Facing Your Fears

Fear is a funny thing - it seems to disappear for me when life is good. I am where I want to be as an owner of a small animal and exotics animal hospital, I have the best staff in the world and I love them like family, I come home to the best two and four-legged family in the world, and life seems like it can't get any better. As I am sailing along, I notice that something seems off with JB, my oldest kitty, but life is good so I am sure it is nothing. I play this game with myself for a little while, then the veterinarian in me (who already knows what's wrong) tells my scared owner in me that I have to take him in to work. I get his bloodwork back and I am right - he is hyperthyroid and in renal failure. Fears turn to truth. What do you do in this moment? Everything else in your life fades to the background and you know you are going to lose this battle in the end, but then you get all your strength together and start fighting. Even though I am fighting, every night when he curls up in my lap I wonder if that will be the last time, will tomorrow be a bad day for him and I will have to love him enough to let him go?

To Cry or Not to Cry

I feel as if every patient that I see is part of my family, as if I am part owner. I just get really emotionally connected with my patients and my clients. Most of the time that is great because I get to enjoy all the wonderful moments either through my interactions or through photos. I get to watch a tiny, wiggly puppy grow up and see the joy that it brings to everyone. However, it also means that I take the not so wonderful moments just as hard as any pet owner would (or worse because I feel like a pet owner and a veterinarian and I have to accept that even with all the medicine in the world I can't save them all). This brings up my question or dilemma- to cry or not to cry. When I deliver bad news I do it after I have digested the bad news and gotten composure of myself. When I have to euthanize a patient, I feel like my heart is breaking and I just want to crumble, but I am the professional. Is it wrong to hold back all my emotions so I am the strong ones for my clients? Should I cry my tears in private? I don't know what I should do or what the owner needs from me. Bottom line - I want to give them what they need, but I don't know what that is. Any advice on to cry or not to cry?

Some Relationships Are Worth Fighting For

I have learned through the years that many people pass through your life for only a brief time and you are affected by every person that you bring into your life, no matter the time frame. Knowing this, I try to only bring positive people into my life because I take relationships very seriously. Once you are in my life, I will give you the shirt off my back if you need it. However, I have learned the hard way that is not how all people view friendships. Some people take things lightly - enjoy meeting for a dinner or drinks, but if it gets down to actually being there for one another they are in the wind. I have had to learn what relationships are worth fighting for and what aren't. I am a giver, I can't help it, it is just a part of me. However, it is the part of me that gets my heart broken most often in relationships because the only relationships that are healthy for a giver are ones with another giver. I am also a nurturing person, hence my job, and a character flaw I have is that I tend to be attracted to takers because they need nurturing. It is those people that need you in their life to serve a purpose, not just to be a friend, but to keep them stable or provide financial support or emotional support or help them find their legs. I try as I might, but it seems that I have made the mistake over and over again investing in takers. I am trying to let those people go because I find that if I am giving and they are taking, I get sucked dry and I am not good to anyone. On the flip side I have learned to fight tooth and nail for the amazing friendships I have with other givers. We may be separated by distance and may be at different points in our lives, but these are the people that would be there at 3 am when you are stuck on the side of the road and need someone to pick you up. These people are amazing people and I am so lucky to have them in my life (and be surrounded by them at my job). Sometimes I still get it wrong and end up with a taker and when I walk away, they never fight for me. They don't even blink an eye and that hurts. After everything that I invested in our relationship and everything they took without giving anything in return, I would think that they would fight for the friendship or at least feel badly that they used me, but sadly this isn't the case. Just another lesson learned. The lesson to really hold onto is that I should continue to cherish my friendships with other givers and always fight for them if something was to try to come between us. True friendship is often tested when things get dicey and life isn't easy and I am so blessed to have such a good support system that spans the nation. To all of you, I love you and thank God every day for having you in my life.

Taking Control of Your Dreams

I never in a million years thought I would be able to write this blog so soon. I came out of the womb knowing I wanted to be a veterinarian and that has never changed. However, the type of veterinarian I wanted to be and the role in the practice I wanted to play did evolve. I learned in veterinary school how much I enjoyed the challenge of exotic animals medicine and surgery. I learned after several years of practicing that I needed more knowledge in this field to do the very best job possible, so I went back to school and did my internship in exotics. Throughout this time I was always working as an associate and so I had no control over what the other associates did and that was really starting to bother me. I never envisioned myself being able to take that leap of faith and be a practice owner, especially not in these tough times. However, the more I thought about it, the more important it became to me to be able to practice how I believed you should practice. That meant I had to make that leap, so I did. I am now the proud (and scared out of my mind) owner of Elgin Veterinary Hospital (www.elginvethospital.com) right outside of Columbia, SC (my hometown). It has been so wonderful to be able to hand-pick the best staff in the world and have us all work as a team. This isn't my clinic - it is our clinic. I don't make decisions - we make decisions. We are not just co-workers, we are family and we have fun together every single day. We strive every day to foster that environment at the clinic. We want everyone that walks in the door to feel peaceful and loved. We want them to know that they are a part of our family and their pets are too. This means that we are going to treat every single person and pet as if they were our own. I also finally have control over the quality of medicine practiced - I am in a single doctor practice so it is me offering that quality care. I never have to worry about how an associate might treat a client, handle a scared patient, not offer the best treatment options, etc. I know that I put 110% into everything and that my goal is always to give the pet the best possible care. That also leads into prices, which before I had no control over, so I had to see animals go without care because they couldn't afford to do anything after paying the office exam, etc. I didn't get into this field to get rich, I did it to give a voice to the animals that have no voice, and make sure they are enjoying a good, healthy quality of life. My prices are most likely the lowest you will find around so it does make things tight when the cash flow isn't as high as you need it to be, but we will make adjustments as needed. However, our goal is to be sure that our prices are reasonable enough that everyone with an animal is able to provide it care. If veterinarians raised their prices to where they should be (in line with your physician, since we have to have the same equipment, same drugs, same staff, and just as much student loan debt) no one would be able to care for their pets because they don't have that 80/20 insurance. Veterinary medicine is a great value period, but when it comes down to it I know that by lowering my prices when able I am providing more animals the chance to have the care they deserve. You can have your dream become a reality, just watch how it evolves with time and when the time is right, take that leap of faith. I will never regret that leap and I could not be happier.