On a dreary afternoon, a client saunters into the waiting room with their boxer leaping about their legs like a dervish, brandishing his bright crimson bandage like his namesake in a championship prizefight.
With a sharp intake of breath, the bandage is cut away- the Owner looks in shocked silence before exclaiming, "Wow! It's all healed so well! Thank you sooo much."
I can't help but grin as I wave off the praise, "Ah, no- don't mention it, I'm just glad it all turned out so well."
"I'm sure you are just being modest," they retort, and I shoot them a knowing look, like there's a secret only the two of us will share. And as they leave the clinic, a grin from ear to ear, I'm left wondering when things actually started going right...
10-14 days earlier:
"CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP... Please stop bleeding! Please stop bleeding! CRAP... Goddamn suture material, blunt needle- I swear, if you don't stay straight in my needle holders, I'm going to kill you and all of your needle-children... Can I please get more swabs? *squirt* Can I please get A LOT more swabs? uhhh, Oh... shivers, this isn't good... Um, cautery? Is there cautery? Please tell me there's cautery! Great... now... how does this work again?!"
Since graduation, I've held one vet's words in my mind constantly:
"It doesn't matter how well or poorly you do a surgery, you're only ever judged on the skin sutures."
With a sharp intake of breath, the bandage is cut away- the Owner looks in shocked silence before exclaiming, "Wow! It's all healed so well! Thank you sooo much."
I can't help but grin as I wave off the praise, "Ah, no- don't mention it, I'm just glad it all turned out so well."
"I'm sure you are just being modest," they retort, and I shoot them a knowing look, like there's a secret only the two of us will share. And as they leave the clinic, a grin from ear to ear, I'm left wondering when things actually started going right...
10-14 days earlier:
"CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP... Please stop bleeding! Please stop bleeding! CRAP... Goddamn suture material, blunt needle- I swear, if you don't stay straight in my needle holders, I'm going to kill you and all of your needle-children... Can I please get more swabs? *squirt* Can I please get A LOT more swabs? uhhh, Oh... shivers, this isn't good... Um, cautery? Is there cautery? Please tell me there's cautery! Great... now... how does this work again?!"
Since graduation, I've held one vet's words in my mind constantly:
"It doesn't matter how well or poorly you do a surgery, you're only ever judged on the skin sutures."
No comments:
Post a Comment