Updates

Okay I am horrible at this whole "blogging" thing. I always forget to write and half the time I am too busy to anyway. So I guess that I will start with what has happened since my last blog:

C was in the hospital overnight, mostly for observation, on Nov. 21st because of eating one of his grandmother's blood pressure pills. Trust me, he ate it. One of the side effects is drowsiness and C couldn't keep his eyes open. They hooked him up to an IV line, blood pressure cuff, pulse ox, and EKG leads and gave him activated charcoal (try to get a baby who is falling asleep to drink that either on his own or via syringe and see how much fun you have). By evening he was starting to act like his old self. I stayed with him overnight and by morning he was literally doing somersaults on his bed. When his doctor checked on him Saturday morning, she pronounced him back to normal. She also told him that she did not want to see him again until his 24 month well-baby check up. We'll see how long that lasts (but we will truly try to keep him out of trouble).

Thanksgiving was in there somewhere as well. I was on-call and, fortunately, the phone was quiet all day Thursday. I had to help Dr. N medicate a mean and nasty feral cat that is staying at our clinic for her 10 day quarantine (and got all her teeth pulled - for a different reason) after biting her owner, and not having a rabies vaccination history. After that fun, we went to my grandmother's house in Townsend. Where a bunch of my family was as well, including my parents - who insisted that I go, even though I wasn't planning too because I was on-call (Dr. N helped me out there as well and offered to see anything that may need to be seen while I was in Townsend, but I still had to answer the phone). R wanted to make the mashed potatoes (although he really wanted to do the whole dinner at our house, but c'est la vie) and brought a pot of potatoes already pealed and cut up and ready to cook to my grandma's house. We had a great time.

My on-call shift was busier than it has been. I got called out Friday night to look at a colicing horse. For anyone who doesn't know, colic is a generic term for abdominal pain in a horse and there can be numerous causes but it is a true emergency because the horse can twist a gut and die quickly. Fortunately this was a mild, mild colic and he was eating again by the time I left. Saturday morning I got a call while I was already at the clinic taking care of the animals (and running blood work for the horse from the night before), about a dog with an upset stomach, which is doing great now. Sunday night was the funnest night of all. I got a call from an owner of a black lab, who says the dog's abdomen seems larger and tighter than normal and who has been trying to vomit but doesn't seem able to. This is a true emergency, too, because it is the symptoms of a GDV (gastric dilatation volvulus) or a twisted stomach that occurs mostly in deep-chested breeds of dogs and seems to happen most frequently when they eat too quickly and get a lot of air in the stomach, but can occur at other times as well. By the time I got there the dog had vomited, GDV goes lower on the list. I still do abdominal radiographs (x-rays) and there might be an intestinal blockage, so I run a barium study to check for a blockage. A barium study involves giving the patient barium (it is almost as easy to give a dog as activated charcoal is) and taking radiographs immediately follow ingestion of the barium, then at 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, then every hour until the barium has reached the colon. By the 2 hour mark the barium reached the colon, this puppy was not obstructed. Just had indigestion coupled with motion sickness (owner and he had just finished a car trip from North Dakota). So he went home, but I was at the clinic until after 11:00 p.m.

Yesterday was C's recheck with the orthopedist. Everything is A-okay. His toe is healing in perfect alignment and we don't have to go back, unless he breaks something else (fingers crossed that he won't). I did forget to mention that C got a very nice afghan at the hospital from Project Linus. R.L. also got one when he was in the hospital (back in 2004) for RSV and the start of his asthma problems. Here is some information about Project Linus:
Project Linus is comprised of hundreds of local chapters and thousands of volunteers across the United States. Each volunteer and local chapter all work together to help us achieve our mission statement, which states:
First, it is our mission to provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new, handmade blankets and afghans, lovingly created by volunteer “blanketeers.”
Second, it is our mission to provide a rewarding and fun service opportunity for interested individuals and groups in local communities, for the benefit of children.
Together we have distributed over two million blankets to children in need since our inception in 1995.

I need to get more information about them and how I can help contribute. I like to crochet and I would love to donate some blankets to those kids in need of a "security blanket".

That brings us up to today, ta-dah!! Today is a slow day at work, mostly because it is snowing. Yesterday it was in the 50's and it was snowing by morning. Yesterday Dr. N made a comment that there was a winter storm advisory in effect for us starting this morning and continuing until tonight and I said, "It's about time." It has been a dry "fall" for us, usually we have snow by Halloween - and this one was dry and warm, very unusual. We always say that you know you are from Montana if you design your children's Halloween costume to fit over their snowsuit, but not this year. I guess that is all, I think you are all caught up.

Any questions, comments, or concerns - can be listed on your own blog. Have a nice day!