December 30, 2008

It’s Over!!
We finally left at 2am last night, with the clinic all cleaned up and packed away for the next time we have a visiting vet. We’re all hoping it will be at least 6 months before we have to do this again. On the other hand, if a vet came more often it wouldn’t have to be this crazy. The last visit before this one was August 2007.
We ended up doing 75 clinic hours in 6 days, with an additional day’s work of 11 hours to set up and take down. We did health exams and surgeries on I don’t know how many dogs and cats. Most surgeries were neuters but we also did a couple of hernia operations, excised a malignant tumor and set a broken leg. I was with Mia for all exams and surgeries, so had an intense course in animal care.
Mia Greenberg is an amazing woman with an enormous amount of energy and I can tell you she is an excellent vet. She is also a very skilled surgeon and it was a joy to learn from her. She has started her own non-profit organization and her dream is to someday own a catamaran and have a sailing vet clinic that roams the remote Pacific Islands. It would be FAR easier to have a permanent set-up on a boat rather than try to fly in supplies and set up in place after place. She could also travel with a skilled team of assistants and not have to train people wherever she goes, although I must admit we were a crack team by the finish and could probably travel with her. But we’ve all got at least 20 years on her and couldn’t keep the pace, so we’ll leave that for those far younger.
Mia left about 10 suitcases full of supplies with us, plus an anesthesia machine, animal traps and dart gun (to sedate feral animals for capture and treatment). We were so busy doing private pets this time that we didn’t even make a start on the ferals. She may or may not be the next vet to visit, but we will have whatever is needed.
I think I can now call myself a vet nurse. I feel competent to give anesthesia to any cat or dog. I can also sedate them with injectable medicines. By the end of the clinic I was calculating the dosages and pre-medicating all the animals. And I did the majority of the anesthesia, plus trained 2 assistants to help me. Mia left a lot of medications with us and anything we’re not sure about we can consult with her by email or phone before giving. But at least we have something to work with, and in this remote part of the world you give help whenever or however you can.
Right now I’m listening to Christmas music, as Christmas was short-changed this year. Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve, and we plan to get together with Bill and Linda, who were with us for every hour of every day, and without whom we wouldn’t have survived this. We all need to sit down, de-brief, and process the experiences of the past week. Today we’re just running on adrenaline and attending to basic functions, like making sure there is fresh water on the boat. We’re also enjoying a little sunshine and fresh air.
A funny (or not) story is that Bill and Linda never got a chance to call their children in the States on Christmas, and their children got worried and were hearing reports out of Majuro of our huge wave surge (which happened a couple of weeks ago), so called the Coast Guard and reported them missing. This morning, first thing, after being asleep only a few hours they heard banging on the hull and it was officials coming to check on their welfare! So they quickly got ashore and spent hours on the phone with their loved ones assuring them that all was okay. The good news for all you landlubbers out there is that the authorities take your concerns seriously and they will track us down!!
Happy New Year! Karen