Dr. Engholdt

Dr. Engholdt

Inner Strength Will Get You Thru Anything

"If there's something you know you can do....but your mind keeps throwing up road blocks...just drive right through them!"

My Life As An ER Intern...

This is the story of my life as an Emergency & Critical Care Intern at the Animal Emergency Center. I wanted to start this page as a way for my family and friends to keep in touch with me. I have discovered that for the next year of my life, I will be a slave to this internship...you won't see me and possibly won't hear from me. I apologize already...and that is why I want to give something back to each and every one of you for standing by my side through what may be the toughest year of my life. I don't want to lose any of you...I want you to know what I am going through...I want you to experience it with me...so I have decided to place it all here within these pages. Please let me know what you are all up to...this will help to keep me sane...and it will give me a reason to smile on those days when I find myself locked inside the clinic bathroom cyring!! (yes it does happen...in fact the clinic bathroom is fast becoming my place of calm in the middle of what I like to refer to as Hurricane AEC)

I think about you all and I wonder what you are up to...I wish I could talk to each of you every day...especially on those days when I just need to hear a friendly voice. I want you all to know that without your support I will not make it through this year...so stick with me through the rough times because I think I see some clear skies ahead.

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

I'm back

Sorry I have not written in a while, have been really busy with work...long shifts...home just to sleep and then back to work as soon as I wake up the next day. I am on a string of 5 days on this week and it has been really busy and I am really tired and I still have two days to go. And the holiday weekend when no other vets were open...we got killed with cases!!! It was so busy on Monday night!!! Oh my god...and then of course at around 11:30pm when I am almost off and suppposed to be off the floor by this time...in walks a stat...a big old police dog German Shepherd bleeding profusely from both front limbs...had been working in the field and ran thru barbed wire and opened up both his carpal joints (wrists)...so of course, didn't start that surgery until 1am (keep in mind my shift was over at 12a)...Finished at 3:30am...then still had 5 inpatient records to type up....got out at 8am home to sleep for 2 hours and then back in again at noon yesterday...I was tired!!! I hate the hours...hate how busy it is sometimes!! Can't wait for my next set of days off here...Fri, Sat, Sun...So the surgery was cool though-he had completely torn his common digital extensor tendon (the one main tendon needed for movement of the limb) so had to repair that, then had torn right through both joint capsules, flushed very well with sterile saline and then closed the joint capsule and then closed the wounds...Also had a laceration on the chest that was easy to close...then I splinted the one leg with the torn tendon because he can't walk on it...going to be some long recovery for this guy....may not ever work again because may always be lame on that leg! Poor dog. What other cases have I seen? So many that I can't remember...saw a hit by car dog last night....no real external wounds...seems to be ok but monitored overnight anyway... Ok well I lost track of the time..I need to get ready to head back in for another day. God I am so tired. I just want a day off.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

The Story of the Five Balls

Imagine life is a game in which you are juggling five balls. The balls are called work, family, health, friends, and integrity. And you are keeping all of them in the air. But one day you finally come to understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. The other four balls - family, health, friends, integrity - are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered...either way, it will never be the same and may be lost forever. Be careful when life starts to get rough...juggle carefully. And, once you truly understand the lesson of the five balls...you will have the beginnings of balance in your life.