Exotics

My clinic has been heavily publicizing the fact that I also see small exotic mammals (rabbits, rats, guinea pigs, chinchillas, and the like). As a result, I have been getting a lot more appointments booked for those animals. It's interesting and I like working with most of them* but it is also stressful. Unlike with cat and dog appointments I don't have a mentor readily available to help when I get stuck on a case. If it is anything other than hair loss, wounds, or respiratory infections then it is probably a brand-new problem to me and I have to look things up. Finally, I don't yet have a ll of the drugs and equipment I would like - admittedly a more minor issue.

I'm just doing the best that I can, asking old classmates for help when needed, and trying to not obsess over whether my way of treating something is "the right way" of doing it. The fact of the matter is, as long as I have sound reasoning behind my treatment plan then I should be helping the patient at least a little. It may not be THE optimal plan from the get-go, but I always schedule rechecks that help me make course corrections if needed. It's just taxing, that's all.

This week we are headed to Phoenix for D's grandmother's 95th birthday. I've never met her so that should be nice. I also finally was able to do pistols (1-legged squats) today!



*I'm not such a fan of undersocialized exotics who like to bite me (usually mice and hamsters)

Burned, Murph, and lots of neuters

Last week's surgeries went well. I performed 6 uncomplicated surgeries at the shelter on Tuesday morning and one uncomplicated spay on a fat 6-year-old dog at work on Wednesday! The one at work had me sweating quite a lot. When a dog is older and has a lot of fat in the abdomen it is very difficult to see important things like arteries. When you tighten your ligatures they disappear into the fat and it's disconcerting when you can't SEE your knots tighten nicely. Your gloves get covered with a slippery oily film so you have to keep wiping your hands on a towel. They have more vessels in the broad ligament you have to deal with. All in all it's a huge pain in the bee-hind.

Over the weekend we went to the Crossfit regionals. It was SO fun! Several of our coaches competed, and 2 of them are going to the Crossfit Games this summer, which is a big deal. Our region is a notoriously difficult one with a ton of good athletes so it's even more impressive. I ended up getting quite the sunburn while spectating, however. Should have applied another layer of sunscreen, I suppose.

Monday I had the day off and for Memorial Day we did a hero workout at Crossfit. This one was called "Murph":
1 mile run
100 pull-ups (I used an assistance band)
200 push-ups (I did them from the knees)
300 air squats
1 mile run
At the 40 minute mark they had us stop our pull-ups/push-ups/squats and go for the second run, so in 50 minutes I did:
1 mile run
95 pull-ups
190 push-ups
285 air squats
1 mile run
I'm a little bit sore today :)

Yesterday I went to the shelter again and lost count of how many kitten neuters I performed. We totaled 50 surgeries for the day, which is a record. They are trying to get as many surgeries as possible performed before this weekend because they are having a huge adoption event.

Getting the routine

I still really like the new job. Some days it's a little slow, but days like today are great. Most of my cases today were really interesting (intestinal foreign body, fluid-distended abdomen, fever and lethargy, and a few others) and I am learning a ton by working with the other doctors!

I'm still figuring out the computer system, which lab tests are which, and things like that but overall I think it is going well. The only down-side is that I don't get to do as much surgery as in my previous job. The up-side is that I see a lot more complicated medicine and emergency cases than I used to.

The Crossfit open is going fairly well. Last week's workout left me coughing and sneezing (a sure sign of a tough workout for me aerobically) and this week's workout was challenging - I didn't get a high score because I haven't (yet) mastered toes-to-bar. Oh well!

Crossfit Open 13.1 and 13.2

Remember when I said I'd signed up for the Crossfit Open? Well, I've now completed 2 of the 5 weekly workouts.

Workout (WOD) 13.1 involved 2 of my least-favorite movements: burpees and snatches. The burpees were REALLY hard both on my lungs and on my arms. I managed to finish the first set of snatches but didn't finish the second set. I wish I had been able to do more but my arms just would not cooperate. Considering my 1 rep max for the snatch is 80 pounds or so, managing to heft up 75 pounds a few times was pretty good. Final score: 105

13.2 was more my thing: lifting a barbell overhead from the shoulder (you could do it a number of ways), deadlifts (my very favorite thing in the world!) and box jumps. I decided to use push jerks to get the bar overhead because 75 pounds is pretty heavy for me, and I did a few box jumps before quickly switching to step-ups. Had a wicked allergy attack afterward, which usually happens when I have an all-out cardio effort. Final score: 205

All in all, I'm happy that I've been able to complete the WODs as prescribed - normally I have to scale weights back. If past years are any indication then I might not be able to do some of the later ones as prescribed.

Tomorrow I go back to work after 3 days off. I'm looking forward to it, and not just because I'm bored out of my skull here at home!

5 more days - and why did I sign up for that?!

Only 5 more days at the current job, thank goodness! In one way it's easier to deal with all the madness and BS knowing that I'm leaving, but on the other hand these seem like some of the longest days I've ever spent there.

I also signed up for the Crossfit open. Frankly I'm not even sure I will be able to complete all of the workouts but thought it would be a nice challenge - plus it's not very expensive to register, so what the heck. I've no illusions about making it to any sort of competitive level (regionals or obviously the Crossfit Games) - just want to keep pushing myself.

It will be nice to have that week-and-a-half off between jobs too. I'm still going to the new place once a week and still love it, so that's good!

Pull-ups

I got my first unassisted kipping pull-up today. Hopefully an unassisted strict pull-up won't be far behind!