Inflamenza

After last month‘s blog on a portmanteaus, it reminded me of another client-derived term that, again, didn’t need too much explanation.

It was a complex presentation on an OOH shift – the patient had been seen at their own vet earlier in the day and had received two injections. The original presentation was for being a bit “off colour”. We continued with triage as, although it didn’t appear an emergency, we needed to be sure.

The patient presented BAR (bright, alert and responsive), and the owner’s issue was that he seemed to be drinking a bit more than usual. We asked if they knew what the injections given were, or if the vet had said what they were treating for. The owner didn’t know the injections, but did think they knew what was wrong.

All mixed up

“Inflamenza,” they proudly declared, pleased with their memory and pronunciation – the ideal portmanteau of inflammation and influenza.

As influenza may cause some inflammation the link is not as clear as last month’s “inoxination”, but it still presents a picture of how clients may hear the technical terms we use.

On further questioning it became clearer that it sounded like a concern over a GI issue and that the “inflamenza” may have been a tummy upset. The patient was still BAR and NAD (no abnormality detected) on exam, so was able to go home with some advice and to call if anything changed.

Attempted communication

It put me in mind of the early modern idea of poor health being caused by ethers and bad air. The owner knew the type of word we would use to describe the patients situation and wanted to try to use it.

Using a combination of their own words and what they heard the previous vet say we were able to triage the patient.

Mispronouncing words can be a sign the person hasn’t used them before or that they have only seen them written down so saying them out loud is new. Either way, it was an attempt to communicate in a way they thought best and, for that, we can be grateful.

Source of support

Whatever language they use, they know their pets. They’re asking for advice and support, and even if that advice is ‘“go home and relax”, it’s still worth our time.

Working in public facing roles has been extra hard recently, but we’ve been a source of comfort and support, and are a trusted profession and curers of inflamenza.