How might it be ok to feel sad? 💔🩺🐾

By Gunila Pedersen • • 2 min read

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This week was a bit different from other weeks when I’m off working 👀🩺

One of my night nurses and I spent some time texting together about a patient that didn’t make it. We normally don’t talk about work when we’re not AT work, but this felt a bit different 😕

We had worked together on a patient all weekend. It was a young, nervous dog, and we had spent quite a lot of time bonding with him, and making him comfortable at the hospital. After I left my shift and went home it was decided to put him to sleep, because he wasn’t really getting better, and there were financial concerns💸

So the nurse and I talked about how upsetting it was to put so much energy and love into a patient, only for owners to “give up” on him. They probably did the right thing, but it was still frustrating and upsetting

Normally I can talk about these things and get to feel better, by examining my thoughts, and point out to myself how “it’s probably for the best” 🤷🏻‍♀️

But in this case, being such a young dog, and having bonded with him, there just doesn’t seem to be a silver lining 🙄

So I’m choosing to be sad for a little while. And you know what? That’s ok.

We don’t HAVE to feel happy and carefree all the time. I’m not trying to escape the sadness, or justifying anything, or cover it up with resentment.

Sometimes we make feelings wrong, like we “should be able to get over it”. But sadness has as much right to be in the room as happiness, satisfaction or pride.

I’m human, and I’m here for all of the human experience, with all the emotions that come with it.

Otherwise I would have to protect myself by never bonding with any patient. But this way, I get to feel the love and connection, even if I have to experience the loss on the other side 💔

In your corner,

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