It is the Best of Jobs, It is the Worst of Jobs...

I know most of you are waiting to hear a recap of our trip to Austin and Shelly and Joe's wedding, but you're just going to have to wait a bit longer. I'm still putting together what I want to say along with all of the pictures. (Lesley, when are you sending me your pictures?)

But first, allow me to post about the things that are on my mind RIGHT NOW!

Sometimes I hate my job. Take yesterday for instance...

So I've been back a few days and it seems like so much has changed. One of our long-time social workers submitted her resignation effective in two weeks or so. She will be greatly missed. Two nurses put in their resignation yesterday effective the end of May. One of the ladies who takes care of the filing put in her notice and to top it all off, one of my closest co-workers was fired yesterday afternoon.

Now granted, she saw it coming, but knowing about it and having it actually happen are two different things. I stuck around and helped her pack under the watchful eye of one of our supervisors. It was really hard to be helpful when my (now ex) co-worker was hysterically crying while throwing all of the things that she has amassed over the past three years into a box. It helped even less when she was told that she had approximately thirty minutes to pack all of her stuff and exit the building, never to return. She was humiliated. She felt like a criminal and my first thought? Am I next? This person was my mentor, my buddy, the person that I turned to when I needed to vent. I will miss her. Our team is getting smaller and smaller while our patient load is getting bigger and bigger. I'm a bit shaken at what has happened. But not as shaken as I'm going to be when I inherit her 28 patients!

Now onto why I love my job...

I saw three patients today. The first was one was sleeping when I arrived and it didn't really matter because even if she was awake, she wouldn't know who I was. But her home attendant told me how grateful she is that I come to visit because I am the only one who cares about how SHE is doing. And she's right. We don't usually focus on how the home attendants are going to feel when the patient dies. So I did a little bit of counseling with her and will see her again in a few weeks.

My second patient was my absolute favorite. The one I got to ride in the ambulance with, the one who tells me I'm like a daughter to her, the one who constantly tells me I'm doing a great job. She was so excited to see me and wanted to hear all about my vacation. I love this woman!

But those weren't the best parts of my day. My third patient is a lovely woman living with her three children (all younger than me) and her 4-year-old grandson. The family recently got a new puppy (I love dogs) and I was playing with the grandson and the dog. I know, not really social work-y, but you'd be surprised as to how relevant it really is. So, as we're playing, the dog got a little scared. I said to the kid, "Shadow's scared, why do you think that is?" His reply: "Shadow, don't be scared, she's not the doggy doctor, she's the grandma doctor!" I'm the grandma doctor?? Isn't that cute? I asked him what it meant to be the grandma doctor and he said that it was my job to make his grandma better and to come play with him. I asked him when he thought I should come back to see the family and he said he didn't know. I told him I would be back in two weeks and he said that it wasn't soon enough. "Come back in one week and then in two weeks and then three weeks and four weeks and five weeks". "What comes after five weeks", I said. "After five weeks is yogurt time. We have yogurt and then you bring me a present and then we do it all over again". What a cutie!! And so smart. He told me that he knew that his grandma was dying and that he was sad but that he was glad that he got to see her every day. Heartbreaking, right???

So that's been my last couple of days. Tonight the hubby and I are heading to a happy hour with some of my co-workers where we will undoubtedly talk about my friend who was fired. Should be interesting...