Turkey stitches!
Jun. 11th, 2009 11:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pacificpikachuI just stitched up a large wound on a wild turkey all by myself. :D
Well, mom held the flashlight and provided the sutures, but I did all the disinfecting, stitching, and so on! I was amazed at how straightforward it was and the wound looked MUCH better closed. Amazingly better. I wouldn't normally do something drastic like that--especially because I know wounds just need some air and disinfectant a lot of the time--but a) the hole was in the crop, meaning everything the bird ate or drank would simply come out the hole and the bird would get no hydration or food no matter how much it ate or drank and b) the bird is almost certainly going to the vet tomorrow, so if I did anything wrong Dr. Lund can correct it soon. It went very smoothly, though! The turkey kicked around a little a few times (reassuring as I was worried it would go into shock, but it remained responsive the whole time) but was mostly quite calm.
It's nice having a mom who's a nurse because, while she's never stitched anyone or anything herself, we have plenty of hospital supplies around the house. I set up a little "surgical unit" on my bedroom floor with a big blue hospital cloth thing, disinfectant, scissors, tweezers, gauze, suture, antibiotics, a syringe, dilute silvadine, and gloves. Now my room smells like yucky wild turkey, but the experience was worth it.
Now let's just hope this guy can recover from his leg problem... If not it's not as though I'm too invested, and I'm glad that I was able to test out such an important skill on him. It would be nice to have my first patient I've sutured survive, though. ^^; Poor guy has had one hell of a day--getting hit by a car, sitting out in the sun unable to walk for two plus hours, finally getting to drink again after being stuck in the sun for all that time only to have all the water run out of his wound, and then getting stitched up in an utterly alien environment. At least he gets to stay outside in a safe enclosure. Good thing we have the dog kennel, as well as the large gold cage I was keeping in the chicken coop.
Anyway, just had to show off my unique accomplishment. :D I can't help but feel proud of myself. Even if I didn't do it 100% correctly because I was just going off of online instructions and improvisation, at least I've tried it out and concluded I'm capable of it.
Stitching up wild turkeys: Something you are unlikely to read about on any blog other than![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
pacificpikachu's!
Well, mom held the flashlight and provided the sutures, but I did all the disinfecting, stitching, and so on! I was amazed at how straightforward it was and the wound looked MUCH better closed. Amazingly better. I wouldn't normally do something drastic like that--especially because I know wounds just need some air and disinfectant a lot of the time--but a) the hole was in the crop, meaning everything the bird ate or drank would simply come out the hole and the bird would get no hydration or food no matter how much it ate or drank and b) the bird is almost certainly going to the vet tomorrow, so if I did anything wrong Dr. Lund can correct it soon. It went very smoothly, though! The turkey kicked around a little a few times (reassuring as I was worried it would go into shock, but it remained responsive the whole time) but was mostly quite calm.
It's nice having a mom who's a nurse because, while she's never stitched anyone or anything herself, we have plenty of hospital supplies around the house. I set up a little "surgical unit" on my bedroom floor with a big blue hospital cloth thing, disinfectant, scissors, tweezers, gauze, suture, antibiotics, a syringe, dilute silvadine, and gloves. Now my room smells like yucky wild turkey, but the experience was worth it.
Now let's just hope this guy can recover from his leg problem... If not it's not as though I'm too invested, and I'm glad that I was able to test out such an important skill on him. It would be nice to have my first patient I've sutured survive, though. ^^; Poor guy has had one hell of a day--getting hit by a car, sitting out in the sun unable to walk for two plus hours, finally getting to drink again after being stuck in the sun for all that time only to have all the water run out of his wound, and then getting stitched up in an utterly alien environment. At least he gets to stay outside in a safe enclosure. Good thing we have the dog kennel, as well as the large gold cage I was keeping in the chicken coop.
Anyway, just had to show off my unique accomplishment. :D I can't help but feel proud of myself. Even if I didn't do it 100% correctly because I was just going off of online instructions and improvisation, at least I've tried it out and concluded I'm capable of it.
Stitching up wild turkeys: Something you are unlikely to read about on any blog other than
pacificpikachu's!
