polychromatic (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
polychromatic) wrote2019-11-06 10:06 pm
polychromatic) wrote2019-11-06 10:06 pm
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A small victory.
About a month ago I had an absolute meltdown at work. After a rough few months and some very difficult cases with sad outcomes, I could definitely feel my anxiety levels skyrocketing beyond my control. When a new patient presented to us and we found a mass in her left anal gland, I made the recommendation to pursue fine needle aspirates under sedation. The day came, the sedation was administered, and I found I was unable to evert the rectal tissue enough to reach the mass, and it was going to be difficult to aspirate it from the outside.
Hence the meltdown.
After sobbing, I gave it a try anyway and came away with four slides. I warned the client that the results may be non-diagnostic. And then I went home and cried some more.
Thankfully, the results were diagnostic and after we did the necessary pre-screening (labwork, chest x-rays, abdominal ultrasound), our surgical specialist came in and removed both anal glands. He noted that he was impressed we were able to get any kind of diagnosis given how small the masses were. The dog had a few hiccups in her recovery but overall seemed to be doing well.
Today I was able to deliver the good news that the anal glands and the neoplastic masses were successfully removed with clean margins.
I'm so happy for the patient and the client.
I'm glad the crying was worth it.
About a month ago I had an absolute meltdown at work. After a rough few months and some very difficult cases with sad outcomes, I could definitely feel my anxiety levels skyrocketing beyond my control. When a new patient presented to us and we found a mass in her left anal gland, I made the recommendation to pursue fine needle aspirates under sedation. The day came, the sedation was administered, and I found I was unable to evert the rectal tissue enough to reach the mass, and it was going to be difficult to aspirate it from the outside.
Hence the meltdown.
After sobbing, I gave it a try anyway and came away with four slides. I warned the client that the results may be non-diagnostic. And then I went home and cried some more.
Thankfully, the results were diagnostic and after we did the necessary pre-screening (labwork, chest x-rays, abdominal ultrasound), our surgical specialist came in and removed both anal glands. He noted that he was impressed we were able to get any kind of diagnosis given how small the masses were. The dog had a few hiccups in her recovery but overall seemed to be doing well.
Today I was able to deliver the good news that the anal glands and the neoplastic masses were successfully removed with clean margins.
I'm so happy for the patient and the client.
I'm glad the crying was worth it.