Phew....Finally!

I never thought I'd see this day. I hoped and I wished and I studied and I prayed...and lo and behold, as of 6 pm this afternoon, I am an L.M.S.W. And that stands for LICENSED MASTER OF SOCIAL WORK!!!!! You don't realize how hard it was for me to keep this from so many people. I have known about my appointment to sit for the exam for a few weeks now but I didn't want to tell many people and accidentally jinx it. Of course I told Sam and my parents and a few of my co-workers (I had to explain why I wasn't going to be available today after 3 pm) -- but I didn't want too many people waiting for the results just in case I failed!

In New York State, you are required to get at least a 75 on the exam to pass it and I got an 80. I am still in shock, I don't know what to do now. This has been my longest long-term goal (at least 8 years running) and to have finally reached it...well, it's almost a let down. It was kinda easy and not stressful and most importantly, OVER!!!

So folks, what do I do next?? I guess I just work hard and keep working towards my L.C.S.W., which should happen in the next two to three years.

I arrived home to a beautiful card from my husband hiding in my laptop! What a romantic man...

So I breathe a huge sigh of relief. I can finally get my new business cards made up that say Me, LMSW!

Woo hoo!!!!!

Oops, I Almost Forgot...

I forgot to mention something that is extremely important to me. I have been keeping this blog and discussing several of my patients over the past few months. I am extremely sad to report that my favorite patient died on May 16th. Because she has died, I can use her name without fear of violating any HIPAA rules of privacy. I'd like to take this opportunity to say a formal goodbye to Patricia Costa. Though I only knew her a few months, she really touched my life. I told one of my supervisors that I was so close to this patient that when she died, I would have to quit hospice.

After a very stressful meeting, I got a call from our nurse that Pat was actively dying. Luckily, I was able to get lunch with Sam after I heard the news. I was able to process it with him and with my mom. Both felt it was important to go see her and say goodbye. I was scared to do this. I've seen dead bodies but have never been involved as the person died. My fear of regret won over and I hurried to her apartment. Unfortunately I was fifteen minutes late - I wasn't able to see her transition, but I was able to say my goodbyes. I sat with her two best friends and her loyal home health aide as we waited for Beverley, one of our nurses, to come over and pronounce the death. It was so calming to be in the room with Pat after she died. I held her hand and told her how wonderful she was and how important she was to me. I told her that I would miss her. I reminisced with her friends while they drank wine and made plans for a party honoring Pat's memory. Even though I knew this was what she wanted, it was hard to let her go. I left her home right before NYU Medical School came to pick up her body. This lady was so damn cool that she donated her body to science. She was so hopeful that she might be the cancer patient that finally found a cure for the disease.

Sam and I had our anniversary dinner near her apartment. As we walked by her building, I thought of her fondly, wished her well and said a final goodbye. As I continue to do this work as the months pass, I am able to spend more time with my patients, get to know them and their families and their hopes for the end of their life. It's never easy to say goodbye, but it's always what the patient wants. This death was very hard for me, but not as hard as I thought it might be. I had to keep telling myself that it's what she wanted. I just feel bad because I had hoped to see her the day before but postponed it, assuming that she would still be around a few days later.

Goodnight sweet Pat, I hope you're enjoying spicy food, cigarettes, good wine and lots of laughs with your husband! Thank you for allowing me into your life...

The Long and Winding Blog...

Can I get a show of hands of those who actually missed my rantings and stuff over the last month? I can’t believe that I am so far behind in blogging and sharing the exciting things that have been going on in my life over the last month. So be prepared for a loooong entry!

First I want to start with Shelly and Joe’s wedding. As most of you may remember, they got married on April 22nd and we happened to be in Austin and feeling pretty good for the wedding. What a beautiful wedding. We couldn’t wish more happiness to a greater couple. Leaving Austin was bittersweet but hopefully I’ll be back in July for Amanda’s baby shower. Shelly planned an amazing wedding and we had a great time. Good food, great company and beautiful surroundings.





Soon after we got back from Austin, Sam had to turn around and head to Houston for Grandma Betty’s funeral. It was wonderful for Sam to be able to spend time with his parents, aunt and cousins, but it was unfortunate that it was under sad circumstances. After his return from Houston, we attended Tova’s birthday party, but you already know about that.

Over the last month, work has taken a crazy turn! One of my co-workers was let go, which was crazy with bad timing. We are already understaffed and I’m spread between three programs. With this co-worker leaving, I assumed a good part of her caseload, which brought my patient load up to 26 between Hospice and Palliative Care. Not to mention that I was still spending a great deal of time getting prepared for my new program to begin, which included creating all of the necessary forms, re-creating a complete psychosocial assessment and managing all of the other aspects of the program.

I finally got the good news last week! My new project is set to start on June 5th. I was asked to reduce both my Palliative Care and Hospice caseloads to something more manageable (like 10) and get prepared to complete 5 assessments of new patients per week. I am so relieved that this project is finally starting. I am confident that it is going to be amazing and it will be highly beneficial for the patients involved.

After my co-worker was fired, two more social workers put in their resignations. At this point, there is only one social worker that has been in my department longer than me. It’s sad that I’m a senior social worker after only 6 months! I really hope that all of the positions will be filled ASAP so that I don’t have to worry about getting more patients.

I’ve definitely been able to take on more of a leadership role in the last month or so. I’m in charge of divvying up the Palliative Care patients and have been given the task of completing a final evaluation for one of our NYU students. If only I was getting paid more...

Last week we had a bit of a family scare. Our nephew, Yoni, was hospitalized for more than a week with pneumonia. He was released last Friday, to enjoy Shabbos with his family. We only wish him good health and no more hospital scares.

And finally, some exciting personal news: Sam and I inherited two cats from our friend Annie. She felt that she didn’t have enough time to give to them, so we are now the proud parents of Lucky and Blue. They kick ass and are a great addition to our family. Sam and I celebrated our two-year anniversary last week with a lovely Italian dinner and a trip to Freeport, Long Island last weekend to go out on a gambling cruise. We didn’t win much money, but we didn’t lose much either. It was a nice, relaxing anniversary weekend.

I want to share some good thoughts and wishes to Jessica and Cedric who moved from NYC last week to Arlington, Texas. Congrats to Jessica for graduating from Columbia and for obtaining her LMSW in record time. We will miss them terribly but appreciate the new furniture that we got from them.

I’ve been reading a ton of books lately and need to start sharing them with the world. I can definitely recommend the following: Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem and Love and Other Impossible Pursuits by Ayelet Waldman. Next up: Sense and Sensibility by the amazing Jane Austen.

My new plan, and I know I’ve said this before, is to blog more often. I want to avoid these long and drawn out posts. Happy week to you all!

Polly Pocket is my New Favorite Friend...

This morning Sam and I attended the Princes and Princesses Themed 4th Birthday for our little cousin, Tova. We were a bit apprehensive at first to be attending a 4-year-old's birthday party, especially given the fact that we are pushing 30 and don't have children of our own. We got there late (of course) and walked in on story time, a book written and illustrated by our 6-year-old cousin, Moselle. We watched in awe as cousin Dov made us cotton candy from his very own cotton candy machine. We had a wonderful time watching all of the little princes and princesses running around the apartment in their princess-y best (crowns and wands included)!

Dov and Sharon definitely throw a great party, fully equipped with mini hot-dogs, french fries, fruit, cake and a pinata! Once the guests were gone, we got to spend some time with the little cousins. I have only met the girlies twice before and hadn't really spent a great deal of time with them. Tova opened the present we gave her, which was a Polly Pocket Car (with salon in the trunk) along with a Polly Pocket and clothes and accessories. Dov was more excited about the car then Tova was at first. Sam enjoyed playing with the gals and wearing Tova's crown. The girls were warm and loving and fun and silly. We hope to spend more time with our NYC family in the future.

We enjoyed seeing the "millions" (as per Moselle - hundreds if you ask Tova) of Polly Pocket toys. From the ski slope, to the hot tub, to the limo to the real working fountain, these girls have it all.

Today definitely made Sam and I more interested in having children. After we got over the initial shock of feeling like stalkers in the room full of 4-year-olds, we played with a couple of the kids. Sam found himself getting high-5's from a 2-year-old who really seemed to like us.

We left the party and enjoyed the rest of the beautiful day!!

Real Books are Cool!

Most of you know that I am an avid reader. I like to read anything that I can get my hands on - chick lit, magazines, the toothpaste tube. You name it, I like to read it. However, I came to the realization that even though I love to read, I am a fraud. I have shelves upon shelves of the books that I have read over the last year and a half and none of them are classic, literary works. So I decided to change that. Right before I went home for vacation, I decided to pick up a classic. I realized that I have never read "A Tale of Two Cities", "Wuthering Heights", anything of Jane Austen or any other classics that weren't assigned to me to read by a teacher.

So I picked up "Pride and Prejudice". I will admit that the main reason for reading it is because I really want to see the movie and felt I should read the book first so I knew what was going on. I love it. It's such a wonderful read. I wouldn't have been able to appreciate the writing had this book been assigned to me to read. It has completely sucked me in. It's my new subway read. I would imagine that I'll complete it in the next two days. I love the language, I love the picture that it paints. Oh to be alive in old-school England!

So this is how I am passing my time until my husband returns from Houston on Saturday...