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January 16, 2005 Monday I started class, and paid way too much money for my stupid literature book. Tell me, how can they charge that much for a stupid book? All in all class wasn't too bad. It's nice getting home before ten o'clock as well, although, once again, I feel bad for being a slacker and only taking one class. Oh well, it's full time for me next semester. Monday, before I went to class, I went to change the bandage on the horse we did surgery on last week. Since he is boarded where my horse is boarded, I offered to help out with bandage changes. Anyway, he is a jerk. He just has no manners, and doesn't mind slamming you into the wall, or slinging his foot out to hit you. I swear, while I was changing his bandage on Saturday, I watched his hoof fly an inch from my face at least ten times. Well, Monday, when I went out, he just wasn't acting right. He just stood at his water bucket and drank. Since one of the meds he is on has potential to cause kidney damage, I told his owner to call the vet.I wasn't overly worried, and I told her to let him change the bandage. Wednesday is when my weeks started to go downhill. About a year ago we took in this cat that had been hit by a car. The owner didn't have the money to fix his two broken legs, and opted to euthanize. Even with as much pain as the cat was in, he was still purring and trying to rub against our hands. We couldn't euthanize him at the end of what had already been a bad day, so we gave him some pain meds and yummy food for the night and decided to euthanize him the next morning. The owner came back the next day crying, asking if she could have his X-rays, because she didn't have any pictures of him, and she was regretting her choice. She told Dr. Fuller that she could have come up with the money, and wish she could undo her choice. Dr. Fuller then told her that he was still alive, that we were going to euthanize him that morning, and did she want to change her mind. She ripped up the consent form and had us go ahead with surgery. The cat stayed with us for a month, always being a trooper. We all fell in love with him. He came in last Wednesday to have the last pin removed from his leg. He was fine Thursday, so we sent him home. When I came into work on Tuesday, after having the weekend and monday off, I found him in his cage struggling to breath. Whoa, what happened in that four day time period. I read the chart, and apparently the cat had developed a serious heart murmur. We really don't know why. The cat then began to thrash around in his cage. I put a call into Dr. Myers, the doctor on call, but as the cat began to have bloody foam come from his mouth and nose, I put down the phone and just held him. He was dead within thirty seconds. We didn't attempt life saving procedures because there really was no chance of getting him back at that point. At least he didn't die alone. Then, I go out to feed my horse to find Rocket, the horse we did surgery on, laying down in his stall with purple gums. Let's just say purple is really not a good color for gums to be. I called his owner, and called Dr. C and ended up waiting there for them both to arrive. We treated him with some medications and told his owner to watch him. We really didn't know what was going on with him, but with medications on board, we were expecting him to get over whatever was causing him to have diarrhea. The next morning I find a message on my cell phone of his owner crying, telling me he had kicked down his stall door and she had found him dead in the middle of the pasture. I was in shock. Here I was calling this horse all sorts of stupid names on Saturday as he tried to kill me and three days later he is dead. Dr. C was in shock too..second guessing herself like crazy. Since our day was already off to a great start, we decide to sedate this dog for a dental. He was a young, healthy dog, and we sedate dogs every day. We sedated him with no real problem. He went to sleep like normal. Dr. C got him out and was holding him in her hands while I was getting the table ready to clean his teeth. One minutes he was fine, the next he started having agonal breathing, which is where circulation has stopped, but the brain is still telling the body to breath. We immediately began CPR and gave the dog medication to reverse sedation as well as get the heart and respiration started. We worked on him for at least thirty minutes and never got a response. It was surreal. It would be one thing if the dog were under full blown anesthesia, but just sedation. I guess it just proves that there is no routine medical procedure. I don't think we talked very much for the rest of the day, we were in a bit of shock. Dr. C then had me run up to UGA to take a sample of Rockets poop so they could test it for salmonela and other such things, before I went to school. Being alone on a long ride after watching a dog die is not advisable. I kept replaying the scene over and over in my head. I know dogs die, it's a part of the job, but he was only two years old, and it was just to get his teeth cleaned. It was just horrible. Then, I hear this lound pop. A rock had flown up from the road and put a small crack in my windsheild. I came really close to pulling over on the side of the road and crying. Thursday was amazingly calm, thank goodness, I don't think I could have handled another wednesday. Then, Friday, after driving the fifteen miles to work, I turn into the parking lot and step on my brakes. My foot went to the floor, and the truck was still rolling. Never a good sign. Luckily I was only going like two miles an hour, so I just coasted to a stop and put on my emergency brake. I had my truck towed to the service station near my house. The estimate: $750. Then, they tried to pull this crap about how I also needed new tires. An additional three hundred dollars. I told them I would be happy to get new tires, and since I had bought these tires from them not that long ago and they were still under warrenty, I assume they would be covering the cost. Suddenly, my tires really weren't so bad. Luckily the guy who said I needed tires and they guy who was fixing my brakes were two different people. I trust the brake guy, but the tire guy just thought he would screw me over. I realize I am extremely lucky. If my brakes had died while I was at one of the many busy intersections, or when a car pulled out in front of me...someone is looking out for me. The decided to die when I was somewhere really safe. I am really really really lucky. Saturday ended up being the day that wouldn't friggin end. I was so tired and just wanted to forget that the week ever happened when we get a dog in that needed emergency surgery. She was a twelve week old puppy. I really didn't want to do anesthesia on a dog so young. Two and a half hours later, with a low heartrate and grey gums (also not a good color for gums) almost the whole surgery, I moved her into her cage to recover. We had to take out a large piece of her intestine in a really bad spot. Hopefully she will be a miracle like Sissy was, but it will be touch and go for a while. I just hope I don't have a week like that for a very long time. I am now going to hook my keyboard up to my head, and try to make the delete button work. Wish me luck. <-//->
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