Tag: Pain Management
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Different spoons
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An obvious statement, but as a creature of habit on several fronts its taken me a while to realise that one of my usual non-negotiables in life has to go. Speaking as a spoonie, this is a biggie, but I have cancelled my gym membership and don’t think I’ll be starting another one any time…
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Making sense of effusions (part 1): is your patient septic?
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Interpreting effusion samples can be confusing, so try to think of effusions as if you were collecting a blood sample. Many of the in-clinic diagnostic tests that apply to blood samples also apply to effusions, such as: PCV/total protein smears glucose lactate potassium creatinine bilirubin It’s not enough to only check the protein concentration of…
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Isoflurane and oxygen: the dangers of 2 and 2
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It is a common practice to place all patients on 2% isoflurane and 2l/min oxygen flow rate, but blanket isoflurane saturations and oxygen flow rates can be dangerous. Without a doubt, the majority of patients seem to do just fine at these levels; but every patient is different, and simply placing all patients on 2%…
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Online learning vs the university experience
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With education secretary Gavin Williamson recently coming forward to suggest that universities should reduce their fees if they choose not to return to face-to-face teaching, the question is being asked once again if online teaching can really hold its own against the real thing? Loneliness One of the main trials of the vet course has…
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Hormones in practice, part 2: common conditions
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In part one, we broached the taboo of “women’s problems”. A bit of reading about Endometriosis Awareness Month in March and I was staggered about the huge impact our hormonal fluctuations can have on us as individuals, business and the economy. As the editor of Veterinary Woman, it’s my aim to support women in the…
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The other side of the consult table, part 2
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Never have I seen my cat so happy as the days post-operation when she was flying high on pain relief (I personally remember being quite grumpy the days after I had a tooth removed, but Bluebell seemed entirely unphased), but that doesn’t mean bringing an animal home from an operation is plain sailing. The initial…
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Throw it away?
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Comfort blanket or paperweight? Should you or shouldn’t you? It’s question that could be asked of so many things in our vet lives, but this is a biggie: should you throw away your revision notes? This is both an emotional and practical issue – you slaved over those notes with blood, sweat and tears, but…
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Chasing waterfalls
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Sticking to what you’re used to is both safe and comfortable; getting to where I am now was neither of those things. All through secondary school, people told me trying to become a vet was too much effort – that if I was having to try as hard as I was, then maybe it wasn’t…
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Eosinophils: worms, wheezes, and weird diseases
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Unless you’re a parasitic nematode (and I suspect the majority of you reading this aren’t) or suffer from an allergy (probably a bit more likely), it’s hard not to be a little bit excited when you see an eosinophil. Just like their brothers-in-arms, the neutrophils, eosinophils are part of the front-line defences of the immune…
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Overcoming impostor syndrome
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Are you used to doing things well, with certain skills coming naturally to you? Often, when you do come up against something that is more of a struggle, or you have to work harder to accomplish your aim, you then doubt your worth and whether you really are good enough. If something is difficult, then…