Dr. René Garcia joined our practice earlier this year. He is in charge of all of our I-131 therapy feline patients. He is the doctor veterinarians and owners discuss cases with, and he helps to oversee all of the pretreatment imaging, treatment, and hospitalization. Growing up in South Miami, across the street from the Everglades, wildlife conservation and reptiles were always a big part of his life. After a brief career as a firefighter and EMT, he decided that his desire to be a veterinarian and travel the world were too strong for him to continue a stationary, lifelong career with the fire department. His career goal to become a veterinarian led him on the journey of a lifetime, to one of the most respected veterinary schools in the world at Massey University, in Palmerston North, New Zealand. After seven years of living abroad, experiencing different cultures, making friends all over the world, all while focusing on becoming the best veterinarian he can be, he returned to America to start a mobile veterinary hospital that services Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
His life revolves around his best friend and buddy, Mako, a 7-year-old MN New Zealand Huntaway that was taken directly from the rugged, chilly, steep sheep country of central New Zealand, to the soft, warm, and pillowtop confines of his Sunset Cliffs home. An avid traveler, he has visited an average of three different countries a year for the past seven years. International travel has gone from being a hobby to a lifestyle. The next planned vacation is six nights in Iceland in early spring, 2012 Two of those nights will be spent dogsledding, led by the strong Greenlandic dog team, while enjoying the wild and untouched Icelandic countryside!
The advances in advanced imaging modalities over the past few years have been a fascinating trend to follow. And while the technology and quality of these amazing imaging modalities have improved exponentially, so has their affordability to the consumer. We can now perform a full CT scan of the thorax to more accurately look for pulmonary metastasis, or scan the abdomen for surgical planning for just a little more than 3 view radiographs of the same structures would cost the client. And as time passes, I expect the trend to move from traditional imaging practices to more advanced imaging modalities, just as the human field has done over the past decade. With all these tools and diagnostic capabilities at our fingertips, this is an exciting time to be a veterinarian!
One case that stands out to him was an older MN Labrador, with a history of thoracolumbar pain, elevated ALT, ALP, and cholesterol, with alopecia and a distended abdomen. Abdominal radiographs were unremarkable other than a mild hepatomegaly. Abdominal ultrasound revealed a diffusely hyperechoic liver, and a large right adrenal mass was identified, but it was not certain whether this adrenal tumor was invading the surrounding vasculature. After a CT with contrast was performed, accurate intraluminal invasion of the phrenicoabdominal vein and caudal vena cava was detected accurately. Surprisingly, local invasion into the epaxial and hypaxial musculature was also identified, helping explain the dog’s back pain in the absence of intervertebral disk disease [citation].