Equal Parts Vent & WWYD - Medical
rubyclaire
2 years ago
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High cost of vet care???
Comments (20)Soooooooooooo sorry your kitty died, Karen ! :-( There are good people / competent people in every profession.There are also people who should never be near anything living! If you have ANY doubts about what someone tells you, ask questions and DO NOT let them rush through their answers ! If you feel at all uncomfortable about a treatment suggestion (or attitude) WALK OUT and find someone you trust. This is your family member and they deserve the same respect and care as any one in need. I have found that many owners know what needs to be done in many circumstances and some times it does make my job a whole bunch easier because the major problem has been resolved, or nearly so. :-) You are right. No one knows their pet better than their owner. Oh sure we might know technical terminology like: "boo boo elbow" or other things but the bottom line comes down to ONLY YOU KNOW what is best for your pet! For example, chemo may be OK for some but not OK for others, no matter what the vet says and the decision you make for your beloved family member IS 100% right for you! My Mikey, my very best fuzzy friend ever, a grey kitty, had squamous cell carcinoma in his mouth. I knew as well as his oncologist, there was not really any hope to prolong Mikey's life. We did try 2 courses of chemo but most importantly his pain was under control. Mikey died 32 days after I found the bump on his gums that was smaller than the size of a BB pellet. One month later, Teeb, another kitty , had intermittent diarrhea. She went for endoscopy and we found intestinal lymphoma. Following numerous e mails and phone calls to human and vet oncologists it was determined that form of cancer was not painful. Chemo would buy her another 9 months of life. OK. We went for it and we got 22 more months with Teeb! I would say 95% of her days were good days. If she could wake up, get petted, eat and slug the other cats who got out of line, that was a good day! After all, Teeb was the kitty who was in charge of the rest of the kitty herd. :-) Bosco, the GSD, had a very guarded prognosis with his type of cancer. A very aggressive hemangiosarcoma of the spleen generally spreads and kills 80% of the patients within 1-2 months of the initial diagnosis. We were ~~VERY~~ fortunate to detect it early and remove the cancerous spleen in an almost bloodless operation (to decrease microscopic spread of the tumour cells throughout his doggy body) and we started chemo exactly 10 days after the surgery. He still had his stitches in his belly when he started his chemo! We **NEEDED** to try to prolong his life for a multitude of reasons. True, we are very fortunate that I am a vet and most things are either free (like x-rays, surgery, bloodwork) and the treatment was done at cost through the extraordinary generosity of the oncologist who cared for our Mikey and Teeb. Had I been a "real person" our cost for Bosco would have been just over $5000.00 total! WOW!! I don't know that we would have been able to afford that, even though the cost was spread out over 4 months. (That price does not include the follow-up met check radiographs and bloodwork after December 2005.) Thankfully all has turned out far better than anyone anticipated for Bosco. :-) This was the right decision for US. Had someone else been in the exact same circumstance and decided not to go further with surgery or chemo, that would be the exact right decision for them! Everyone is different and only YOU know and understand what your beloved family member can or should endure. They know only you and have complete trust in you caring and love for them. This trust can never be betrayed and don't let any one try to force you or your pet into anything with which you are uncomfortable! Mmmmmmmmeeeeeeeeee. (((BTW Semper .. the full colour photograph of the 3 pound cancerous tumour is available for your viewing when you request it. :\-) )))...See Moreshe was only 22
Comments (2)Iamamommy, I am so sorry that you have experienced so much in so little amount of time. There is nothing to say to make it go away. I am a member of another grief forum where I get a lot of support. My 30 year old son died almost one year ago...I've been having a terrible time and without the support of the people on the website I think I would have already lost my mind. If you are interested, go to www.missfoundation.org and they will ask you a few questions in order for you to become a member. At this place, there is no blame, nothing but support and compassion for what you are going through. You can say what is on your mind and likely someone will have gone through something similar and can offer some advice, support or comfort to you. Again I am so sorry for your loss, and that your grandson has lost his mom and your son has lost his wife. I hope you find some peace. Tammy...See MoreNext Door Neighbor Installing Outdoor Wood Boiler - WWYD
Comments (62)I know this is an old post but I felt I should chime in for any future readers. We purchased a house three years ago that was heated with an outdoor wood boiler. We live in rural Ontario, Canada where February is typically -35 Celcius. We had never heard or seen these things before but heating sources in the rural area are limited to wood, electric heat, or propane. Here's my experience with them after three years or using one every winter: The very first time you fire up the boiler each fall there will be lots of smoke for an hour or two (just like when you light a fire in your fireplace - there is lots of smoke out your chimney upon first start). After the boiler is at temperature, and you're burning seasoned wood, there will be VERY little smoke. IF the boiler is a gassifier (re-burns the gas before it exits the chimney) then there is practically NO visible smoke at all - EVER. Most boilers have thermostats that ONLY open the dampers and turn on the down draft fans when the water temperature goes below a set value (160 degrees usually). For my boiler, in the dead of the winter here in Canada (-35 degrees C), the boiler will turn on once every 45 minutes and stay on for 10 to 15 minutes to re-ignite the wood (this is the only time that smoke would ever come out the chimney if it wasn't a 'smokeless'/gassifier unit.), then close the dampers and the fire is put out, leaving only red hot wood embers/coals. You WILL, however, smell the wood... which most people think smells nice (think of a campfire on a cold night, or cuddling up to a fireplace with a hot chocolate). However, if you dont like the smell of a wood fire, then this will put you off. The pictures that others have posted above could be 1) People burning something that they're not supposed to be burning like garbage 2) burning green/wet wood - so you're seeing STEAM in those pictures 3) the first start up on the boiler (either of the year OR maybe they turned it off while they were away on vacation and re-fired it when they returned). As a home owner with a boiler for my heat source I can say that I envy those with natural gas. A boilers is a LOT of work, a LOT of maintenance, and takes a LOT of energy/time to cut, stack, and load the wood (not to mention the ash clean out every two days). BUT.. for us, its half the price of propane and 1/6 the price of electric heat....See Moreback to my eyelid lift question, WWYD?
Comments (33)Some years ago, several of my friends recommended an internist, saying he was as caring and available as any doctor could be. I signed up with him and found him to be as advertised. His thoroughness and comprehensive caring were unique. Unfortunately, his office staff members (in an office of 4 docs) were a disaster. Messages not passed along, test results not communicated and sometimes lost, on and on. I mentioned this to him a number of times over the years. He would shake his head, apologize, and say that personnel matters were an ongoing problem. But little was ever done, new hires weren't any better than those they replaced. I reached my limit and switched to a young, bright internist who works at a local medical school practice as part time faculty and part time clinician. It was like going from the Middle Ages to the Modern Era. It's a well oiled machine. I sometimes get test results the same day. I get reminders for appointments by phone and email and leave every appointment with a copy of the doctors notes and items for follow up and all info remains available indefinitely on the website. When I contact them, I get a complete and thoughtful response in a few hours. I've sent my doc emails in the evening with questions and I've sometimes gotten back responses in less than 15 minutes. My new doc is a bit more mindful of time but, I think, is more comprehensive and the med school setting requires her to be more up to date. I see this practice for more than just GP stuff and everyone is the same. And after every appointment, I get an email with a patient survey, asking me to provide them with information that describes my experience and point out what was good and what was bad. There's no excuse for a poorly run practice and no need to be stuck using any doctor who doesn't pay attention to the totality of the patient experience....See Morerubyclaire
2 years agorubyclaire
2 years agorubyclaire
2 years agorubyclaire
2 years ago
Zalco/bring back Sophie!
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agorubyclaire thanked Zalco/bring back Sophie!
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