The Hidden Burden: Chronic Illness in the Veterinary Profession
Five years of constant pain, fifteen years of chronic illness, and what it’s really like to work behind the scrubs when your body won’t play along.

💬 What does it mean to work in a profession built on care when your own body won’t cooperate?

In this deeply personal and powerful episode, Vicky opens up about living with hemicrania continua — a rare, constant migraine condition — and fifteen years of navigating chronic illness as a veterinary nurse.

She explores the invisible reality faced by so many veterinary professionals, sharing the latest research, practical ways to support yourself and your team, and an unfiltered look at what real strength actually means in our profession.

Whether you’re living with a chronic condition yourself or simply want to better understand your colleagues, this episode is a love letter to the quiet resilience that keeps veterinary medicine running.

🕓 Timestamps / Chapter Guide

0:00 – Welcome back + Vet Nurse Day reflection
2:25 – Imagine living with pain until 2030
4:00 – The day the migraine started
6:30 – Two and a half years to diagnosis: the long road to Hemicrania Continua
9:00 – Managing the unmanageable
11:45 – The invisible workforce: chronic illness in the vet profession
20:10 – Supporting yourself at work when your body won’t play along
27:15 – How to support a teammate living with chronic illness
33:45 – Redefining strength + why “pushing through” isn’t the goal
37:00 – The Hidden Burden survey: why your story matters
40:15 – What chronic illness has really taught me
44:30 – A message for anyone living with something invisible
44:00 – A message for anyone living with something invisible


💌 If this episode resonated with you, please take a few minutes to share your experience in The Hidden Burden: Chronic Illness in the Veterinary Profession survey.

Your voice matters — and every response helps create a more compassionate, inclusive profession for those living and working with chronic illness.

🧠 Take the survey here: https://forms.gle/XwNPHumqBK6L2hFo9 

Follow Vicky on Instagram @vickythevetnurse for behind-the-scenes stories, survey updates, and upcoming episodes of The Vet Nurse Hacker.

🐾Follow @vetnursehacker for updates on upcoming episodes and exclusive podcast content!

💬 “You don't need to be pain free or symptom free or have everything figured out to still be amazing at what you do.” 

This week on The Vet Nurse Hacker, I’m sharing something deeply personal — five years of constant migraine and fifteen years of chronic illness. This episode is for every vet nurse, vet, and student who keeps showing up when it hurts — for everyone who’s ever felt invisible behind the scrubs.

🎧 Listen now: The Hidden Burden: Chronic Illness in the Veterinary Profession
💌 Take the survey: https://forms.gle/PHE9MJuYYgPRetMm9