Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Updates

The second day of school was also a success. Anna was determined to go to school on the bus, which comes by our house at 7:15 am. Mighty early! I woke her up and she dragged herself out of bed, swaying and steadying herself on the closet door. "I'm dizzy, Mommy, because I'm so tired," she said. "Honey, do you want to lie back down for a few minutes?" I asked. "No! I want to ride the bus!" she insisted, as she struggled to get her clothes on.

She was a little grumpy, but she was ready on time (I had to leave a few minutes after 7). Anthony called to let me know she got just fine, then admitted he found it a little tough to watch his baby girl be whisked away, hopefully to find her way to her class on her own.

She did great, of course, and even picked out chocolate milk for lunch today ("It was SOOO good, Mommy). We'll see if the desire for sleep overrides the desire to ride the bus tomorrow.

Also, yesterday I got a call from the Boxer's owner. Remember, she is deaf, so I actually got a video conference call. These are so cool - a sign language interpreter can see a video of the deaf person calling me, and speaks what she signs. He's also listening to me, and signing what I say in response. The interpreters of course speak in first person, and get very animated, even using inflection in their voices which I'm sure reflects what they are seeing in sign. It really felt like I was talking to my client directly, although she had a masculine voice.

I found out that she took the Boxer to a local vet and got some antibiotics and antiinflammatories, and had some questions for me about wound care. I really wish I could be managing this incision, since it was my surgery, but at least they are getting good care in DC. I could tell our interpreter got really caught up in the case. The last time I did one of these calls it was to let a deaf client know why her cat died (I did a necropsy aka animal autopsy at her request). I wonder what these interpreters say about us to their families at the end of the day!

4 comments:

peevish said...

Hey, we got the postcard from Anna today. Junebug was very happy to see it! Her first 2 days have been mostly good, but I can't imagine putting her on a bus! We have to leave our house at about 10 after 7 to get her there on time, so I understand about the groggy children.

Oh, I mostly wanted to say that modern technology is so amazing. I hope the boxer heals nicely.

Emily said...

What a big girl! I remember at Duetchenfest (sp?) how excited Henley and Anna were to ride on the big school bus.
I'm glad the boxer's owner followed up with you. You take such good care of your patients and their owners. I think her follow-up shows how much you make a difference and an impact on people's and pets' lives.

Anonymous said...

Riding the bus was one of the highlights of my day when I was little. It's a big step toward growing up and Anna seems to be handling that and everything else school-wise in stride.
Way to go Miss Anna!

paula said...

Sounds like Anna is doing amazingly well at her school, imagine wanting to catch the bus on her own (and at that time in the morning!), I bet Anthony really did find it soooo hard to watch his baby going off on her own.

I totally agree with Lisa, modern technology is incredible, so fascinating.