**Also - if you read my blog regularly, please become a follower. I know there are many lurkers out there, and I'd like to know who you are. I read your blogs too!
After yet another email from my retired English professor grandmother imploring me to follow my true calling (?? funny, I thought I was doing that), I have officially started working on my book. I've skimmed the market, found that veterinary medical books are very popular (Tell Me Where It Hurts, All Creatures Bright and Beautiful, etc) and have gleaned that there are no current books like the one I am writing. It's already coming together quite well after 5 hours of concerted effort and organizing.
Here is my question for you, my readers:
1) Would you rather read a book about veterinary medicine written as a cohesive, linear story - i.e. I got up, went to work, this happened, came home, this happened? Or would vignettes a la James Herriot with a grand, unifying theme be more interesting?
2) Would you read a book about veterinary medicine? I assume so, since you read my blog, but I'd like to know if you'd buy a book on the subject?
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Stories from the ER veterinarian world
DISCLAIMER
Any similarity between my stories and any person or animal, living or dead, is strictly a coincidence. Names, breeds, sexes, and details of the stories have been changed to protect the guilty and innocent alike.
About Me
- The Homeless Parrot
- I am an emergency veterinarian in North Carolina. Despite the crazy people I deal with, the awful cases of injured and sick animals, and the overall stress of emergency work, I absolutely love what I do. Happily married since I was 20, I have a wonderful husband who has a PhD in Mathematics, and a daughter around whom our world currently revolves. We also have a zoo living in our house that can be alternately wonderful and maddening. There are cats, parrots, and a dog who is very low on the totem pole. Our days are never dull and we are learning to balance the demands of work and family. If you'd like to contact me: homelessparrot@gmail.com
Sites for good veterinary medical information
Veterinary fantastic-ness
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a start8 years ago
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Building Walls8 years ago
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Don't try to get personal10 years ago
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Romantic Moment10 years ago
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Bird is the word
Human gross-ness
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I'm Well, and You?8 years ago
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Medical terminology
- Azotemia - elevation in kidney enzymes (BUN and creatinine) indicating dehydration, kidney failure, or urinary obstruction
- Lactate - a salt/ester of lactic acid that is produced as energy for a cell when oxygen levels are low. In critically ill animals, elevated lactate can be an indicator of inadequate blood flow to organs (perfusion), decreased delivery of oxygen, and/or decreased oxygen uptake. Values > 6-7 are usually considered to be poor prognostic indicators for survival.
- GI sloughing: when the cells lining the GI tract die (can be secondary to MANY things, including heatstroke) with resulting bloody diarrhea, bacterial translocation into the bloodstream and sepsis
- TTJ: transfer to jesus: code for when an animal needs to be euthanized or die
- DIC: disseminated intravascular coagulation: a very, very bad thing - when the hemostatic system gets out of whack, and clots start forming in the blood vessels until all clotting factors are wasted. once those are gone, internal hemorrhage ensues, followed by death, usually. also known as "death is coming"
- Pleural effusion - fluid contained in the pleural space (chest) - this is not the same as fluid in the lungs (see pulm edema) - in cats can be caused by infection in the chest, heart failure, cancer, FIP, feline leukemia, FIV, and in some cases, the cause is never found (idiopathic)
- Anisocoria - unequal pupil size (related to any number of causes including brain damage/head trauma)
- Laterally recumbent - lying on side, unable to rise
- Hyperglycemia - elevated blood glucose
- Hyperkalemia: elevated blood potassium - a life-threatening condition related to several disorders (kidney failure, antifreeze toxicity, urethral obstruction...etc)
- Sepsis - refers to a bacterial infection in the bloodstream or body tissues. This is a very broad term covering the presence of many types of microscopic disease-causing organisms.
- Nephrectomy - kidney removal
- Splenectomy - removal of spleen
- Pulmonary edema - condition in which fluid accumulates in the lungs, usually because the heart's left ventricle does not pump adequately ( can be caused by heart failure, electrocution, drowning, too many IV fluids, to name a few)
- Tick borne diseases - any of a myriad of diseases transmitted by ticks - including but not limited to Rocky Mtn Spotted fever, Lyme disease, Ehrlichia
- Fine needle aspirate - A method of sampling in which a needle is used to suck in cells or tissue bits for diagnoses (good for diagnosing masses/lumps)
- Blood glucose - The principal sugar produced by the body from food–especially carbohydrates, but also from proteins and fats; glucose is the body's major source of energy, is transported to cells via the circulation and used by cells in the presence of insulin (normal range in a dog/cat is 75-100)
- PCV - packed cell volume - the volume of packed red cells in milliliters per 100 ml of blood (normal range 35-45)
Diseases I see/treat frequently
- Dystocia - difficulty birthing. May be responsive to oxytocin administration (Pitocin, as in people) but may require c-section.
- DKA - diabetic ketoacidosis: the extreme end of the diabetic scale. A patient that is diabetic can develop DKA when other diseases make the blood glucose hard to regulate. Other diseases that are commonly associated include urinary tract infection, pancreatitis, pyometra, skin infection, and cancer. In DKA, the body starts metabolizing fat and producing acids that cause a drop in blood pH, nausea, weakness, severe dehydration, electrolyte derangments, and death.
- DCM - dilated cardiomyopathy: an idiopathic (cause unknown) cardiac disease in which the heart chambers become very thin/dilated, and cardiac output drops radically. Causes arrhythmias, tachycardia, and sudden death. Seen in large breed dogs like Dobermans, Great Danes, etc.
- Lymphoma - cancer of the white blood cells, the most common and treatable form of cancer in dogs
- Blocked cat - slang term for a male cat with a plug of mucus and crystals obstructing the urethra (fairly common in male cats) definitely a life-threatening because urine can't get out of the body! If present long enough, causes shock, acute renal failure, hyperkalemia (elevated potassium), coma, and death. Symptoms include straining in the litterbox, yowling while trying to urinate, producing small, bloody drops of urine (also symptoms of feline cystitis, a non-lethal condition)
- GDV - stands for gastric-dilatation and volvulus - a condition of large breed, deep-chested dogs (usually) in which the stomach rotates 180 degrees on its axis and thus - nothing can enter or leave, considered the "mother of all emergencies" - it warrants immediate surgery and carries a guarded prognosis
- IMHA - immune-mediated hemolytic anemia. A disease in which the immune system attacks the red blood cells and destroys them. It causes profound anemia and is life-threatening. Causes are primary (no known cause) and secondary ( tick borne disease, cancer, and heavy metal intoxication). Treatment is immunosuppression with drugs primarily. Prognosis is guarded at best.
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15 comments:
I think a unifying theme would be more interesting. :)
1) vignettes
2) I might read it but I would not pay for it.
Just like anything else, it's all in the execution. If it's well written and interesting, your reader's will come.
I'm an avid reader of books and blogs, as well as a published novelist (26 books and counting!) I love to read books like say... Marly and Me, Merle's Door - Lessons from a Freethinking Dog, Bark If You Love Me, and though those are entirely different from what you are proposing, I would buy a book about the life of a vet IF it was amusing or interesting and well written.
Are you thinking to go the traditional publising route - ie; a New York publisher? Or are you planning to self-publish on Kindle or something? That also would have an effect on whether or not I'd buy the book. THere is a guarantee of quality most times with traditional publishers.
Anyway, good luck and keep your blog readers posted, please!
This is so exciting! (1) I've enjoyed both formats. The problem with a cohesive story is that you need a theme but since you'll be writing about your life, a theme may not be present. Stories are easier because they're more like your life.
For example, I really love reading http://www.crazyauntpurl.com/. She recently wrote a book and while it was enjoyable, she was trying to force it into having too much of a theme.
(2) I would absolutely read it and pay for it.
1) If it's well-written and interesting, I wouldn't care in what form it was in.
2) I've paid for all the other veterinary books. I would pay for yours too. Most definitely. :D
I think I'd like a unifying theme better and I'd absolutely buy it :)
1. vignettes, as then I can read a chapter at a time, especially if it gets too sad (as I fear a vet book might become)
2. If I know it's by you, I'd buy it as I frequently buy books written by bloggers I read (wendy knits, crazy aunt purl) but if I wasn't already reading your blog, I'd most likely try to get it at the library first.
How exciting for you! Good luck as you go through the process!
Oh I would buy it for sure. I love to read.
A unifying theme would be nice but vignettes would be great and might be easier for a first book.. I look forward to it however you decide to write.
I would read either, though I feel the cohesive linear format (like Tell me Where it Hurts) is better at keeping my attention and makes it hard to put the book down. I also like vignettes, but they tend to not be as gripping, in my experience.
And I would absolutely pay for your book! I already own several veterinary medicine themed books and would love to add to the collection!
Thanks for the positive feedback...it made my day - esp after my night at work! Interesting stories to come...
I love reading books on the life of Vets. One I recently read was about life as a country vet. It was humorous, heartwarming and I didn't want to put it down.
I wouldn't buy a book on vet medicine and the details involved in knowing the anatomy of pets. But I would buy a book on the day in and day out adventures that vets run into.
Hope this feedback helps.
unifying theme for sure! and I would definitely read it. I already own and have read several.
I think the James Herriot type chapters. I'd read it, after all I'm also living it myself!
Vignettes - but also the linear story.
Yes I would not only pay for it but would purposely look for it. You have a lovely easy writing style - love this blog it's my favorite one.
Best of luck!
Thank you for all the positive and helpful feedback. I'll keep you posted on the proceedings. Thus far, I have about 25 pages collected and organized.
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