I'm happy to report that the bitey bitty was picked up today by K, the
cat rescue woman(She got done early and came by).  She has been renamed
Priscilla or Little Miss Priss.

I took her around to all the other staff members who petted her and
said goodbye.  I had a slight tear in my eye when i handed her over to
K.  K cuddled her and admired how cute she was.  She told me that she
had a very large cage with three tiers in it.  She wants to give the
kitten every chance possible, and when the time comes will retest her
for FELV.  The test results will then determine whether Priscilla will
go into the living room with the rest of the rescue cats, or into the
bedroom with K's two FELV positive cats.

When Priscilla was put into the carrier she looked at me with WIDE eyes
and started shaking.  AWWWWW!!!!  I tried to reassure her and pet her.

And after she left i blinked back tears as they drove away.  I'll miss
the little bitey bitty, but the woman lives right around the corner
from the clinic and I've been encouraged to visit.   Oh I plan
to.....and WITH my camera.

Prisclilla was 0.8 pounds when she came into the clinic on september
12th.  When she left today, a little more than three weeks later, she
had a big bitty belly and weighed in a TWO pounds.  (BTW that came
after a joke..."Hey Kristi, how much does the kitten weigh now?"  "Um,
I dunno, you know what happened the LAST time i weighed her" hehehe)

As I might have mentioned, one of our techs will be leaving soon.  That
means there won't be a surgical tech on Wednesdays, and i checked the
schedule today and noticed we have a LOT of surgeries next wednesday.
Think it's time to reread my notes on surgery and monitoring anesthesia
just in case.  It's been awesome that I'm getting to do things, but
sometimes......

"Kristi, I need chest and abdominal x-rays on this dog.  And the
owner's waiting."
"Ok, Dr. S.  Hey L, can you help me with these x-rays?"
"Uh, me and J are helping Dr. C.  You've shot x-rays before?"
"Sure, but I haven't checked out your equipment and technique chart."
"Oh, ok lemme explain it.......(5 minutes later)....and that's about
it."
"Uh.....ok?"

NO other technicians available, so i grab one of the kennel workers to
help restrain and somehow i managed to figure things out on my own and
shot decent X-rays.  Decent enough that Dr. S was happy.  Whew!

Glad i paid attention in radiology.  Pretty much lately, there's been
no one available to really 'hold my hand' but i DO have a general idea.
But at least it keeps me on my toes and gets me to apply everything
i've learned.

It's just a little unexpected but i'm actually a little bit proud that
i'm being forced to use my head and somehow i figure it out.  Like
today i had to make up an estimate for a surgical procedure.  I did my
best, based on what i knew was drugs and materials were going to be
needed.  J said i didn't do half bad, since i had the right idea, but
she pointed out my mistakes and gave me a few tips and shortcuts.  Then
she handed me another chart and let me put it together, and I talked it
out and she corrected me where needed, but i did better that time.  And
she assured me that i would get better.

Best analogy I can come up with is.....
"Can you swim?"
"Uh, kinda, i have the general idea..."
"Works for me...(pushes me into the water)....go for it."

And I have a sneaking feeling that since i'm the only other tech on
duty next Wed that has some form of surgical experience, that i'm gonna
get thrown in.  Oh boy.......

But i'm happy that everyone is so supportive and willing to work with
me.  I wouldn't want to work anywhere else we're such a great a team.

So I feel good overall.  Things are going well and I'm continuing to
learn.  I couldn't ask for anything more.  

Kristi