How Dr. Carly Fox, an Emergency Veterinarian, Spends Her Sundays
There was never any doubt that Dr. Carly Fox, an emergency room veterinarian at the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center in Manhattan, would devote her life to caring for animals.
She grew up loving a series of three big boxers, which her family got after moving to Long Island from the Upper West Side. At the age of 5, she audaciously declared that she would become a veterinarian. (This early career choice is recorded in her class yearbook.)
“I had lizards as a child, and I did things like try to make a house for ants on the sidewalk,” Dr. Fox, 41, said.
She followed through on her childhood dream by earning a bachelor’s degree in animal sciences from Cornell University and went on to veterinary school at Ross and Cornell Universities. After an internship at the Animal Medical Center, Dr. Fox became a staff member there 15 years ago, a job that she said is as stressful as it is rewarding.
She lives in an apartment in Midtown East five blocks from her job with her husband, Jordan Fox, 45, the chief executive of Ad Results Media, and their children, Miller, 7, and Penn, 5. A 2-year-old rescue dog, a French bulldog named Leonard, joined their family last year.
I DON’T LIKE SLEEPING IN I’m a morning person — I physically can’t sleep late, so it’s easy to get up at 6:15 or 6:30. I don’t even need to set an alarm. The first thing I do is take Leonard for a walk. Frenchies can be lazy, so we’re only out for about 15 minutes. I try to steer him toward the East River and the new esplanade. It’s a pretty walk, and sometimes we even stop at the dog park.
SOME SERIOUS COFFEE By 7, I’m hanging out with Miller and Penn, making them breakfast. Right now, we’re going through a pancake phase. I don’t eat breakfast. I’m happy with a cup of coffee and eating whatever the kids don’t eat. My husband is really a coffee aficionado — he has a subscription to La Cabra, which is based in Denmark and sends him beans from different parts of the world. He always asks me to review each cup, and he makes micro adjustments based on my assessment.
ORGANIZING THE GANG When I’m working the Sunday shift, it’s Dad’s day out with the kids. I help him plan things to do with them and remind him about things, like which birthday parties they are going to and where the gifts are. I give Leonard his meds — he has allergies so he’s on a special diet and gets Claritin as well as behavior-modification medicine. And I get the kids dressed.
MY FIVE-MINUTE COMMUTE I either work 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. or 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and I walk to work, which is a five-minute commute. I listen to podcasts on the way. I’m into “The Daily,” “Bitch Sesh” and “Where Should We Begin?” It’s such a short walk to work that I just get snippets, but sometimes I leave early so I can hear more.
THE E.R. SUNDAY SHIFT The E.R. is usually extremely busy on weekends, especially on Sundays, so I start seeing or overseeing cases right away. I’ve seen just about every type of injury imaginable — a cat who fell out of a 10-story window, a dog who collapsed on a walk, a hamster who is breathing abnormally, a rabbit who is not defecating. I recently treated a 9-month-old dog who had been bitten by a larger dog in an elevator, which caused a severe thoracic injury that eventually led to a thoracotomy surgery. The puncture wounds were really painful and required three pain pumps to deliver medications over a long period of time. The patient also had several fractured ribs, which are extremely painful, so we provided a local anesthetic.
IN THE I.C.U. If time allows, I’ll round on patients in the I.C.U., and I oversee interns’ and residents’ cases. It’s a lot like a human E.R., minus, of course, the option for euthanasia.
People always ask how I deal with the patients who don’t make it. The job does come with a mental load, and I’ve become adept at handling people’s emotions and my emotions, and I’ve learned I have to let go. And I try not to bring it home with me. When my husband asks how my day went, I always tell him that it was fine. I also go to The LIV Method on the Upper East Side for training once or twice a week, which helps.
SKIP THE SALAD At some point, usually late into the shift, I will remember to eat the salad I ordered and parked at my computer. And sometimes thinking about eating is all I have time for, but I don’t mind skipping the meal.
FEELING FANCY After a long day with the kids, my husband doesn’t have time to cook, so we’ll either order dinner out or go to a local restaurant. Our favorite Chinese restaurant is Land of Plenty, and we live across from Mr. Chow, where we go when we want to get fancy. We also go to the Italian restaurant Primola, a neighborhood spot where they know you when you walk in, and to the Lebanese restaurant Au Za’atar.
STORY TIME The kids are in bed by 8. I’m happy that they are both good sleepers. Miller has started reading books to himself before bed, and my husband and I read aloud to Penn. Her current favorite is “Madeline.”
TOSSING AND TURNING Somewhere between 9 and 10, I’m in bed. I have insomnia at times, so, after visiting sleep-med doctors, I have devised a whole routine to keep things consistent and relaxing. I usually take a hot bath, do a face mask and face routine and red-light therapy and keep the bedroom cold and dark. My husband and I do the New York Times crossword together.
I try not to watch TV or read in bed. I go into the adjoining den instead. I like to watch garbage TV like “The Real Housewives” on Bravo and read fiction to escape. I just finished “Long Island Compromise” by Taffy Brodesser-Akner and “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” by Gabrielle Zevin.
MIDNIGHT WORRIES But no matter what I do, I still always wake up, and it’s getting back to sleep that’s hard because I think about my patients, and I’ll sometimes even check up on them on our online medical records service in the middle of the night. I’ll never not be able to do this because I care so much about them.
