I sincerely hope you’re having a very quiet Christmas.
I’m not talking to all of you. For most of you, I hope your Christmas is noisy, messy, fun, occasionally frustrating, tiring and extremely bloated – just like I hope mine is.
But while you are trying not to get annoyed by whichever family member most gets on your tits, or deciding whether you have room for another mince pie, spare a thought for those who don’t have the option – the poor souls who are on call today.
Ho ho OOH
Christmas out of hours is rather unlike other on call – it’s quieter, for one thing; all those calls along the lines of “he’s had diarrhoea for about a week now, I’d like it seen today” tend not to occur at Christmas.
Most people are busy enough themselves, or at least have the idea it might not be the ideal day to ring, which means you might spend your festive time in a mostly empty practice – maybe even managing to share a cracker, a mince pie or even a small Christmas dinner (if your practice has something of a kitchen in it) with your nurse or vet, just about managing to keep the festive flame alive.
I hope that’s your Christmas – anticipation without any events to speak of – because the flip side of the coin is that when the phone does finally ring on Christmas Day, it’s usually – not always, but usually – something more serious.
Festive fayre-ness
I’ve talked before how, despite all the evidence to the contrary, there’s a part of me that still expects life to be fair, and how I’m strangely offended when it isn’t. Well, the rules apply doubly at Christmas, when the universe is no more or less fair than it ever was, but my sense of outrage at the cold, implacable physics of it all is greatly increased.
All our least favourite “friends” come out to play at Christmas – foreign bodies, poisoning, pancreatitis, gastric dilatation volvulus’ – the really acute, severe and often surgical emergencies that can ruin even a run-of-the-mill OOH stint, but that seem particularly cruel on the one day of the year everyone is supposed to relax and enjoy themselves.
Christmas spirit
There are other differences too – clients are more apologetic, kinder, more worried, and much more grateful for your help, and it is useful to keep in mind, however badly your day is turning out, at least you had expected the day to be bad. Most of the people you’ll see have been struck by misfortune and misery on a day they were expecting anything but, and, consequently, they’re shocked, confused and upset.
I often struggle to find the job rewarding (see my previous blog), but there’s a lot to be said for seeing how you can calm and reassure people, and help them even when the worst has happened.
Sometimes, I think being able to help people – when their happiest day has unexpectedly turned into their worst – might even make up for not being with your own family. Maybe I’m just getting sentimental in my dotage.
Spare a thought
This is a brief one, as befits the season – no one wants to be thinking about veterinary surgery at this time of year. But, if you can spare a moment in between party games and whatever Christmas special you’re planning to watch to consider those brave souls trying to help other people through a difficult Christmas, I know they would be very grateful.
Cheers, my Christmas-working colleagues. I sincerely hope you’re having a very quiet Christmas. If you aren’t, then I know it’s tough, but you’re helping.
Thank you.
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