July 18, 2004
8:38 p.m.

So, in regards to my last entry, Kelly wrote about it in her diary, and because I just don't have the heart to write the whole story here, you can read about it here. My hopes are that Lucky was still so out of it with the drugs, that he didn't realize what was happening to him. I hope that his last memories are of Dr. C, Kelly, and me loving on him just before we sedated him for blood donation. He was a fighter, living through what would have killed any other dog, not once, but twice. I guess the best thing I can remember is that he is no longer in a cage. For the last two years, as the resident blood donor, he has been stuck in a dog run. We couldn't trust him enough to let him run around the clinic during slow times like we used to do with the other blood donor PJ, so he was confined to a cage. At least now he runs free. Perhaps everything happens for a reason. According to Michelle, things are really going to change in light of this. Cal might be losing his job, because this is the second dog that has bit him in the past few weeks, and it's been dogs every one else has handled with no problem. Cal doesn't mean it, but he just moves to quickly and abruptly around dogs. Michelle and Dr. Myers are going to go to a head as well. If things don't change, there are going to be far fewer employees working there, including Dr. C. She started crying when we were letting Michelle know what all had transpired, and, as I have mentioned in here before, when Dr. C shows emotion like that, you know it's something really devestating. Anyway, I just have to get off of this subject.

Actually, one more thing realated to the paragraph above. As of Saturday, the puppy we did the blood transfusion on was alive, and doing okay, much to everyone's surprise. Animals with a PCV of 4% generally are gone beyond repair. Normal is in the high fourties. The puppy isn't out of the woods yet, but we are all praying she lives...for Lucky.

After seeing some of the worst human nature has to offer, I always seem to catch some of the best. A man found a little dog on the side of the road on Saturday, and brought it into the clinic. He was one of those people that pretends to not like animals, complaining as he paid for the special food that his cat was on. He handed the hairless, smelly, flea infested pooch over to us, and asked what needed to be done to save it, or should it be euthanized. Despite parasites, fleas, and the most overgrown set of nail I have EVER seen, the dog seemed to be in okay condition. We told him the things that we would like to do to the dog, and the cost, and, while complaining about how much of a pain animals were and such as that, he handed over his credit card. We laughed about him in the back, because for someone who just didn't like animals, he sure was willing to do a lot for a stray dog. Just proof that there is still good in the world.

I stepped on a piece of glass today, and now my foot hurts like hell. I can barely walk. I feel like such a baby, I mean, it was just a little piece of glass. It went in kinda deep, but gosh, I've had bigger cat scratches that didn't hurt this much. Ouch. I'm going to be real fun to work with tomorrow. I hope we don't have any lameness exams where I am actually expected to jog the horse. Ain't gonna happen.

I never realized how many books I owned until I moved downstair and had room to have a little library. I had these three wooden shelves that I brought in my computer room, and looked at them, trying to figure out how I would fill up the space not taken by my books. By the time I put all my books, that I had scattered in various places in my room, on the shelves, I was surprised to see that there really wasn't any left over space. I guess I read more than I realized I did.

Speaking of books, it's kind of fun that Dr. C and I have the same taste in books. We've started trading books back and forth, and then critiquing them in the truck between calls. My poor mom used to have to listen to me complain about my books that I didn't think ended right, but by the time I finished explaining the plot of some of the more outlandish fantasy books I've read, she would already be zoned out. It's just nice having someone that shares your interests.

Well, I am going to go and hobble into the shower.

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