Saturday, 25 April 2015

This week marks 4 weeks since I returned to the states to resume my residency. Over the last few months veterinary medicine was farthest from my mind and I had been focused on protecting my family and the grieving process. Since arriving back I have struggled a little with my focus of my veterinary medicine residency to what sometimes seems like an archaic and futile process....

2 weeks ago, I was transferred an 11 week old puppy who weighed just 300 grams. He was hypothermic, hypoglcaemic and anaemic and in truth seemed not long for this world. His owners however, were true believers, not in me, but in the process of trying and seeing what happens. 2 blood transfusions later, intravenous fluids, intravenous antibiotics as well as some complications like sepsis and getting him to eat we discharged him today into his owners care.......He had doubled his body weight and was eating and behaving like a puppy should. His wife hugged me and simply whispered in my ear "Thank you for saving both the men in my life".....

Turns out her husband has had a gamete of medical problems and has faced an uphill struggle of finding people just to try and see....... I'm telling this story not to highlight anything except that sometimes the textbook should be abandoned and evidence based medicine should be put aside and we should just have a crack and give it a go........

I think J.R.R Tolkien sums it up the best

"Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens...."

Just a dinosaurs impression........

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