The Traveling Vet Mom

After 12 years of marriage, I've realized that all long-term intimate relationships require work, growth, and a willingness to change. Everyone experiences rough patches in their relationships; if they claim otherwise, they're deceiving themselves. Life is challenging, and living with the same person every day, sharing space, resources, and time can be difficult. We often get engaged with the expectation that marriage will be a smooth sailing journey. We believe that once we've found our life partner, the hard work is over, and we can coast along on love. However, reality sets in, and we realize that our chosen partner isn't the perfect image we once envisioned. For many, this realization can lead to distancing from each other and the growth of resentment within their hearts. I've been there, my husband has been there, and we've both experienced this firsthand. This realization spurred us to take action and address the issues in our relationship. We were no long...

I got spayed 6 weeks ago, well actually I got a hysterectomy due to some medical issues that were thank goodness NOT cancer related. When I started discussing this surgery with my doctor over a year ago, I was floored when she told me I had to take 6 weeks off of work for recovery! 6 weeks! I send my patients home within hours of surgery and they usually act like nothing happened the next day. We try to have owners reduce their activity for 12-14 days but I know in reality that does not always happen. So, I was shocked that I had to sit at home on my bum for 6 whole weeks! When I expressed this to my doctor, she just looked at me and said, "Well my dear I am sorry to tell you that you are not a dog."  Ok, I guess I can concede to that! It took a year with our insane schedule to figure out how sitting around for 6 weeks would work with our lives and my career.  And here we are in the home stretch of my healing. It has honestly been a great break to be able to be home for the s...

Waiting Is Not Easy by Mo Willems is one of my favorite books that I read to my kids, because it has such a good lesson in it. In case you have not had the pleasure of reading it here is the synopsis: waiting is frustrating and can cause a lot of agitation and distress but necessary. But in the end waiting can be worth it for the right thing. Waiting is not easy for any of us. It will bring out the worst in people. I had the opportunity to work over Memorial Day weekend. When I walked into the veterinary ER for my shift midday Saturday there was a 9 hour wait. This is obscene but not unheard of especially for a holiday weekend. Many general practices are closed, people are congregating and celebrating with their pets congregating with them. This leads to all sorts of emergencies from lacerations to toxicities. Then there is the extremely worried pet owner that just can’t imagine watching their dog scratch his ear for the next 3 days without help. A full waiting room with grouchy...

It is a shooting pain that starts mid back and follows my 8th rib around to the front on my right side, sometimes it is mild, sometimes it doubles me over. I have pain off and on along my ribcage since 2019. It is a nerve pain I have gotten since I had my lung lobectomy almost 5 years ago.  I was 35 years old with a 2 month old baby when I was officially told I had non-small cell adenocarcinoma in my lung. Lung cancer. I felt like I was hit with a freight train, like an alternate realty had just became my life. I am sure you are wondering as many people do when they realize I am a lung cancer survivor is how could this happen and how did you find out?  This is where luck plays a roll.  Rewind 2 more years to when we were trying to get pregnant. I have suffered from abdominal pain on and off due to a sensitive GI tract since I was a teenager. I was having one of these painful bouts and in the emergency room. To confirm that this was just my normal digestive problems and no...

Tonight I did acupuncture on a little poodle that has neurological symptoms from head trauma, meaning she currently cannot walk but is slowly improving with supportive care. She is doing great recovering with supportive care but acupuncture just adds some pain relief, helps her nerves to fire more easily, and stimulates her GI tract to keep moving. In the last 24 hours, I also went to a human acupuncturist and had my own acupuncture session for sciatica pain from a herniated disc that I've had for years. (shout out to Adriana Acupuncture in Miami-she was great!) My back has been an issue for 15+ years,  I have managed to avoid surgery by using chiropractic care, acupuncture, massage, inversion (both with a table I have and with aerial yoga), and an occasional steroid injection. Acupuncture has helped me with so many ailments over the years from my back pain and sciatica, to pelvic floor pain post-partum, and post-op thoracic issues after my lung cancer surgery.  I have been p...

Last week I had to perform a surgery to repair a surgical site that had come apart that another doctor had performed 5 days before. These surgical complications happen and I do not think the other vet was at fault at all. I truly believe this can happen to the best of us if we do enough surgeries.  Anyways, after I finished performing the surgery and rounding the other doctor, she asked for some advice to help her know how to prevent these complications from happening in the future. I gave her several tips and tricks I do when I perform surgeries to prevent me from having post-op complications such as knotting my suture line in multiple places, using stronger suture, and testing my suture line when I am done suturing. She was so grateful for my help and tips. This interaction made me stop and think a minute. Why do I perform all these fail safes in surgery?  Then it dawned on me, my anxiety that brings me turmoil in other aspects of my life has caused me to adapt to be a bette...