Ugh part tres

Like all good trilogies, this one should wrap up the dangling threads of the previous 2 installments and restore the heroine to her rightful state of bliss, or at least contentedness.

Work: Last Saturday we had an emergency come in. A very sick cat stopped breathing as one of the Dr.s was examining her. So she was rushed into the treatment area and resuscitation measures begun. People, I intubated that cat without any light to see by and then I got a catheter in her tiny, collapsed vein. I'm not bragging when I say these are things only a skilled, experienced vet tech can do. It's just fact. To be honest, I'm a little amazed with myself.

Romance: The young man I was talking about in the last intallment (henceforth to be known as "M") emailed to apologize. Then he asked if we might meet again. If he were anyone else I wouldn't have bothered to respond. But I couldn't say no. And when offered 2 choices of times I chose the earlier one, even though I'm not usually up until an hour or so after said time. (it wasn't crazy early, I just sleep late due to my work schedule) I'm so infatuated with this man, I can barely think straight. Dear readers, those of you who pray, please...I need prayer all over this relationship. Either he is The One or he's really going to break my heart.

canine diabetes insipidus

Well, we figured out what's going on with Sweetie. She's got a rare disorder called Diabetes Insipidus. I copied the following from vetinfo.com.

Diabetes Insipidus

Diabetes insipidus is a disorder in which the kidney is insensitive to a hormone, called anti-diuretic hormone (ADH) or in which there is not sufficient quantity of this hormone available. The result is excessive drinking and urination, or polydipsia and polyuria. This is one cause of changes in urinary habits that leads to problems with urination inside the house in dogs in which "housebreaking" seemed to be satisfactory prior to the disease onset.

ADH is secreted by the body when it has a need to conserve water. It makes the kidneys work harder to conserve water, which makes the urine more concentrated. When the dog can not respond to this hormone or doesn't make enough of it, the dog can not concentrate its urine. This can lead to serious problems, including death, if the dog does not have access to large quantities of water. On the other hand, it may not cause any significant problem if there is always plenty of water available. This problem can occur for a number of reasons and for no reason at all.

I'm not unhappy with this diagnosis. It's good to know what's going on with her, and not really that difficult to manage.

Ugh: part 2

You know what, it's been a rotten couple of days.

I took my 11 year old pug to work with me yesterday to try and figure out why she's been drinking and urinating more than usual. All of the tests I ran on her were inconclusive. On the one hand that means that there's probably nothing drastically wrong. On the other hand, if I don't know what's wrong, I can't fix it either.

I lost a patient yesterday. He was in for a procedure to fix a problem that was making him sick. It was a procedure that had to be done, or else he wouldn't have survived for more than a couple more days. The anesthesia went well, and although the procedure was more complicated than usual, due to him being obese, it was ultimately successful. The doctor had stepped away, I had the patient on pure oxygen and was giving him fluids under the skin. And he just went into cardiac arrest. We did CPR on him for about a half an hour before we had to give up. Depressing and frustrating.

I thought I was going to have a 2nd date with this incredible guy tomorrow. I was so excited about this guy. I never let myself get excited about anyone, especially this early. But I did. We had a wonderful first date. He emailed last week asking when I'd like to meet again. I sent him a suggestion right away for tomorrow and I haven't heard from him since.

Then, of course, the paper from my last post. I thought I was completely prepared to write it. I'd read all the assignments, or so I thought. I'm a fairly confident writer and I had all day, so I wasn't really worried about getting it done today. Then this morning I just could not get out of bed. Wasted a good portion of the day. But I still had more than enough time, I thought. So I got my source materials out and sat down with the essay questions. Which asked me to draw heavily on a book I hadn't read. Somehow I missed that in the reading assignments. So I sat staring a the blinking curser for a while before I gave up. It's just not happening today, it's going to have to be late. What a great start to my second career.

A friend invited me over to her home today. I didn't really want to go, but I knew I needed to get out of the house. At the end of her driveway is a fire hydrant. Which I managed to back into. I jury-rigged it with the string from my hoodie, so I was able to drive home without my back bumper dragging on the road. This is going to cost me money I don't exactly have, because...

Before I went to Kevin's wedding I went to the office manager and asked to use up my personal days on this vacation. I planned my budget accordingly. Well, my paycheck did not have my personal days on it, just the one day that I'd worked before I left. I, very nicely, brought this to the office manager's attention. Still, nothing was done. And now my checking account is in the negative. My paycheck tomorrow morning had better be nice and fat. I have worked too hard to get my credit back in shape... Not to mention that I still owe Mom money for the dog kennel and my bumper is going to cost a fortune.

Ugh

I have an essay due today which I've been largely ignoring because of Kevin's wedding. Now that I've actually sat down to write it, my brain is refusing to kick into gear.

if I could go right now...

pic from Kevin's travel blog

Kevin and Jess are keeping a travel blog. One of the hotels they're staying at in Singapore has a rooftop swimming pool...

Kevin's wedding

birthday present!

My parents got me a shiny new digital camera for an early birthday present! Which means lots of new pictures for my blog! Yay! (oh, how I pity you, dear readers)




Larry the beta says hello


Larry the beta again

Chase in the backyard

Ellie

one of my patients

the reception area at work

the governer's mansion


the Kansas sky

Let's see, lots of stuff coming up. I may have a date later this week. I'm trying not to let myself get too excited...but that's not working so well. The young man in question seems a little too good to be true; interesting, responsible and above all in love with God. I guess we'll see...

Next Thursday I and most of my family will be on a plane to Florida. Kevin and Jessica will be getting married in the Florida Keys on the 13th, as I may have mentioned one or two thousand times already. :o)

Then, on the 20th I will be volunteering at the Black Cat Ball, which is a fundraiser the humane society is throwing to raise money for a desperately needed new building. I'll be working registration, so I'll be free to enjoy most of the festivities! I don't have to buy a ticket, but I do have to buy a formal gown, fun but expensive!

On a related note, I think I'll be staying with my parents for a while longer. I'm already having a little trouble on the months my tuition payments are due, and I'm hoping to take a heavier load next semester. There's no way I can do that and a mortgage as well. I could take out more loans and defer the student loans I already have, but with seminary on the horizon that doesn't seem like a good idea. I'll certainly be making a higher salary as a chaplain, but it's not that much higher. Besides, my parents and I seem to like having each other around.

pro deo et patria

I got this off of one of the military chaplain blogs I read. I'm not sure why, but I cried and cried the first time I saw it.