darted out of the house 2 or 3 times. This time my parents were prepared and had a second tie out rope that reached inside the house, so she could be attached prior to being let outside. The only incident occurred when Dagny's collar broke (the plastic attachment cracked in half), and Dagny didn't end up running too far before returning to my parent's house on her own. That reminds me...I need to go get her a new collar.

Just as we're getting rid of one temporary foster pet, we're going to gain another. The guinea pig (which belongs to Chuck's sister), will be going home finally tomorrow. My parents are leaving for vacation in a few weeks, however, and will be giving us their dog for a week. That'll make it 4 dogs and 2 cats in the house. Should be fun!

Dagny checking out the guinea pig, Calvin, on my desk

Dagny preparing to test the waters with Dave at the lake house

Dagny making a leap for the stick Chuck is throwing

Dagny fetching a stick from the water

Hardly Working

2006-09-17T13:11:00.000-05:00

Well, not quite hardly working, but I was happy to have two days off in a row. It's been a long few weeks, and now time for an update (WARNING: Long post ahead)

First of all, football has finally started. Once again, the Illini are disappointing, and I take a lot of heat at work for having season tickets, but tailgating is fun, especially since our group is small this year. Don't get me wrong, I liked the larger tailgates, but I didn't really know most of the people in the group as well as I do the group this year.

The last weekend I had off was the first home footbally game. Since we didn't have the dogs that weekend, we were able to have a good time and spend Friday night before the game at Dave's house along with everyone else. The game was a night game, and the weather was beautiful, and as a bonus, we won.

That Sunday we went to a wedding for my friend (and former co-worker/vet school classmate), Chris. We had a good time, and I got to see many of my former co-workers from Prairie Oak along with another vet school classmate and her husband. Unfortunately we spent much of the time outside at that wedding (the reception place had a very nice terrace) and I didn't wear bug repellent-not a smart move. My legs and feet got eaten by mosquitos.

Labor Day Monday was the one summer holiday I had off this year (worked Easter, Memorial Day, and July 4th). Since we were already in the Chicago suburbs, we went to a barbeque at Chuck's cousin's house in Vernon Hills. It was nice to spend time with them. We got to see a lot of their friends (we knew many of them from time at the lake house, and some of them are going on the big cruise in January), and met their neighbors as well.

Tuesday started my nine day stretch of working. I got a call from my former boss at Prairie Oak asking if I wanted to pick up some hours in the clinic while Chris was on her honeymoon, so I decided to go for it. Unfortunately that extended my nine-day working stretch to ten days. I will have to remember not to do that to myself again if I can help it. Although most of the calls I got during that time frame were good, it is very tiring to get up that early for that many days in a row, especially since I'm not a morning person.

Thursday I worked the day at my former vet hospital, Prairie Oak. It was great to be back in the clinic, and I was fully booked for the entire day. I was also excited to see that my schedule was made up of almost entirely my former clients (ie people that used to request me as their primary vet when I worked full time there). Most of my cases were fairly routine, and I only had one critical case (a dumped kitten that I elected to try treatment instead of euthanize).

I came to the realization as I was driving home that evening that although I miss the hands-on part of clinical practice, I like my (relatively) new job better. I get to think more about my cases and learn new things all the time with my new job. I think I also have a better understanding/appreciation for internal medicine and treatment of more difficult cases with my current job than when I was in private practice.

Finally, to Friday and this weekend. It was yet again another football weekend, and early game this time. The football group came down again Friday night, but Chuck and I didn't stay the night at Dave's house this time. We were tired, and Chuck was on call. The weather once again was beautiful. Not much to report as not much exciting happened, and our team lost once again.

Next weekend should be fun as Chuck's cousins, parents, and one of his fraternity brothers are coming for the weekend and to go to the game. Now I just have to work on getting the neglected house cleaned, organized, and ready for company. Wish me luck!

Working Hard

2006-09-11T21:25:00.000-05:00

There's been a lack of long posts from me lately, mainly because I've been so tired. Remind me the next time I decide to rearrange my work schedule that it's not good to work 9 days straight at one job, then volunteer (paid of course) to work a 10th day at a different job.

Only 3 more days till I get a day off.....

Too Early

2006-09-06T06:25:00.000-05:00

Yes, the time listed is the actual time. I have already been at work for 20 minutes, and get to be here at the same time for the next 3 days. I just want to go back to bed now......

Windshield Woes

2006-08-28T19:10:00.000-05:00

My new car has now been out of commission for one full week. Last Tuesday we took it in to get an upgraded rear view mirror put on the front windshield. In removing the old (perfectly usable) mirror, the installers cracked my windshield. They then placed the order for a new windshield, which finally arrived today (6 days later). When they opened the box, my replacement windshield was shattered. So we are currently waiting for a replacement for the first replacement windshield. Luckily we had the foresight to take up the offer for a free rental car.

Today's lesson: Don't replace perfectly good parts on a car.

Calvin update

2006-08-23T22:46:00.000-05:00

Things have calmed down a little in the household. Dagny has improved in her behavior from yesterday and is no longer restricting access to the office (and guinea pig). I did have to put a baby gate up to prevent her from entering the room and jumping up on my desk. I'll keep you posted...

Crazy Canadians

2006-08-23T22:02:00.000-05:00

Canadian Pharmacists granted prescribing rights

In what is seen as a very controversial move by the medical (and veterinary) community, Alberta, Canada has granted extended authority to pharmacists concerning the ability to prescribe medication. Basically what it means is that pharmacists there will have the ability to:
-authorize prescription renewals (as long as current lab work is available)
-dispense medications in an emergency situation
-give a short supply of medication to a patient with a known/long term condition until the patient can see a doctor
-adjust the dosage in cases where the pharmacist deems the dosage as inappropriate or not the option for the patient
-give therapeutic alternatives (generic medication, change the formulation)
-dispense stop smoking products
-dispense medication for common conditions such as sore throats or heartburn

I can see many problems with this new policy concerning its effects on the human medical field, but it also has implications for veterinarians as well, most notably the option to adjust dosages without doctor consent. Many of my colleagues have already run into problems with this, even in the United States.

There are certain human medications commonly used in pets, and the doses will vary according to species sensitivity. I always thought it would be common sense that different species of animals can react differently to medications, but apparently those in the medical field focused on humans don't always realize this. In fact, that is one of the reasons that animal poison control centers exist-animals don't always react the way humans do to many medications, and the centers have better knowledge concerning these differences than general practitioners, pharmacists, or human poison control centers.

Another implication these changes (freedoms) in pharmacists' responsibilities has on the medical field is that it may cause a delay in humans seeking advice of a physician for conditions that may need further diagnostics. This can complicate treatment for serious conditions and jeopardize the human's health.

The prescribing of medications, in the United States at least, is usually only allowable by physicans, nurse practioners, veterinarians, and other medical professionals with extensive medical training (dentists, chiropractors, etc). These people have the ability to DIAGNOSE conditions (something pharmacists are not allowed to do) and determine the most appropriate treatment. I don't think it's a good idea that pharmacists are allowed to bystep this process (even in temporary situations).

All in all, I don't think these changes are in the best interest for human or animal health.

Making more waves

2006-08-22T17:40:00.000-05:00

Ok...so maybe I underestimated the impact that one little guinea pig would have in the house. It's not exactly been smooth sailing since I last posted. Dagny has claimed Calvin as her own (I guess in case he escapes, maybe he'll make a tasty treat...hmmm...better not go down that road).

She has been guarding the office where Calvin is now housed, and will not let the other dogs near that area. She even tried to attack Macy when they were both standing by the door to the office. I heard this awful growling/snarling noise while I was brushing my teeth, came running out of the bathroom, and attempted to help Chuck separate the dogs while holding my toothbrush in one had (toothpaste sure does make a mess on the carpet). Luckily no harm done to anyone (human or pet) involved.

I decided the best course of action was to start crating Dagny once again-all the dogs have been doing so well together that I haven't crated Dagny for quite some time, and now I'm taking Macy to work with me every day. This worked out well today, but when I let Dagny back out, she figured out how to jump onto my desk to reach the top shelf in order to have contact with the pig.

So now I'm busy coming up with plan "C". I'm hoping it's just a matter of time, and am going to wait it out. Any other suggestions?

The guinea pig leaves in T-minus 25 days and counting....

Calvin

2006-08-21T20:00:00.000-05:00

We added yet another pet to our happy household (grand total of pets right now is 6). I don't believe Dagny has ever seen a guinea pig before, and thinks it's some kind of rabbit we got for her amusement. She spent the first hour or so just barking at the Calvin. I finally had to move him so he's no longer eye level. Now that he's perched on the highest shelf of my desk, I think things will work out just fine.

Fall is in the air

2006-08-20T20:35:00.000-05:00

With the end of August fast approaching, I can't believe how much it is starting to feel like fall is approaching. With the start of fall comes football, students returning to campus, and cooler weather. Chuck's been excited for the past week and a half because pre-season football is finally on TV. Our football season tickets for the Illini arrived last Thursday. This weekend was official move-in for all the college students at U of I (luckily we escaped for the weekend). And tonight for the first time in quite a while, I was chilled while sitting outside watching a softball game.

The weekends for fall have already filled up fast. The first Illini football game is in a little less than 2 weeks. Since I only get 2 weekends off a month, all my off weekends are home football games, and for the rest I have to work. My next unplanned free weekend is likely going to be the middle of November. We already have big plans for a few of the games-Chuck's cousins will be joining us for the Iowa game, and my family will attend the Purdue game as well.

With all the students returning to campus this weekend, we could think of no better way to spend it than to get out of town ourselves. In fact, almost everyone we know fled CU this weekend. Chuck, Andrew, Jason and I went out to the lake house, which was nice and relaxing. The weather could have been a little nicer. Yesterday in the afternoon it drizzled a little, but was still mostly warm (although not quite as warm as it has been).

Another end of summer tradition: retiring the tube. Out at the lake house, we usually go through 1-2 tubes a summer (ie, the plastic breaks down, and the air starts to leak out, making the tube unusable). This weekend, we had to finally retire the newest of the tubes. I got to ski a little, but when I went to hop onto the tube, noticed it was a little flat after Chuck, Jason, and Chuck's cousin Todd were on it. Sure enough, we could hear the hiss of air leaking out as I was sitting on it, getting closer and closer to the water. We pulled out the old standby, the sea biscuit (a little 1 person tube that has no padding on the bottom and flips at the first hint of a wave), but the only two people brave enough to try it (Chuck and Todd) called it quits after only a few minutes on that tube.

While at the lake house, it was cool enough to keep the dogs outside all day. We brought all three dogs out, and Oscar rode the boat for most of the afternoon yesterday. Macy got a short ride-she doesn't like the water nearly as much. After we tired of boating, we let the dogs out by the water, and discovered Dagny loves the water. She was even brave enough to jump off the dock willingly to swim after a stick. Unfortunately for her, her long coat took a very long time to dry (we couldn't squeegie her off like Oscar), and we couldn't let her swim today.

We only have one more weekend this year that we'll be out at the lake house. Next weekend, Chuck, Dave, Eric and I are going out for one final time. Hopefully the weather turns just a little warmer (although tonight's perfect camp fire and s'mores weather). Today was sunny, but the water was starting to cool off and it was a little chilly floating in the water on rafts.

I just can't believe how fast the summer went.

When it rains, it pours

2006-08-14T15:17:00.000-05:00

Had a bad day. Start off sleep deprived (of course that's my own fault for starting a new book last night). After lunch I get mean callers, irate callers, and ignorant callers. Only spoke with 2 nice people all afternoon.

I get to look forward to getting up early tomorrow on my day off.

And to top it all off, when I got home from work, I ripped my new skirt while walking in the door, then the dog ripped it on the opposite side.

I give up today and am going back to bed.

Lost in translation

2006-07-31T10:39:00.000-05:00

I realized there's been a dearth of posts on my blog lately. The thing is, I have lots of thoughts going on in my head about good posts and topics I want to comment on, but when I actually go to write, the thoughts just don't translate well to written words.

Of course, it probably doesn't help that my house is in shambles right now, either. I'm currently in the middle of my latest paint project-painting the home office. My computer no longer has a working wireless port, so I have to have it plugged into the wall to hop online and write. This means sharing the laptop with Chuck while the office is out of order.

About that paint job....I picked out the technique I wanted to use, and picked out what I thought were nice colors. Somehow, halfway through the painting, I'm not so sure I like what I've picked out. The walls that are mostly finished look good, but it doesn't go well with the rest of the house. I may end up changing it in the end, but I'll post photos before I do.

Now...things I want to post about, but can't seem to translate:
Thoughts on our foster dog
My latest shift at the Animal Emergency Clinic
Comments on emergencies in general
Crazy callers (aka whackitrons)
The overabundence of spiders around our house (and the creepy spider website)
Moving time-the apartments by our house are full of moving trucks and families moving their kids back to college

That about sums it up for now.

Rocking the boat

2006-07-13T12:04:00.000-05:00

We added a new pet to our household. She's a temporary addition, and we'll likely be keeping her through October or so while our friends are building their new house. More to come on this later.

In the line of fire

2006-07-09T21:55:00.000-05:00

*WARNING-Long post ahead*

Working on the phones instead of actually handling cases in a normal clinical situation, I am always amazed at how often I have to think of the concept CYA (aka cover your a**). Since I don't actually get to see the patients, if anything goes wrong based on the advice I give, it would seem logical that I would be in the line of fire if an owner wants to file suit. On the phone, we don't have the same connection or interaction with the owner, and it can be difficult to gauge whether the person on the other end actually understands what you are trying to tell them.

First example:
Owner is hysterical (ie crying on the phone and screaming "Oh my God, I've killed my pet") because she gave her dog 1 tablet of her thyroid medication.
Me: Ma'am, this is not going to be life threatening to your dog. Calm down, I can help you.
Owner: Oh God, I know she's going to die
Me: I can talk you through this. Please calm down. Your dog will be fine.
Owner: I just know something bad is going to happen...I'm on the way to the vet right now.
Me: Ma'am, this is something we can handle at home. Your pet is not going to have significant problems from this. It isn't necessary to run your animal to the vet just yet.
Owner: I just arrived at the vet. Please tell them what to do so my dog doesn't die. (FYI-I spoke with the vet once the owner calmed down and was making more sense. No, this particular ingestion was not a problem for this pet, and no treatment was necessary)

Now obviously this owner was not listening to a word I said. She was panicked, and just needed someone to listen to her panic. I don't think it was a comfort thing for her either. She was convinced her pet was going to die from this, and just my word alone was not going to be enough to persuade her otherwise. Would it have been in my and the pet's best interest to give the owner advice on how to treat this and manage the signs at home? Probably not. In fact, with how little the owner was listening, I'm actually glad the pet went into the clinic for reassurance, because knowing my luck, this particular pet would have had a reaction.

Second Example:
Young owner (teenager) called because a family member applied an OTC flea medication intended for dogs to her cat. This is very serious, and the cat had already been symptomatic with seizures and tremors for several hours. I explain that the cat needs to be seen by a veterinarian immediately as this is life-threatening and cats can die from this. The owner said that she understood, and would take her cat to the vet first thing tomorrow morning (20hrs later). This is not what I meant by taking the cat to the vet immediately.
The best I can do is document my recommendations and say a short prayer for the animal to survive until treatment is performed.

Last Example of CYA:
An owner's dog gets into a certain type of rat poison that is a neurotoxin (FYI, many veterinarians out there think all rat poisons cause bleeding problems and are unaware there are multiple types of rat poison). Based on our research and experience, the only treatment needed for the dose the dog received was 1) Make the dog vomit OR 2) Give activated charcoal (a "medication" that binds to the toxin).

Now, activated charcoal is not benign. It has it's own potential complications, which can be life threatening, and in most situations, if I can avoid giving it, I will as I do not want the treatment to be worse than the disease. (FYI, many vets do not realize there can be life-threatening problems with charcoal. I didn't when I worked in private practice) In this case, the emergency vet had already made the dog vomit (appropriate) and wanted to also give charcoal (inappropriate in this situation). I explained my concerns, and the vet did not believe the information I gave her. She insisted on recording in the record that "Per Dr. [me], the dog is not to get activated charcoal. Per Dr. [me], the dog can go home without any additional treatment" said in a disbelieving condescending voice "I guess I'll just send the dog home without further treatment."

OK, fine with me-I don't want to be liable if the dog is given charcoal against my judgement and develops life threatening problems from an unnecessary prodcedure. And in fact I had to document this in the medical record as well (obviously with some judicious wording).

Although malpractice lawsuits are not as common in veterinary medicine compared to our human counterparts, they are starting to become more frequent. And there are becoming more changes to the way we as veterinarians maintain our medical records, word our advice, and conduct cases to prevent liability. In fact, some of the calls we get at the poison center are from vets who know how to treat the toxicity, but want to document they consulted with a speciality service so if complications develop, they are less likely to be involved in a lawsuit.

I came across this fitting comment in a medical blog I read.
From Dr. Flea's Blog (a pediatrician)
"I will add only that I am once again drawn to the comparison between [doctors] and baseball umpires.

Of the latter it is said that they are expected to be perfect from their first day of work, and to improve thereafter. This, I'm afraid is the standard to which the American doctor is held.

The difference between doctors and umpires is that when the latter makes an error he does not get his ass sued off."

Photos from the past few weekends

2006-07-05T21:18:00.000-05:00

Chuck finally uploaded our photos from the past two weekends to his website. Here are the links:
Lake House Weekend

Alpine Valley/DMB

July 4th

More to come later about these events...

The joys of pet ownership

2006-06-22T11:22:00.000-05:00

Lately it seems I've been having trouble with my pets (actually one in particular-Oscar). Now, boxers are known for creating trouble, and Oscar's no exception. But recently it has been getting out of hand. The most recent incident was June 1 (the day I was stressed about my eye problem, which thankfully is resolved and I'm back to wearing contacts like usual).

While I was out picking up my glasses June 1, I accidentally left Oscar out of his crate. He does very well when kept confined to his crate if we're not home, but if he's left out, he turns into a monster, eating everything, spilling garbage, and creating as big a mess as possible just to tell us that he didn't approve of our absence. On this day, the garbage happened to contain a large amount of food stuff (crab shells, meat packages, leftovers, etc). Also on this day, there was a full package of beef jerky on the counter. When I returned, all food related items were missing and the garbage can tipped over.

In order to prevent problems, I made both dogs vomit, and got back most of the stuff they had ingested. I thought I was out of the woods, but it was not to be. 2 days later, Oscar started having problems keeping his meals down (classic sign for an intestinal obstruction). This lasted for 3 days until I decided to take my dog to my friend's clinic for x-rays and a contrast study. We performed the radiographs and all 3 of us veterinarians decided that there appeared to be an obstruction. We scheduled abdominal surgery for the following day.

So Oscar had abdominal surgery 5 days after getting in to the garbage. And we found absolutely NOTHING (this has happened before, there are a number of theories as to why we couldn't find the obstruction, but it was frustrating none-the-less). I was horrified that I put my dog through such a traumatic experience as an exploratory surgery only to find nothing was wrong (although in reviewing the case there is nothing I would have changed about diagnostics and deciding to go to surgery).

Post-op, Oscar was placed on a Fentanyl patch for pain control. Once he was back to his normal bouncy self, I removed the patch, and he developed a skin infection in the area where the patch was located (on the top of his head). So I spent 1 week trying to keep him quiet (an oxymoron in a boxer) to prevent him from ripping his stitches/staples out and also treating the infection on his head.

I thought he was back to normal, but for the last 5 days, he has now decided to have accidents in the house at least once a day. So now on the way to the lake house, I have to stop by my old clinic and do more work-up to make sure he hasn't developed another medical problem.

GRRRR!!!! Pets, can't live with them sometimes, can't live without them.

Happy 2nd Anniversary

2006-06-05T01:40:00.000-05:00

Apparently, the gift for the second anniversary is supposed to be cotton.

The saga continues....

2006-06-01T17:35:00.000-05:00

Grr....I have spent all day trying to take care of my stupid eye problem. Good thing I wasn't scheduled to work today. Here's how the day went:
8am: Doctor's appointment. Verdict: Nothing serious is wrong but I have to use steroid eye drops and not wear my contacts for a week. I have a follow up appointment next week.

8:30am: Call my optometrist office. They don't open until 9. Go to Panera and buy a drink. They give me the wrong drink first, then to compensate give me both drinks (woot!).

9:15am: Go to optometrist office. Spend 30-45 minutes deciding on glasses. Go to pay for said glasses and am told they won't be ready for a week. Leave optometrist office without glasses.

10:30am: Sit at computer for 20 minutes researching places I can go that will have the glasses ready today and accept my insurance. I was unable to find a place that fulfilled both requirements. End up deciding on Lenscrafters due to internet coupons.

11am: Go to Lenscrafters. Spend 30-45 minutes deciding on glasses. Go to pay for said glasses, and am told they need my prescription from the first place faxed over. I was told it would take at least 1 hour for the prescription to be faxed over as it was the lunch hour.

12:15pm: Have a pedicure done while waiting for prescription to be faxed over.

1:30pm: Go to lenscrafters. Spend 30 minutes waiting for someone to take my payment for my glasses. Buy the glasses. Told to come back in 1 hour to pick the glasses up.

3:30pm: Pick up glasses.

So, all in all, it took me 7.5 hrs to have my eyes examined and buy glasses. What a waste of a day off.

Can you see this?

2006-05-31T18:52:00.000-05:00

One month ago, Chuck and I went out to Oak Run to play on the lake. On returning home from that weekend, I made a discovery-I had left my only pair of glasses at the lake house. I despise my glasses, and do whatever I can to not wear them, but if they're not available to wear, the laws of nature dictate that I will definately need them.

Such is now the case. Yep...you guessed it. I am unable to wear my contacts at the moment. My eye has been so painful that I've not been able to wear my contacts for any length of time and have been taking pain medication for it (I'm seeing a "real" doctor tomorrow for it, although at work I had several vets offer to try to diagnose me). So I've not been using anything to assist my vision, and let me tell you, it's no fun staring at a computer screen all day leaning in so I'm 1 foot away from the screen. I also can't drive anywhere without putting my contacts in for short periods of time (and suffering in the process).

Maybe tomorrow I should just go buy a new pair of glasses as well.

Gone, but not forgotten

2006-05-24T20:31:00.000-05:00

I was told earlier this week that Abbey came home for the last time. We all miss you.

New Car, part 2

2006-05-24T19:23:00.000-05:00

For anyone interested, here are photos of my new car.

Mail

2006-05-10T15:00:00.000-05:00

Ok. So I started this really long post yesterday when I was feeling kinda low, and now I no longer feel like posting the entire thing. So, I'll summarize in brief:

Last weekend my great-grandmother passed away. We went to the funeral Tuesday. I feel slightly guilty because the last time we went to Michigan, we ended up not having a chance to stop by and see her. Now it's too late.

Also last weekend my parents' dog once again was sick. She started having seizures, which is never a good thing in an older dog. The vet in charge of her has done almost every diagnostic test available in general private practice, and we're still no closer to determining the cause of her illness. It's very frustrating for us all, and distressing to my parents. I feel very helpless (not a feeling I'm used to).

My brand new car now has 2 chips in the paint. It's only 1.5 weeks old. One of the chips is a defect in the paint of the car from the manufacturer, but the other is either a door ding or a rock chip. So now my new car doesn't look quite so new.

After all the depressing news, I've rebounded slightly. Today I got loads of letters (well, not loads, but 3, which is more than I'm used to), and all of them from friends I haven't seen in a very long time. Nothing brightens your day like a little mail from friends you haven't seen in 2-5 years. And it was mostly good news. You can use email all you want, but sometimes it's nice to receive an actual card in the post.

Happy May Day

2006-05-01T15:32:00.000-05:00

If we were in England, there would be no work today (yay for bank holidays).

New Car

2006-04-30T11:30:00.000-05:00

I got a new car yesterday. It's really nice and only had 4 miles on it when I started driving it yesterday. It's a Mazda6 5-door with a V6 engine. The car is red with a black leather interior, and it has a sunroof. Pictures coming soon.

If it's not broken

2006-04-27T12:21:00.000-05:00

Whatever happened to the old saying "If it's not broken, don't fix it"? Sometimes I really wonder why men feel the need to keep "improving" stuff that works just fine. Sure, once in a while things are made more efficient, but most of the time it's just another headache to deal with, another step to get things done.

Take, for example, the garage door opener to our house. Keep in mind that we are only planning on living in our house for another 8 months or so until we upgrade to something larger, and we have known this for quite a while. Last summer Chuck wanted to upgrade our garage door opener to the idrive (an opener without chains or something like that). It was going to cost around $250. Our current garage door opener works just fine. Not only would it have cost us some money out of pocket, but then there's the time involved tearing out the old system, installing the new system, figuring out how it works, reprogramming all the garage door openers, and there are no guarantees the thing would even work-Chuck's parents bought the same system for their garage and it wouldn't work, then they bought a replacement and that one stopped working after a month or so. (I convinced him not to buy the idrive until our next house).

Second example: I wanted to play my own music while cleaning the house today instead of listening to the radio. Normally to do this I would have to put my cd into the DVD player and voila...music. The second option was to go through the tivo menu, select Chuck's server, choose the CD, and off I go. For his birthday, Chuck bought a Mac mini to plug into our TV, so we have more storage space for recording shows, music, etc (again, something that really isn't necessary or even all that more efficient). He plugged it in last night, disconnected some things, and now the TV's all messed up-I can't figure out how to play a simple CD on our system, let alone try to play video games during the day. So now I have to listen to the crappy music on the radio.

I don't think I'll ever understand men and their gadgets.

Medical Links

2006-04-22T15:05:00.000-05:00

Trojan Chicken - Shows how rapidly microbes can pass between people.

Peep surgery - People with too much time on their hands.

The ants go marching....

2006-04-17T22:19:00.000-05:00

I hate ants. I don't know how, but they've found a way into an obscure corner of the kitchen floor. There are no windows or doors they're coming in from, but they seem to like it under the baseboard at the edge of the carpet. We keep the kitchen clean, so there's not much to attract them in that area. Hmm...maybe it's time to invest in a little bug repellent. Grr!

April showers.....

2006-04-06T10:23:00.000-05:00

I really didn't want to get up this morning. Working 5pm-1am is nice, but after a while all you want to do is sleep all day so you're up all night. It doesn't help that I was having really good dreams and could hear the rain coming down when I awoke.

Springtime

2006-04-05T11:51:00.000-05:00

Spring is my favorite time of year, generally speaking, but there are some things I could really live without that happen in the spring.

The first of these is the mud. Although we have plenty of grass in our back yard, for some reason the dogs always manage to find the muddiest part, get filthy, and bring it all inside for me to clean up. The door to our backyard is a sliding glass door that connects to the kitchen, and so this time of year the kitchen is always very muddy (mental note: next house, the door to the backyard connects to a mud room first).

The second of these is nesting birds. The birds in our neighborhood think that the perfect place to nest is in our bathroom vent. Generally speaking, they're right-it's quiet, safe from predators and rain, and even has a flap to serve as a door. But Chuck and I really don't like it-the birds go to the bathroom in the vent, get bird poop on the side of the house, and chirp when the vent fan turns on. Then comes the problem of removing the nest after they leave. And no matter what we do-put screen on the vent, put a plastic one-way valve with plastic netting over the vent, etc, the birds alway get into it to make their nest.

The third of these is baby bunnies. Over the years I have seen numerous baby bunnies mauled by animals, and regardless of the extent of the wounds, they almost always inevitably end up dying. Wild bunnies do not do well, even if they get the best medical treatment available.

The rabbits and bunnies in our yard have not realized the backyard is a death trap and that my dogs are faster than they look. This morning I looked out the window and behold..there's a juvenile rabbit in Oscar's mouth. I ran outside to assess the damage, and the poor bunny had a severe bite wound to the abdomen, degloving injury to its side, was in shock, but unfortunately still very much alive. As a vet, I always feel there should be something I should be able to do in these situations, but in this rabbit's case, euthanasia would have been the best option. I set the bunny down gently, took the dogs inside and grabbed a pair of shoes (I was going to take it to a local vet clinic for euthanasia), and when I went back outside to retrieve it, I found that birds had already noted the bunny's situation, and had started attacking it before it was dead. I watched the rabbit take its last two breaths (the scene wasn't pretty), and felt absolutely horrible that my dogs put me in this predicament.

Now, I probably know better than most ordinary people that as much as we want to make our pets human substitutes, deep down they are still just predators and have natural instincts. I'm not mad at the dogs for doing what thousands of years of nature says they should do, just upset that I still let it get to me sometimes.

Travel Plans

2006-03-28T11:53:00.000-06:00

In looking at my schedule for April, I have discovered I not only have my birthday off (April 21), but I also have the two days after it off and don't work until the evening of April 24. I think this would be the perfect opportunity to get out of town for a few days. The only problem is, where should we go? Since Chuck will have spent the 3 days before my birthday up in Chicago, that's pretty much ruled out.

Any other suggestions?

10 things that REALLY annoy me

2006-03-27T16:47:00.000-06:00

In no particular order:

1. Inefficient people-ie Having to wait 45 min for a mocha at Panera because the person behind the counter is trying to make 6 other drinks for one person ahead of me. She worked very slow and no one stepped in to help her.
2. Bad drivers/improperly parked cars (running red lights, cutting me off, and the blue truck in our neighborhood)
3. Pets waking me up at night-PHOENIX! OSCAR!
4. Sorority girls
5. Having to ask Chuck to clean the house. He should be able to see that the clothes need to be picked up, there's dust everywhere, the dishes need cleaning, and so on. We even have a chore list of what has not yet been done for his reference.
6. Phoenix scratching the furniture, kleenex, bedskirt, etc
7. Red lights that last for 4 minutes and 30 seconds when there is no one on the road, it's late, and you just want to get home.
8. People that hate pets. Not the people that dislike pets but will put up with them, but the ones that don't think people should have any pets at all (ie dogs/cats/etc are smelly, loud, dirty, or dangerous)
9. People saying "You really charge $55 for me to ask a question?" (at work).
10. Pets trying to consume my food or drinks - PHOENIX!

And the scale says.....

2006-03-21T11:39:00.000-06:00

1934....wait.....now it reads 1922......now 1855. Hmmm....nothing is on the scale. I think it's malfunctioning. Phew...that's good. I was a little worried there for a second. Replacing the battery seems to have fixed it for now. Ok.

So I've been trying to lose weight for quite some time. I've reached a point where I'm not gaining any weight, but not losing much either. Very frustrating. The previous two weeks I've not been watching what I eat as much, not working out, and drinking rather more than I probably should. So last week I worked out every day, and was very sore. This week I'm trying really hard to eat better as well as work out, but I really don't seem to have much energy.

The nice thing about working evenings is that I can work out in the mornings. Also, since I have a short dinner break it means I usually eat frozen meals. I've been buying the small, healthy frozen meals and no junk food, so I guess I'm eating better. Also, my co-worker that sits next to me (although she's already petite) is trying to get in shape and lose weight, so we're sort of accountable to each other, even if we don't work out together.

Too bad there's no easy fix to the problem. Maybe by the time summer rolls around I'll be where I want to be in terms of fitness.

Rainy Days

2006-03-09T15:14:00.000-06:00

Why is it that on rainy days it is so hard to get motivated to do anything? I have a list of things I'm supposed to accomplish today, and all I feel like doing is curling up to take a nap. I actually got out of the house for a little while-went to lunch with friends, finally went to the bank so my atm card works again, stopped by the post office for stamps and tried to go shopping for new tennis shoes, but ended up giving up after about 40min of errand running. Of course, having a stomach full of good food and dessert doesn't help. I'm currently waiting for the caffeine to kick in from my mocha so I can get motivated to finish cleaning the house. The other bad thing about rainy days is that our backyard turns into soup, so letting the dogs out means that we spend about 10 minutes per dog to get enough mud off that the dogs can walk on the white carpet. (Honestly, who puts white carpet in a house on purpose?)

Work is going well. Tomorrow I start working evenings (3-11pm). It's not a bad shift, but I won't see much of Chuck or most of my other friends outside of work. And I will end up missing many of the good basketball games (boo!). On the plus side, I'll be making more money, so I guess things balance out in the end.

Well, I think the caffeine is finally starting to work...time to finish today's chores.

Links for Today

2006-03-02T18:13:00.000-06:00

Next it'll be sharks with freaking lasers on their heads. Link

The bird flu moves west. Keep your cats and dogs inside! Link

Animal rights activists convicted in New Jersey

Hate being sick

2006-02-27T13:41:00.000-06:00

This was kind of a rough weekend, especially with Chuck out of town. Started out not so good, with the incident with dogs Friday night. Saturday I had work all day starting at 10am, so I did not get as much sleep as I had hoped Friday night. Work was really busy-phones ringing off the hook. I managed to catch the last 5 minutes or so of the Illini basketball game at home, then a friend came to pick me up for dinner. Had a nice dinner (but very expensive-Andrew, I still owe you money) at a newer restaurant in downtown Champaign, then went to a bar for the rest of the night. Drank way more than I'm used to (usually I'm the driver) and stayed out later than I probably should have since I had to work Sunday at 10am as well.

Sunday morning was kinda rough. Woke up at 6 feeling sick, drank water, went back to sleep. Alarm went off at 8:30 to get me up for work...head still feeling very muddy. Work was painful-very hard to multitask with phones, talking and computers when you can't string more than 3 coherent sentences together in a row. The whole day was pretty much like that. Didn't feel like eating. Evening went a little better-went over to Andrew's house for chili and a game, but was very chilled all evening. By the time I went to bed last night, I had a bad headache and a hard time swallowing because my throat hurt so bad.

Woke up today....yep, I've caught a cold (head hurts, dizzy, throat hurts...generally miserable)...maybe my feeling bad yesterday was only a little bit hangover, and a little bit getting sick. Sucks that I have to drive to Peoria today for dinner with my husband and his family. Oh well...you do what you have to.

Damn Dogs

2006-02-25T01:14:00.000-06:00

Ok..it's 1:43 in the morning and I'm still up. Not (as I would have liked it) returning home from a night out on the town with friends, but cleaning up after the dogs and watching for any signs of illness.

The night started out well. A rum and coke at Murphy's, a home Illini hockey game, and a late night dinner with Eric, Dave, and Andrew at the Olive Garden. Then I returned home.........
to find both boxes of chocolates I had received near Valentine's Day completely torn apart with all 25 remaining chocolates (most of which were dark chocolate) completely gone.

Let me backtrack a little-I have felt guilty recently about having to keep Oscar (my boxer) in his kennel while I'm gone, especially since that can be 8-9 hours at a time. So I've been leaving him out of his crate for periods of time over the last few days as a trial to see how he does. And as long as I put all food and trash out of reach, he's been fine. Well, I was in a hurry to meet the guys and have a pre-game drink, and had forgotten that I took the chocolates out of their storage place in the microwave without replacing them.

For those of you that don't know, chocolate in high enough doses is bad. Very bad. It can cause hyperactivity, tremors, irregular heart beats, and even death. Dark chocolate is bad, and European chocolate is worse (one of my boxes that the dogs ate was from Spain). And working for animal poison control, I tend to be a little more sensitive about dogs consuming things than the average veterinarian.

So, in looking at the mess of shredded cardboard in my living room, I try to stay rational. This is my job. I help other people via the phone that are in the same situation I was currently in. I start by evaluating both dogs...they're both as happy as can be, no signs of toxicity yet. Good. Breathe a little. Ok, calculate out the maximum dose of chocolate as if only one of the dogs had eaten it. Crap...don't know how many ounces each chocolate is. Hmm...could be a problem. Look up in emergency book that 6 oz of dark chocolate is enough to be toxic to my largest dog. Damn. Panic sets in. Do I assume the dogs shared the boxes (in which case, they would probably be ok), try to make them vomit, take them both to the emergency clinic for activated charcoal, call work and have them laugh at me because I don't know what to do, or phone a friend (in this case, Chuck or someone closer)? Damn.

I end up doing what any reasonable person would do. Call Chuck and tell him what happened. Decide to make the dogs vomit. Call another friend to panic/vent to. Go to the grocery store at midnight to buy hydrogen peroxide (very good emetic in dogs). Use the peroxide to make the dogs vomit (which was actually kinda funny-the dogs thought they were getting a special treat of milk and bread, then once they actually started feeling nauseous looked at me as if to say "What the hell did you give us?!"). Discover Oscar actually ate all the chocolate. Feel good that I made the right decision and plan to monitor him the rest of the night. Clean up the incredibly huge mess that all that made.

FYI-please don't offer me chocolate for the next couple weeks. Something about chocolate scented stomach contents just doesn't sit well with me.

Links for today

2006-02-17T08:05:00.000-06:00

This story made me laugh.

Dolphin Intelligence

One of those days

2006-02-17T07:43:00.000-06:00

Pretty sad when you know it's going to be "one of those days" at 6:00am on a Friday. Even sadder when it's only 7:30am and you have the entire rest of the day to deal with as well.

So far today I have:
-Woken up extremely disoriented, not knowing where I'm at, only to discover I'm in my own bed and the alarm went off (I was having a really good dream that I no longer remember).
-Forgotten a towel for the shower
-Had the cat urinate on my bath mat in front of me
-Had Chuck yell at me because I woke him up while getting mad at the cat
-Redone my hair four times because it wouldn't turn out the way I wanted it to
-Been late for work (didn't even get to stop for my morning mocha) because I couldn't get my car door open (it was frozen to the car from all the rain we had yesterday)
-Had my phone at work malfunction (it wouldn't acknowledge I signed on)
-Been cursed and screamed at for my first call of the morning by a client who called me a stupid bitch when I told them we didn't have much information about a HUMAN drug in a CAT (not my fault you gave your own medication to your cat on accident)
-Zapped by every metal thing I walk by

Oh, and to top it off, the phones have been ringing like crazy since I sat down. And as I said, it's only 7:45 in the morning. If I survive the day, buy me a drink. I think I'll need one.

Sign of Spring

2006-02-15T10:48:00.000-06:00

I realize that this post is probably a little premature (since it's still the middle of February), but without all the cold weather and snow we normally have this time of year, I saw a sign of spring today. Outside my place of work is a small green sprout of some unidentified plant. It's not much, and most likely a weed of some sort that does well when the sun's out and the weather's warmed up just a little, but it made me remember when I lived in England and made me smile.

The area where I lived in England was more temperate than central Illinois. It was rare to get snow (when we did, all the traffic would stop because no one knew how to drive in it, even if there was only 1/4 inch), and usually by early-mid February the spring crocuses were starting to pop up. Spring is my favorite time of year, and I always get excited when it comes around.

Too bad the weather is supposed to turn colder once more this weekend.

I'll post a picture of it once I figure out how to post pictures.

New Month, New Post

2006-02-01T17:58:00.000-06:00

Seeing as it's the beginning of a new month, I feel obliged to write a new post.

Work is going well. I'm finally starting to move out of the intense training period and do what I was actually hired to do, which is kinda nerve-wrecking but fun at the same time. Training mostly involves doing a toxicology short-course (which I've posted on before) and learning the complicated database system. Still need work on the database system, as I found out today. But I finally made my first phone calls to clients out of the APCC (even if my second one was more complicated than I was prepared for). Also, one of my former receptionist/assistants from my previous clinic started working at APCC as well, so we went out to lunch today. I'm really happy for her.

Home life isn't bad, but could be better. There are some communication issues and general stresses at home that shouldn't be as big a deal as they are, but I don't see how to improve them right now. It's hard to find your way through the maze while you're in it, unless it's the maze at Leed's Castle (I'm good at that one).

On the up side, we've been able to see our friends more lately than usual. Our dogs are getting better around other people (less shy and less hyper). Chuck even volunteered our house for a Super Bowl Party. I don't really care about the outcome of the Super Bowl now that the Bears are no longer in the running, but it should be a good time.

Job Thoughts

2006-01-23T18:51:00.000-06:00

Now that I've been at my job for a whole week, I thought I'd give an update on how things are going. The first day or two last week were all about getting paperwork done, settling into the routine, and so on. For the rest of the week, we had class (all toxicology lectures) for at least 4-5 hours a day, rounds, and computer training. I've found it's really hard to sit in a conference room in the dark for hours at a time listening to lecture (haven't had to do that for 2.5 years).

Thinking back to school, I can remember that I didn't really enjoy my toxicology lectures that much....it was all "This substance does this to the animal. Treat it like this." Only, we didn't have any experience with the type of substance or the drugs/procedures to treat with. It's much more interesting to go through the class now that I've had some experience and think "Oh, that's like the case I had last May....I could have done this treatment as well" or relearning why certain things are done/treated certain ways. These are all things you don't think of out in private practice, but now it's part of my job to know the "why" to be able to teach and explain it to veterinarians as they are seeing the animal. Funny...when I was little, I didn't want to be a veterinarian. I wanted to be a teacher. Now I'll sort of be both.

GRRRRR!!!!!!!!!

2006-01-18T22:03:00.000-06:00

After much anticipation, my wireless card came today. We're talking months (2-3 to be exact) of waiting until I had a job and could afford to buy one. Then I had to wait a week once it was ordered to receive it. I could just picture it....no longer having to be isolated to the office by myself to access the internet. No more arguing or begging or pleading with Chuck to use his laptop in the living room to look up random facts or check email. No more worrying I would "break" Chuck's laptop as I normally do to all things computer.

So the card gets put in. The computer gets restarted. The airport gets turned on. And (drum roll, please...) N-O-T-H-I-N-G happens. Nada. Zip. Zero internet access via the wireless network. I remain calm. Restart computer. It boots up. Still no internet access. I change settings, run diagnostic test cd, restart. Still nothing. I zap the p-ram, reboot. Still no internet. I start cursing and making threats to my computer, reboot. Still nothing.

At this point I'm ready to throw my computer across the room as hard as possible-maybe that'll show my stupid computer who's in charge. I walk away....cool down....and come to the realization that I'm just not meant to access the internet with a wireless card on this computer. Damn.

First Day

2006-01-16T21:36:00.000-06:00

It's nice to have a regular job again (even if I've only worked one day so far). The first day was kinda boring-had to go through all the paperwork and policy stuff (you know-bringing pets to work, no mini-skirts or tank tops, harassment videos, vacation time, etc). Tomorrow we start actually learning more about the job: training on the database program and classes on toxicology. I'm going through training with one other veterinarian (she's not much older than me) and a vet tech. Because I look the youngest of all of us, they kept directing the vet tech stuff towards me (grrr!!!). Sometimes you just want to look older....

Blocked Cat

2006-01-14T13:06:00.000-06:00

I finally worked my last official day at my old vet clinic yesterday (I start my new job Monday). And it was crazy busy-just the way I like it. The only thing to put a black cloud on my day was the emergency clinic transfer case first thing in the morning. See, it was a cat with a urethral obstruction.

Most vets don't mind these as emergencies-they are very rewarding to treat: cat comes in, is very, very sick, can't pee, you do bloodwork and find out they have post renal azotemia and some pretty screwy electrolytes, start on IV fluids (for approx 2-3 days), sedate them and use a urinary catheter to unblock them, the cat returns to normal, no worse for the wear (usually).

There are several reasons I don't like them. First of all, the course of treatment involves 24 hour care and usually 2-3 days of hospitalization, and they almost always happen (for me at least) on a Friday evening or saturday. That involves convincing the owner that the cat needs to be transferred for after hour care at the emergency clinic-many vet clinics do not have 24 hour care. And then I have to leave the case management up to the emergency clinic vets (nothing against them, but I like managing my own cases from start to finish-otherwise how will you learn from them?).

Secondly, although everything is usually straightforward, it still ends up being a very expensive emergency-and it truely is an emergency (if the cat is not treated, it WILL die a very painful death within 24-48 hours)-average cost for diagnostics, treatment and resolution of the problem ends up being between $500-$800 at least. And that's assuming everything goes smoothly. The cats that I have seen that block are more often than not owned by very nice people that haven't budgeted for such an expensive emergency. And there really aren't any ways to short-cut the treatment without compromising the patient.

Thirdly, cats that have obstructed once are more likely to re-obstruct at some point down the road. I really hate explaining to owners that yes, they've paid all this money to fix their cat, and it's likely they will have to pay it again, especially because the ones that reblock will always belong to the people that can't afford it (being sarcastic there). There is a surgical option for cats that have obstructed more than once, but it comes down to finances again-first time they block=$600, second time they block=$600, then surgery (on the second or third time they block)=$800 (give or take, depending on where you go).

Lastly, the cats that have urethral obstructions are usually of the aggressive persuasion (in my experience). Cats have this response where they can get lower urinary tract inflammation (like white cells, red cells, crystals, mucous, and sludge) due to stress. There has been and currently is a lot of research going into the problem of feline lower urinary tract inflammation and how to prevent it, but we don't have the answers yet. In short, evil cats are more likely to obstruct than nice cats because by nature they are more stressed out. And anyone who has ever had to try to keep an IV catheter +/- a patent urinary catheter in a cat that will eat you every time you open the cage door will know how difficult it can be to treat them.

So, back to my case....the cat's obstruction was relieved at the emergency clinic. Then it was transferred to me (on a Friday, and I will no longer be working at the clinic, so unable to provide the follow-thru care). For whatever reason, radiographs, bloodwork, or urinalysis were not performed the emergency clinic. When I received the case, the owner was already well over the pet budget for the month and could not afford any complications or transfer for overnight monitoring. The cat is not evil, persay, but has a grumpy temperament. Being a busy day, I ended up taking radiographs at the end of the day to scan for stones, and low and behold, I see "sand" in the bladder-making it likely this cat will reobstruct. After my restless night's sleep worrying about the cat hospitalized overnight unobserved with the "sand" in the bladder and the owner not having enough money to afford a re-obstruction, one of my colleagues took over the case this morning.

I guess it's all in a day's work for a veterinarian.

New Years Photos

2006-01-10T11:21:00.000-06:00

For anyone interested in seeing the photos from New Years, here's the link.

This and that

2006-01-10T11:15:00.000-06:00

The living room is finally finished-the paint is no longer overwhelmingly orange now that the rest of the walls are painted. And I actually like it. Now I'm trying to work up the motivation to paint the hallway...maybe Thursday. Today is essentially my last day of doing nothing, since I'm working at Prairie Oak (my former clinic) tomorrow, Friday and Saturday, and start my new job on Monday. I'm trying to decide how best to spend the rest of my free time-very tempted to go shopping (which is very unlike me) since I have nothing better to do and I'll actually have money to spend soon. It's really exciting to actually have work to look forward to.

Painting (take 2)

2006-01-06T15:43:00.000-06:00

I now have 2/3 of the living room painted (painting is hard work and I'm taking a break) and the color looks a lot less orange now. It's starting to grow on me now. I will say that I've discovered I really don't like heights. Climbing on the ladder and looking out over the living room (we have cathedral ceilings) makes me really dizzy...or is it the paint fumes?

Back to work.....

Musings on paint

2006-01-05T09:55:00.000-06:00

Since I'm starting a new job in a little over a week and won't have as much free time as I have right now, I've decided to tackle the living room and hallways. You might ask why, since I have essentially been unemployed for over 4 months, I wait until one week before I no longer have free time to start a big project like this. Several reasons: I like to procrastinate. Usually I don't feel motivated to do something until I have a deadline in sight. I'm also very indecisive when it comes to decorating, and don't have much concept of color and pairing colors together (although usually by accident things turn out ok).

So yesterday I went and bought paint for the living room, and started with 2 walls to see how it would look. I picked out a bold color and sponge painted one wall. Now, I'm not so sure I like it. I've never lived in a house with bold colors for paint (my mom likes white best-she's a neat freak), and the color I picked out (at least on the paint chip) was close to rust colored. So now I'm sitting in my living room looking at it, and it looks BRIGHT RED-ORANGE. Even worse, the paint tape I used to protect the trim is blue, so right now we have an orange and blue living room. I guess it's back to the drawing board......I'll let you know how it eventually turns out.

Happy Anniversary

2006-01-05T09:53:00.000-06:00

Just wanted to say Happy Anniversary to Chuck. We started dating 8 years ago today, and he still puts up with me :)

New Job

2006-01-03T14:50:00.000-06:00

Just wanted to let everyone know I accepted the less clinical job. I'll be starting at Animal Poison Control Center January 16. More to come later.

Recovering from the holidays

2006-01-03T12:40:00.000-06:00

I realize I haven't posted in a little while. I really don't have any excuses, like vacation or other fun things, just internal struggles that were making it difficult to express what I'm thinking in writing. Now, on to random thoughts......

1. My Christmas wish came true, only it backfired on me. The saying "Be careful what you wish for" definately has some meaning here. I went to interviews at two different places for two completely different jobs, and was offered both of them. One is clinical (ie, I'd be a traditional veterinarian seeing appointments and patients, etc) and the other is more in the field of industry and research (ie, I'd be able to become a specialist, but not work directly with the animal). So I've been struggling with which job to accept. They both have their pros and cons, but what it comes down to is the clinical one would require moving to a different city. The other thing that is making my struggle harder is that even through vet school I've always taken a more non-traditional approach to my veterinary career path, and have seen myself getting out of private practice to work in laboratory animal medicine, pathology, or public health eventually.

2. Christmas itself was fun. My family and Chuck's family came to our house this year to celebrate (because Chuck was on call). It was actually a lot of fun, and everything went smoothely. I received everything I wanted, and a few surprise gifts as well. The only disappointing thing was not being able to watch our siblings open their presents from the rest of the family. I think that is one of the best parts of the holiday season-watching people open their presents and enjoy them.

3. New Year's was spent on the road. Chuck and I went to Indiana with Dave to visit friends at a party there. Chuck and I are not very close friends with many of the people there, but we knew almost everyone from football tailgating, and it was nice to see everyone. Luckily there was only one incident, and it involved Chuck, but it was somewhat easily resolved (although it cost me heavily in sleep). We really had a good time, but there's just something about being able to sleep in your own bed at the end of the weekend.

4. New Year's goals (not resolutions, because that implies immediate changes, whereas goals give you something to work towards, rather than just change):
-Continue with the work-out/weight loss program throughout the year (I actually lost a little weight between Christmas and New Years).
-Work hard and be happy with my choices.
-Move out of my comfort zone more often.
-Finish painting and decorating the house.

Giving Hope

2005-12-24T15:07:00.000-06:00

I don't have time to comment on the article in the link right now, but it's definately given me some food for thought with respect to how I approach my patients and clients.

Doctors' Delicate Balance in Keeping Hope Alive

They spent money on this research?

2005-12-23T14:20:00.000-06:00

The life of a spoon

And you thought Quad squirrels were bad

2005-12-20T22:01:00.000-06:00

Russian squirrel pack 'kills dog'.

Odd Science News

2005-12-19T20:53:00.000-06:00

Odd Science News from 2005

Directions

2005-12-19T12:44:00.000-06:00

After reading several blogs by various people (friends, strangers, colleagues) I've come to the realization that I don't have much direction on my blog. I don't really have any set theme in my head that I'm trying to follow. Not that this is a good thing or a bad thing, just an observation.

Right now I've been using it more or less to relate things going on in my life to friends I don't necessarily talk with or see very often. In a way, it's become a replacement for talking on the phone or making an effort to go out with people outside of Chuck's friends. Ever since vet school graduation, I've felt somehow inadequate compared to most of the friends I used to have. Actually it probably started long before that. I know it's all in my head, but it still haunts me that I was one of the few in my class to graduate without a job and remain in the Champaign area instead of moving on. When initially looking for jobs after graduation, I was criticized for not having done many practical externships during senior year or the summers between years (although I was working full time in the summer and held two jobs during the school year for most of vet school). Since being let go from my most recent job, I have not really talked to many of my close friends because I feel uncomfortable reminding myself that they have jobs-they've succeeded-where I've failed. I'm not good at taking criticism of that sort.

The lack of direction on my blog is a reflection of my life at the moment. I've always had a list in my head of how my life is going to go, ie I'm going to graduate high school and go to a large college, I'm going to finish college in 3 years and go to vet school, I'm going to graduate vet school and get married, then work. Unfortunately that's about as far as I ever got in my daydreams-nothing beyond that. Well, now I'm beyond that and I don't have my plan anymore-no long term goals so to speak. It scares the crap out of me. I don't know what I want to do with my life, where things always used to be so definate in getting from point A to point B. I no longer have a point B. And I don't know what to do to fix that.

I've thought a lot about my options now that I don't really have a job. One of the big things I've been thinking about is doing a residencey. Then the question becomes "In what? Where? How to get one?" My biggest interests in my field are exotics, pathology, and laboratory animal medicine. Unfortunately the hurdles to getting advanced training in these fields are huge. I don't have the people to make the recommendations, I don't have the experience I would need to open doors, I don't have as much support at home as I need to get the experience or the actual position, and I'm stuck in the Champaign area. To top it all off, I'm not mentally prepared to give up some parts of veterinary medicine to pursue the others. All of the fields I'm interested in mesh together, but it involves giving up the personal interactions with pet owners and individual patients for the more academic and scientific side of medicine. In searching for a job and doing interviews, I've discovered that I need to start making some of these decisions. One of the jobs I'm looking at involves no hands-on work at the level of the patient. I don't know if I'm prepared to step back at this point in my career.

Hopefully I'll be able to figure out my directions soon and get my thoughts and life back on track.

Good News

2005-12-15T13:32:00.000-06:00

Finally things are starting to happen. I've sent out numerous resumes to various clinics within the greater Champaign area, and up until this week they've gone nowhere. Monday morning, bright and early, I got a phone call from one of the most recent clinics, and have an interview tomorrow. Today I was contacted again for a different place that also wants to interview me. I don't know if I'll end up working at either of these places, but at least it's something. Who knows, maybe my Christmas wish will come true.