Hello all!

For those of you that followed the blog, my apologies for not writing for a while. It’s been a big, busy year! I have been completing my various clinical rotations and placements, studying for and passing (YAY!) the North American Veterinary Licensing Exam (NAVLE), starting the job search, AND planning a wedding. It’s been stressful but also very exciting as I start to picture what life after vet school will look like for me, Kelsey, and Sagan.

I currently have a week off from rotations. I had planned to do a trip with some friends to Portugal, but given the current pandemic have decided not to travel. Instead, I am using the time to study, get things done around the house, and also take some time for myself to do things like write in my sad, neglected blog.

And today specifically, on a serious note, I’m taking time to think about and reflect on what March 17th means to me: today marks 5 years since an apartment fire completely changed my life.

Although it stirs up a variety of conflicting emotions, when I look back at it now, the thing that stands out the most is how thankful I am. After the fire, I had so many family, friends, and coworkers reaching out to me and providing support in any ways that they could. I always had a place to stay, care for my pets, and pretty much anything else I needed. My sister in law helped us look for a new place, my coworkers looked after our pets at the clinic as they recovered, aunts and uncles gave us furniture and household items, and so many kind people donated to help us get back on our feet. This amazing support is what made us able to be where we are today, 5 years later: living in Ireland, soon to graduate and start our careers.

So though I feel a bit stressed by the current situations in the world and the uncertainty that comes with them, I am thankful for what I have and where I am.

Stay safe, everyone. ❤

1. Dogs will eat ANYTHING…

Sometimes I am shocked by what a dog has eaten. Sure, we get the usual socks, underwear or toys – BUT – we have also seen some fairly unusual things. In my three years at the emergency clinic I have seen dogs that ate: an entire ear of corn, a whole tennis ball (as well as many pieces of tennis balls), a glass bowl in many shards, a meat thermometer, needles, hair clips, a doorstop and more. I have also seen many toxicity cases where dogs have gotten into chocolate, raisins, marijuana, rat poison, paint, super glue, medications, gum, coffee, etc. We really do see it all. One of my all time favorites was when an owner called to tell us that she had just seen her dog eat a squirrel whole. We induced vomiting and sure enough, there was the squirrel.

2. You Really Never Know What to Expect…

As with any emergency room, you have to try and be prepared for anything that may come in. This is definitely not easy to do as sometimes we don’t even get a call ahead. A quiet ER can turn chaotic in no time and emergency surgery is never out of the question. And sometimes, though you may work at a cat and dog clinic, an emergency is an emergency and you end up helping someone else…

3. Who Knew Urine Could Be So Interesting…

Microscopy has always been a fascinating area of science to me, and the veterinary field has a lot to offer in this regard. Blood smears, fecals, skin and ear cytologies, urinalysis- so much to look at and so much to learn. This may sound pretty gross to some of you and for that I apologize – but hey, that’s medicine for you. Since I started working at this clinic, I have learned so much from looking at these samples under the microscope on a daily basis. It’s incredible how much you can learn about a patient from a urine sample; through the urine specific gravity, dipstick and sediment, you can get indications of whether your patient has certain liver or kidney diseases, diabetes, bladder stones, infections and more.

Yes – this is urine. Color can tell you a lot about your pet’s health.

Struvite crystals found in urine.

4. Sometimes Teamwork is Life or Death…

Though I have always thought of myself as a team player, nothing is more important than teamwork when an emergency comes in. Everyone has to work together in order to save a patient. Performing CPR, drawing up medications, placing an IV – sometimes these things are all being done at the same time by a group of people to save an animal. Really listening to each other and working as a team  is incredibly important in these situations.

I’ve been lucky enough to work with an amazing group of people the past three years who have taught me the importance of working together as a team and a family.

5. This Career Path Can Be Heartbreaking…

You won’t be able to save every patient, and learning how to accept that there’s nothing more you can do is an important (and difficult) part of the job. Sometimes they will go too young or have something tragic happen; other times they will get cancer or some other terrible illness. Whatever happens, it’s always hard to lose a patient. We have many patients that have been coming to the clinic for years, and it’s wonderful to see them grow up with their families – but that makes it even harder to say goodbye.

6. … But it Can Also Be Incredibly Rewarding

Sometimes, though, we pull through and do the seemingly impossible. We’ve brought back pets that were coding, performed emergency surgery on patients that would have been gone within hours and put them on the road to recovery, and we’ve treated a myriad of illnesses from pneumonia to extreme toxicities. There’s little that is more rewarding than seeing the happiness and relief in an owner’s face when they realize that, seemingly despite all odds, their pet is going to be okay.

It isn’t all emergencies and illnesses, though. We have also been able to raise and re-home abandoned kittens that were brought to us, giving them loving homes and their new owners the joy of another family member.

Overall, I wouldn’t trade the years I have had at this clinic for anything. I took this job right out of college to see if veterinary medicine was the career path I really wanted and now I have no doubt.

There were a number of reasons I decided to put this journey into a blog:

1. To possibly help others in a similar situation
As I started looking into applying for veterinary school and everything it entailed, I felt overwhelmed. It helped to find people in similar situations on forums and blogs, and many of my questions – from the application process to the nature of interviews – were answered that way. Moving to a different country is a terrifying and exhilarating idea to me. Perhaps in this blog I will be able to answer some of the questions that come with such a huge change.

2. So that friends and family could follow me on this adventure if they so chose
It’s not always easy to keep up with someone in a different country. It’s also not always going to be possible for me to call everyone at home and tell them everything they may want to know about what’s going on here. Hopefully this blog can keep my loved ones up to date in-between calls and visits, and whenever they feel like checking in.

3. To have an outlet (if time allows) from studying/school
I’m cautiously optimistic in hoping that I will have some time for creative outlets such as keeping up this blog. I know, I know. I will be studying… a lot. BUT, people have to have a little fun, too! And I’ll be in IRELAND so I kind of need to get out there a little and explore and of course, write and post pictures about it on here for you!

4. For something to look back on when it’s all over
Of course I’ll have my memories but this blog could serve as a sort of scrapbook/diary of my thoughts, feelings and adventures throughout my stay in Ireland and my path through veterinary school.

So stay tuned, folks! Somehow, this is all really happening.