Memorial Day in the ER

It wasn't too bad. We were steady through the day, but most of our patients were treated on an outpatient basis. It was run-of-the-mill vomiting, diarrhea, lacerations, abscesses, and the like. Nothing that really got my heart pumping. That's not necessarily a bad thing. After my 7 day straight stint working my job AND relief, as well as the busy weekend spent with family, and an inability to sleep well...I was relieved not to be running around like a headless chicken.

I did see a kitty (and hospitalize it) that had eaten lilies the previous evening. He vomited them up in front of his owner today. Luckily, his kidney values were normal, and he was still concentrating his urine nicely when he got to us. I'm confident that with aggressive diuresis, acute renal failure can be avoided.

Relief work was interesting. The clinic is a 24 hour referral/emergency clinic. It's in a relatively affluent city, especially compared to where I work full-time. The clinic itself is beautiful - very upscale. It's a totally different working environment. In the 4 days I worked there, almost every single client took my recommendations. No one balked at finances. The vast majority of pets were vaccinated, up-to-date on heartworm preventative, and spayed or neutered. Contrast that with my job - where at least 50% of pets are not vaccinated, not spayed/neutered, and not on heartworm preventative. It's very different. Liberating and refreshing.

Still, I was relieved to be back at my job today, honestly. There's no place like home, after all...