How's It Going?

[ladysprite]

I realized that yesterday was the two-month anniversary of me seeing my first patient through Autumn Care & Crossings, and I figured I ought to take a little time to note how things have progressed since then.  It feels like it's been longer than that, and in a way it's hard to remember that I've only just started doing this.

I didn't know quite what to expect when I started my own practice - how long would it take to get clients?  How many would I get?  How much would I be able to earn?  I figured it would take a while to get rolling, but I didn't have a mental image of what that while would be.

At first, almost all of my calls were for euthanasias, and I was afraid that that would be all I wound up doing - another vet with a similar practice in Connecticut told me that, while she wanted to do more hospice, it was almost impossible for her to market to people.  But over the past few weeks, that's changed drastically.  I've got at least half a dozen hospice patients already, and I'm getting more and more calls.

I'm already earning enough through hospice that my business is self-sustaining - I can afford all of the supplies I need to continue practicing from the income from house calls.  Last week I earned more from house calls than I did from relief work, for the first time.

Most of all, I'm loving everything that I do.  This is every bit as deep and rewarding and powerful as I imagined it being.  I love going into people's homes and meeting them and their pets, and I love the depth of understanding I'm able to get from this different doctor-client-patient relationship.  I love knowing that I'm helping people as well as pets, in a challenging time.  And even the euthanasia-only patients are more powerful than I ever imagined - I'm able to make something difficult into a more loving and less traumatic event, and I feel like I'm part of a shared ritual instead of just a medical procedure.

I'm not done growing yet, by any stretch of the imagination.  But.... I am so incredibly glad and lucky that I decided to make this leap.  I can't wait to see where it grows from here....

Comments

[lisagw.livejournal.com]

You are doing amazing work. I am so glad you can earn a living doing a job you love.

[iamjw.livejournal.com]

I'm so happy for you. It's an incredible thing to be able to do what you love and have it sustain you like this.

[witchwestphalia.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad!

[gmkieran.livejournal.com]

So very glad to hear all of this!

*hugs*!!!

[evcelt.livejournal.com]

Great news! Wishing you much success!

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

Very glad it's going well!

[jducoeur]

Neat! And thank you -- hearing about how well you're doing (and pretty fast, by my reckoning) gives hope to the rest of us on the "start a company" road...

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

Awesome!

Here via Siderea...

[403.livejournal.com]

I wish I'd known that there was such a profession as a hospice vet when my husband and I inherited a very elderly cat who'd been abandoned by a prior tenant. We did the best we could for her in her last two years (2011-2013), but actually getting her to the vet was a major obstacle. So this is just to say, your work is good and necessary. Thank you for doing it.