Dear Veterinary Medicine Community: Thank You, Stay Strong, and We Love You

Dear veterinary medicine community: Thank you, stay strong, and we love you

This is my dog Hazel after her foreign body surgery. Two veterinarians and a team of technicians worked through their lunch- their only break in a long day of saving lives- to save my dog. Hazel's doctor took this photo and sent it to me- it was the moment she woke up. I waited for two hours but Hazel really wanted to sleep it off, so the doctor texted me this as soon as she was awake. Her name is Dr. Paquette, and she's incredible. I'm not sure I really expressed to all of them how grateful I was. The cost of losing Hazel may have meant losing myself. It was worth every penny, and I can never repay them. I got the full value fo their service- I got to keep my best friend. So Thank you.

Full disclosure, I was fortunate to be a part of this veterinary team, and now I'm a part of another amazing team in a different city. This means I keep up-to-date with the vet med industry. I read a study today about the suicide rate in the Canadian veterinary medicine profession. I read the whole thing, however, I'm not a doctor, nor a scientist, nor a scholar, so there was much of it I didn't comprehend. One thing that was clear to even a layperson like me is that Canadian veterinarians commit suicide well above the average national rate. And it's NOT OK. I work in vet medicine but I won't tell you that I have even close to the responsibility or as important of a job as the doctor, technician, and VA team. Me sitting in an office writing copy and designing graphics in no way compares to saving the life of a cat that is blocked, working through my lunch to save a dog who I've never seen before, crying when I tried my best but couldn't save a patient, and staying late calling specialists trying to get answers about a case I desperately want to solve. What I've witnessed from these medical professionals- the compassion, the empathy, the resilience- has made a huge impact on the person I am today. While I'll never make the difference they make, I will always be in awe of it.Over the years I have grown to love the folks who work in vet medicine. I hope that during this difficult time- actually during ANY time- when it feels like their kindness for squeezing in that emergency appointment with the client they don't really know or working through their lunch to remove quills, or discounting a clients bill without telling the client to make it less expensive but not make them feel bad, goes unnoticed, you all know that I APPRECIATE YOU. I SEE YOU FOR WHO YOU ARE. I KNOW YOUR COMPASSION. I'M HERE FOR YOU IF YOU NEED SOMEONE. You are not alone, vet med community. I may sit in an office and make pretty things, but I do it because everything YOU DO is the beauty I reflect in what I create. You amaze me every day. Thank you veterinarians, technicians, VA's and CSR's.

Thank you Pembroke Animal Hospital for saving Hazel's life!

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