My First Surgery

So, I had a post about raid leading and my leadership skills self evaluation written up, but I wanted to share something exciting to me. I did my first surgery! A castration, simple enough. I was primary surgeon, but thanks to my awesome surgery team who kept me straight and laughing so I didn’t overworry. 

We had a cute little dog, ~ 6 year old small mix breed. Small enough that we had to use a non-rebreathing system, so we had to figure that out. I am not looking forward to being the anesthetist for our group, they had probably the toughest job. Certainly the most paperwork. My job was easy- do the cutting and suturing, then stay with the patient until he woke up. My awesome team did all the cleaning and repacking of the surgery pack and packed my gown for me too. We ended up being first in and first out. I certainly wasn’t aiming to move fast, and really since we got our dog on the table at 9:30 and finished probably 45 minutes later, fast would certainly not be a descriptor many people would use. I was checking with my instructors- cut here, tear that, does my closure look good?

But Alvin came through, he’s awake and walking around and looking normal. Just have to check on him tomorrow morning, then he goes home. I’ll call the owner over the weekend to check his progress. He was a good dog to start with, small, no issues, and well behaved for us.

Here’s hoping the rest of our surgeries go as well this term.

I was a tad surprised when I went to the bathroom to learn my name tag on my cap was upside down and no one told me. Made me giggle though. I’m just glad it’s done. Once I got back to my room to lay down I discovered I was sore- I think I was just so tense and worried at first. But I was fine, I didn’t feel faint or lightheaded at all, which I was really worried about.

Things you learn in vet school: “There’s a nice little company called Skulls Unlimited, which is just what it sounds like.” To practice dental radiographs.