Monday, September 21, 2015
I AM
I am a C.N.A. I am a CAREGIVER. I am a HOUSEKEEPER. I am a COOK. I am a BABYSITTER. I am a BAKER. I am READER. I am a LISTENER. I am a SHOULDER TO CRY ON. I am a COMPANION. I am a CHAUFFEUR. I am a CONVERSATIONALIST. I am a HOME HEALTH AIDE. I am a HOSPICE AIDE. I am a HAND TO HOLD. I am a SINGER. I am a DANCER. I am an AUNT. I AM ME.
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Work
So, I want to give a rundown of what has been going on with me work wise since I noticed that I haven't posted anything about work since I posted back at the beginning of the year of 2011.
So, to start out I was laid off from my job at Emeritus (Brighton Gardens) on September 26, 2011. I remember the date because I also had my first appointment with my new reproductive endocrinologist where we just went over my medical history and family history. The 28th I had another appointment where he did a physical and set up tests to be done (they had to be done because my insurance wouldn't be paid for anymore by the end of the week and I would have to start paying for it through cobra). I had a Pap smear done that day and the next day was the crazy day. I woke up early and went and had blood drawn because one of the blood tests had to be done at precisely 8:00 in the morning then I went to the doctors office to do the gtt ( glucose tolerance test), then back to campus for classes, had to leave my last class to go back to get more blood drawn for the second time because the same blood test that had to be done at precisely 8:00 in the morning had to be done again precisely 4:00 in the afternoon then upstairs for the ultrasound of my thyroid. I had an appointment for Monday the 3rd of October to find out the results of the tests. I found out that my body was a mess. I found out that I had type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and nodules on my left and right thyroid glands. The 3 on the left are just itty bitty and didn't need to be worried about but the one on the right was big and needed to be biopsed. That was fun, not. They use the ultrasound to find it, numb the area with novacaine, then take a needle and stick it your neck to get a piece of the the nodule to biopsy. By the way the novacaine doesn't numb that far down. I'm only telling you this so you know how bad my week was because not only did I get laid off but I was told that my body was a mess and if we didn't get started on fixing it I wouldn't live very long. So, I started the search for a new job and in February of 2012 I got one working at Avalon Valley. It was not my favorite place to work and I was stressed a lot of the time I worked there. I found a second job this past August (2013) working for a home health company which I love. About two weeks ago (Monday through Thursday because I worked graveyard Thursday night at Avalon) I had to take care of two ladies (friends living together) because their regular aide was on vacation. Well on Tuesday when I arrived one of them was sick, she told me that she had been vomiting all night. I took care of her and made sure I washed my hands and used hand sanitizer to be safe. Wednesday was the same, she was still sick. That night my stepdad told me we were on our own for dinner because my mom would be working late so he gave me a can of soup I could make for myself and he made himself some soup. I never made my soup because I started to feel very nauseous and nothing sounded good to eat not even soup. I started to vomit that night. I called my home health company and let them know so they could find help me find someone to cover and then called Avalon. I talked to Amy the ADON (assistant director of nursing) and let her know that I had been vomiting and a fever of 103.2. She told me not to come in and asked me to help her find someone to cover. Later she texted me to tell me to make sure I got a doctors note. I went the next day to the urgent care clinic and was told I had a flu bug that was going around and that it lasted around 3 to 5 days and that I couldn't work. So I called Avalon again to let them know and this time I talked to Natalie the CNA coordinator. She told me I had to find someone to cover or come in sick and where a mask. I have to add at this point I was weak and shaky and probably should not have driven myself to the clinic but only did so because I was told I needed the doctors note, I only say this because I didn't know how she expected me to take care of 25 elderly patients when I could barely stand myself up to take care of myself. I called my mom and she could tell that I was upset even though I had calmed myself down to call and talk to her. I told her what Natalie had said and said at this point I just want to quit. She told me that she normally doesn't condone quitting without two weeks notice but in this case she did. I called Natalie back after talking to my home health job to see if I could get more hours. She told me that she got it covered if that is why I was calling and I told her that I wasn't calling for that. That I was calling to tell her I quit and she asked me if I was going to give her two weeks notice and I told her no. She asked me why and I told her because you told me that if I couldn't get my shift covered I had to come in sick and wear a mask when I have a doctors note saying I cannot work and I can barely take care of myself let alone 25 other people plus all the stress you cause me. At that point she started crying and hung up the phone. Since then she has only talked to me through text. I am not upset at all for quitting that job. I hated it. I loved my patients there and most of my coworkers but not the way I was treated by Natalie. I didn't want it on my conscious if I got one of my patients sick, especially since the flu can kill a lot of them. Masks cannot prevent the spread of germs (plus I am allergic to the masks they use). I am happy at my new job, I really love it.
So, to start out I was laid off from my job at Emeritus (Brighton Gardens) on September 26, 2011. I remember the date because I also had my first appointment with my new reproductive endocrinologist where we just went over my medical history and family history. The 28th I had another appointment where he did a physical and set up tests to be done (they had to be done because my insurance wouldn't be paid for anymore by the end of the week and I would have to start paying for it through cobra). I had a Pap smear done that day and the next day was the crazy day. I woke up early and went and had blood drawn because one of the blood tests had to be done at precisely 8:00 in the morning then I went to the doctors office to do the gtt ( glucose tolerance test), then back to campus for classes, had to leave my last class to go back to get more blood drawn for the second time because the same blood test that had to be done at precisely 8:00 in the morning had to be done again precisely 4:00 in the afternoon then upstairs for the ultrasound of my thyroid. I had an appointment for Monday the 3rd of October to find out the results of the tests. I found out that my body was a mess. I found out that I had type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and nodules on my left and right thyroid glands. The 3 on the left are just itty bitty and didn't need to be worried about but the one on the right was big and needed to be biopsed. That was fun, not. They use the ultrasound to find it, numb the area with novacaine, then take a needle and stick it your neck to get a piece of the the nodule to biopsy. By the way the novacaine doesn't numb that far down. I'm only telling you this so you know how bad my week was because not only did I get laid off but I was told that my body was a mess and if we didn't get started on fixing it I wouldn't live very long. So, I started the search for a new job and in February of 2012 I got one working at Avalon Valley. It was not my favorite place to work and I was stressed a lot of the time I worked there. I found a second job this past August (2013) working for a home health company which I love. About two weeks ago (Monday through Thursday because I worked graveyard Thursday night at Avalon) I had to take care of two ladies (friends living together) because their regular aide was on vacation. Well on Tuesday when I arrived one of them was sick, she told me that she had been vomiting all night. I took care of her and made sure I washed my hands and used hand sanitizer to be safe. Wednesday was the same, she was still sick. That night my stepdad told me we were on our own for dinner because my mom would be working late so he gave me a can of soup I could make for myself and he made himself some soup. I never made my soup because I started to feel very nauseous and nothing sounded good to eat not even soup. I started to vomit that night. I called my home health company and let them know so they could find help me find someone to cover and then called Avalon. I talked to Amy the ADON (assistant director of nursing) and let her know that I had been vomiting and a fever of 103.2. She told me not to come in and asked me to help her find someone to cover. Later she texted me to tell me to make sure I got a doctors note. I went the next day to the urgent care clinic and was told I had a flu bug that was going around and that it lasted around 3 to 5 days and that I couldn't work. So I called Avalon again to let them know and this time I talked to Natalie the CNA coordinator. She told me I had to find someone to cover or come in sick and where a mask. I have to add at this point I was weak and shaky and probably should not have driven myself to the clinic but only did so because I was told I needed the doctors note, I only say this because I didn't know how she expected me to take care of 25 elderly patients when I could barely stand myself up to take care of myself. I called my mom and she could tell that I was upset even though I had calmed myself down to call and talk to her. I told her what Natalie had said and said at this point I just want to quit. She told me that she normally doesn't condone quitting without two weeks notice but in this case she did. I called Natalie back after talking to my home health job to see if I could get more hours. She told me that she got it covered if that is why I was calling and I told her that I wasn't calling for that. That I was calling to tell her I quit and she asked me if I was going to give her two weeks notice and I told her no. She asked me why and I told her because you told me that if I couldn't get my shift covered I had to come in sick and wear a mask when I have a doctors note saying I cannot work and I can barely take care of myself let alone 25 other people plus all the stress you cause me. At that point she started crying and hung up the phone. Since then she has only talked to me through text. I am not upset at all for quitting that job. I hated it. I loved my patients there and most of my coworkers but not the way I was treated by Natalie. I didn't want it on my conscious if I got one of my patients sick, especially since the flu can kill a lot of them. Masks cannot prevent the spread of germs (plus I am allergic to the masks they use). I am happy at my new job, I really love it.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Day 12: bullet your whole day (I wanted to continue my 30 day blog challenge)
7:30am- woke up
7:35am- got dressed and ready to go to class
7:45am- went down to shuttle stop to wait for shuttle
8:00am- got on shuttle to head down to class
8:15am- arrived at shuttle stop in Presidents Circle
8:25am- arrived in classroom for first class
8:35am-9:25am- in Family Economics class
9:30am-10:30am- sat on a bench reading waiting for next class to start
10:35am- walked up stairs to classroom for next class
10:45am-12:30pm- in Methods of Research class
12:35pm-12:50pm- waited for a shuttle that wasn't packed to the brim so that I wouldn't have to stand
1:00pm- dropped off backpack and grabbed purse
1:15pm- drove to dollar store for ice pack for foot
2:00pm- got back to apartment and put stuff away
2:30pm- watched tv
3:00pm-6pm- fell asleep
6pm- made dinner (steak and pasta salad)
6:30pm- ate dinner
7:00pm-9:00pm- watched Puss in Boots
9:00pm-11:30pm- watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone while blogging
11:30pm- went to bed
7:35am- got dressed and ready to go to class
7:45am- went down to shuttle stop to wait for shuttle
8:00am- got on shuttle to head down to class
8:15am- arrived at shuttle stop in Presidents Circle
8:25am- arrived in classroom for first class
8:35am-9:25am- in Family Economics class
9:30am-10:30am- sat on a bench reading waiting for next class to start
10:35am- walked up stairs to classroom for next class
10:45am-12:30pm- in Methods of Research class
12:35pm-12:50pm- waited for a shuttle that wasn't packed to the brim so that I wouldn't have to stand
1:00pm- dropped off backpack and grabbed purse
1:15pm- drove to dollar store for ice pack for foot
2:00pm- got back to apartment and put stuff away
2:30pm- watched tv
3:00pm-6pm- fell asleep
6pm- made dinner (steak and pasta salad)
6:30pm- ate dinner
7:00pm-9:00pm- watched Puss in Boots
9:00pm-11:30pm- watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone while blogging
11:30pm- went to bed
Broken foot
I found out about 6 weeks ago that I broke my foot. I have a stress fracture on two bones in my foot. I have no idea how or when exactly I did it. It started to hurt back in the end of March so I made an appointment and went to see my doctor, I got an appointment for the 30th (I also have to insert here that he was moving to a new office around this time) . He sent me for an x-ray and I went right after I left his office that night. I had to make sure I got it done because I was doing Cobra for my insurance and wasn't due to get my new insurance until May. I tried to get a hold of someone the next day to find out the results of the x-ray but the phone had a message that it could transfer me to his new office and that the other doctor was not in that day. I pressed the button to be transferred to his new office and was told that he didn't have his phone set-up nor did his medical assistant and I had to wait until he was in the next week to see him or talk to his assistant. I decided to go to his old office and see if anyone was there. There were several people there packing up stuff to send to the new office and it happened to be that my doctor was there and they went and found him for me to talk to him. He said that the x-ray was clean and gave me a prescription for a medication that I ended up not being able to take since it would cause problems with my current medications I was taking for my blood pressure. I had no insurance during April and my foot continued to bother me. I received my new insurance in May and had several other medical appointments to deal with concerning my diabetes, cholesterol and thyroid. I finally made an appointment with my old doctor (I found out that my previous doctor was on my new insurance and decided to go back to him since I liked him a lot more because he actually let me know what was going on with my own body). I told him about my foot and he sent me to a podiatrist. The podiatrist also x-rayed my foot which didn't show anything but he said stress fractures don't always show up on x-rays and wanted me to go for a mri to get a better look. I went for a mri that Saturday and went back to the podiatrist the following Tuesday. He said that the mri showed a stress fracture on two of the bones of my foot. He put me in a boot and gave me notes for my work. I have this big, clunky boot that is also black that I have to wear during the hot weather.
So I moved back to school on August 18th and have had several comments and questions about my very trendy boot. Along with the comments I get people who tell me that they know how I feel that they had to wear one of those before. My favorite story though happened a few weeks ago when I was at the check-out stand at the grocery store when a man was telling me all about all the injuries he has had when he used to play football. It's interesting the kinds of comments and stories you get to hear all because of the boot you have to wear because you broke your foot.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Day 11: Put Your iPod On Shuffle and write the first 10 songs that pop up
1. Someone That You're With- Nickelback
2. Love is a Crime- Anastacia (Soundtrack for Chicago)
3. Radio- Big & Rich
4. Swing- Trace Adkins
5. Jalapeno- Big & Rich
6. Honky Tonk Badonkadonk (Remix)- Trace Adkins
7. Buffalo Stampede- Cowboy Troy
8. Barracuda- Fergie (Shrek the Third Soundtrack)
9. Blackneck Boogie- Cowboy Troy
10. Goodbye Bear/ Love Me Dead- Ludo
Day 10: Your Guilty Pleasure/s
My first guilty pleasure is a nice hot bubble bath, one I can just lay there until the water is no longer warm or my skin gets all wrinkly. Another would be sweets. I love sweets. Hot Chocolate, I love a big mug of hot chocolate. Reading, I love to read. I love to read and get lost in other worlds. I think that is it.
Day 9: If You Could Have Any Job In The World, What Would It Be?
I said it in previous blogs my dream job is a Child-Life Specialist hopefully working at Primary Children's Medical Center. I have always wanted a job where I could help others. I really love working with children and want to help children who are going through what I had to go through when I was a child. I feel like I could help them a lot because I know what they are going through firsthand. Other than my mom and dad were their for me every step of the way, the child-life specialists were there as well. My dad was not there as much as my mom because of his fear of needles he couldn't be in a lot of the procedures with me (even though I know he wanted to be), so my mom and the child-life specialists would help me get through the procedures and kept me distracted while the needles were being stuck into me. I don't think there are words big enough to express the gratitude I feel toward my family and the staff at the hospital for getting me through, my mom especially.
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