I had always joked with clients and team members that the title of my memoirs would be “The White Ones Always Bleed.” Since I do not see myself writing too many memoirs in the future, and blogging is such a common method of sharing ideas and stories these days, I thought I would give it a try. I enjoy writing, telling stories, and taking advantage of teachable moments, so this seemed the perfect avenue for all of these. I hope you get some information and especially some enjoyment from this blog. Please share it with your friends if you find anything in here worthy of your time or effort!
As to the title…
This stems from my days in vet school originally, but carried over into practice on a regular basis. I do not remember which instructor I heard this from (or even if it was only one). We were in large animal medicine learning how to “tube-worm” a horse when I first heard this phrase.
First let me explain “tube-worming” to those who, like me, are “rurally challenged” and have never been closer to a horse than a merry-go-round. When tube-worming, a very long and flexible tube is CAREFULLY passed through the nostril of the horse and then VERY CAREFULLY directed past the throat and then EXTREMELY CAREFULLY passed down the esophagus (not the trachea or windpipe) into the stomach in order to force-feed a “worming” medication (which is actually intended to remove worms so would more accurately be called “deworming” medication) into the horse to remove parasites from the gut. When passing this tube, the vet must navigate past some very tender tissue in the sinus cavity that is filled with numerous, fragile blood vessels that are just waiting to erupt at the slightest touch. There is a learning curve, but this can be done over and over without mishap in most horses.
Not much else can make the best equine vet look incompetent in the eyes of the horse’s owner than doing a routine deworming and causing a nose bleed! And these are not simple intermittent drips or a light pink “frosting” after a sneeze! No, these are often profuse, productive, “I didn’t know they had that much blood” crimson fountains that would make horror film special effects artists envious!
Of course if the horse is a nice brown or black, the blood is not nearly so easily seen; but those white ones look like someone took a club to the nose! There is just something unique and profound about blood red on a white background that embeds itself in your mind, and nightmares.
Now back to equine medicine class. When instructing our class on this danger and how to avoid it; the rest of the lecture went something like this: “Even with routine practice, a steady hand, a great assistant, a steady horse, the right equipment, and decades of practice, it still seems that no matter what you do…
You guessed it…
The White Ones Always Bleed!”
Well I had no big drive to do large animal medicine, and figured this little anecdote, though fine for party conversation, would hold no true value for me in the real world. I was going to do small animal and exotic medicine! No “tube-worming for me!
Guess what? When you are trying to get blood from the vein of a white dog or cat… even with routine practice, a steady hand, a great assistant, a steady animal, the right equipment, and decades of practice, it still seems that no matter what you do…
The White Ones Always Bleed!
Of course, “always” is a bit extreme, but “The White Ones Are Most Likely of All of the Ones That Might Possibly Bleed To Actually Bleed and Make an Embarrassing Mess” wasn’t nearly so catchy and just didn’t have the same flow to it (pun intended)!
I hope you enjoy my posts, get a little info, have a little laugh, and come away feeling it was a worthwhile way to waste a few moments.
