Riki in action:
the recovery/ anesthesia "room":
one of the lucky ones:
:)
Tuesday 23 June 2009
Spayathon Sibiu 1st june
Briefly: 2 days, 4 vets, 111 animals spayed ;) less puppies on Sibiu's streets
Riki in action:
the recovery/ anesthesia "room":
one of the lucky ones:
:)
Riki in action:
the recovery/ anesthesia "room":
one of the lucky ones:
:)
1 mai muncitoresc
...si, ca tot romanul care se respecta, hopa la mare de 1 mai, cu purcel-catel...
... in vama veche e la fel...
:) gata, s-au incarcat bateriile! La Craiova e "on call" oricand in afara programului!
... in vama veche e la fel...
:) gata, s-au incarcat bateriile! La Craiova e "on call" oricand in afara programului!
Thursday 4 June 2009
Meet a Cayman patient
Meet a caymanian young sweet dog. His name is currently Travis (after being named Fire/Flash/Apollo) but anyway. He has been in the clinic for 3 weeks and is in intensive care. Well, not as much nowadays, but still taken half an hour of my daily routine. And is one of the most rewarding things I get to do (at least this week when I am in charge with the morning rounds:)
Travis has got a huge problem. He was tied to a tree next to a burning house/shed? something. He suffered severe burns and what you see in the following picture is an amazing healing process. When he came in his skin was still covering his body on the left side of his trunk, but was soon to be necrotic and harboured a large amount of pustular discharge underneath. 3 debridement surgeries later, daily change of bandage and a combination of silver sulfadiazine cream (and initially honey too but we gave that one up) he looks like this....
And this is me and on of my nurses, M., changing his bandages today..... You may wonder why I wear this street gang hood top on me (and having underneath a shirt and the official scub). Well, the answer lies in the climate wars. Basically, we (vets) have to spent a long time at the laptop writing the daily treatments, reports, etc. right underneath the heavy blowing air conditioning. (they) nurses walk up and down, take dogs in and out and are hot. We turn the AC up (or even off;), they turn it down. And so we have fun every day. Normally there are 1-2 vets in the hospital area and 5-6 nurses so vets are outnumbered. Sometimes we loose. Today I had to give up and put the hood on;)))
Us, posing with the pacient...
Finally, getting to work, starting up my bandage. Luckily, he is a very good and sweet dog and sits very patiently for that.
And the finished product. Tomorrow we begin again! An E collar was about to complete the picture. I will try to post some more pics as the weeks roll on;)
Travis has got a huge problem. He was tied to a tree next to a burning house/shed? something. He suffered severe burns and what you see in the following picture is an amazing healing process. When he came in his skin was still covering his body on the left side of his trunk, but was soon to be necrotic and harboured a large amount of pustular discharge underneath. 3 debridement surgeries later, daily change of bandage and a combination of silver sulfadiazine cream (and initially honey too but we gave that one up) he looks like this....
And this is me and on of my nurses, M., changing his bandages today..... You may wonder why I wear this street gang hood top on me (and having underneath a shirt and the official scub). Well, the answer lies in the climate wars. Basically, we (vets) have to spent a long time at the laptop writing the daily treatments, reports, etc. right underneath the heavy blowing air conditioning. (they) nurses walk up and down, take dogs in and out and are hot. We turn the AC up (or even off;), they turn it down. And so we have fun every day. Normally there are 1-2 vets in the hospital area and 5-6 nurses so vets are outnumbered. Sometimes we loose. Today I had to give up and put the hood on;)))
Us, posing with the pacient...
Finally, getting to work, starting up my bandage. Luckily, he is a very good and sweet dog and sits very patiently for that.
And the finished product. Tomorrow we begin again! An E collar was about to complete the picture. I will try to post some more pics as the weeks roll on;)
From a different age, from a different country
Even for a non gourmand vet like myself, travelling for a few years along different countries has brought a culinary imprint.Namely, stuff that I ate and I liked,but then once I left that specific country or corner of the world, these were also left behind.
Well, nowadays I am starting to change that, as my culinary bible has entered my life, teaching me how to do for instance that delicious middle eastern salad called Tabouleh, or soon to try my hand out with a home made salsa recipe.
Anyway, there was something that I ate quite a lot of while I was a resident of Cyprus. These guys make also a delicious white goat cheese, called Halloumi, a cheese that is so special in many ways, but it can actually be grilled; top a few grilled brown now slices with some fresh lemon juice, capers and some toast or better yet pitta and I have my very own mediterranean dinner.
And, to my magnificent surprise, faithfull reader, wondering thru the aisles of a big supermarket from Cayman, here it was in front of my eyes, a nice big chunk of Halloumi, that came all the way from Nicosia via California, costing ten times more then in situ, but nevertheless, with such travelling, one can only expect. Nedless to say, I have since aquired many of those and trying to convert as many as I can;)
PS Here is the proof, in form of photographical evidence!
Well, nowadays I am starting to change that, as my culinary bible has entered my life, teaching me how to do for instance that delicious middle eastern salad called Tabouleh, or soon to try my hand out with a home made salsa recipe.
Anyway, there was something that I ate quite a lot of while I was a resident of Cyprus. These guys make also a delicious white goat cheese, called Halloumi, a cheese that is so special in many ways, but it can actually be grilled; top a few grilled brown now slices with some fresh lemon juice, capers and some toast or better yet pitta and I have my very own mediterranean dinner.
And, to my magnificent surprise, faithfull reader, wondering thru the aisles of a big supermarket from Cayman, here it was in front of my eyes, a nice big chunk of Halloumi, that came all the way from Nicosia via California, costing ten times more then in situ, but nevertheless, with such travelling, one can only expect. Nedless to say, I have since aquired many of those and trying to convert as many as I can;)
PS Here is the proof, in form of photographical evidence!
Sunday 31 May 2009
Latest from around here
In an attempt to bring some of my old life over here, I had the empty boring walls covered with various random pictures. These ones are in my room:)
Yes, ladies and gentleman, this is the3rd successful recipe from the book "Cooking basics from dummies", and it turned out definitely yummy and will feed us for days. Seafood linguini !! Hurray to cooking!
And last but not least, the mighty map hanging above my bed. It's a Grand Cayman diving sites map, and the pins represent dives already done (in white 2008, in red 2009). It's not 100% accurate as some places overlap but it comes to serve a point. Most dives are in the most popular places over here, namely the North side and the West side, but currently I am focusing on the wild East End that has a lot of potential (and a lot of rocky waves, reason for which is not very popular). Unfortunately, the South side is still very much virgin, due to very strong currents and the lack of dive operators over there. Hoping to add more red to the map till the end of the year:)
Friday 29 May 2009
One night
...one plain night, or what the on call does to a human being....
I have sustained many times that being on call should be banned by law if possible, but that is just my personal opinion.
Anyway, read this...one fine night, 4.30 am, the phone rings. Vet asleep, in deep slumber. Barely conscious, reaching the phone "Hhhello, this is the emergency line, how may i help you" with a voice coming from the caves. Prr-tszt-ksick-prr comes from the other end. I try again.. "this is the emergency line"... nothing. Some distant voices far. Finally I realise it's a misguided call and I put the phone down. Then in the darkness of the room and as my neurons come back from zzz dreams, i start to worry, as i wonder if it's really an emergency, if they will call again, etc. etc.
Luckily by now more neurons awake and I realise.... I am NOT on call, the other phone is not around and that was my private phone that went off. Pffffiuuu.....
then I shut down the offending sole phone present and try to make it for another 3 hours of sleep.
I have sustained many times that being on call should be banned by law if possible, but that is just my personal opinion.
Anyway, read this...one fine night, 4.30 am, the phone rings. Vet asleep, in deep slumber. Barely conscious, reaching the phone "Hhhello, this is the emergency line, how may i help you" with a voice coming from the caves. Prr-tszt-ksick-prr comes from the other end. I try again.. "this is the emergency line"... nothing. Some distant voices far. Finally I realise it's a misguided call and I put the phone down. Then in the darkness of the room and as my neurons come back from zzz dreams, i start to worry, as i wonder if it's really an emergency, if they will call again, etc. etc.
Luckily by now more neurons awake and I realise.... I am NOT on call, the other phone is not around and that was my private phone that went off. Pffffiuuu.....
then I shut down the offending sole phone present and try to make it for another 3 hours of sleep.
Latest additions
I got around to try my 2 new aquisitions from one of the bookshops over here. I gave the Cooking one a try and turned out 3-4 good recipes untill now, which have been tasted and approved by my room mate and myself, and hoping to try some Photoshop tricks this weekend if I find some time.
On the list of things that I would like to aquire next, top place is taken by a fancy and expensive hammock which can only complete my Caribbean experience. Hopefully I will find more time to hang around in it, but I have visions of myself staying in it and watching a movie or reading a book. After all it is a bit too hot to have outside still! More pics with that if and when I aquire the fore mentioned object of my affection.
Monday 13 April 2009
Catching up with the events
Yes, I know, it has been at least a couple of months since my last serious post.... big gap in between. Well, many things have been going on, and here is a short resume. Interesting or not, bear with me:)
After the Miami short and fantastic trip, work rushed in. Within a few weeks I was travelling again to Cayman Brac, for a short few working days; more work then back home to the main island, all in between packing. Packing in the same time for 2 events is never easy, especially combined with numerous on call evenings. But hey, I'm looking back and smiling.
First of all, I was changing houses. The 20 minute drive without traffic originating from Omega Drive, Prospect and the wonderful view of the green canal overlooking the sea, alas, was no longer the green peace full haven and the change was unavoidable. In fact it has been coming for months and I wish I would have made the transition sooner but it's not easy so find a replacement for such a pretty place...and to further complicate things more, owing a rather large canine never makes renting easy.
Finally it was done, and the contract signed, and the deposit payed. The new place is called... ok, it's an interesting name, but what to do, what to do?!, it's called "Mystic Retreat"...that being the name of the smaller complex. all shared with Garden Retreat, Sunset Retreat, what ever!, too many details. My new room mate is Warner, a very nice and tidy south african of my age, also a resident of the island.
That went well, and now my drive to work is 3 minutes with traffic, so that's cool.
The only little hump to overcome is soon to come. The dreaded electric bill:))) But will see when we get there.
The second major event, the romanian holiday. 2 weeks and a half. 6 planes, lost luggage, heavy luggage, many presents back and forth. Seeing family,so many dear friends, solving a million problems, and yes, the highlight, the 3 day trip across Craiova, Hunedoara and Vilcea, with Ricky, Alina and Irina (talk about vets reunited:))) lots of fun and road tripping the good old fashion way. Far too short sadly:( The days flew by, and with one short overnight stop in Surrey, England, to visit Alina in her working current position, here I was back at work.
(this one is done close to Hunedoara, in a very nice pension. Irina was taking the picture, but hey, 4 out of 7 reunited. Needless to say we spoke a lot about the missing ones from the gang, Ovidiu, Ioana and the infamous Mihnea).
After the Miami short and fantastic trip, work rushed in. Within a few weeks I was travelling again to Cayman Brac, for a short few working days; more work then back home to the main island, all in between packing. Packing in the same time for 2 events is never easy, especially combined with numerous on call evenings. But hey, I'm looking back and smiling.
First of all, I was changing houses. The 20 minute drive without traffic originating from Omega Drive, Prospect and the wonderful view of the green canal overlooking the sea, alas, was no longer the green peace full haven and the change was unavoidable. In fact it has been coming for months and I wish I would have made the transition sooner but it's not easy so find a replacement for such a pretty place...and to further complicate things more, owing a rather large canine never makes renting easy.
Finally it was done, and the contract signed, and the deposit payed. The new place is called... ok, it's an interesting name, but what to do, what to do?!, it's called "Mystic Retreat"...that being the name of the smaller complex. all shared with Garden Retreat, Sunset Retreat, what ever!, too many details. My new room mate is Warner, a very nice and tidy south african of my age, also a resident of the island.
That went well, and now my drive to work is 3 minutes with traffic, so that's cool.
The only little hump to overcome is soon to come. The dreaded electric bill:))) But will see when we get there.
The second major event, the romanian holiday. 2 weeks and a half. 6 planes, lost luggage, heavy luggage, many presents back and forth. Seeing family,so many dear friends, solving a million problems, and yes, the highlight, the 3 day trip across Craiova, Hunedoara and Vilcea, with Ricky, Alina and Irina (talk about vets reunited:))) lots of fun and road tripping the good old fashion way. Far too short sadly:( The days flew by, and with one short overnight stop in Surrey, England, to visit Alina in her working current position, here I was back at work.
(this one is done close to Hunedoara, in a very nice pension. Irina was taking the picture, but hey, 4 out of 7 reunited. Needless to say we spoke a lot about the missing ones from the gang, Ovidiu, Ioana and the infamous Mihnea).
and then...
I had to make one more overnight impromptu stay in Miami due to flights delay, whatever!!!,
and back to work.. And it wasn't easy. Just at the time of my come back, somebody had the brilliant idea to implement just then the new computer system for keeping medical records. So, it was all to new for my post holiday blues, but no time for that.
Shortly after, Klaus's visited followed, only 6 days but tried to make it as fun as possible for him and show him around. And a good time we had, topped up with nearly missing the boat to Sting Ray city but finally making it and having a jolly good time:)
And here we are, 2 more weeks later. Just coming to the end of the short Easter holiday. Normal people had 4 days off, but we vets only had 3. And how they have flown...
tomorrow we're back to work, and Saturday is ahead.
But i am well rested and all is really great.
And I promise to post more interesting stuff (other then my personal life) namely more onto veterinary medicine.
Good evening from the Caribbean,
Andreea
I had to make one more overnight impromptu stay in Miami due to flights delay, whatever!!!,
and back to work.. And it wasn't easy. Just at the time of my come back, somebody had the brilliant idea to implement just then the new computer system for keeping medical records. So, it was all to new for my post holiday blues, but no time for that.
Shortly after, Klaus's visited followed, only 6 days but tried to make it as fun as possible for him and show him around. And a good time we had, topped up with nearly missing the boat to Sting Ray city but finally making it and having a jolly good time:)
And here we are, 2 more weeks later. Just coming to the end of the short Easter holiday. Normal people had 4 days off, but we vets only had 3. And how they have flown...
tomorrow we're back to work, and Saturday is ahead.
But i am well rested and all is really great.
And I promise to post more interesting stuff (other then my personal life) namely more onto veterinary medicine.
Good evening from the Caribbean,
Andreea
Tuesday 7 April 2009
A tribute to Ricky
Because he is so versatile and really comes in all sizes......because he chose to stay in Romania and have a go at it... (with Irina onlyfrom the gang of 7 at this point)... (in the picture, Ricky, Irina and his brother at their Craiova practice)...
...because he has a way of telling stories (especially those from romanian day to day life) that would make even a dead man laugh his heart out....
...because he (and us) genuinely believes he comes down from Stephan the Great... (as undisputetly discoved in one epic journey across Romania way back in 2004)...
...did i mention his story telling talent? even if I did, I must insist on the idea...
...because he once went to court to testify and gave the judge almost a heart attack by refusing to swear upon the Bible... but HAD to have a Constitution...and to the day would never admit he nearly messed the whole trial up:)
...because he is addicted to mobile phones and is not bothered to talk to anybody on the phone for 5 hours at a time...
... because he is a genius in anatomy, a hard worker and a great vet, and a friend for 10 years. He is who he is and larger then life. Watch out Romania!
Tuesday 27 January 2009
Sky-diving impressions
It has not started off as my original idea, but I have had embraced it quickly. I mean how could I not? It sounded really well. Scary, loaded with adrenaline, something to tell the grandchildren about (provided one lives to tell the tale:))))
He did it in my case, which they do with most people, and then we slowed down. 7-8 minutes followed, amazing thrill of being suspended in the air and seeing it all from above, and then a very good landing....and there it was, before we knew it, it was all done. 
The idea was basically to go to Miami, and jump off a plane at 14.500 feet. Since it's the first jump, it would be a tandem. A tandem with you, the innocent scared first time jumper and a very experienced (one hopes!:) skydiver.
Booked in advance, didn't think too much about it, and finally the weeks moved on and the day came. Left Grand Cayman, as there are no skydiving operators here, and taking advantage of a rare long weekend that I didn't work, and a willing Hungarian travel companion, off we went for 3 days in Miami.
Miami is great this time of the year....sunny and bright, and yet milder (around 20-22C daytime), and quite chilly at evening. We even ended up renting a convertible, just because we could:) and off we went, together with one of the greatest inventions imaginable, a very talkative GPS, to explore.
We even went to an indoor climbing wall on Saturday, to start the thrill, and I remembered just how much I missed it, while my travel companion did excellent on his first climbing indoor experience.
And then, before we know it, Sunday, the D-day came!!
Miami is a small paradise for yachts and air crafts alike. There are small airports galore, and at least a couple of skydiver operators. We went about 25 km away from Miami, in a field in the middle of nowhere, but which contained lots of air crafts of all sizes. I thought so often of my vet friends Ioana and Ovidiu which are the probably the ones that have inspired the whole thrill of it all, and who would have undoubtedly jumped before me from that plane!
Then we signed a very large contract, in which we basicaly agreed that we know we are about to jump off a plane and in case of an accident, neither myself (!) or any of my relatives would sue the company,
we were then given the suits, the harness, the instructions, and before we knew it, we were going on board a small plane, very basic, no seats obviously, tighly bumped in together. I was designated a quite large instructor that would be my tandem buddy, and kudos to all the staff, they were all so cool and cracking jokes about the whole situation, when everybody else was understandably quite nervous about the situation...and then we took off.
There was no door of the aircraft, but a plastic see through-door they used to cover the exit and which allowed one to see the increasing void underneath us. At 1000 feet I was already thinking Oh my God, Oh my God, this is so high....and I knew we still have 14 times more to go up....but the view was amazing.
The next big thing, the instructors finally hooked us up and we were strapped in very closely together,...and then the door opened. This is when an unbelieveble amount of adrenaline came onto my blood stream, as I realised there is no turning back and I am about to do this for real. From the chilling down mode, everybody started rushing in, and they all wanted to jump off as soon as possible.
I was the third in the line up....and all of a sudden they all started jumping. Seeing the first couple jump off was the scariest moment yet. The void sucked them off in a mere second, as if they were not there at all. It was like you see in the movies with people falling off. They were just gone. I closed my eyes as I couldn't bear to see Miklos leaping, being sucked into the vacuum and having this image on my retina... 1 second later they jumped as well and we were heading off to the exit as well.You have a buddy attached to your back, but you get to see the void very well. And that is scary again. There is no time to think thou. All together, you jump. It's very bad for the first moments untill some balance is aquired, and then there it is.
You free fall. For a minute. Seems a lot, but really is not. The speed is amazing, the view and the sensation is like nothing else. To make things even more thrilling, the instructor does with you a couple of spins, which have sent me screaming my head off, but just for the fun of it.
Then the instructor shows you on the altimeter that the 4500 feet limit is there, and one of you has to pull off the parachute.
He did it in my case, which they do with most people, and then we slowed down. 7-8 minutes followed, amazing thrill of being suspended in the air and seeing it all from above, and then a very good landing....and there it was, before we knew it, it was all done.The post jump glow of adrenalin is something to be lived to be understood, .... and then we wanted to do it again:)
Monday 12 January 2009
Short Story - sau cat de bine organizati sunt austriecii
La capitolul organizare, intr-adevar, poate austriecii stau ceva mai bine decat noi in Romanica, dar stati linistiti si ei sunt cateodata la fel de organizati ca niste furnici bete...si am destule exemple care arata ca nu-s mai breji ca noi.
Intr-o dimineata, pe la 10 fara 15 primim sms: "REPEDE LA 10 TREBUIE SA FITI IN CENTRU CA MERGEM LA nu stiu ce operatiune de tranchilizare si recoltare de probe la niste bizoni" undeva, la o rezervatie, in the middle of Austria, la o ora jumate de mers cu masina. Eu eram racita cobza, in pat de 2 zile, Ovidiu tocma se pregatea sa mearga la alt curs, dar nah...puteam noi sa ratam operatiunea monstru?!
Asa ca aruncam pe noi 2 haine, alergam ca disperatii 3 statii in fata tramvaiului, ajungem in metrou, ne legam la sireturi si ne inchidem la haine in timp ce eu ma indop cu Strepsils-uri; intr-un final ajungem la punctul de intalnire, ne suim cu totii in masina (5 oameni intr-un Mini Cooper) si pornim voiosi la drum, cu placutul sentiment ca vom infaptui lucruri marete in ziua aceea.
Inainte sa intram pe autostrada dam un telefon la rezervatie sa le zicem ca venim...stupoare!!!...incepusera de o ora, si intr-o ora urmau sa termine...
Foarte contrariata, una din colege se revolta: "Data trecuta au zis ca incep la 12 si au inceput la 3!! Azi ce le-a venit sa fie punctuali?!?!"
End of story
Intr-o dimineata, pe la 10 fara 15 primim sms: "REPEDE LA 10 TREBUIE SA FITI IN CENTRU CA MERGEM LA nu stiu ce operatiune de tranchilizare si recoltare de probe la niste bizoni" undeva, la o rezervatie, in the middle of Austria, la o ora jumate de mers cu masina. Eu eram racita cobza, in pat de 2 zile, Ovidiu tocma se pregatea sa mearga la alt curs, dar nah...puteam noi sa ratam operatiunea monstru?!
Asa ca aruncam pe noi 2 haine, alergam ca disperatii 3 statii in fata tramvaiului, ajungem in metrou, ne legam la sireturi si ne inchidem la haine in timp ce eu ma indop cu Strepsils-uri; intr-un final ajungem la punctul de intalnire, ne suim cu totii in masina (5 oameni intr-un Mini Cooper) si pornim voiosi la drum, cu placutul sentiment ca vom infaptui lucruri marete in ziua aceea.
Inainte sa intram pe autostrada dam un telefon la rezervatie sa le zicem ca venim...stupoare!!!...incepusera de o ora, si intr-o ora urmau sa termine...
Foarte contrariata, una din colege se revolta: "Data trecuta au zis ca incep la 12 si au inceput la 3!! Azi ce le-a venit sa fie punctuali?!?!"
End of story
Thursday 8 January 2009
My first Saturday of the year
Still rested and with fond memories of the glorious New Year's Eve, I started with my first (dreaded) Saturday of the year.
As usually, it starts bright and early at 7 o'clock and it has potential to go on until the next day at 8.30 am when you pass over the phone to the next vet in charge.
Zooming thru the morning rounds, it was 2 minutes past 8 am and there were already 2 early patients waiting in the reception area ready to be seen.
And then it went on and on. I kept seeing people and patients till 2.30 pm. By the end of the session I was mumbling and I personally couldn't understand what I was trying to comunicate with the clients. But that's another issue. Of course, as it happends, in such long hours, one gets to see everything, ranging from sheer drama (road traffic accidents, blood, shock, serious neglect) to sheer nonsence (somebody waited for an hour to see me in order to tell me how her nearly one year dog is shaking her head in a cobra the snake-like fashion the minute she tries to lay down, only this morning. Physical exam was unremarkable,the dog was great, its ears were great, I send them home with the magical words monitoring and partially crying, partially laughing within myself).
Anyway, with the ear hematoma I had to solve next and the afternoon rounds, here I was, ready to go home at 5.30 pm. Which I did...knowing very well I am on call and anything can happen, but secretly wishing it will be quiet, I mean, I had already seen half of George Town that day already...!
So I had time (how God is ironic at times:) to dress up, and actually show for a lovely dinner invitation. Friends around, sparkling conversation;) and I actually had time to eat the salmon prepared by the lovely hungarian, (God is also merciful) and so I was enjoying the dinner and the people around me when....
the unavoidable happens and the phone rings.
I fled the warm dinner within 5 minutes, as it was an emergency, some body's dog had eaten a whole box of chocolates that afternoon while the owner was missing....and for you, non-veterinarian, you must know that chocolate is toxic to our canine friends.
And turns out, the owner brings along not one, but 2 (!) Labradors, that were alone with the offending box of now-gone chocolate.
We spent 3 hours together. Step one: making them vomit. We didn't know how much time had passed since ingestion, and even which one, so it was double trouble; since we don't have here for some reason that magical injection with apomorphine that makes them sick within minutes from the injection without fail (aargh, why not?! bloody regulations) I had to resort to the good old ways. So me and the owner were soaked , first peroxide, then a really saturated salty solution that we were administering orally to 2 very resentful doggies.
Peroxide did nothing, and salty water did the trick in one of them. The other one, stubborn as a mule. N-o-t-h-i-n-g. One of my colleagues has a trick thou, which I used succesfully as my last resort. A single IV full dose of cefazolin, and antibiotic that makes them usually sick if given fast IV. Which I did, which the dog did. Turned out she wasn't even guilty and only the other one had eaten the chocs.
Step two: giving them charcoal orally to absorb the potential remaining chocolate. The owners yellow shirt turned black, I was black, the dogs were annoyed, I was resigned by then knowing I won't make it back to the dinner....
Step three: IV catheters and starting them on IV fluids.
Step four: running a chemistry panel making sure all is Ok. Well, the innocent one was OK, the other one has a few values messed up, but not massively. I hoped the IV fluids will do the trick.
Step five: adieu to the owner (who happend at least to be a very nice and cooperative owner, kudos to him), writing my bill, and off I go, nearly midnight.
The night still had one surprise in store...(ha ha)...at 4.30 am the phone rang. A dog was giving birth and the owner was scared and wondering if the delivery was going well. I asked how much time had passed since the last puppy and she said, few minutes. Ok, I said, call me back in 2 hours if another puppy is not emerging. (Oh, please God, please God, make it alright and make her not call me back...zzzzzzzzz)
The phone didn't ring till next morning around 8.30,with another case (the dog's delivery went very well) when I was quite happy to say "yes, sure, bring it to the clinic" while I was driving myself towards there but only to drop that bloody phone off.....
...and continue with a quiet and sunny relaxing Carribean Sunday of doing almost nothing and soothing my nerves:)))) and pointed with an adventure of diving right outside 7 Mile Beach till underneath the before mentioned yacht so see it's anchor and sheer size from underneath.
Oh, how we have fun as vets:)))
As usually, it starts bright and early at 7 o'clock and it has potential to go on until the next day at 8.30 am when you pass over the phone to the next vet in charge.
Zooming thru the morning rounds, it was 2 minutes past 8 am and there were already 2 early patients waiting in the reception area ready to be seen.
And then it went on and on. I kept seeing people and patients till 2.30 pm. By the end of the session I was mumbling and I personally couldn't understand what I was trying to comunicate with the clients. But that's another issue. Of course, as it happends, in such long hours, one gets to see everything, ranging from sheer drama (road traffic accidents, blood, shock, serious neglect) to sheer nonsence (somebody waited for an hour to see me in order to tell me how her nearly one year dog is shaking her head in a cobra the snake-like fashion the minute she tries to lay down, only this morning. Physical exam was unremarkable,the dog was great, its ears were great, I send them home with the magical words monitoring and partially crying, partially laughing within myself).
Anyway, with the ear hematoma I had to solve next and the afternoon rounds, here I was, ready to go home at 5.30 pm. Which I did...knowing very well I am on call and anything can happen, but secretly wishing it will be quiet, I mean, I had already seen half of George Town that day already...!
So I had time (how God is ironic at times:) to dress up, and actually show for a lovely dinner invitation. Friends around, sparkling conversation;) and I actually had time to eat the salmon prepared by the lovely hungarian, (God is also merciful) and so I was enjoying the dinner and the people around me when....
the unavoidable happens and the phone rings.
I fled the warm dinner within 5 minutes, as it was an emergency, some body's dog had eaten a whole box of chocolates that afternoon while the owner was missing....and for you, non-veterinarian, you must know that chocolate is toxic to our canine friends.
And turns out, the owner brings along not one, but 2 (!) Labradors, that were alone with the offending box of now-gone chocolate.
We spent 3 hours together. Step one: making them vomit. We didn't know how much time had passed since ingestion, and even which one, so it was double trouble; since we don't have here for some reason that magical injection with apomorphine that makes them sick within minutes from the injection without fail (aargh, why not?! bloody regulations) I had to resort to the good old ways. So me and the owner were soaked , first peroxide, then a really saturated salty solution that we were administering orally to 2 very resentful doggies.
Peroxide did nothing, and salty water did the trick in one of them. The other one, stubborn as a mule. N-o-t-h-i-n-g. One of my colleagues has a trick thou, which I used succesfully as my last resort. A single IV full dose of cefazolin, and antibiotic that makes them usually sick if given fast IV. Which I did, which the dog did. Turned out she wasn't even guilty and only the other one had eaten the chocs.
Step two: giving them charcoal orally to absorb the potential remaining chocolate. The owners yellow shirt turned black, I was black, the dogs were annoyed, I was resigned by then knowing I won't make it back to the dinner....
Step three: IV catheters and starting them on IV fluids.
Step four: running a chemistry panel making sure all is Ok. Well, the innocent one was OK, the other one has a few values messed up, but not massively. I hoped the IV fluids will do the trick.
Step five: adieu to the owner (who happend at least to be a very nice and cooperative owner, kudos to him), writing my bill, and off I go, nearly midnight.
The night still had one surprise in store...(ha ha)...at 4.30 am the phone rang. A dog was giving birth and the owner was scared and wondering if the delivery was going well. I asked how much time had passed since the last puppy and she said, few minutes. Ok, I said, call me back in 2 hours if another puppy is not emerging. (Oh, please God, please God, make it alright and make her not call me back...zzzzzzzzz)
The phone didn't ring till next morning around 8.30,with another case (the dog's delivery went very well) when I was quite happy to say "yes, sure, bring it to the clinic" while I was driving myself towards there but only to drop that bloody phone off.....
...and continue with a quiet and sunny relaxing Carribean Sunday of doing almost nothing and soothing my nerves:)))) and pointed with an adventure of diving right outside 7 Mile Beach till underneath the before mentioned yacht so see it's anchor and sheer size from underneath.
Oh, how we have fun as vets:)))
Tuesday 6 January 2009
Where the rich and famous spend their holidays
Happy New Year to you all out there!
Latest news from this island out here coming up soon:)
With temperatures ranging from a max 28 C in the daytime and a minimal 24C in the nighttime, no wonder this piece of land is a winter haven, especially at this time of the year.
So, parked right outside 7 Mile Beach, for a few days now, this really large yacht has made its appearance and spent the whole holidays season.....
The picture is probably not doing it justice, but maybe you can get a more of an idea of the size of this baby if you related to the helicopter from the upper right corner.
This, ladies and gentleman, is the 20th largest yacht of the world, called Tatoosh, and belonging to the other Microsoft guy, Paul Allen. It is 300 feet long, helicopter and up to 6 other boats on board, swimming pool, private movie theater and a submarine. And has spent Christmas time in Grand Cayman.
Yes, ladies and gentleman, me and Paul Allen, on the 1st of January, where looking at the same turquoise waters. Me, basking in the sun in a balcony from 7 Mile Beach and looking towards his boat; him, basking in the sun on his yacht, looking towards 7 Mile Beach.
Well....good for me if I can say so myself:)
Of course I will pay very dearly this moments of self enchantment as you will read in my next post and remember myself that I am but a humble vet after all, but more of that in the post to come.
PS My Windows wanted to update so I said why not? Go and update. (although I am pretty sure I did this before...however this time I got caught. Caught for using a not-so-expensive romanian version of it, long story short; now I have a black desktop and the "this copy of windows is not genuine" label ...whatever...) I feel like telling the guy, come on, mate, we practically know each other since we both spent Christmas in the same location.... give me a break will you?!)
PPS Even this very rich guy must have its bad days. What's the use to have such a big boat, if not far from where he is at, the cruise ships park daily unloading their 2-3000 daily visitors. Even his huge boat fades in comparison to those mammut cruise ships:)
Latest news from this island out here coming up soon:)
With temperatures ranging from a max 28 C in the daytime and a minimal 24C in the nighttime, no wonder this piece of land is a winter haven, especially at this time of the year.
So, parked right outside 7 Mile Beach, for a few days now, this really large yacht has made its appearance and spent the whole holidays season.....
The picture is probably not doing it justice, but maybe you can get a more of an idea of the size of this baby if you related to the helicopter from the upper right corner.
This, ladies and gentleman, is the 20th largest yacht of the world, called Tatoosh, and belonging to the other Microsoft guy, Paul Allen. It is 300 feet long, helicopter and up to 6 other boats on board, swimming pool, private movie theater and a submarine. And has spent Christmas time in Grand Cayman.
Yes, ladies and gentleman, me and Paul Allen, on the 1st of January, where looking at the same turquoise waters. Me, basking in the sun in a balcony from 7 Mile Beach and looking towards his boat; him, basking in the sun on his yacht, looking towards 7 Mile Beach.
Well....good for me if I can say so myself:)
Of course I will pay very dearly this moments of self enchantment as you will read in my next post and remember myself that I am but a humble vet after all, but more of that in the post to come.
PS My Windows wanted to update so I said why not? Go and update. (although I am pretty sure I did this before...however this time I got caught. Caught for using a not-so-expensive romanian version of it, long story short; now I have a black desktop and the "this copy of windows is not genuine" label ...whatever...) I feel like telling the guy, come on, mate, we practically know each other since we both spent Christmas in the same location.... give me a break will you?!)
PPS Even this very rich guy must have its bad days. What's the use to have such a big boat, if not far from where he is at, the cruise ships park daily unloading their 2-3000 daily visitors. Even his huge boat fades in comparison to those mammut cruise ships:)
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