Stephanie SHOCKS Dr. Davis with her Surprise!

Having to do like a whole a write up and everything, like make a soap note. So then just like seeing this for a cat, it's just like, so I just think it's so funny. It's like crt. Like cap refill time under two seconds. Like, how do you do cap refill time on a.

No way. They're checking the capillary refill on that cap.

Hi, everybody, and welcome to the podcast. This is Generations Maryland. My name is Stephanie and I'm joined here by my colleague Dr. Sarah Davis, who's also my mother. Hi. Hi. Okay, I have a. An announcement, a reveal.

Oh, wow.

Live on the pod. Live on the pod.

Oh, my gosh. What is this? Oh, my God.

Say hi to Bruce. Bruce, say hi to everybody.

Hi, Bruce. For our listeners, Stephanie got a cat.

This is a cat. I. Let's hear a meow.

Brucey, a quiet cat.

He. He meows sometimes. But right now, see, I just pick him up. He doesn't really care.

That's nice. That's. That's the first pet you've had that you can do that with. You couldn't do that with your rabbit? Your dog?

No.

Oh, he's so sweet.

White. He's black and white. He goes with my decor.

But that's good.

Yeah, but that's the big reveal.

The big reveal. Wow. Well, that is exciting. Okay, so now you had very severe allergies to cats and other animals your whole life. So tell me how you're dealing with your allergies.

Oh, do you hear that in the back? There he goes.

Oh, okay. Bruce, he's shy when he's around the mic.

Yeah, he gets a little camera shy.

Clearly looks like he's really obedient. He just kind of comes when he's called not.

I don't know how to teach him his name.

Come here. I'm not sure that you can really teach cats their name. Sometimes you can teach them like a pitch or the way that you talk. We used to have this cat when I was a kid named Sugar, and we would say, sugar, here, kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty. And she'd come running.

Yeah, but his name is Bruce. We're calling him Brusky. That was the name that was given to him at the shelter. So we just kind of kept it. We like it big Bruce, he's a big cat. He's £15.

Oh, that is big cat.

Yeah. Allergy wise, honestly, I'm doing fine. So on Monday. So my boyfriend Thomas has been asking for a cat. He really wants a cat. And I Had these terrible allergies for a long time. I was gonna go get the immunotherapy, go to the allergist, get testing done, and do the whole shots. For those of you who don't know, it's like it depends on your insurance, but if you have a deductible plan, then like, it's essentially like a hundred dollars per visit. Like, and you have to get the shots every week for a couple of months. So that's expensive. Exactly. And then you have to, you know, pay for the allergy testing and all of that. So I was like, well, why don't I just run an experiment on my own and just kind of see. So at the shelter, when I pet the kittens, I broke on the hives. But it's with him, he's has more like hair and it's not. He's. He's short haired and I don't really, I'm not really having a reaction to him. So.

We know. I had heard that it's the saliva on cats that really creates the allergic reaction. So it's like they, there's something in their saliva, then they like, you know, lick themselves and then that gets on the rest of them. I don't know. Somebody needs to fact check that.

Yeah, I don't know about that. I mean, maybe. But yeah, he. I. Yeah, I don't. I've been taking like Claritin and stuff. But yeah, as a kid I used to go play with the neighbor's cats and then I'd come back and I would just have allergy. It was so bad.

I'd.

I'd be rubbing my eyes all night. I couldn't sleep.

But you still went back for more.

But I would still. Because I just love the animal so much. But with him, I. I don't know. I haven't really had. I don't know. Doctor, why do kids grow out of allergies?

Well, I mean, multiple reasons. Also just some animals, you know, you're just more allergic to than other animals there. I don't generally have lots of allergies, but there are certain cats that really, really bother me and other ones that don't bother me much at all. So it could that Bruce is, you know, you're not so allergic to him, but just like lots of things. I mean, you know, immunotherapy is basically exposing you to that allergen so that you get desensitized to it. So, you know, you probably have gotten somewhat desensitized to some of those allergens over time. And so it may be that, you know, being around Bruce, like, it's. You just kind of get used to it and he's basically your allergy shots.

Yeah, see, that's what I was thinking. Might as well, if it's bearable. I said if it was unbearable and if I was just struggling so hard, then we have to bring him back. But. Oh, there's.

Yeah, that's right. I mean. Oh, I could just imagine Thomas crying and crying. Oh, we have to give the cat back. That could have been a really viral tick tock, though.

Yeah. And we already just like bought. Thomas keeps buying him more toys and more things and he's. Well, he needs this. He needs this. I'm like, let's hold off a little bit. Let's see what, what he likes and all of that. But.

So how long have you had Bruce now?

Since Monday.

Oh, so he was with you for the snowmageddon that you guys had?

He was, he was here for the snowstorm. He was probably very confused because we brought him home and then it snowed the next day. So he was like, where am I?

But he didn't go outside, right?

No, no.

Or that's what you have to say because the shelters make you promise that you will never let your AT be exposed to the outdoors.

I don't know, we didn't get really get any rules or anything. This one was a lot more chill and he's six, so I think they kind of wanted to, you know, get.

Him out the door.

Get him out the door. All we got is his medical records and then just like an infographic about how it takes three days for them to get adjusted, three weeks for them to settle in, and three months for them to like, really settle in. That's all the information I had about owning a cat. So I'm basing a lot off the infographic, but also for the physical exam of the cat. I just thought it was the. The funniest thing.

What does it say?

Well, I just like Emma, because, you know, I have just gone through all of this for the first year of medical school, just going through and doing a physical and having to do like a whole a write up and everything. Like, make a soap note. So then just like seeing this for a cat, it's just like. So I just think it's so funny. It's like eyes clear, no discharge, no conjunctivas, crt. Like cap refill time under two seconds. Like, how do you do cap refill time on it?

No way. They're checking the Capillary refill on that cat.

I think you do it on the, on the nose. It says moist crt. I don't know. And then like neuro examine. No significant findings.

Okay. Okay. Mental status is pretty good.

Yeah. Yeah. Alert. Just like, it's just so silly. I just can't. I mean, like, like gastrointestinal. No significant findings. Palpate normally. Like they just palpating the areas on.

They sort of squeeze the belly a little bit. Yeah. Okay.

So, yeah, I realized that. So when I was a kid and I loved all the animals so much, even though I had such bad allergies, I was like, oh, I want to be a vet really bad. That was what I wanted to do. We had to give him one like syringe of medicine. When he got here and Thomas was holding him and I was trying to do the syringe and the medicine just got absolutely everywhere. So I don't think I would be a good vet.

Well, you'd have to practice on that.

Yeah, no, I'm, I'm glad I. I'm glad I'm gonna work with people and not animals. That seems like a hard job.

Yeah, it's hard to get a lot of history from the animal. Got a 6 year old black and white male who comes in with no complaints. Exactly. Or complaints of being homeless.

Occupation? Hanging out. Hanging out.

So how's his behavior though? I mean, obviously it's. We're past the three day mark now.

So he's really chill. Like, he's really just fine. I did. The reason I was literally to this zoom meeting is because I got back and I couldn't find him anywhere and I was freaking out and I was like, oh my God, maybe he's stuck somewhere. And then I heard a little meow and I was like, is he in this cabinet? And he was stuck in a cabinet.

Oh, no.

But it was okay. He wasn't gone for. I just left for a yoga class. So he wasn't gone for long, but. Or in there for long, but.

So he kind of just got himself in there and he couldn't get out.

Yeah. Yeah.

Maybe he just liked it there.

Yeah. I don't know.

He could have like climb into cupboards when they want to die, though, just so you know.

What, mom, why would you say something like that? What do you mean? Also what.

It's just kind of weird how they do that. They like go and like find some little corner, but they also just like to hide out.

Yeah. They do that like normally throughout their lives.

Yeah. So I want to Know how the place knows that he's 6 years old? That's just based on physical exam vibes. I found that the dog shelters, and probably they do this with cats, too. Like, if you talk to somebody who. Who adopted a dog from a place, they were always either three years old or six years old. You know, three is like, okay. They're kind of young. And I remember talking to somebody who had adopted a lot of dogs. Like, well, yeah, my dog was three, the dog before that was three and the dog before that was three. I'm like, h. Coincidence.

Yeah. I think that they. They definitely don't have animals over six years. Like, they don't say. I saw one that was like, 14 and he had some. Like he had leukemia or something and he couldn't get adopted. Yeah.

That's sad.

Yeah. But he had to be, like, isolated because of the leukemia.

So, like, immunocompromised.

Yes. Yes.

That's going to be hard to find a family.

Yeah. Yeah. But. But yeah, most of them, it's just. Yeah. I don't. I don't know. They said his birthday is January 9th, so we're gonna stick with it.

That's. That's good. So you just missed his birthday. So you couldn't have a party for him?

Just missed it. I think that was the day that he got to the shelter. But.

Okay, well, how did you pick him? Of all the cats there, you know.

How people had, like. People got like a Covid puppy and stuff. This is my, like, dry January cat.

Wow. Not drinking is so hard for 30 days, 31 days that you had to get a pet.

I'm kidding. I'm kidding. No, I just wanted an older cat and then he just.

He was.

He was quite the salesman. We got there. I saw him online and he has. He. I thought he was cute. And then we got there and I don't know, I was kind of positive about the whole thing. I was like, you know what? Let's just, like, let's just get a cat. And he seemed good. He came up to us. He was snuggling with us. He had a good report from the shelter. Didn't have. He wasn't shy, which was good because we want him to be able to snuggle and not be so scared.

Yeah. Yeah.

So, yeah. And it works out.

Oh, that's good now. But does he, like, get all crazy and jump around like. No, he's.

He's old, so he's fine. Like, he's not really. He meows when he gets bored a little Bit in like at the beginning of the day and kind of sometimes in the middle of the day, cuz. But we need to get him some, like, independent. We just need to get him some more toys.

The Thomases?

No, no, he just. He just gets bored and I don't know, I can't entertain him all the time, so. But. And he just meows a little bit. But no, he doesn't get crazy. He's old, he's big. He's kind of just like. He's chilling good.

And his fur isn't getting all over your pretty furniture.

No, I specifically wanted to get a mostly white cat because of that. And we got like a nice fur thing, which has been helpful. He had some dandruff issues, so Thomas caught him some special oil for the dandruff.

Something like dandruff shampoo or something.

It's like something that he puts in his food. I don't know.

Okay, what about like a scratching post? He.

We got him when he doesn't. He's not interested and. But he hasn't scratched, like. But that was my big thing is I didn't want him scratching the couch, so. But he hasn't been doing that at all. We have a cat tree coming because he likes to climb up things and so.

So more things that Thomas has ordered for him. Boy, it's going to be a spoiled cat.

I know. Yeah. Thomas is spoiling this cat more than he spoils me. You had a cat in medical school?

I did. He was a good cat, Oscar. He was. When I would come home, he was like, so anxious for attention because he'd been home, you know, all day by himself. And so like, I'm coming in and I'm like, bending over, putting my backpack down, and he would jump onto my back. And he just like, wanted to be like hell. So like, okay, okay, I'll hold you. I'll hold you. I'll give you some. Give you some attention. But I used to let him go around outside too, which he. He always acted like he wanted to go outside. Want to go outside? Want to. Okay, go outside. Then you go outside and just like, hide out under a car. So I'm not quite sure, like, why he wanted to be out there so badly. And then like, of course he wanted to come right back. I'm like, you know, make up your mind, dude.

But, well, the cats, you know, whatever.

Sometimes they don't think the whole thing through.

Yeah. Yeah. Did he help you if you're studying or did he distract you?

Well, yeah, he. He didn't have a real good knowledge of like, biochemistry and anatomy. So he wasn't. He wasn't really a great tutorial. I don't know that he really helped that much. I just remember at like 6 o' clock in the morning, he was up and he wanted to play and he.

So he got you up. So he made you. He got you on a good schedule. He got you.

I was tired. He got you. He got you getting up early to study.

It sounds like a good asset.

No, Then he would run across my bed. He would just go from one side to the other, just running across, jump down to the ground, jump back up, run across, jump down. And, you know, then at that point I'd be like, okay, go outside and play. Bye.

And then you go back to sleep.

Then I go back to sleep, yeah. Yeah. But one time he went missing for three days. And, you know, I mean, again, I had let him out. That's again what you used to do with cats back in the day. It was fine to let your cat be an indoor outdoor cat now, you know, they kind of get fussy about that. But anyway, let him out and then didn't come back. Didn't come back. I put up a few signs and he had my phone number written on his collar. He had like this flea collar and I'd used a Sharpie and just written my, you know, home telephone number. And then sure enough, some. But three days later, somebody left a message and said that they had found him. And it was kind of funny because he was down in Westport in Kansas City, which is like the area where all the bars are. So we said like, he. But it was like three miles away from. Oh, wow. Yeah. And across a bunch of busy streets and all sorts of stuff. So he was down there on a bender.

Yeah, man, he just needed to escape a little bit.

Yeah, yeah. But, yeah, he was. He was good cat. But then. Then he died. And that was probably just as well because then when dad and I got married, he, you know, dad is allergic to everything. And so he really didn't want to have a pet cat.

Yum. Just talking about allergies a little bit more. I don't. So I feel like patients probably find themselves in situations like I was a lot, and it's difficult because. So I didn't want to go through this immunotherapy thing of going and getting the shots, and I didn't want to have to, like, go see the doctor and do all that, but I wanted this cat and, like, I was just trying to find alternatives online. And I ended up like, running into this thing where it was like. It was like immunotherapy that could be sent to you that were like drops. And, you know, I don't know, you did have to, like, do a telehealth visit with a doctor, and then they'd prescribe you it. And, you know, I don't know the whole logistics of the whole thing, but, you know, thinking through in my mind, I'm like, well, if these works just as well as the shots, or if these worked pretty well, then why wouldn't the allergy clinic just offer this as an option? You know, like, why wouldn't this be more accessible? And it kind of just brought up the subject of just these kind of, like, alternative things. And there's the border between being like, okay, is this too good to be true? Like, why isn't medicine using this? But also medicine is sometimes just so far behind and sometimes isn't like getting with the program with these sort of things. So it's kind of like sometimes. You know what I'm saying?

Yeah. No, it's, It's. It's hard to figure out. And when you just order something like that, you know, you just really don't know how rigorous it has been tested. I mean, something like that. It's, you know, you're going to get it. It's not going to be FDA approved, but that doesn't mean it has no utility. But it's. It's pretty hard to know. I, I would say that the space where that is going on a lot is with the gut biome. Oh, yeah. You know, that is something that we know is really important. We know it's really interesting. We know it's something that is going to tell us a whole lot the more and more we find out about it. But right now we don't have good studies to tell us what is important about it and what's not. But that hasn't stopped all of these companies from opening up and saying, hey, send us a stool sample. We'll tell you what all is in that stool sample. And then, by gosh, if you're low in this or high in that, we will sell you something that will correct your gut biome and that will solve all your problems, from depression and anxiety to, you know, arthritis, to, like, anything under the sun. And, you know, and so patients come to me and they ask me this all the time. They're like, you know, I know this gut bio thing is really important. So, you know, can you do a You know, stand off my stool and tell me about it. Like, there's just. There's not any legitimate companies at this point that can do it because the research just isn't there. But in order to get the research, I mean, it just takes. Just takes a long time. It takes a lot of money and all. Well.

And people have to do it. I mean, like, a positive from that could be that if these companies can get some data, then, like.

But I don't think that they're collecting that data. I think they're.

We don't know that.

I don't know. Maybe some of them are. I mean, I'm sure there's some that are more legitimate than others, but it's. It. It's a. It's a frustrating thing as a doctor, because I'm like, I agree with you. It's really important, but I can't recommend this. And people are kind of like, well, why not? You know, all these other people, and there's somebody online that's saying, oh, this was so great, and it told me this, and this was really helpful. And like, you know, we're just. The, the research does seem to be lagging behind because it has been like, you know, I don't know exactly how long it's been. It's been a number of years that we've known how important this is. So it. It does feel like we should be a little bit further along than we are, and that I think those are the cases when that stuff is just ripe for lots and lots of misinformation and pseudoscience and for the snake oil salesman to come in and make all kinds of promises.

Yeah, I mean, the market's there.

The market's there.

I can see how that can be a tough thing to navigate. As a physician, there's lots of things.

That medicine does kind of lag behind in, but that doesn't mean that some shyster on the Internet really has the answers.

Yeah, for sure. It's hard to know the. Where that line is. I mean, even for me, and I'm here studying it and learning about everything, but still, sometimes I'm like, well, this seems like a good alternative. Like, you know, how much am I losing? And is this.

Yeah.

You know, just weighing all the costs and benefit and all that.

Well, yeah. And sometimes it's like, okay, it's. It may be worth a try as long as you. As long as it's not going to be harmful. And as long as you know that, you know, it might not be helpful, too, but you're willing to. Willing to try that.

Yeah.

I wanted to congratulate you on completing your first marathon. Thank you.

Thank you. Everybody was.

You did a fantastic job. Thank you.

Would I recommend it to anybody? Honestly, the only reason that I did this was because a lot of my friends were doing it, and a lot of my friends were going to be around cheering and volunteering, and I kind of just did it for the vibe. So if you're just going to, like, go somewhere and just run a marathon and, like, not have anybody there to, like, cheer you on or whatever, don't. Or run it with you, do not recommend. So. But I. I had a positive experience because I was running with my friend and we, like. And some other friends were doing it had people cheering and it was a beautiful day. It was in the, like, in the same city that I live in. So, yeah, I had a really. I had. I had a blast and it was great. I had a. I had a super positive experience.

Well, you guys did a great job pacing yourselves, too. You just running along at a comfortable pace. You didn't try to, like, you know, go too fast or do something, you know, go beyond what your training had you ready for. And so I think that was very, very, very smart. You ran a very smart race.

Yeah, no, and I felt, yeah, I didn't. At the end, we even picked up the pace a little bit. I didn't push myself too hard.

Just one thing I want to say is, like, you're talking about people cheering you on, and that really, like, you know, that. That made it really fun. And I think sometimes if you know somebody who is running a marathon, you don't really realize that, like, coming out to cheer for them is really, really helpful to them. I think that, like, I don't know, I wouldn't have known that if I hadn't done them myself. And so, you know, again, if you have some sort of relatives or like somebody, sometimes people are dating somebody or something and the person is doing this big thing. It's really like, if you can possibly go out and cheer for them somewhere along the course, you should definitely do it. It would. It means a lot to the person.

Yeah, no, that. That's huge. Even, like, even I didn't kind of realize that until actually doing it. It's. It is because you think about it, you're like, okay, mile 15, we have these people here, and it.

It gets you.

It definitely gets you through. So, yeah, shout out to you mom and everyone else who came out and cheered. That was. That was super helpful.

Yeah. It was fun. We were tracking you and came out. I mean, and, you know, dad and I do that when just, like the Dallas Marathon, sometimes we know some people doing it, but we also just go down and cheer for random people.

Yeah, no, there's so many people that were out there sharing, which I was just thought was so nice. Like, everyone who. I mean, my friends who came and supported, but also just, like, all the randos that were just out there just cheering. I would always just be like, thanks, guys. Thanks for coming out. Like, it was. It's just so nice. And people don't even realize, like, how important that is, but it's huge.

I think the Houston marathon has, like, people really do come out for it. There's a lot of good cheering throughout a lot of the course. Dallas Marathon, I would say, is not always quite as. Like that. Like, there's certain neighborhoods that it goes through, and, like, people are just, you know, in their house sleeping. Like, you can't just open the door and walk out.

That's why even I saw it. Like, we were going through this one neighborhood, and there was like, one woman who clearly, like, that was her house, and she was out there cheering. And then all the other houses, I'm like, come on, guys. Like, where are you at?

Just, like, you know, just come out. You know, it's not. Yeah, I always feel bad when I'm cheering for somebody and that person goes by. And then at some point, I'm like, well, now I got to leave you people, because I'm going to the. My next spot. And so I feel bad. I kind of like leaving. Some people are still coming along and they need some cheering, but I can't cheer everybody.

Can't cheer everybody. You. I think you're doing. You're doing more than the most, though.

But, yeah, it's. Anyway, do that. If you got. Got a friend or family member doing a marathon, go cheer for them.

So, yeah, I did that and also got my white coat in the same weekend. So it was a big. It's a big weekend.

Big weekend.

I did it for the Instagram post just because I knew that it was going to be a solid, you know, white coat plus marathon. Like, that's. That's lit.

That's lit. Well, did you get. Did your Instagram post get a lot of traction?

Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

You posted about it.

Oh, and I posted on Facebook, you know, my generation's end.

How did that do?

It did very well. Like, almost everybody I know liked it.

Wow. Everyone. You know, I need to check that out. I don't.

I don't know that many people, but I tagged you in it, too, even though you're not really on Facebook.

Yeah, I need to. I need to get on there. Speaking of posts that blew up, I. We're getting on the reels now, so everyone follow us on reels at GenerationsMD because I'm. I'm gonna react, be reposting some Tik toks. And we hit a million views on our. On the original OG Video where.

The one where she tells me I would never get into medical school today?

Yes, exactly. But the comments are. Are pretty positive. Okay, guys, thanks for listening. You can follow us on Instagram and still tik tok Generations MD, and you can contact us at ask generations mdgmail.com, and we will talk to you next week. Bye, guys. Bye.