The continuing saga...
Sep. 29th, 2006 09:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
draggonlaadyCracked called in on Wednesday. Says the dog's still limping, and she wants to bring him in on Friday so we can look at him again. Receptionist sets up the appointment, but during the conversation discovers that Cracked has not been giving the dog his pain medication, nor has she been cleaning the sore on the bottom of his foot. Receptionist convinces Cracked that she really should try the treatment recommended before deciding that said treatment doesn't work. Suggests several ways to get pills down dogs.
Today, Cracked calls back and cancels the appointment. Seems pain meds help afterall.
BUT to cancel that out...
Last night, I got a call on the emergency line. Woman, we'll call her Redneck, explains that her dog just hit her jeep (please note the wording there--the dog is completely at fault in this incident, according to her) and hurt her back leg (wait, what? BACK leg? oookaay... I can see head, neck, front legs from having run into something. But back leg? I'm skeptical). Wants to know if she can bring the dog in. Sure, no problem. It'll take her about half an hour to get here. That's fine.
15 minutes later, Redneck calls back. Can't get the dog in the jeep. Doesn't know what to do... dog (we'll call her Whimpy) jumped right in the jeep before, and rode up to the house here just fine. (So why'd you let her OUT of the jeep? Wouldn't it be easier on all involved, and especially on the injuries to NOT jump in and out repeatedly?) But now she's just laying there and won't get up. And she must weigh 100 pounds and Redneck just can't pick her up! Can she give her an aspirin? (Good god I begin to hate that question!) Sure, she can have one plain aspirin, no tylenol, no ibuprofen. But if she's got a broken leg or internal bleeding, it's not really going to help. Oh, well, pretty sure it's just her leg, and there's no bones sticking out or anything...
So today, guess who comes in? That's right, you got it in one! Redneck gets her daughter to help load Whimpy up and they come on into town. Unfortunately they can only come in at 1pm, and I'm booked solid until 3pm (I'm the only doctor in today, my boss is at a conference enduring wonderfully entertaining lectures on legal issues pertaining to veterinary medicine and other such topics). So they drop the dog off, and ok radiographs and whatever else we feel the dog needs. Please call her at home when we're done.
When I get a minute, I send a tech back to get Whimpy--and as they come around the corner into the room, the first thing I notice is that Whimpy has her entire front end shifted so far to the left that she's practically leaning on the tech's leg to avoid putting weight on her right. Yup, the FRONT leg--but that can't be right, the owner told me it was just one back leg, yes? Hmm. Whimpy comes the rest of the way into the room, and she's just almost as lame on the right back as she is on the right front. One exam, some pain meds and sedative, a few radiographs, and a clip-and-scrub-the-open-wounds later, I sit down to call the owner. I get a very nice elderly-sounding lady who is not only not Redneck, but doesn't even know who she is. She complains that she sure gets a lot of calls for her though...so either I've got a very old number, or Redneck's giving out someone else's number.
I have a solution though--I dig through the "received calls" list on the emergency cel. Call the number that Redneck called me from...and get Redneck's mother. Who really isn't that interested in what's wrong with the dog, but tells me she'll send us a check next week. What? no--we would really rather someone pays THIS week... none of the old "I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today" routine.
And we wait. Redneck and daughter show up to get Whimpy about 20 minutes before closing. We go over everything, what drugs we're sending home and how to treat the wounds, and I turn her over to Receptionist for final paperwork and bill. And the shit hits the fan. Redneck thinks she'll just make a $20 payment today and mom'll send a check next week. Receptionist says we'll gladly take the payment and hold a check for up to 2 weeks. Redneck says she only has $20 on her, and doesn't have a checking account. We take credit cards. Redneck has none. Daughter has no checking account. Redneck goes through her wallet and comes up with $40. Receptionist explains that we are open tomorrow morning, and we can keep the dog here for the night for no additional charge; you can can bring a check tomorrow for the rest of the bill.
I swear, we need to post a sign at the front door that says "We are not a loan agency. Don't ask us for credit, that's what US Bank and Visa are for."
Today, Cracked calls back and cancels the appointment. Seems pain meds help afterall.
BUT to cancel that out...
Last night, I got a call on the emergency line. Woman, we'll call her Redneck, explains that her dog just hit her jeep (please note the wording there--the dog is completely at fault in this incident, according to her) and hurt her back leg (wait, what? BACK leg? oookaay... I can see head, neck, front legs from having run into something. But back leg? I'm skeptical). Wants to know if she can bring the dog in. Sure, no problem. It'll take her about half an hour to get here. That's fine.
15 minutes later, Redneck calls back. Can't get the dog in the jeep. Doesn't know what to do... dog (we'll call her Whimpy) jumped right in the jeep before, and rode up to the house here just fine. (So why'd you let her OUT of the jeep? Wouldn't it be easier on all involved, and especially on the injuries to NOT jump in and out repeatedly?) But now she's just laying there and won't get up. And she must weigh 100 pounds and Redneck just can't pick her up! Can she give her an aspirin? (Good god I begin to hate that question!) Sure, she can have one plain aspirin, no tylenol, no ibuprofen. But if she's got a broken leg or internal bleeding, it's not really going to help. Oh, well, pretty sure it's just her leg, and there's no bones sticking out or anything...
So today, guess who comes in? That's right, you got it in one! Redneck gets her daughter to help load Whimpy up and they come on into town. Unfortunately they can only come in at 1pm, and I'm booked solid until 3pm (I'm the only doctor in today, my boss is at a conference enduring wonderfully entertaining lectures on legal issues pertaining to veterinary medicine and other such topics). So they drop the dog off, and ok radiographs and whatever else we feel the dog needs. Please call her at home when we're done.
When I get a minute, I send a tech back to get Whimpy--and as they come around the corner into the room, the first thing I notice is that Whimpy has her entire front end shifted so far to the left that she's practically leaning on the tech's leg to avoid putting weight on her right. Yup, the FRONT leg--but that can't be right, the owner told me it was just one back leg, yes? Hmm. Whimpy comes the rest of the way into the room, and she's just almost as lame on the right back as she is on the right front. One exam, some pain meds and sedative, a few radiographs, and a clip-and-scrub-the-open-wounds later, I sit down to call the owner. I get a very nice elderly-sounding lady who is not only not Redneck, but doesn't even know who she is. She complains that she sure gets a lot of calls for her though...so either I've got a very old number, or Redneck's giving out someone else's number.
I have a solution though--I dig through the "received calls" list on the emergency cel. Call the number that Redneck called me from...and get Redneck's mother. Who really isn't that interested in what's wrong with the dog, but tells me she'll send us a check next week. What? no--we would really rather someone pays THIS week... none of the old "I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today" routine.
And we wait. Redneck and daughter show up to get Whimpy about 20 minutes before closing. We go over everything, what drugs we're sending home and how to treat the wounds, and I turn her over to Receptionist for final paperwork and bill. And the shit hits the fan. Redneck thinks she'll just make a $20 payment today and mom'll send a check next week. Receptionist says we'll gladly take the payment and hold a check for up to 2 weeks. Redneck says she only has $20 on her, and doesn't have a checking account. We take credit cards. Redneck has none. Daughter has no checking account. Redneck goes through her wallet and comes up with $40. Receptionist explains that we are open tomorrow morning, and we can keep the dog here for the night for no additional charge; you can can bring a check tomorrow for the rest of the bill.
I swear, we need to post a sign at the front door that says "We are not a loan agency. Don't ask us for credit, that's what US Bank and Visa are for."
