Lengthy Midweek

This week has been a doozy. Yesterday was so long it seemed like two days packed into one. The 115 lb. dog neuter and entropion surgery was interesting and I did enjoy scrubbing on the fracture repair...but it was a really long day. Today was also really tough for me. I was scheduled to work only a half day, but ended up working all day as two other workers are sick and one went home half way through the morning and the one who stayed has a broken finger (and is therefore a little restricted is what she is willing to do). It is not so terrible to have the extra hours (it means more money) but it is hard to be short staffed and when I have an expectation and then plans get changed part way through. So I did patient care, prep, and lab collection in the first part of the morning, then procedures, then more patient care, lunch and then worked with the Dr in exam rooms for the rest of the afternoon and finished out with more patient care, with cleaning and laundry throughout. We have a pretty light patient load right now, but one patient has been in the hospital for a week and is just not turning the corner. It is difficult for me right now to see this patient not getting better and knowing that as time is passing the chance of recovery is getting smaller and smaller. At this point, realistically, I know there is nothing more we can do and that this patient is dying. Her body just is not responding to treatment and is shutting down. But it is still tough. Tonight I am just feeling really drained. I know hormones are part of it, and knowing that helps. Tomorrow is my day off and I am glad for that. I hope the rest of the week goes more smoothly...especially since I am on to work Saturday.