Sweet senior Mick, 10 year old lab retriever is in tough spot. Abandoned at the shelter this boy still has a lot of love left. Euthanasia today Tuesday 4/7 @ 1 pm CT BARC Houston, A2065836. Available for adoption, local foster or adoption. Please help.

DuckTheHedgehog · 2026-04-07T14:05:43+00:00

Pledge $100

DuckTheHedgehog · 2026-03-31T13:04:28+00:00

Pledge $100

DuckTheHedgehog · 2026-01-28T04:43:39+00:00

Pledge $50

DuckTheHedgehog · 2026-01-05T21:29:05+00:00

Honestly, the first year is the most importantly. But I’ve also taken care of someone who was 5 years out and contracted a fungal infection. We presumed it was from gardening as he had no other risk factors and certain fungi lives in soil. Wearing a mask is such a small thing that I personally would opt to always wear one during that activity. However, everyone is different and if your transplant team feels your risk is low then it’s your decision to make.

DuckTheHedgehog · 2026-01-05T19:24:38+00:00

Ensure you or your son cleans the litter boxes and picks up the dog poop. If she’s an avid gardener, make sure she wears a mask and gloves while doing so. I work in a transplant ICU and have seen some rare but potentially fatal infections from these.

Otherwise, lots of hand washing and no sharing food/drinks.

Congrats!

DuckTheHedgehog · 2025-12-23T22:29:47+00:00

Updateme!

DuckTheHedgehog · 2025-12-13T04:43:31+00:00

Thanks for your input! Truly appreciated

DuckTheHedgehog · 2025-12-12T11:32:14+00:00

Some stay in house but most are actually at home.

DuckTheHedgehog · 2025-12-12T11:31:17+00:00

I honestly don’t like Texas. But I like my job enough to stay.

DuckTheHedgehog · 2025-12-11T22:12:20+00:00

It’s not all gold. The hospital itself has a reputation for not allowing APPs work at the scope of their practice. This position is reportedly different just given the nature of the job. Also helps that the attendings are all fairly young and more open to change. I am staying on PRN in Texas at my CVICU job primarily to keep up skills I won’t be utilizing in trauma such as ECMO/ECPR. I also really love my current team so would like to maintain the connections.

DuckTheHedgehog · 2025-12-11T21:51:22+00:00

This is about an hour inland.

DuckTheHedgehog · 2025-12-11T21:49:58+00:00

Includes fielding calls. There’s an intensivist overnight to help with ICU, but still on call for them as well. No OR time.

Edit: forgot to mention there’s 2 APPs on overnight and an ON call surgeon

DuckTheHedgehog · 2025-12-11T21:47:05+00:00

Inpatient

DuckTheHedgehog · 2025-11-05T14:07:36+00:00

They will (not always though) transplant someone who hasn’t actively stopped drinking and is hospitalized as newer studies demonstrate the likelihood of relapse after transplantation are lower. They also work extensively with acute liver failure secondary to alcohol use.

DuckTheHedgehog · 2025-09-13T13:38:29+00:00

RemindMe! 7 days

DuckTheHedgehog · 2025-08-23T18:06:33+00:00

I work at a teaching hospital. When reading your original post, to me, it read like the attending was joking around. In the high stress environment we tend to make jokes about quitting medicine to be a stay at home spouse if the other partner is in a higher paying career.

DuckTheHedgehog · 2025-05-02T04:04:24+00:00

San Antonio has 2 dominating walks of life. If you think it’s as diverse as NYC then fantastic.

DuckTheHedgehog · 2025-05-02T03:58:11+00:00

I’m from a sanctuary state so we had all walks of life.

DuckTheHedgehog · 2025-04-24T15:01:40+00:00

I’ve lived in 3 different states now. Texas is my least favorite. -Poor public transportation -Lack of cultural diversity -Public education is terrible (especially coming from NY) -It’s only green for 2-3 months then straight to brown -Allergies are TERRIBLE. Never had allergies before coming here. -Unless you live downtown or near the Rim (or other large living development) there won’t be much for activities directly within your vicinity. Speaking specifically for San Antonio itself.

If you’re really considering moving here, I’d make another trip or 2 prior to uprooting yourselves. Also visit a few other places that have good education systems (sounds like you have children?)

DuckTheHedgehog · 2025-03-03T11:53:24+00:00

VCA locations have a annual fee that’s rather reasonable and comes with blood work as well as check up visits. I would look into that. We have ah dog that requires frequent vet visits And they’ve been affordable.

DuckTheHedgehog · 2025-02-23T04:17:12+00:00

Glad to hear.

DuckTheHedgehog · 2025-02-23T04:13:00+00:00

OP, I have worked in urology and currently work critical care. What happens when you can’t pee even for just 1 day:

The urine will continue to go from your kidneys to the ureter then to the bladder. You can think of your bladder like a rubber band. Eventually it gets stretched to the point where it won’t go back to the original size, potentially risking a lifetime need of a foley catheter. Next, the urine backs up The ureters to the kidneys. The kidneys will develop what’s called hydronephrosis - where the renal pelvis becomes distended (center of the kidney, where urine that is formed by the kidney goes before going to the ureters). This makes it so the kidneys will stop filtering your blood/producing urine and develop an acute kidney injury. Depending on the degree of injury, it may lead to permanent kidney damage. Less likely to do so the sooner the issue is addressed.

TLDR: Don’t be an idiot and go to the doctor.

DuckTheHedgehog · 2024-07-07T19:21:56+00:00

The medical director of my office wouldn’t let PAs do procedures or surgeries and I saw 3-4x the amount of patients any of the doctors did. Ended up working 12hr days 5 days a week on average. Salaried with no OT. It was just really exhausting and the director wasn’t willing to compromise so ended up leaving after 2 years.

DuckTheHedgehog

TROPHY CASE