Toxy Lady

Celebration and Grief In 1992, I completed a medical toxicology fellowship. One of the faculty at my residency training program was a mentor who was a toxicologist, so I decided I wanted to do the same. I loved the idea of being good at a specific subject and I thought knowing about snakes, spiders, poisonous plants and mushrooms would just be very cool. I had no idea about the relationships I would form. I also had no idea that most of the patients would be overdoses and not as cool as I expected! But I have no regrets. It is a wonderful specialty. Last week we had our annual meeting in Washington, DC and celebrated the 25th anniversary of the founding of the physician toxicology organization, the American College of Medical Toxicology. As a founding member and past president, I volunteered to emcee the gala dinner. I think it was the most difficult presentation of my life. I have been in front of hundreds of people and have spoken in multiple countries, but these are the hero...

Spoiler alert-this one is serious. I’m crying while I type it. I have been having so many intense feelings about family, lately. I am sure that as one ages, that is bound to happen. My mother is 91 and I remember a time when she started needing more help that I was resentful that as the only daughter I seemed to be the go to child. But I finally realized how lucky I am. My mother recently had a minor eye surgery and I got to be the one to drive her and spend time with her. We have so much fun talking to people in these situations. We joke and laugh and ask people about their lives. They seem surprised when we do. She always says that family is all that matters. As I get older, my family becomes more dear. It seems so trite to talk about how time flies. But I swear it was just yesterday that my brothers and I were swimming in our pond and our parents were taking care of all of our real problems. I still cannot reconcile the fact that I will never see my father again, even th...

I really need a support group for someone who gets too attached to animals. I CAN kill a fly. Not a ladybug or spider. If I see a dead dog or cat in the road, I come home a different way. This seems pathological. So when I lose a pet, the grief is overwhelming. We were in Antarctica for one month from mid-December to early January and found out, by email from our house sitter, that Heidi, our 12 year old German Wire haired Pointer died in her sleep. Technically, she was my husband's dog, but she was like a child to both of us.  In 2006, I had the year from hell. In addition to my father dying, our young  German Wire haired Pointer, Emma, either ran away or was stolen. We were heartbroken. So, I found another dog on Petfinder. She was a 9 month old  German Wire haired Pointer  and was in Texas. Her owners lived in Mexico and left her at a Petsmart in Texas because the wife was pregnant and they didn't have room for a dog anymore. So, while she is technically a rescu...

Another goat story-remember when I bought the two goats, one was called Topo Gigio? Of course you do. If it isn't a strange enough name, Topo Gigio was actually a mouse! Well not really because he was imaginary. Anyway, awhile after I got her, her utters got huge. I called one vet and he said, "maybe she is pregnant. I can come out and do an ultrasound." While it would have been embarrassing to have an unmarried pregnant goat, I denied the offer. What did he think I was going to do-have an abortion or send her to a Catholic home for goats???? So I got a new vet! Topo was an angry goat before the giant udders, but this made it worse. I called the new vet and told her about the issue and asked if maybe some kind of hormone treatment would help. She said no and not to worry about it. But they got so big and were dragging the ground, so she said she would come take a look. When she came, she was incredulous. She had never seen anything like this. I was so proud (not). S...

I know I am not writing on a topic I promised, but it is very topical. OMG-I hate paswords! Between the time spent trying to come up with a new one, writing them down, spending hours on the phone and the extra heartbeats when they don't work, I am shaving time off my lifespan. Sometimes I don't think technology is a good thing. I only have so many live animals, dead animals, birth dates of family members and lucky numbers! I have been on hold with Citibank for 20 minutes so far today because, apparently, my birth date or social security number changed and I don't know it!! Then they told me they needed to transfer me to another number, even though I called the one on the screen when they denied my existence!! I feel like I have to come up with a magic potion recipe to develop a new password-one capital letter, one even number, 3 eyes of newt, a symbol, a letter from the Greek alphabet, an Austen heroine.................................... I may be limited to living only a f...

So I missed blogging last week and am late this week. I know you are on the edge of your seats waiting to hear about the goat in the ICU.  I was traveling for Thanksgiving and too lazy to blog. Another reason I missed last week is that I couldn't find a good photo of Jackson, the goat. I was looking for the Christmas card I made one year where his head and most of his body was inside a paper feed bag and only his rear and tail were sticking out. But, alas, I couldn't find it. I might have been able to recover it, but that would involve cleaning out the closet in my office. Then the fun of trying to close the door before everything falls out would be gone. I also looked for the photo of him on the dishwasher door when it was open and the one of him on the kitchen table! No luck. If I find either, I promise to post. For Valentine's Day one year, I gave Michael, my first husband, a pair of pygmy goats. We named them  Señor Wences  and  Topo Gigio (re: Ed Sullivan...

As I mentioned in a previous blog, I have done 3 trips as the ship physician (for passengers and staff) to Antarctica. I'll spell it the right way this time, since I am tired of that red line that says I misspelled something. There are anywhere from 120-200 passengers on each expedition, depending on the ship. There is also a doctor for the crew (all of the sailors, hospitality crew, cleaning crew, etc.). We usually have a fairly well-stocked clinic and can do more than I expected. We cannot do any laboratory testing or x-rays. Most importantly, there is no nurse!! Many of you may not realize that most doctors do not start IV's, do EKG's, etc. So, on the first trip as doctor we begin in Punta Arenas, Chile. I arranged a few days before the trip for rest in relaxation. My recommendation is to NOT spend any extra time in this town. We started in a "hostel" where a fight broke out the first night outside of our room. Fortunately, we moved to a hotel the next day.  ...