Two for three during the wintry week

Busy, busy week back at work. I got home from NAVC on Thursday afternoon. I finally caved and took a Xanax to fly. I've only ever taken Xanax once in my life, and it was also to fly. Since then, I've been fine on planes. I knew I would be apprehensive about this flight though because of the cloudy, rainy weather. Take-off was nerve-wracking, as always, and I just assumed the tiny dose of Xanax I took didn't work (0.25mg for anyone interested). As it turns out, it must have worked some. I failed to notice that many people on the plane were vomiting due to the turbulence (pointed out to me after landing by my somewhat shaken flight companion). The turbulence itself didn't even phase me. Go figure. Oh, and the fact that our plane taxiied out to the runway, then had to taxi back to the gate for flap repair, and we were delayed over an hour didn't phase me either.
What I left:



So, I got back Thursday night, started back to work Friday night. I've worked the last 6 nights out of 7. It's been hectic. Saturday night, I had a lovely 18 month old Bull mastiff with a fluid distended stomach. I removed a rubber ball from her intestines. The next night, I had a dachshund that liked to eat acorns. I removed that from the small intestines as well. Both patients are doing great at home and I consider them successes to add to my list.

Last night was my final night, and I had another patient with acute vomiting, history of eating multiple foreign bodies, and progressively worsening gastric dilation with fluids on xrays over several hours. The radiologist said point blank, "if this was my dog, I would cut." I felt the same way. You can guess what happened...we cut...and there was nothing. We released the evil spirits and closed the dog back up. I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate doing negative exploratory surgery. Its costs the owners a lot of money, which can be stressful in this economy, it puts the animal at risk for post-operative complications (I had to open the stomach in this case to examine the contents, which turned out to be a lot of kibble, fluid, wood chips, and hair - but no obstruction), and carries the risk of anesthetic death. It's something every vet does and something most vets HATE. I am no exception. So, of course, I go back over the evidence and convince myself I should have known better...and of course, surgery could have waited...and blah blah blah.

I'm off for 4.5 days, and I need it desperately. I'm so tired right now my chest hurts. The weather is FABULOUS for staying indoors. The roads are ice/slush, there is 2-3 inches of white powder in front yard, and I don't have to do anything until Wednesday night. I'm happy. I'm one of those people that still gets giddy like a child when I see snow.

Cardinal sentinel:



Some pictures of the "beautiful" weather we're having, as well as one of the beautiful weather I just left. The bird congegration was taken through the screen porch door so as not to disturb the fluffies. At one point, there were 15+ birds in that tree including 2 female cardinals, 2 male cardinals, a blue jay, a mockingbird, a robin, and a couple I didn't recognize. Oh and a lonely chickadee.

Porch kitty demonstrating her kitty door (and delicate, feline sensibilities about getting her paws damp):