Lists

They're my life, as if they weren't before.

You'll get a list today. I make one every day so I don't forget what I need to do with  my patients.

Things I plan on doing in the near (and not so near) future:
- Spend 6-8 weeks in Australia this January. Yep.
- Become a pro at ultrasound. Both abdominal and echo.
- Adopt a senior Labrador. As long as Tanzi approves.
- Play volleyball doubles this summer with a friend. Like a boss.
- Write a research paper on alternative methods of rendering dogs/cats infertile. For example, an ovariectomy instead of an ovariohysterectomy.
- Grow lots of fun plants in my backyard. Then eat some of them.
- Start a collection of signatures from family, friends, and people I meet who are interesting. Yours could be the first.
- Take more pictures.
- Possibly, if you're lucky, write blog posts on a more frequent basis.

Now, pictures!

Roses from our front yard

If only we could hear her thoughts

We enjoy gorgeous afternoons on the deck

How do you get Tanzi to lift up her ears? Just whisper "dinner".

Diversity is the spice of life?

I'm always getting my sayings mixed up.

Anyway, here is a quick run down of the surgeries I've helped with recently...

TPLO: Cut the tibia into to pieces, move them, drill a plate into the bone pieces to stabilize them.

Hemilaminectomy: Remove part of the spine to access the spinal canal and scoop out herniated disc material.

Arthrocentesis: less exciting. Put needles into a joint, then lavage.

Tumor removal with axial pattern skin flap (skin graft): Short story, the dog now has nipples on his leg. Seriously.

And on tomorrow's schedule... a thoracotomy to explore and treat a pyothorax. Basically, we're cutting open the chest to remove pus from between the lung lobes and going searching for a foreign body. Yippee!

I'm also going to leave you with the most awesome "pick-up" line from my friend Megan.

Person 1: "How much a polar bear weighs?"
Person 2: "Uhhh... how much?"
Person 1: "Enough to break the ice..."

Yep. Enjoy.