Going Solo-Primary Surgeon

So last week was a huge milestone in my veterinary career-solo surgery. I suppose I can't really call it "solo" since I had two amazing teammates as my assistant and anesthetist, but it was my first surgery without a veterinarian walking me through the procedure.

My patient was a little boy cat named Minnow from a local rescue here in Arizona. All of our surgery patients come from shelters and rescues, and it is incredible that we get to be a part of helping these animals in their journeys to forever homes.

The patients arrived at the hospital the day before their scheduled surgeries. As primary surgeon, my role was to examine my patient and draw blood to make sure he was able to undergo anesthesia. It is important that any patient that undergoes surgery is healthy, because surgery could make them even more sick if they have any pre-existing conditions. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately for him, Minnow was healthy and ready for surgery!

The day of surgery, I think I expected to feel more nervous than I did. I actually felt more excited than anything else. The first surgeries are expected to be stressful, but I was ready to go!

I have to say, we have some of the most amazing veterinarians and veterinary technicians on hand. Everyone was so friendly and they went out of their way to help us. They really made the entire afternoon run smoothly and gave us all such confidence in the surgery suite. One of the adjunct faculty checked in on my surgery, and even gave me some smaller tools to work with since Minnow was just a kitten.

Overall, the procedure went really well, and Minnow handled anesthesia perfectly. He didn't even need any extra pain medication, which made me feel like I did a great neuter.

The worst part of surgery is definitely the paperwork! But it is incredibly important to make sure that each patient has a detailed medical record and report anything that happens with the patient throughout his or her stay in the hospital. I was grateful to have my assistant and anesthetist there to help remember all of the details we needed to include in the report. I handed over care to the overnight technician, and ventured home for some much needed rest!

The next morning, I went to the hospital bright and early to find Minnow happy, healthy, and ready to play. He didn't act like he was in any pain, and was eager to eat his breakfast. I did one last physical exam, which he passed with flying colors, and said goodbye to my first neuter patient. There will be many more, but I will never forget Minnow.

UPDATE: We are no longer allowed to post photos of our patients, despite them being adoptable animals. I am so sorry for the inconvenience, and I will try to take interesting non-patient photos for future posts...