Oh my.

Yesterday was a ridiculously crazy day. I had:

- A full appointment schedule
- 2 kitten spays
- 3 4 unanticipated emergencies (1 decompensating cancer patient, 1 vomiting and limping, 1 blowout vomiting and diarrhea with a VERY challenging owner, and one anesthetic emergency during one of the spays)

I ate my lunch at 6:30 pm. Oh, and I got my period too - fortunately I had the supplies on hand to deal with that.

The combination of all of these factors made me extraordinarily grumpy (however my mood improved quite a lot once I actually got to EAT). Looking at the bright side of things, though:

- I finished both spays in about 25 minutes each - so I'm getting more efficient, and both kittens did well post-operatively
- I generally DO have a full appointment schedule, which is pretty awesome considering the economy and that fact that I'm still a new grad
- I successfully channeled all of that stress into cleaning the house and kicking butt on a very challenging workout today
- With the exception of 1 appointment (the one with the challenging owner), I felt as though everything got handled very well and the clients were happy

Today was a nice chance to sleep in and relax. Tomorrow will likely be busy again!

Conquered

Dr. Boss asked me to spay and neuter their foster kittens since I have a lot of experience with pediatric surgery - I did and they went well.

Today I did 6 rope climbs (20' high) in crossfit. Did I mention that I'm terrified of heights?

It's been a pretty good week for doing things that I'm afraid of.

Old and new friends

Sunday I went to a baby shower for one of my vet school friends. It was great to catch up with everyone! Some were finishing up internships and about to start new jobs, others were in the process of buying their first house, and everyone seemed happy and settled in their new lives. This was a stark contrast to a year ago when we were all scared newbie vets, much less 5 years ago (!) at vet school orientation when we were all wondering what exactly we had gotten ourselves into!

Later that afternoon we had a party at work to celebrate the first anniversary of the hospital. That was fun too - seeing people out of their scrubs and talking about non-work-related things was a nice change.

I wish I wasn't so ridiculously shy sometimes because days like those are great, but I'm too afraid to set up social events. Instead I rely on others to make the arrangements.

Well, today is going to be pretty busy at work - better finish my coffee and get ready!

Happy 1-year to me!

Tuesday marked my 1-year anniversary as a practicing veterinarian. Whoa.

I've learned a TON over the past year - things like:
- Common skin masses and what their cytology looks like (things like histiocytomas weren't covered very well in school)
- Perfecting my "canine allergic skin disease" talk
- How to perform a cysto without ultrasound guidance
- Getting a LOT more skilled at drawing blood from the jugular vein (hey, I learned on peripheral leg veins and was much more comfortable with those)
- How to pretend I'm confident (even when I'm not) in front of clients (and then research the crap out of it later so that I actually come up with a good answer for them)
- I'm apparently pretty good at euthanasias (got another thank-you card this week for one)
- What my standards of medicine/care and ethics are (hint: not a good fit with my previous clinic)

Looking forward to the future now that I'm (finally) doing what I was meant to do!