Meredy Razey

Meredy Razey retired from the Animal Cancer Center on June 3rd after 32 years of service. She served in many different roles as a veterinary nurse - working with the anesthesia group and then with the oncology team since 1985. We calculated she helped in the care of over 35,000 cancer patients over the years. Wow! Thank you for your many years of service Meredy!!! Enjoy YOUR time!

It all started with my love for animals... I started working for a small animal private practice after school and then applied for a job at CSU. I have been here ever since. I joined Dr. Stephen Withrow in 1985, when he was first getting the oncology service started. In the early days of the oncology service I was the only oncology nurse. It was busy to say the least. I helped in the clinic and with a lot of little projects that brought in just enough funding to help pay my salary. And I did pretty much everything that all the oncology nurses are doing now. Even though we were a much smaller operation in those days, I lost quite a bit of weight just running around taking care of all of the patients! It was Dr. Withrow’s vision about growing the service into a world-renowned oncology service that got me excited about where we were going. I wanted to be a part of the team from the beginning. Being around him in surgery, knowing the kind of person he is, learning the kind of person he is to work with, all made this a cool place to work. And it still is. I still love my job.

Owners often equate cancer in animals to cancer in people, but it’s so different. First of all, the animal doesn’t know they have cancer. And pets have such a different perception of coming into the clinic for treatment. They get to see a lot of dogs, and smell good smells, and someone gives them love and attention the whole time (and sometimes even lots of cookies). I think it’s so nice when clients say, “My dog just loves you so much. It’s so nice to come in here and know that he’s being taken care of.” They trust us with their animal’s care, and it means a lot that their pet likes to be here, and is not afraid to come in. We make a nice experience out of what is perceived as something horrible. We pride ourselves in making a good situation out of a bad one. We get to interact with the animals and make friends with them. The pets learn to like us, and like to come into the clinic. And they start to get better. I don’t know if they understand that we’re the ones making them feel better, but I like to think they do.

There’s a special group of people who work at the Animal Cancer Center. We’re close, like a family. When one of us has a sad time with a patient, everyone goes through it. I think everyone’s so nice because it takes a team of dedicated and caring people to offer the care we do. We’re all just trying to do our part to help these pets get better, and help their owners get through it. The people here care. They care about pets and they care about people. There’s always someone here to give a hug, or take care of you when you’re having a hard time. We have a whole family support system, and everybody’s got the same goals – to fight cancer.  We’re trying to help patients get better. And we’re making a difference. For instance, the limb sparing technique we pioneered here has made a huge difference not only for dogs for also for children with bone cancer. It’s something we did way back when, that really helps kids today. And I feel like I’ve been part of that.

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