Joy the Puppy has had a challenging past year. She is doing pretty well now.
Meet the newest Finch, Periwinkle Pug!
In 2013, when Joy the Puppy was four years old, she had her first of two surgeries for a torn cruciate ligament.
Joy and Russ at The Lake the week we adopted her. If your partner is in veterinary medicine, know that when they ask you to help rehome a patient, you have just adopted a pet.
The surgery Joy had is called a TPLO, or tibial plate leveling osteotomy, meant to stabilize the knee after the cruciate ligament, the criss-cross ligament behind the kneecap, is no longer doing so. Joy’s first surgeon was Dr. David Merkley*, one of my favorite teachers and vets of all time.
(*Fun Merk Fact - When I was having trouble learning to tie a surgical knot in vet school, Dr. Merkley told me it was easy. I said, “You try it left handed!” He did and said, “Wow! This IS hard!” His one and only moment of humility I suspect! Dr. Merkley is the reason I love surgery.)
Joy excited to be spending time with her BFF Frank Parker when they used to volunteer at Camp Kindness at Nebraska Humane Society. Frank’s Mom Allison, also a dear friend and awesome veterinary technician, and I assisted Dr. Merkley with Joy’s first TPLO.
Joy is now thirteen years old. She has significant arthritis which was becoming life-limiting despite her very impressive list of medications, supplements and mobility aids. For the record, Joy is ok with meds in treats, but thinks stairs, ramps and wagons are all terrible.
Joy trying to steal my beer at our brother-in-law Shane’s concert.
Last month, Joy limped for a day. I mean beyond her usual stiff hobble. They she seemed to rally, and I thought the scare of a second cruciate tear was over, but we kept our appointment with Dr. Tan (whose name does NOT rhyme with Dr. Zann, so do not try to remember how to pronounce either of them correctly that way) because I wanted his take on how to better treat Joy’s arthritis.
Turns out, Joy’s right cruciate ligament was long gone, and when it actually happened, I missed it. I felt like a terrible vet and pet parent for missing in my own dog what I routinely diagnose in other dogs.
The story gets so much better from here.
Dr. Tan and the Sirius Orthopedic Veterinary Center team stabilized Joy’s knee with arthroscopic surgery and even did some work on her other knee.
Spotify play list created by one of Nebraska Humane Society’s awesome social media people on Joy’s first day of recovery. I love it so much.
Joy is doing AMAZING you guys. Her mobility and comfort are better than I can ever remember.
Another sweet thirteen year old patient is one week behind Joy in her post-op recovery, also after TPLO surgery with Dr. Tan, and it is so great to be able to say to her family that our old dogs are going to feel so much better so soon.
Whenever I write to or call the Sirius team, I try to remember to add “and hi to Emily.” Well, the awesomeness of their team has once again increased, if you can even believe that is possible. During Joy’s care at Sirius, I learned that another one of my favorite people, Nellie, has joined their team. As ecstatic as I am that Joy is thriving, this…this matches it. Love you Nellie and Emily. Thank you for being there for Joy.
Please note the beautiful straight margins of Joy’s surgical sites. This is thanks to the amazing talents of Nellie who must have remembered the time we took a benign mass off Joy and her coat took a YEAR to regrow! Thanks Friend. She will look beautiful as always for this next year of healing and hair regrowth!
We are so grateful to the entire Sirius team for Joy’s loving care. You all are the best of the best. You have brought Joy - and so our entire family - so much comfort.
And Dr. Tan, thank you for seeing our puppy in your exam room where our old dog was sleeping - for being willing to invest so much in such an old dog who is nowhere near done having adventures.
Joy the Puppy now.
Joy the Puppy then.
As soon as Russ and I decided YES this was the best next step, no matter the outcome, I knew I would not look back and wish she had not had surgery. But this, seeing Joy be such a terrible sport about strict rest when she wants to run and play, and seeing her so happy again, has been the absolute best post-op scenario I could have hoped for.
Joy thinks post-op strict rest is BULL-ony. If I would just move my leg, she could tear down the deck stairs and play with Doug Dog in the yard.
Soon Sweet Girl. You got this. This will be your best summer yet.
Maybe Becky will remember…it was perhaps…10? years ago that my veterinary technician friend told me she is an empath and so am I. She said that is why we work so well together, and that is why patients’ situations affect us so deeply.
At the time, I knew she was on to something but could only think, “Is ‘empath’ a word? I know “empathy,” it is the word I confuse with “sympathy” and has to do with feelings.
So here we are a decade later. Thank you Becky for starting me on this journey. It has been literally lifesaving. Here is what I have learned so far -
SYMPATHY - feeling something for someone.
EMPATHY - taking on someone’s feelings as if they are your own.
HIGHLY SENSITIVE PERSON (HSP) - one who empathizes with others more than average.
EMPATH - one who is on the extra sensitive end of being a highly sensitive person.
“Empaths, HSP’s, I know this is too much for you. You are absorbing the collective, nauseating worry. This is your superpower. You feel the pain of others. You are strong enough to handle this. You are.” -Kimberly Stover
For the past few years, I have been working on letting go of others’ emotions that I have absorbed.
Recently, I have had to up my self care game as I am now in a (wonderful) situation with roughly twice the caseload I have EVER had. I could see from the start that I would not last much longer in this field that I love if I continued to take on the emotions and illnesses and pain of every patient and client and team member as if they were my own. I needed to figure out how not to live and die with every case and situation.
Being all in comes naturally to me. If I have met you and your pet, I am all in and always will be. However, letting go of emotions that are ours to share then yours to own and work through does not come naturally to me at all. Dare I say I suck at this. It has not been an easy skill to learn at all, and I am still only just beginning.
I know well that you do not need me to try to take on all of your pain then crash and burn and not be there for you the next time you need me. You need me to be there with you and for you, and then to let go. Not to stop caring, not to become unavailable, but not to try to walk through something for you that you need to walk through yourself. The next family and pet need this too. My family needs this. I need this.
“A lot of pain you’re carrying isn’t even yours to carry. You’ve picked up other people’s pain along your journey. If you’re an empathic soul, bless you, but you still need boundaries. Lighten your load by being able to know what belongs to you and what doesn’t.” -Nathan Allen Pirtle
As I continue to work on improving in this area, let me declare myself the opposite of an expert and just say that here are two resources I have recently found to be very helpful -
The fun one - Thera-pets - a set of cards with super cute pictures and self care reminders by artist Kate Allen (@tlkateart on Twitter).
The serious one - The Empath’s Survival Guide, Life Strategies for Sensitive People by Judith Orloff, MD (@JudithOrloffMD on Twitter).
Friends and family who are tougher than me, I cannot tell you how often your strength and wise perspectives have gotten me through. Sometimes I need someone to remind me that this too shall pass…or to eat a sandwich…or take a nap…or step back and take a breath. Thank you.
Friends who are also highly sensitive people and empaths, within and beyond the veterinary field, let’s lean on others around us with different ways of processing and also keep encouraging one another. I know that our biggest struggle may also be our greatest strength. I just have not figured all of it out yet. We’ve got this…or we will. Our wellbeing and very lives depend on it.
I feel as though we are closer to the answers than we may think. And for what it’s worth, I can always trust my feelings.
It is curious the things we accept as true without pausing to ask whether they match what we know to actually be true, often without even noticing that we are doing it.
Happy Veterinary Technician Week 2021!
If you have had a pet whose life has been touched by a vet tech, you know they deserve everything good. Please take this week - and all the other times throughout the year - to overwhelm the vet techs in your life with kind words and all the snacks.
I have been blessed to work with over FIFTY veterinary technicians in my career so far. Here is a list of those vet techs and why I love them.
(All photos are in dog and cat vision which is similar to red-green color-blindness for us.)
……….
Rhorig Animal Hospital techs - helped me with my high school science paper, brought ice cream to the kennel kid (me) who got sad seeing sad cases.
Pet Clinic techs - took care of every little pet we brought in as kids then 18 years ago when I was a grown ass vet without a hospital in town yet, took care of Oliver Cat and then, this past summer when I found myself in the same situation, took care of Joy the Puppy.
Joy the Puppy
Panama City Animal Hospital tech - taught me all the weird conditions this Midwest vet-to-be knew nothing about like tick paralysis and flea anemia.
ISU ICU head tech Amy - taught me to draw blood in vet school and, as central to my entire career as that is, even a million times better, let us adopt the best cat in the world, the blood donor Max the Cat.
Max the Cat
Columbine Animal Hospital - Becky, Lori, Sara - walked a baby vet (me) through jumping right into ER medicine and 80 hour weeks.
Companion Animal Veterinary Hospital -
Shawna - the best friend from Day One, walked with me through raising newborns and toddlers (not in the job description).
Lesley - also a dear friend and kid raising helper.
Lesley and Ebony
Janeen - skilled and smart and wonderful to work with.
Laura - We learned the beginnings of conflict resolution together. I am sorry I started out so terrible at it and promise I still work really hard on it to this day.
Banfield at Oakview -
Jeni - compassionate and kind and a very strong leader.
Andrea - gets all the things done with excellence and skill.
Kim - great tech and friend. RIP. I miss you Friend <3
Sara - taught me what it looks like to deal with chronic pain and still kick ass years before I needed it.
Erika - the best friend through every life stage, I am unwilling to go through any further life stages without you.
Erika and baby Joy!
Carrie - sweet and skilled and excellent with people and pets.
I would invite all the kids, and Carrie and Erika would do all the hard work of tours!
Banfield in Papillion -
Mallory - great tech and friend and now Boy Mama.
Mallory demonstrating that kittens can be pocket pets if you believe hard enough.
Angela - great tech and friend and still, I feel, on the same wavelength. Almost talked me into my first tattoo.
Janna - awesome perspective on all the things, only person we leave our pet kids with IF we leave them at all!
Kaelea - great technician and artist. She made a beautiful Ernie Dog ornament for me for Mom <3
Cindy - driven and passionate, now a vet.
Banfield in North Omaha tech team - tough crowd, taught me to work with a rough and tumble clientele, and I loved it.
All Creatures tech team - have taken care of each of Amanda’s Bearded Dragons with skill and compassion.
Angus <3
GD -
Caleb - compassionate and principled, days are always better in the same room as you, one of the best friends I will ever have.
Kelly - so many things, among them, taught me to love complex dental work and to look forward to anesthesia and surgery knowing our patients were always in safe hands.
Allison - taught me all the things about friendship between a dog and a cat and a person and a person.
Frank and Allison and Joy and I volunteered every summer with Camp Kindness. Frank was Joy’s best friend <3
Shelly - tough and skilled and loyal. You are stuck with me forever.
Shelly recovering our ratty patient from anesthesia post-surgery.
Liel - awesome tech and person, also stuck with me.
Bri - great at all the things.
Jessi - there for me for the patients we got to work with together and for that last month and for that last minute. I will always be grateful.
Becky - always on the same wavelength, even now. We learned together how to turn our compassion and passion into on-the-ground grief care and hospice care.
Becky with a sweet Husky from Taysia Blue Rescue <3
Koni - perfect combination of sweet and tough.
Angie - taught me behind the scenes nuts and bolts.
Trey - willing to run complex cases with me and learn even more about exotic vet care with me. Held patients when they were scared.
I worked friends into my comic, “When I Grow Up I Want to be a Vet.” I feel I captured Trey’s hair well!
Erin - steady and incredible and a wonderful friend.
Brookie - passionate and amazing, I will always be trying to draw you back into medicine with my mind powers.
Brookie and Cash from Nebraska Humane Society after his bilateral luxating patella (unstable kneecaps) surgery with Dr. Merkley. They adopted each other about a minute later!
Amanda - gentle and wonderful, now using those skills to raise the sweetest family ever.
Jenny - organized and compassionate.
Jenny - strong leader always on the floor with the team.
Laura - fun and wonderful, still here when I need an encouraging word.
Rhea - amazing and insightful and a fiercely loyal friend.
Taylor - strong as f.
Adrienne - amazing tech and Mama.
Nellie - gonna be an awesome tech because of who you are.
Emma - also an awesome tech-to-be with all the people skills.
April - strong and determined and only becoming more amazing.
Carolyn - witty and skilled and fun to work with.
Mary - great and steady and compassionate, will most likely not punch you - that is a protective front.
Street Dogs -
Molly and Lexi and the team - amazing and efficient and very skilled. They serve Omaha’s homeless and near homeless community with grace and compassion.
Elizabeth - The only time we get together is non-Pandemic era vet meetings, but I love it.
Techs at all the specialty practices - It is not scary handing precious patients over because I know they are in your care.
Urgent Pet Care techs - saved Joy this past summer and countless patients over the years.
The sweet technician at Urgent Pet Care let us visit Joy while she recovered from pancreatitis.
VCA MidWest Vet techs - I am gonna skip right over all the lives they save and help (for now) and say these techs walked our family through 14 months of cancer care with Luna and still when I call remind me that they loved her and check on me. Thank you forever. Love you.
A wonderful technician at VCA MidWest Vet took pictures of Luna while she was hospitalized for urinary system complications.
Luna being cute again (still).
Omaha and Bellevue Whirlwind Summer Tour of 2021 -
Techs at ALL the places - took me right in like a part of their team though I was, as always, awkward AF in every possible situation, said things like “We are so glad you’re here” and “FINCH it’s you!” which made the whole scary thing wonderful.
Liz at Morgan Pet Clinic - got me a job offer remembering the one minute long ago we knew friends of friends in the field, picked up where we left off.
Twin Creek Animal Hospital -
Jordan, Tabi, Ashley, Liz, Sarah, Emily - You have made me feel like a part of the team from the minute I got here, kind and compassionate and wickedly adept, you make me remember every day with every patient and every surgery why I love this career so much. Thank you. If it were not so early, I would say I love you (which I do).
Sarah and one of the two newest Dreves pups!
The last few months of 2019, this became a place for me to process Luna’s journey with you, and when she passed, I needed time to heal In Real Life.
So much has happened. For you too I know.
I really missed you. I really missed writing. Thanks for circling back with me <3
Dougie on Vacation in Omaha
Joy the Puppy with her Teddy
Lucky at Lauritzen Gardens
photo and dandelion wreath by Abby
For his birthday, Russ started a foundation to help other dogs and their families with expensive medical treatment in Luna’s name called “Luna’s Legacy.”
“I was stuck. My grief didn’t reach a turning point until starting this,” Russ said. We are all still recovering from losing Luna, and having Joy sure helps. We are hoping Luna’s Legacy will also be helpful for us all…and save all the dogs! Or at least help a lot : )
Thank you all so much for your help with this. That has been healing and encouraging to us also. And we have such a great base to start helping all (a lot) of the dogs!
Luna passed away this morning. We are all grieving. I wouldn’t trade anything for the time we had with her, not even to not have to go through this.
Thank you for being with us through it all. Your support made the journey sweeter. It makes the sting less painful now.
You fought well small friend. Now rest, and we will see you again. Love you so much.
For the past two days, Luna has been mostly lateral with a temperature between 102.8 and 104.2. She is dehydrated and icteric (yellow tinged) and vomited quite a bit yesterday.
Luna on a more playful day…
She has not eaten anything. She is not drinking.
Today I talked with Dr. Clemans who had me do blood work and a urinalysis.
Luna returned home and went back to sleep.
I arrived home at 8:00 pm tonight, and Russ had brought us Indian food <3
Luna looked up for the first time in a while, so of course I gave her some cheese naan. And she ate it you guys! After not eating dog food or hamburger or rice or egg, and after we bought Ensure as a last ditch effort to get her to ingest SOMETHING, she gobbled up the naan and drank for a long time.
Everything points to this being the beginning of the end, and I thought it was until just a few minutes ago when Luna ate naan.
A beautiful painting by Abby
Dr. Backlund asked, “Who wants to help serve the homeless and near homeless and their pets in Omaha?”
“Well…I do,” I said.
So we did.
Blue smiling, knowing we are going to give him more peanut butter
Today was my second day helping at the Omaha Street Dog Coalition, a branch of the national Street Dog Coalition at Sienna Francis House in downtown Omaha.
I showed up fifteen minutes early as I always (mean to) do. I was surrounded by about fifty men milling about, many of whom helped bring in supplies and asked how they could help me set up and get started. I asked a guy passing by how he was, and he said, “wonderful! I am so blessed!” Maybe Dr. Taplett is right. Maybe life does begin outside your comfort zone. Sometimes.
I saw a few dogs the first time and ten dogs today (including four puppies!) Dr. Dobson saved my life by seeing the one cat who came in with his person today.
Man-man was a champ for his exam and vaccines!
It was so much fun. I can’t wait until the next time.
Luna had her first dose of Tanovea today.
She is WIPED OUT.
Next dose is in three weeks, five doses total if she does well.
Good night Luna. Sweet dreams sweet girl.
Luna had a follow up ultrasound and spleen and liver biopsy with Dr. Clemans last week. The cancer is back. The lymphoma is in her spleen and now her liver too. The chemotherapy was not working.
We had a decision to make, and it took us almost a full week to make it.
Do we keep going?
We looked at our goofy, happy, playful, sassy dog and decided YES, we will keep going.
Are we crazy? YES.
Are we right? I DUNNO.
But we are comfortable with our decision.
Next - five IV injections of a fairly new cancer fighting medication called Tanovea. One injection every three weeks. If it does not work or Luna feels like crap, we will be done. Done done. This is it. But this could give us several more months with Luna. And for us, that is the best news we could hope for.
In the words of the great Dr. Sue, Cancer Vet, ”Already a statistics buster. Kick butt Luna!”
And so she shall.
It is difficult to write about Luna right now because lately we have all been a little bit apprehensive.
But you have been with us through it all, and I don’t want you to miss this chapter just because it is a scary one.
Luna is still the dorky, goofy, fun dog she has always been. Right now she is demanding canned food from Russ. (Update: He caved.)
In December, Dr. Krapfl did an abdominal ultrasound on Luna and found irregularities in her spleen. He did a recheck ultrasound in January, and her spleen was even more abnormal. We did blood work, including a clotting profile (tests to make sure Luna is able to stop bleeding in a normal amount of time), to assure the next procedure would be as safe as possible.
Dr. Clemans did an aspirate (small sampling of cells) of her spleen.
The cancer is back.
Luna doesn’t know. Please don’t tell her!
We restarted chemotherapy last Wednesday. Her next dose is tomorrow.
Luna is also on Lasix.
“Why Lasix?” I asked Julie at VCA MidWest Vet. “I don’t know,” she said. “I will find out.”
The purpose of the Lasix is to prevent hemorrhagic cystitis - bleeding into the urinary bladder. It is new since we did chemotherapy last time, and Dr. Clemans has added it to her protocol.
I hung up with Julie and yelled at Russ, “Dr. Clemans is practicing cutting edge medicine! CUTTING EDGE!” After a few minutes, he said, “so…cutting edge, huh?” and went back to reading. He was, I am sure, quietly impressed.
Between Dr. Krapfl and Kelly and everyone at Gentle Doctor and Dr. Clemans and her team at VCA MidWest Vet, and all of you praying and cheering her on…this little dog has a great team surrounding her. Beautiful things are bound to continue happening.
Merry Christmas!
Amanda: I thought some of your pictures would have people in them.
me: They do!
Visions of chewy bones…
Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night <3
Joy are you having fun at Aunt Kristi’s?
Hi Luna!
Hi Lucy!
Should we have taught them “Open your gift”? Too late now!
O Joy!
And to all a good night…
We made Peanut Baby Jesus in preschool Sunday school again! The kids did a great job.
Peanut Baby Jesus <3
How to…
Cut a styrofoam cup in half. Discard the top half.
Fill the cup with hay.
Draw a smile on Peanut Baby Jesus with a Sharpie. (We did this for the kids.)
Place a tiny felt blanket on Peanut Baby Jesus.
Sydney Farley invited me to speak to her middle school class about being a veterinarian. Russ, Joy and I went today. It was very fun! Very nice teachers and a great class with great questions.
From the Way Back…”Have you ever done surgery on a grape?”
Me…”No, but I’ve done surgery on a banana.”
Joy, did you love those kids so much?
Thank you for having us! We had a very fun morning with you!
Luna is three months out from the end of her chemotherapy and one year out from diagnosis of lymphoma and is doing great!
Luna in her beautiful new coat from her friend Missy
“Do these things,” Dr. Clemans said.
“Okay,” I said, and I did. Every time Dr. Clemans tells me to do things and I do, my dog lives longer. So I try to always do what she says.
The things Dr. Clemans said to do were…an exam, lab work, chest x-rays, an abdominal ultrasound and a heart ultrasound.
Kelly and I did her exam, her lab work and her chest x-rays. Dr. Krapfl did her ultrasounds.
THANK YOU DR. KRAPFL!!
“Lookit!” Dr. Krapfl said. “Luna’s bladder looks like a snow globe!” And that is how we learned that Luna probably has a urinary tract infection. We will confirm with her lab work. Just as importantly, Dr. Krapfl and I found NO enlarged lymph nodes in Luna’s whole little self! And THAT is the best news of the whole ordeal.
Even though it was Joy who had anesthesia yesterday, Luna was more wiped out than Joy. Apparently, having all the tests, and needing to be a Good Girl during both ultrasounds, was exhausting. Luna slept for most of the rest of the day.
She will have similar six month and nine month check ups. Then I dunno what…we hadn’t looked that far ahead. But now…maybe…we will.
Joy had surgery today to remove a benign (not cancerous) mass. All went well!
I tried not to include any gross pictures, but Amanda says this first picture is gross. So skip it if you are squeamish!
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It is disconcerting to see your own pet under anesthesia! Kelly was her anesthetist and kept her safe the entire time! As nervous as I was today having Joy undergo this procedure, I knew I did not need to worry a bit with her in such good hands <3
All’s well that ends well…