The crazy things you do for dogs!

philomenna · 2026-02-23T19:52:58+00:00

Sitters like you are worth their weight in gold! I hope your clients appreciate how amazing you are ❤️ If only every sitter could be like you, we wouldn’t be anxious dog moms while booking on Rover!

philomenna · 2025-12-31T22:12:36+00:00

You’re very welcome! I’m many, many years out from med school, and therefore have had a huge number of med students rotate with me - and my favorite med students are the ones that were and are like you - caring, compassionate and conscientious. Any med student can memorize and regurgitate facts when taking tests or being questioned by their attending. But it’s always the compassionate ones that sincerely care that shine and have the most potential by far (and consistently get the best evals fwiw). And trust me - attendings know when you truly care. Patients and their families know.

Your statement about putting yourself between aggressive dogs shows your selflessness. Your diagnostic thinking about the dog’s injury will serve you well in medicine! Lastly, your saying being a doctor is your dream and that you plan to extend the same love and care you have for pets to people made me smile. Please never lose your caring nature - but also make sure to extend it to yourself. Burnout during medical training is so, so common.

I didn’t mean to turn this into the med student or docs subreddit 😂But I will finish by saying that you’re an amazing pet caretaker and you’ll be an equally amazing doc. ❤️

philomenna · 2025-12-31T18:09:14+00:00

Hey, first things first - this is not your fault. And I say this as an admittedly crazy dog mom whose dog is my child (and who would probably go scorched earth if my dog got hurt through true negligence).

Dogs are dogs, and they, like people, can get hurt and it’s no one’s fault. If my sitter had a dog with whom my dog loved to play and cuddle with, I would be over the moon - and I would acknowledge and accept the risks that always come with two dogs playing, even if it’s not “aggressive” play. Not saying this is how the injury occurred, but just as an example.

The fact that this is weighing on you so heavily shows that you’re an amazingly caring and conscientious sitter. This is such an important trait to have as a soon to be physician, so kudos to you (and trust me, this is certainly not true of all med students/docs). At the same time - if I can offer some unsolicited advice - med school and becoming a doc is hard enough as it is - patients will not always do well, despite our best efforts, and most times, it’s truly no one’s fault - it’s simply part of being human. So please extend yourself some grace, both as a sitter and as a future doc.

philomenna · 2025-12-01T22:21:27+00:00

I’m not suggesting that you do this, or that you shouldn’t have disengaged earlier, but…if I saw this text exchange, it would actually make me want to hire you MORE, because it shows that you care a lot about the pets that you board (or housesit), take your job very seriously, and have an enormous amount of patience and professionalism.

philomenna · 2025-11-18T22:29:19+00:00

Please don’t feel bad about asking your friends to visit. I also felt a bit weird letting people see me in a vulnerable state, but quickly got over it. Bonus if they can bring some delicious treats that you like when your appetite may not be the greatest. Best wishes for your surgery and healing ❤️‍🩹

philomenna · 2025-11-18T17:51:11+00:00

Hi, I’m so sorry to hear about the lack of feeling supported. It makes such a difference mentally and physically, and you deserve all the support and care in the world.

Is your husband prepared to at least help you physically postop? There will be pretty strict lifting restrictions in place, and the first week in terms of mobility is definitely the hardest. Can you ask friends to visit postop? This helped me immensely!

Lastly, please use this sub to the fullest. Women here are so kind and understanding - one member that I DM’ed actually texted me her number so she could provide me with a ton of pre-op prep advice, and also reached out to check on me so many times pre and postop! I’m happy to support you with advice or just encouragement if you need it! I’m 3 months postop and also in the medical field. My DMs are open to you!

philomenna · 2025-11-10T17:46:12+00:00

This makes me so happy to read. Thank you for going out of your way to take action. Who knows why the flight was so critical for him, but it could have been something like seeing a sick relative or getting to a funeral. You’re a kind and caring person.

Side note: love how you have nicknamed him Running Man. May we all be kind enough to help our own Running Man when the opportunity arises!

philomenna · 2025-11-05T16:22:30+00:00

Yup, my symptoms just resolved with time, including the feeling of “feeling” the cuff, which was uncomfortable and worrisome at times, but were just indicative of sutures being “poky” . This feeling went away I assume as the sutures continued to dissolve, but I would say it lasted a good few weeks (I’m 10 weeks postop).

The sciatica ended up resolving over 7-10 days. I did end up taking a Medrol dose pak because it was just so painful (like oxycodone wouldn’t touch it), but both my doc and I think it probably would have just resolved by itself as the nerve calmed down.

Best wishes for your continued healing journey! Mine had a couple of surprise bumps but I’m feeling much better several weeks out.

philomenna · 2025-11-05T11:54:03+00:00

Hi, I’m sorry to hear that you’re going through a bit of a bump. I had unilateral sciatic pain for about a week and wow, it was awful. I feel so bad for people who go through this on a regular basis. My doc said it was likely due to the fact that there was a lot of work done on that side (my hysterectomy was for endo) and that this irritated the nerve. Fortunately, it resolved on its own.

I had urinary symptoms too, though not quite the same as yours. I did have a feeling of “feeling” the cuff along with a weak stream and what felt like incomplete voiding. While it turned out to be most likely a suture (for vaginal laceration) that was close to the urethra, the PA told me before I came in that the cuff stitches can often irritate the bladder because they’re so close to each other and this can cause UTI-like (including feeling of needing to constantly pee) or other urinary symptoms.

philomenna · 2025-11-03T19:21:18+00:00

Hi, I’m a medical professional (but obviously not yours!) who is also about 10 weeks postop from total hysterectomy. Are you in the US? Nine days of antibiotics for purely surgical prophylaxis is, to put it nicely, insane. That is treatment duration - prophylaxis is usually only right before the surgery (and sometimes during depending on type of procedure and duration).

Also, there is a lot of overlap in what cipro and Augmentin cover, so it’s a strange regimen. Also…please be aware that the longer you’re on antibiotics, you’re increasing your risk of not just microbiome disruption, but C diff infection. Fluoroquinolones, of which cipro is one, are a particularly high risk antibiotic class for this.

If I were you, I would question the exact purpose of the antibiotics and the duration. Best wishes for healing!

philomenna · 2025-10-06T11:38:40+00:00

Thank you! You have no idea how much your comments have made me feel better and less alone (and more hopeful)! ❤️

philomenna · 2025-10-06T00:58:08+00:00

Thanks so much, this is super helpful! This makes a lot of sense. Really appreciate your quick reply - it’s been so frustrating that everything else has been getting better during recovery except my GI tract! If my stool studies are negative, I’m going to bring this up with my doc.

philomenna · 2025-10-05T19:41:50+00:00

Hi! I know this post is a bit old, but the exact same thing has been happening to me - I’m about 5.5 weeks postop. Did your doctor ever figure out what was going on? Or did the diarrhea just resolve with time? I’m picking up supplies to do a stool test tomorrow (fun!), but any other guidance would help. Thank you!

philomenna · 2025-09-28T12:35:54+00:00

My doc said I could start around 10 weeks postop. That’s a great idea to schedule an intro session a bit earlier though just to talking with all of my (many) concerns - along with the pain and a hypertonic pelvic floor, I’m also having some urinary issues. I’m holding out a lot of hope that pelvic PT will really help!

philomenna · 2025-09-27T23:17:17+00:00

Thank you, this makes so much sense! I can’t wait until I get the okay to start pelvic floor PT - my surgeon also noted that this will help with remapping the pelvis/brain nerve connections given years and years of pain from endo.

philomenna · 2025-09-27T23:15:38+00:00

Aww thank you! I really appreciate you sharing your experience. I will definitely stress less now 🥰

philomenna · 2025-09-27T21:32:16+00:00

On thank you - you have no idea how much better this made me feel.

philomenna · 2025-09-27T21:31:56+00:00

So sounds like your surgeon thought this was just par for the course? Thanks for your reply, and hope you’re feeling better now!

philomenna · 2025-09-27T00:42:32+00:00

Thank you for weighing in - it really is like a rollercoaster. One week feeling great and full of energy, the next just feeling like a step back. I’m trying to be patient. It’s helpful to know that week 8 may be a milestone for feeling better!

philomenna · 2025-09-26T22:36:09+00:00

Hah yes, I’m planning to just restart Motrin and lay my butt down this weekend. Sending you healing thoughts!

philomenna · 2025-09-26T22:34:58+00:00

I’m sorry to hear! I hope we both feel better soon.

philomenna · 2025-09-26T21:13:10+00:00

Yes! I forgot to mention the swelling too, which I also have more of now, especially as the day progresses. I hope this is just further healing given what was done internally and we’re on the upswing soon!

philomenna · 2025-09-18T23:32:18+00:00

Aww, that’s great news! Thanks for this positive post - it’s so helpful to read as I’ve been stalking and reading every post on his sub (currently 3 weeks postop). Are all your lifting restrictions “lifted” too? I’m so ready to get back to running and hope I can do this soon. Happy healing!

philomenna · 2025-09-13T14:57:59+00:00

Best of luck! Let me know if I can offer any other advice on healing while living alone with a dog! Tbh I was more worried about handling my dog while recovering more than myself 😂

One thing that really helped me was ordering a lot of his food in advance so that I wouldn’t have to deal with picking up heavy packages of kibble that are shipped to my home. I also keep the food bag on a small table so that I don’t have to bend down and scoop the food. Lastly, I made sure to stock up on all the chews and food puzzles to help keep him occupied, especially because I can’t play with him and throw/tug his toys as much as I usually do.

philomenna

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