Return from Maternity Leave

As many of you know, I have been noticeably absent from the hospital for the last 5 weeks after the birth of my son Daniel (Danny) on Saturday, January 27, 2018. Danny joins his big sister Anna as well as our two dogs Finn & Gil in our busy family of 6. Danny was born a tiny peanut at 6 lb 14 oz (full term), but has been gaining weight steadily. He currently sleeps 3-4 hours stretches at night. I would LOVE to have him sleeping through the night before I return to work, but if not, please excuse the circles under my eyes!

I have really enjoyed my time bonding with Danny and recovering from the delivery over the last 5 weeks. All of this has been possible due to my dedicated staff and the awesome vets who stepped in while I’ve been out on maternity leave. Dr. Carls graciously returned from retirement to perform surgeries on Tuesdays (and the occasional emergency surgery on other days). Dr. Mollie extended her normal Monday and Wednesday hours despite her busy schedule at home with her three boys. And Dr. Erin and Dr. Kitti, from Blacksburg and Waynesboro respectively, rounded out the weekly coverage on Thursdays and Fridays. I am very grateful for their dedicated and loving care to all of your pets in my absence. Lastly, I am extremely grateful for Ashley, our licensed veterinary technician, who has done a phenomenal job coordinating everything amongst the 4 vets. Her efforts, as well as those of the rest of the staff, helped ensure continuity of care for your animals.

Through the vets and the Lexington Animal Hospital staff, I was kept informed daily on your pets. While I love being a mom, I love being a veterinarian just as much. I am very much looking forward to my return to Lexington Animal Hospital next week. While I’ve been out, we launched an electronic appointment reminder system. Our next endeavor in the modernization of the practice will be to transition to electronic medical records. I foresee many anticipated benefits to this transition- reduce our carbon footprint, decrease the chance of misplacing a chart, and facilitate the sharing of medical records with owners or specialists via email. Finally and most importantly, with doctors’ proclivity to chicken-scratch handwriting, it will help with case continuity, communication, and patient care.

Thank you all for your patience and allowing me to take time away from the hospital so that I can spend some needed time at home with my new son. I look forward to seeing you all and your pets as things warm up in Lexington. 

Best,

Dr Meghan Ryan

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