The Gratitude Post

I will be updating this post periodically.

September 8, 2019: The ability to experience nature

I am grateful for the fact that I can walk down a trail, hear water rushing by, see into the vast expanse that is the interior of Alaska, smell decaying leaves and wet dirt as fall makes her presence known, and feel the brisk but (at least currently) forgiving breeze, carrying me deeper into the wilderness.

This picture was taken in Denali National Park.

October 14, 2018: Time

Sometimes life hands you a little reminder to enjoy the time you have-to slow down and to not sweat the small stuff. I was recently given one of those reminders.

Today (and every day), I am grateful for the time that I have with my family, friends, and fur babies. I couldn’t be luckier because I am surrounded by the most caring people. Love you all!

August 4th, 2018: Minnie Moved to Fort Collins

I’ve been meaning to post for a while… Shout-out to my friend in Fort Collins that will be looking after my Minnie while I am in Alaska. I know she will be well looked after and it is so nice to not have to worry about her care while I am gone. I will miss her but she is in good hands.

Last ride for a little while…

Minnie is happy in her new home.

June 28th, 2018: The lab results are in!

If you had read my other post, “My Experience with GDV”, you are probably aware of the fact that one of my dogs had some pretty extensive emergency surgery the other day. I am happy to say that her blood work results are in and she is finally headed in the right direction and will likely be ok!

This whole experience has given me many opportunities to learn, and for that I am grateful. I have a better understanding (from the client’s perspective) of what it means to be a caring doctor. I have witnessed various levels of veterinary care and it has become even more imperative to me to be the very best doctor I can be.

Perhaps the most important thing I have learned from this situation is to let people help you when times are hard. I have a tendency to want to do things on my own, and to push people away when they are trying to help. I want to be strong and accepting care and support makes me feel weak. This time, I let people help. People want to help, and guess what - it does help!

It is amazing how much other people care, even people who don’t know you. On the night of Raven’s second surgery, Jake and I were leaving the hospital to head home. We had been using our phones the whole day (on the phone with various veterinarians) and both of our phones only had about 3% battery left. We had a 45 minute drive back and it was entirely possible that the surgeon was going to call us and say there was nothing she could do to fix Raven, and that euthanizing her on the table would be the humane thing to do. If this was the call we were going to get, we were not going to miss it. Jake pulled into the parking lot of a drug store (it was probably 1 a.m.). We went inside in search of a phone charger. I found one and headed to the checkout counter, very visibly distressed. Jackie at the checkout counter could tell something was wrong and asked if I was ok. I told her that one of our dogs was having emergency surgery and that we weren’t sure if she was going to make it. She said, “Do you want a hug?” I nodded and she came around the counter, gave me a big hug, and said she had a feeling that our dog was going to be alright. She then offered to buy the charger for us because she wanted to help, and told us to go home and get some rest. This small act of kindness really made an impression on me and made our evening a little bit better.

Overall, this experience has taught me a lot, and I am glad that everything worked out in the end. I very appreciative that my dog is recovering and will be ok, but I am perhaps even more thankful for the kindness I was shown along the way.