Texas Equine Veterinary Association

www.texasequineva.com • 31 NOSTALGIC by Bo Brock, DVM, DABVP I don't have the most outstanding vocabulary. My word choices often make no sense and don't fit the context of the sentence. But I have learned that if you say a big word with conviction, most people will have to think twice that perhaps it does belong where you said it. The man pulled into the clinic parking lot pulling a trailer with a goat in it. He was an obtuse specimen that appeared to be in his late fifties. I have seen his type many times. They just have an air about them that drips with arrogance and 'know-it-all". Know-it-all is one of my least favorite personality traits and I decided years ago to do my best to subliminally torture them every time I got a chance. Obtuse man ambled up to me and put his left hand on my shoulder while he shook my hand with his right one. He began explaining that this goat was soon to be the grand champion at the Houston stock show, but it had recently "took sick". That is what he said, "took sick". Like it was something setting on the counter and it just simply picked it up and left with it. He went on to explain that it belonged to his grandson and that he had been elected to bring it to the vet since everyone else was busy. He muttered through a long diatribe trying to leave me with the impression he was almost a veterinarian by the drool of self- inflating "veterinary accomplishments" he had performed on all the animals in Gaines county over the last 35 years. I was not impressed and just stood there listening with a look that I was hoping reflected disgust mixed with suppressed laughter. When I asked what symptoms the goat had been having, his response was, "He is still eating okay, no diarrhea, running a bit of fever, and is just real nostalgic." What? What did he just say? I had him repeat it because I wanted to make sure that I had not misunderstood. The second description was even better, this time he said, "The nostalgia is what has me the most worried, they often get that way just prior to comin' down with somthin' awful." Wow, he was actually conjugating the word now and using it with such authority that I began to wonder if perhaps it really was a medical word. So, I looked it up on my phone while he continued to ramble on about other nostalgic animals he had seen in the past. The first definition was, "longing for the past". But to my surprise, it actually does have a medical definition, "Home sickness". I kind of giggled and began wondering which medical term he could be confusing nostalgia with. After a few moments, I was convinced he meant to say lethargic. All the connotations from the context of the rest of his diatribe pointed to it. About the time he paused from his know-it-all ramblings, Dr. Emily Berryhill walked up. She asked me what was wrong with the goat. My reply, "he is nostalgic". I then focused on her face to see what expression that would induce. To my surprise, she didn't even bat an eye. This made me want to laugh out loud. She has been around me when know-it-all's start this ceaseless babbling and has become accustom to me having fun with them. "How long has he been nostalgic?" she replied with a poker face that made me want to laugh even more. "Well, it seems as if there have been many nostalgic animals in the area this goat is kept in lately, and some of them have progressed to symptoms worse than mere nostalgia!" I replied, hoping I could get her to at least look like she was suppressing a laugh. "Well, are we gonna treat this one the same as we have the last few with chronic nostalgia Dr. Brock?" she replied with absolutely no hint of sarcasm in her tone. "I guess we should, it worked well on them. Would you please to get the nostalgia medicine for this fellow please, and I will give the goat a shot." I replied with an equally stoic overtone. With this, she turned and walked away, never having shown one smidge of emotion. I, on the other hand, was about to let out one of those spewing sounds that erupts when one can no longer hold in a long, loud laugh. The obtuse man was impressed with Dr. Emily. He told me so. Said she was gonna be a great one some day. We treated the goat and sent him home with the proper medicine for a lethargic goat. I guess to this day that fella thinks nostalgia is a proper medical term. We did nothing to dispute that as we carried on conversation with him. But I would love to be there if he ever figures it out. We laughed about it for days after it happened. In fact, it has become our common descriptive term in daily life as a substitute or lethargy. If you ever come to Brock Veterinary Clinic and hear one of the doctors or techs describe an animal as nostalgic, you will know what we mean.

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