New Job, and an Update on My Mother

First off, my mother really feels comfortable with her neurosurgeon, which is a good thing. She comes from the old school, so if she doesn't like a doctor, she probably won't do a thing he or she suggests. But, as luck would have it, she does like him, and is following his instructions. Which consist of, in case you're interested, more tests and waiting.

Today she's having another CAT scan, this time with a dye that will make her ill with severe headaches. But the doctor says that will give him enough information to know exactly what to do. Thing is, unlike my mother's other physician, this doctor isn't entirely convinced that what he's looking at is a aneurysm. So he wants one more set of pictures before he decides a course of action.

And that makes us all very happy. Nothing is worse than a surgeon with a God complex and a compulsion to operate unnecessarily!

So now we're in the waiting game and trying to keep our sanity. The family seems to be holding up okay. I would have headed out there this past weekend, but, as I mentioned earlier, I was under strict orders not to show up until surgery or a medical emergency was occuring. Fun, fun.

Meanwhile, I started my new job today, and am spending the morning following people around, filling out paperwork, and trying to convince patients that I'm no longer the chaplain, but instead am now a "readjustment counselor" or "addiction therapist." Turns out both titles mean the same thing. Go fig. They tell me I'll be up and running the show in a couple of weeks, but let me tell you - right now it's overwhelming! Lots of data entry into medical charts. Sure I've done that before, but no one really cared what or in what format a chaplain wrote. Now I have to have everything exactly right or I get a phone call from someone at headquarters. I'm going to start looking for stress relief activities that I can do during my off hours. I have a feeling I'll need them!

Okay, time to go back to HR and see if I can get my id badge made (again). Fortunately, they've realized I'm the same person who was working here last week, so they won't make me go through the whole fingerprinting / background check stuff again!

They did list my hair color as "grey," though. Weeping and gnashing of teeth followed.