Life Lessons

So somedays I learn lessons in my life away from the clinic that I take back to the care of my  patients and my clients.  Their is truly no substitute for life lessons.

My 6-year-old daughter began to have stomach cramps Saturday afternoon which led to multiple episodes of vomiting which led my wife and I to take her to urgent care. There, we were expecting to get something to help with the vomiting and pain and go about nursing her through this. Unfortunately, the urgent care physician almost immediately told us that an appendicitis was likely and we immediately needed to run some bloodwork and potentially needed a CT scan and surgery in the morning.

Wow! This knocked both my wife and I back.  The thought of surgery for my daughter was a shock.  It brought on so many emotions, but I was mostly scared and I felt like I had no control over the situation. I had to rely on the doctor’s recommendations, a doctor of whom I’d ever met before that night,  and move forward.

Lesson #1

      It is a privledge for people to allow myself and my team at the clinic to care for their pets (patients). A client’s trust in a doctors is amazing and I need to remember that everyday.

Lesson #2

      Doctors see and speak about medical illnesses and treatments everyday.  Surgery is a word spoken without regard because it is commonplace.  As much as I try to now, I should be more empathetic when discussing potential diagnoses and tretment plans.  Significant surgery is not common for our clients and is a big deal for any patient.

My daughter had her blood checked and treatment began on Saturday.  Bloodwork was kind of marginal (not bad enough yet for surgery) and we planned on monitoring for 24 hours.  Luckily, she began to get better on Sunday, and did not need any further treatment or any surgery. 

We did find out that it was just a stomach flu,  not food poisoning,  not an appendicitis.  I made this diagnosis myself on Sunday evening at approximately 11 pm when I started vomiting and did not stop  for several hours.  I eventually needed IV fluid therapy, but recovered pretty well in 24 hours.

Lesson #3

    Six year old children are walking petri dishes just waiting to get you sick.  Love you Ally!

Welcome

Let me start with who I am.  I am a graduate of Texas A & M University ( Go Aggies, Beat Texas) BS in ‘97 and Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine in 2000.  Now I grew up with a grandfather that ranched all of his life even today and my father who ranched, farmed and eventually settled in the oil fields of West Texas.  I was very active in my local FFA, showing lambs, steers, and yes, chickens at county shows and some major ones like the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. I also did a lot of leadership and judging throughout my high school years.

Today, I practice medicine with dogs and cats and a few exotics, mostly pocket mammals. So how did I get to Northern Colorado from that background?

I got into vet school and discovered that I really love small animal medicine and surgery.  The level of medicine was limitless and more pet owners are able to reach those levels.  I also love the individual care and relationships with owners and their pets.

I also met my love and future wife while in vet school.  A woman who loves the Rockies, snowsking and much cooler weather than south Texas.  So here I am in all my glory, co-owner and only doctor in this practice.

This blog, I hope, can be a place for honesty, where we can learn and share experiences about our pets. I will give my slant on care and health for all of our four legged family members.

Thank you for checking this out and I look forward to your questions and comments.