Strange day

It started so well. I got to work and they'd gotten donuts for everyone, and the box said they were for everyone on our "nursing, PT, OT, and home health aide staff who does such a good job". Which means they remembered ME, since I'm the OT dept. I also got my very own voicemail box. It still would be nice to have my very own place to oh, use the phone or connect to the network (and they made it harder because they pulled out the network line in the conference room that I had been using), but we're on a good path.

Unfotunately that was the best of the day. I spent most of the drive down here trying to get my home phone line repaired since it wasn't working. After I FINALLY got a human after 7 calls I was told it might not be fixed until Monday. At which point I pointed out that since they can't provide consistent enough cell coverage for me use at home despite having been assured that would be no problem, then not fixing that line, they were leaving me for days with no way to call 911 despite being paid huge amounts of money/month to achieve this. I gave up. I went back to the provider I left 6 months ago because of being told one thing and then receiving a $300 cellular bill. I did that tonight and I don't even regret the cost. Much.

I had another good moment when my contract was renewed (it's not even up for 6 weeks) and I was told how pleased they are with me. I suspect this is less so today, but truly a lot of what they thought was me missing paperwork was them not looking at the handwritten stuff I did, so that helps. I think.

Then there was all this paperwork that was messed up from last week because of my computer problems, including one visit I've done that is non-reimbursable. I don't know what happened there, I very clearly remember writing up the orders, but somehow they either were deleted or lost in cyberspace forever.

Then this lady who I always see on Wed. and Friday went out of town for about a week without mentioning it to me previously. Which is good in that it opened my schedule, but it is bad in that I would have seen her earlier in the week if I knew. So, one whole week of missed therapy.

My first patient was furious with me, as was her caregiver, because of the agency's decision to call her family and MD and file a report with adult protective services based on my visit a few days ago. The caregiver I basically told she couldn't talk to me about this, which is true, but I am really annoyed because I know she got in trouble for not doing her job well and leading to some of the issues, and I think she led my patient to her high-pitched squawking and the every annoying insinuation that I'm too young to know how to do my job. I LOOK young. I have a chubby cheeked face that looks young and my curly hair adds to that. I also just don't show aging as much as some people. I have grey hair, more than people would guess, but it is mixed into the curls. I haven't developed wrinkles or what-not; that's just genetics. But it can be annoying. I am not that young; 10 years of experience is a bunch of experience in this field and besides, the decision was made by me, my supervisor, the social worker, the clinical nurse manager, and I believe the director of the agency. I made the calls because I was the direct witness, but still I feel horrible. I knew this was likely. I also know how badly she needs OT, so I finally convinced her to wait to decide to stop after the weekend and someone else is going to talk to her for me in the meantime.

Around then is when I broke my tooth. It was a cap that was placed years ago after a kid at camp smacked me in the mouth accidentally. I can't get it fixed for 2 weeks and even then I am going to have to mess with work hours to get to the dentist. Unless I can maybe move Dr. Mind that week......hmmm. Regardless it isn't the most pretty thing and it's kind of sharp. I swallowed the cap so i can't even stick it back on temporarily.

My next patient was fine. Thank goodness. We had a lovely time talking about where the camp I worked was, as she used to live there. Which is amazing as I never meet people who have been there. I can't wait to bring her some pictures of it next time.

Then I got a call that my new brace is in but they could only see me in the morning. I called and explained my situation and will be seen in the afternoon. I'm anxious about this new brace. I need it, I'm rolling my ankle in my current one that is only a few weeks old, and the new one just won't let that happen, but it also means accepting that I wear a BRACE, not an athletic support system. On the other hand the other option is surgery and brace sounds good in comparison. And I'm glad to get it as now I can go buy shoes at the specialized shoestore and have them fit everything needed into the shoe. I dread that, but my current shoes hurt. I think they stretched; they have too much leather for the instructions I was given. The orthotics don't hit right. I tried to switch to an older pair of shoes but can only find one of them and they hurt too from being worn out. So tomorrow is new shoe day.

Then I got a call that yet another patient cancelled, this time because his dog bit him. That scares me a bit as that is twice he's been bitten by the dog and although they keep it shut up when we're there it does come out and it now officially scares me.

So with all this I didn't get to the motel with supper and settled until after 7, then I took the fastest shower ever, ate, and now am going to plug in my work computer to charge and go to sleep. I am sooooooooooooooooo tired. I don't think I slept well last night.

I have no idea how tomorrow is going to go; I feel like I've missed visits with everyone but most of them can't be seen tomorrow anyway. So, it may be a weird day. Hopefully not weird like today. Today is the first time I have really messed anything up and that doesn't feel good. I know relatively that if I've done this 6 weeks and am just now making noticeable errors it's not that bad but it still is unpleasant.

Oh well.........