Posted 6/22/2014 6:00 PM (GMT 0)
Hi everyone,
Sorry that I have been away from the boards for so long. I had decided some month ago that I wanted to go back to work. Some of you may remember that I had finally applied for disability after years of my PM and Neurosurgeon urging me to do so but my heart/head was never sold on the idea even though my body was. So I put if off for a long time and then when finally applied, was turned down as many folks are even though I have a lot of medical issues/surgeries to back this up.
As most of us know, the system can be very random in how they approve people. Anyway, I took this as a "sign" (for me, that is from above but won't go into religion here..lol), as it just wasn't the time for me and if I could find something that I could handle physically each day, that working would actually be BETTER for my overall health and mindset than sitting at home every day thinking about my pain, and being depressed that I am not working.
Because of not working, that obviously made my stress levels rise about finances after a period of time being ok to pay for things. As well as not being able to enjoy "fun" things as I felt too guilty going out and spending even a few bucks or doing something a bit physical for an hour or two because I would think, "how can you do this but not work?"...
**PLEASE realize these are just feelings regarding my OWN situation and not anyone else's as I would never judge someone's choice for their own life.
So, I prayed to find a job that I could handle with all my spine issues as well as something I truly love that would keep my mind occupied and use my skills best.
Here's the amazing part, on the way home from my mom's Dr. appt. with her PCP (woman Dr.) she said that she was told that she is leaving that practice and starting her own with another Dr. The Dr. couldn't tell her too much as there are laws against "soliciting" patients. But since my mom has known her for years now, she says to me, "I wonder if they will need a Medical Receptionist? I have a background in sales/fundraising/customer service, and certainly have a decent knowledge of medical things from being a patient and using Healing Well!!! LOL So we thought, "what the heck, let's call her and ask if I can apply!"
They hadn't opened their offices yet as they were being built as an addition to another building..Now the other awesome part is that it's 1.5 miles from where I live!!!!! Around this area, the traffic is second only to L.A.! So not having a long commute would be fantastic!! As well as being so close, I wouldn't have to hire someone to walk my dog each day which again, around here is ridiculously expensive like $350 a month for 15 min. a day!
Within two weeks, the two Drs. called to meet me for the interview and it lasted 3 hours! I also had 4 other interviews for sales/fundraising jobs over that next week so it made me feel sooooo good as I was worried about getting hired after 9 years not working full time (when I was married we made that decision together as I was caregiving my great-aunt and his mom), as well as my age of almost 46.
By the third week, I got job offers from ALL the companies I interviewed!!!!!! But I REALLY wanted the Medical Receptionist job to get into that field, and learn all the new software as they are going to be 100% paperless as this is something I can do for years to come that isn't driving all day or seeing clients or traveling by plane as some of the other jobs required.
They are two wonderful Drs. that truly care about their patients! I will also get both medical and dental paid by them 100% after 90 days!!
So, I started back at the end of May (working from home the first two weeks as the office had it's last inspection) and we just had our first week being open and seeing patients!!! I am working a LOT of overtime right now as I am doing the Receptionist job, Office Manager, and Billing all in one as the other two employees are Medical Assistants that help the two Drs...so I am all of the front office until they hire others but that won't be for some months so even though it's exhausting, I'm making some great overtime!!
I absolutely LOVE the job as far as dealing with all the patients and the Drs. love the fact that I can empathize what it's like to be on that end of the equation as that is why they left the other practice they were with...the receptionists were harsh and rude to patients and they didn't care about their job.
Sorry for the novel...just wanted to catch everyone up and say that my PM and Neuro are proud of me for making this decision and said they will do everything they can to help me. I had more tests that show other issues in my cervical and lumbar spine but we all decided no more surgery unless threat of paralysis. I also worked with my PM in the earlier months lowering my breakthrough meds so that I could use them better when I started work so that I can keep from going up in milligrams as long as possible. I haven't had a med change in close to 7 years now!! He is absolutely ok with going up if needed because he thinks I let myself get too high on the pain scale, but I really wanted to try this first.
This will be SUCH a rewarding job and as we all know on here, the job I have is important to be done RIGHT with getting appts. when truly hurting or sick, making sure that messages get to the Drs. to handle quickly, and having a jerk of a receptionist who plays God/Gatekeeper is just awful!
One extra bonus working for Primary Drs. is that we are getting so many goodies/gifts from specialists saying Congrats on the new practice and wanting us to refer patients to them. So this week we had flowers, cupcakes, donuts, plants, lunches, etc!!!!
So, even though I had some extremely high pain levels this week, and will be working some really long hours (close to 52 a week for now as we are open on Sat. for a few hours), I am learning SO much that I can have this new career for many years to come and it will only get easier over the months with hiring more front office staff to lessen my hours, and once all the patient's info is entered into the system, it will be a piece of cake at their following appts. as now we have tons of paperwork!
Ok...enough typing...haha.....sorry again for the length and appreciate anyone who read through:) I have missed all my peeps on here and always think about you guys and pray for your health and try to read some threads on the weekends/evenings. I will pop back in when I can and things slow down...
Hugs to everyone (( ))