Infertile Me

Sneakin' A Minute At Work

So I have been working my ass off lately... which I guess is not a bad thing considering how big it had been getting. Anyway, in the midst of getting adjusted to my new job we got news that Ash was being shipped off to Korea in a few months. He'll be gone for a year and I'll be in Shitville all by myself.

Needless to say between work and preparing for this humongous ass change in my life, I barely can find a minute to shower let alone write up a post.

Anywho, things are calming down. Ashley put in his request for a follow-on and he is hoping to go to San Antonio, TX  and I am praying for Las Vegas. After living in the desert sands of New Mexico, bored shitless, I need a HUGE town with a lot of things to keep me busy.

Ok.... since I am still at work I won't get all into this and that right now. I'll do my best to go home and fill you in with more details, but Thursday's and Monday's are our craziest days and those are the days when I want to go home, crawl into bed, and eat bon-bons.

We'll see what tonight brings. Hope all ya'll are well in the meantime though.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like.... Christmas?

[I wrote this yesterday, and I guess in all the excitement of being home, I forgot to save it... DOH!]

I am slowly overcoming this muck called bronchitis. It sucks (and hurts like hell!!) I didn't know coughing could be so damn painful!

Anyway, work is going great! Dr. Ass has mad a complete turn-around since I began being sugary nice to him. He comes in and speaks to C and me in the morning... and the other day he even tried to tell her a joke. We bust our asses for him, and hopefully he is beginning to appreciate it.

This morning I woke up to a shitload of snow. Utterly beautiful and amazing Wisconsin-like snow that covered every inch of everything. I was stunned into silence as I looked around at everything. Just this past weekend we were in the 80's!! [I took pictures but I am too lazy to upload them just yet.]

Everything was on a 2-3 hour delay as they tried to clean up the roads and whatnot, but I had to get to the work on time. Ashley took me and all of us women scurried around the office trying to get the day started. At about 8:30, Dr. A came in and said good morning.... I was already swamped with calls from those who did not want to travel through the snow to their appointments and those who had nothing better to do with their time so they wanted to make an appointment to see the doctor. About 5 minutes later, he walks up to me and says, "I think we should close the office. Start calling the patients and rescheduling... ok?" I was so shocked my mouth fell open and all I could do was nod.

As word spread about the office closure, the girls scrambled to get things done in fear that Dr. A would change his mind and make us stay and work. I learned that he had never before closed the office due to weather. Isn't that a blip? Anywho, I called everyone in record time (I am becoming a pro on the phone now. The key is to not give people options but instead TELL them when they will see the Dr.) and was out of the office an hour after I had arrived.

I guess it was a bad snow day for the base as well because they sent everyone home, so Ash and I got to spend a glorious day vegging out.

We ended up going to the mall so I could stock up on all of my Clinique stuff. [I think I own every damn thing Clinique makes, and that shit isn't cheap.] Then we went to dinner before coming home and watching "The Amazing Race".  I need more days like this for sure.

I guess I'll go get ready for tomorrow. Ash doesn't have to go into work until 9, but I have to be there at 7:30... Tooooooooo damn early!! But hey, at least I had the day off.

I'll Take Some Abuterol with Those Fries Please

So, on Sunday I was feeling pretty shitty. I was almost certain that I had a migraine and was popping codeine pill after codeine pill all day. That didn't do shit for me or my multiple symptoms. I was cold, then hot, then cold. I had an annoying dry cough, along with a body that felt like I had been hit by a Mac truck.

On Monday morning, against my better judgment, I went to work. About an hour after I got there, it really hit me. I felt AWFUL! I was freezing, yet hot as hell. My eyes felt like they were about to fall out. My bosses kept asking me if I was ok and if I needed to go home, but I was determined to stick it out. Around 11 a.m. I couldn't take it anymore. The Nurse Practitioner (CPN) M, who I LOVE, told me to let her check me out to make sure everything was ok.

Come to find out, my temp was 102.3, my blood pressure was unusually high and I could barely breathe. She diagnosed me with acute bronchitis. I left the office with 6 prescriptions and strict orders to go home and sleep. When I got home I immediately fell asleep. A few hours later Ash came in with my prescriptions, and shortly after that a nice lady with this nebulizer machine came over. Breathing treatments are pretty cool! I suck down some nasty shit and a few seconds later I can breathe!! Of course, that breathing comes with something that sounds like a rattle snake in my chest.

Last night, after all of the breathing treatment and countless pills, I had a horrible case of insomnia. I felt better indeed, but now I am EXHAUSTED. I had to call into work (which makes me paranoid because Lord only knows what grumbling sounds Dr. Ass is making in my absence.)... but I am crossing my fingers that I'll get some rest and be able to go in tomorrow. :)

Working in a Dr.'s office is an emotional thing. We have a lot of breast cancer patients and several elderly sick patients. We get about 1 or 2 death certificates every few weeks which is really sad. Dr. Ass and Dr. Suave do colonoscopies (which really makes Dr. Asses name fitting) and so the follow up on that is depressing at times. I have myself already attached to certain patients. I know their names and everything they are going through. Even now, as I sit at home they are on my mind.

Anyway, I just got off the phone with M and she said it was the Levaquin I am taking that is keeping me up at night. Joy. She said for me to take some Benadryl tonight and that should help me sleep.

It's lunch time!! That means time for more pills and a loud nebulizer. I hope everyone else is feeling better.

Ever Work For An Asshole?

Let me first say that I love my job. I love everyone I work with... well, almost.

I work for two prestigious surgeons here in Shitville. People drive hundreds upon hundreds of miles to come and see them. On any given day, we could have over 80 patients coming and going in our little waiting room. One day, we had close to 100 patients... (talk about exhausting.)

Handling all of the calls, scheduling, greeting, and other chaotic items is C and me. C is a spunky, crazy gal who I adore. We are both new to the job. She only worked there a week or so before I came on-board. In addition to us, there are 2 nurses, 2 Nurse Practitioners, a file clerk, an office manager, a bookkeeper, and the wonderful Miss S who is technically my supervisor but also does insurance claims and referrals. Together we make a very nice oiled machine.

One of the surgeons is a dream. I call him Dr. Suave. He is friendly and kind. He means business, but he is never disrespectful to the staff. He says hello in the morning and stops by our desks to share a brief word of encouragement. However, the other doc is an asshole. It would only be appropriate for me to call him Dr. Ass. He is rude and obnoxious. He NEVER speaks to the staff in a friendly manner. When he does speak to us, it is rude and degrading. He told the file clerk the other day that she was incompetent -  in front of everyone. He likes to come to the front and drop off a ton of shit while mumbling instructions that we can't understand. To boot, no one can read his fucking writing. He really works my nerves.

Just the other day one of the patients told him I deserved a raise and he snorted, laughed, spun on his cowboy boots, and walked off. I really wanted to take off my shoe and throw it at him.

All of the gals there seem to be afraid of Dr. Ass, but I have come to the conclusion that the dude isn't worth my time. He doesn't want to talk to me, then I don't have to talk to him. I will not be losing any sleep over his stupidity. And if by chance he calls me incompetent, I have no problems telling him that "no... I am not incompetent... you are," and walking happily into the sunset. I can find another job. (I hope.)

Half of the problem with the office is that these docs are busy guys. Dr. Suave is only in the office on Monday's and Thursday's. The other days he is at the hospital doing surgeries. So, on the days he is with us, we book him 3 appointments every 15 minutes. From 9 am to 10:45, he is booked completely. Some mornings he will have as many as 25-30 patients. That's for ONE doctor!! Dr. Ass will see about 20 patients and then there are the 2 Nurse Practitioners who also have a full load. Meanwhile, C and I have the job of answering the never quiet phones (scheduling those appointments) and greeting some 70 patients ... not to mention making sure their charts are in order and collecting payments and co-pays.

As efficient as we are, at getting them in and putting their charts back, there is no possible way a Doctor can see 1 patient every 5 minutes. And let me tell you, if my doctor only spent 5 minutes with me, we would have a HUGE problem. Soooo, people with 10 o'clock appointment sometimes won't get seen until 11 or even later. Somehow, Dr. Ass thinks that is our fault. HAHAHAHAHAHA! He's made mention of it a few times, but he has never brought that shit to me. He's smart because I have no problems telling him that TWO nurses can not manage patients for 4 "doctors" and on top of that no doctor can see each patient for just FIVE minutes. Moron.

At the end of my 9 plus hours (we work a lot of overtime) I am exhausted. I come home, take off my scrubs and shoes and fall into bed. I sleep like a baby at night only to get up at 6:45 the next morning to do it all over again. Ash had 2 weeks off, which made starting easy, but now I have to get up a little earlier to take him because our Grand Am is still out of commission. The Durango still makes me smile... even though we are suspecting it's starter is about to give. Oh well. It'll be replaced and everything will be fine.

On that note, I am going to close and go back to vegging out. Tomorrow is going to be a long, horrific Monday. All 4 "docs" in the office never equals a good time. But I'm sure we'll have some good laughs. :)

Heh...

Dudes and Dudettes...

I went out and got a job.

I now work for a Surgeon...

Surprisingly, I love my job.

Thus, this is why I have been missing lately.

I am finally settled into my hectic schedule, and I will return to the life of posting asap. Besides, I need something to do while I catch up on all the shows I miss during the day.

Until later mijas.