Robyn Limberg’s path to becoming a veterinarian started when she was a child and her family dog, Greta, got hit by a car.
Luckily, Greta survived, but only thanks to the skill of a Marine City veterinarian.
Limberg, now a doctor of veterinarian medicine, said: “She was really banged up. The vet spent three hours stitching her up. She lived 10 more years. I wanted to be the person who helped a family get more time with their pet.”
Limberg’s path to veterinary medicine was not a straight line.
“I was a vet school flunky,” she said with a chuckle. “I wasn’t ready.” It was December of 1987 when she finished what she thought would be her last semester in vet school at Michigan State University (MSU) because she was failing. She came down with an autoimmune disease in January 1988. She was diagnosed with Cogan’s Syndrome. It is like rheumatoid arthritis, but instead of affecting joints, it affects ears, hearing and balance.
“I was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease and I lost my hearing in two weeks,” Limberg said. “I had to learn to adapt to that. My balance was really bad for a while. I took a semester off and then I finished my bachelor’s degree. I learned American Sign Language (ASL).”
Limberg’s path took another turn when she learned about a veterinarian with whom she had a lot in common.
“I learned of a deaf veterinarian in California,” she said. “I flew out there and job shadowed him. After that, I reapplied to vet school (at MSU). I started vet school again in the fall of 1990. I’m not sure the vet school knew what do with me. I used interpreters and we adapted and I got through it.”
Life changed dramatically when Limberg was fitted with one of the first cochlear implants performed at the University of Michigan.
Limberg said: “When I got it, it was experimental.”
Limberg approached her hearing loss as if it was a silver lining.
“I used to say losing my hearing was the best thing that ever happened to me,” she said. “I was shy and I didn’t have a lot of self-confidence. In a weird way, it made me grow and become a stronger person. I had to learn there’s usually a work-around, and there are usually supportive people around you, and I learned that you have to advocate for yourself.”
Limberg and other deaf students at MSU even picketed the Wharton Center, a performing arts facility on campus, to demand that a sign language interpreter be present for the hearing impaired in the audience.
It worked. The Wharton Center began scheduling ASL interpreters.
“When you run into roadblocks, you have to advocate for yourself and say maybe I can’t do it this way, but I can do it this way and it will still work.”
After vet school, Limberg lived in Kalamazoo for a year before returning to her hometown and working for another veterinarian for a decade. Limberg then began her own clinic and she now practices with her daughter, Olivia Prusik, DVM. She also has another grown daughter and son.
Limberg’s faith is important to her and she attends St. John United Church of Christ in Port Huron.
Limberg believes in giving back to the community and she and Prusik co-lead a 4-H Vet Quest Club for students interested in veterinary medicine.
Limberg’s approach to veterinary medicine revolves around the understanding that people see their pets as part of their family.
“I just try to treat everyone with respect,” she said. “That’s what drove me to want to own my own practice. People get very emotional over their pets and that needs to be respected. We try to make this a respective place. I’m a child of two public educators, which is why we volunteer with the 4H groups. I have a half dozen former 4H students who are now vet techs, and six have become veterinarians. And some have even become emergency medical technicians.”
Limberg said working with the young people helps her, too.
“When you have that group of kids who are seeing this for the first time, it helps you remember how exciting it was when it was new,” she said.
Limberg’s practice, known as Riverview Veterinary Center, has an angel fund that helps pay the bills for clients who might not otherwise be able to afford keeping their pets healthy.
“People do donate to the angel fund,” she said. “It helps a lot of seniors keep their pets. And as the practice owner, I have a lot of flexibility to waive fees for a client that needs a little help.”
One of the most rewarding aspects of her practice is her experience with multi-generational clients.
“We’re a smaller practice, with only two docs here, so you get to know your clients well. When we meet with clients, it’s 15 minutes of catching up with the family before we talk about their pets. It’s also why people come here, because we know them.
“The flip side is you get that support from people. It’s the golden rule; treat people that way and they’re going to treat you that way back.”
Limberg’s practice recently moved and is now located in Doctor’s Park, adjacent to the campus of River District Hospital in East China.
A few years ago, Limberg’s path to veterinary medicine came full circle when she was able to procure the skeleton of her beloved childhood dog Greta.
“I was in vet school when Greta died,” she said. Her family donated the dog’s body to the MSU Veterinary School. Limberg noted that, because Greta was an older dog when she died, that made her skeleton valuable because most of the skeletons at the vet school were of younger dogs.
“She was an older dog who had been hit by a car and she had arthritis. When she died, I didn’t want her to just be gone.”
Greta was studied by students at MSU for 10 years.
“When I opened my practice 14 years ago, I thought it would be really cool to get her back. So I went to a science company online and I bought a medical skeleton to swap with the veterinary school.”
Greta now stands guard, on display, at the Riverview Veterinary Center.
Full circle, indeed.