The life of a veterinarian has been extensively illustrated in countless autobiographies, magazine articles, and interviews. Each one sharing the personal and many times humorous aspects of what we do. As a student I read them all, and more. James Herriot in All Creatures Great and Small was the veterinarian to be with his wonderful adventures of barnyard antics.
What many of these tales failed to mention is that the life of a mobile or ambulatory veterinarian is about life in a truck. Don't misunderstand, I enjoy driving, well most days. The summer drives up the Big Thompson canyon toward Estes Park, the scenic rolling hills of the Pawnee Grasslands are all beautiful, but sometimes the weather is less than desirable.
The sun is not always shining. The snowpacked and icy interstate in the middle of the night when your truck's lights only illuminate the next ten feet in front of you, and the white knuckles and the stress in your shoulder blades for fear that you may be the next vehicle off the road are all too often the reality. Thank goodness for GPS when the daylight is gone and the address of the house is difficult to find.
Okay, so maybe that is the reality for everyone on the roads these days. Maybe I am spending too much time over analyzing as I drive, or even too much time talking to myself! The other side of this is that I do it for a reason. Yes, I need to make a living, but I could find other occupations, I could even find other veterinary opportunities that would allow me to work within a temperature controlled environment. The reason I drive 40,000 miles a year is because I want to. I enjoy what I do. I enjoy the clients and the animals.
The life of a large animal veterinarian is not exactly what I envisioned it would be when I read all those books and articles. It's even better...
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