Work is Getting Wierd

     After training with the traveler.  Finally everyone new learned what we needed to know about echo.  We had to tell the travelers goodbye.  Since they left, I had the pleasure of going to the other outpatient office.  I had no idea of what was happening at the hospital.  I finally found out that the previous supervisor went out on leave.  Another person took over supervisor position while she was gone.  They gave her the office job where I was when she come back. (Oh MAN!!).  Back to the hospital to push the heavy machine on the carpet.
     When I came back to the hospital the air was thick.  The boss hired a nurse from upstairs that knew how to scan.  She didn't get along with anyone.  The daily schedule was made by her, and she did not like me.  I was portable, I had to push the machine to the patient's rooms to do the scan everyday.
     The nurse and boss were dating.  There was boss in another department that we worked with, the cath lab.  My boss was sneaky and told lies about her.  Everyone believed him and so she was told to leave or get fired.  He should have been fired then because come to find out he was using another person's name.  He was stealing from the hospital.  Police came and escorted him out.  WHAT?  The next week his girlfriend didn't show up for work.
     We needed a supervisor and a tech.  The hospital asked a lady that worked at another outpatient office to take over.  Before she could do that she had to train someone to do carotid ultrasounds.  ME,ME,ME!
I was taught another ultrasound specialty without going to school. LUCKY ME!  Since I worked at the other office,  I started filling in for the other general ultrasound tech when she was off.  Now I got to do all three specialties.  The only one I wasn't doing that I loved was OB scans.  Oh well, everything else was going my way now.  NO CALL again.  I was able to DRIVE again.  The only thing was my daughter finding new friends at her new daycare.  My husband was a full time fireman now.  HALLELUJAH!

More Seizures, and You said NO CALL

     Getting no sleep can cause seizures.  That is why I thought this job was going to be a blessing.  The interview said "NO CALL".  The schedule was getting worse.  The boss was looking for anything to sign you up for.  Come to find out, the boss was going out with one of the people that I worked with.  CRAZY!!

     What crazier was that I didn't pull over in time.  I was in a neighborhood on the way to work.  Has anyone ever ran a car into a house?  I did.  Ha,Ha.  No I didn't laugh.  I only hit the porch.  The house was also for sale.  The house was going under contract that day also.  I called my boss and told him what had done.  Believe it or not, He laughed.  HE LAUGHED!!  There is another twist to the story.  My in-laws bought the car!  

     Since I couldn't take call because of losing sleep.  I started working a few hours Saturday mornings.  The other technicians agreed with this.  Thank you Lord!

     Another fender-bender.  This is somehow in His will.  Pray.

Echo.. Echo.. Echo.. Echo...and driving wasn't working

     Three years had past after my surgery.  Guess what,  I started having my "sick feeling".  If you haven't read previous blogs, I get an "aura" before I have a seizure.  The kind I have are Complex Petit Mal Seizures.  I stare for 15-30 seconds and sometimes shake my right hand.  The staring time is just long enough to have a wreck.  The "aura" can sometimes last long enough to pull off the side of the road in time not to wreck.  That is still not safe.  That one year of hell that I put everyone through wasn't worth anything.  I didn't even remember my daughter's two year old birthday or Christmas.  

     I think I went through withdrawal.  My seizures were not as bad or as often.  I was just mad.  My husband finally talked me into seeing another neurologist closer to home.  Again, she sent me to another surgeon to have another procedure.  This procedure is where a Vagal Nerve Stimulator or like a pace maker for the brain helps keep extra brain waves cause my seizures.

     Again, guess what.  The surgeon looked at my MRI and CT scan.  The surgeon didn't take everything.  WHAT?? HE DID NOT TAKE EVERYTHING???  I didn't hear anything after that.  I just cried while being mad at the same time.

echo...echo...echo...School Returns

     Now it is time to open another door.  A job that is closer to home, no call, and getting paid while learning a new ultrasound modality.  After performing general and OB/GYN ultrasound for 6 years and having to learn something new, I was excited and hesitant.  You scan with your left hand because the patient is facing towards you.  I'm right handed.  The manager hired another person that had to be trained.  I wasn't alone. Thank you Lord.  That made me feel less hesitant because there was someone there without any ultrasound background.
     After I worked my notice, HALLELUJAH, this was the last night driving 45 minutes home.  Unfortunately I wasn't going to miss anyone.  Was that because of the change in my personality due to the surgery?  After all I was there for five years. They probably felt the same after the way I had changed.
     Wow, it only took me 25 minutes to get to work!  Now it's time to go in and try to remember new names.  That was also a problem after my surgery.  The echo lab didn't have much space to work in.  To save time and be able to get all the patients scanned that had a requisition.  We had to do portables.  That is where we pushed the heavy ultrasound machines to the patient's room for the study.
     The hospital where I went to work was affiliated with other outpatient offices.  The staff would go to two of those outpatient offices.  After a couple of weeks, I got to scan with another technologist at one site.  He taught me a lot.  There wasn't anyone to stand in front of the screen except me.  I would scan after him to see if I could get the same images.  He would also quiz me.  Pretty soon he would be getting paid to sit back and relax while I was scanning.  That was fine with me.  I enjoyed doing echocardiograms.  I'm not sure why, but my bad side from after the surgery was finally starting to change.
   
       

Working Those New Hours

  I haven't blogged for awhile.  That sounded funny.

  Working 11:00a - 8:00p, well...I liked sleeping in.  I had more time with my daughter.  She was two years old then.  It was odd picking her up from the hospital's child care that late.  She was the only child there then.  Of course instead of taking a cigarette break when I came to work, they went to lunch!  Why?  I didn't know what was going on in the department when they left.  My luck the ER would go crazy.  After changing my schedule, the supervisor changed the patient appointment time slots.  The time slots for two techs in the morning before me coming in were scheduled one patient per hour.  Now, after they left at 4:00 in the afternoon I had patients every 30 minutes. EXCUSE ME!! ONE ULTRASOUND TECH patients every 30 minutes scheduled, not including ER or inpatients that had to be done that day!  That made me hit the boiling point.
   I don't know if I mentioned after the surgery I called myself "the other Roxanne".  I know I mentioned not remembering Birthdays and Holidays, but I was also a MONSTER!  I don't know if anybody else had that happen to them after brain surgery, but it's awful.  Thank God it only lasted for around a year and a half.  I have a wonderful husband to stay with me and put up with that.
   After working those hours I finally found a position that was closer to home and NO CALL!
Along with no call I will be trained to do echocardiograms!

Working after eight weeks - CALL ALREADY - The Worst Year!

     Being released to work, FINALLY.  I wasn't used to staying at home and not going anywhere, even if it was just to work.  After all, I didn't drive.  But now in a few more weeks, if I didn't have any breakthrough seizures, I could drive.  I might have to wait longer than that because we needed another CAR.

     Before I went out for surgery, the hospital had to hire a new person in the department.  She didn't have much experience.  Unfortunately my coworker would have to help train her without me.  Training someone straight from ultrasound school takes time.  Radiologists can be picky.  People with no experience usually have to get the other coworker to scan behind them to make sure they didn't forget anything.  Because of this she was taking all of the overnight CALL.

     When I came back to work, the first question was "what night do you want to take call?"  Excuse me? None right now.  The first thing my coworker did was take a smoke break.  After that she must have gone to the supervisor.  When she returned to the department from her smoke break, I was called to his office.  The first question was "When can you take call?"  I had to remind him about epilepsy and needing sleep.  If I took call, it could not be overnight.  A few weeks went by, the word CALL was said at least once a day.  I finally went to the supervisor and told him that I wanted to be transferred to another department.  I didn't care where.  This floored him.  He said let him see what he could do.

     Later that day, all three of us were in his office.  They said change my schedule 11:00-8:00.  Six to eight was the busiest E.R. time frame for us.  I said o.k.  Inside I thought only for awhile.  I will be looking for another job.

     I don't want to leave this out but, the year after my surgery was HELL!!!!  The only part of the year I remember is work.  I don't remember Christmas, my daughter's birthday, etc...

THE NEW MEDICINE THEN SURGERY

     Well, I lost the count of how many medications I had tried.  I finally decided SURGERY!!!  Yes, Surgery. Ten to thirteen seizures a month was enough!  Off to Chapel Hill, NC for a second opinion and surgery.  Chapel Hill here we come!
     Back and forth keeping the road hot to Chapel Hill and back home.  One study after another.  Having a video EEG.  Taken off of my medication to view my seizures. I had seven in one day!  They thought it might take a week.  My surgery finally Was SEPTEMBER 11,1997.
     Thank the Lord for my wonderful family.  My in-laws kept my daughter during my recovery.  She would still go to the daycare, they would pick her up then let me see her for a while.  My parents would take care of me while my husband worked.  It was odd during this time that my mom had surgery on her neck and was out of work the same time that I was.  We spent time together while we were out on leave from work.
     We went back to Chapel Hill and I was told to work off of my medication by six weeks.  If I did not have any problems by eight weeks, I had clearance to DRIVE!!!  I had to follow up with my regular neurologist from now on because they released me.  DRIVE!!!