funniest goddamn thing I've ever seen

As if that weren't enough!

I've been reading Feministing and it does nothing but rile me up. Bah. Stories like this really piss me off.  I'm glad they have a trigger warning. Are things really getting worse for women and minorities, or am I oversensitive? 

Dammit.

So my dad's been diagnosed with a really shitty condition known as Myelodysplasia, which of course means he has to get a bone marrow transplant + chemo, and over 50% of cases like his (RAEB 2) turn into leukemia. There is a longevity range of 10 mos - 2 years for the majority of cases, according to different sources I found.

Double Fuck.

I want to donate my white blood cells if I can to help with the transplant, and be there to care for him through the treatments, which may kill him outright if some of these sites are to be believed. I'd rather not believe them. My supervisor came over and said there might be a possibility of a short-term transfer to a facility out there in California so that I can be nearby. I'm sure Dad would love having me around watching him puke and lose his hair and possibly die. Well, too bloody bad for him. I feel like I need to be around. I've never been around enough.

Last published April 20th.

So, I'm sure that updates are in order. As Donn so eloquently put it, "Aren't you back yet?"

Yep. Got back, trip was fantastic. One day later, got the flu. Stayed ill for weeks, even spent a couple of days in the hospital. Got better. A day or two later, got sick again. Guess what?

STILL SICK!!

Taking antibiotics since last night but at least I'm able to work so I'm not complaining about that.

I've been playing a lot of Warcraft and working, and biking. The world as it is remains so full of nasty shit that I get depressed even reading about it. Ads that preach stalkerism. See Feministing for that one. John McCain. *shudder* See anywhere about that one. And, I'm so sick of our political system.

Personally I'm doing great, the man is great, and the remaining cat is great. I should post pictures some time. I'm at work now, so that won't be happening right now.

Not ready, really.

No, I'm not packed. No, I have not stopped the mail. I'm not ready to leave for two weeks and tomorrow night when I can't sleep and I can't do much but look at the same shirt five fucking times as I put it in and take it out again of my suitcase I still won't know what I want to wear.

I don't relish the thought of a nine-hour flight and the large man who puts his seat all the way back. Oh, and you know. Getting searched and patted down isn't on my list of fun things either.

But shit. I'll be in Amsterdam and I won't care about the small stuff. I'll smell the piss in the streets on Konniningdag and love every second of it. See you soon!

Where the fuck I've been.

There really wasn't anything except work and being tired that kept me from posting. Since I started work with the VA I've been just tired all the time. That is a really hard job. I love the veterans - especially the 300-year old ones that hit on me, ha ha, but it's really hard and I just don't have the energy for anything else once I get off work each day. The weekends I sleep mostly.

So maybe I should say what it is I do, then, since all I said is that it's hard.

I work at the Veteran's Hospital on the 7th floor in an administrative area. I wear my little headset, and I answer the phones for the Team Care line, which handles all of Primary Care. So, if someone wants to talk to his (or her) main doctor then I'm the guy who takes the call and decides how best to send them away to the correct area.

If they need a specialist then I make a progress note in their chart and ask the doctor to give them a consult (podiatry, eye clinic, etc.). If they are having trouble right then and want their doctor to know, then I don't play nurse, I make them stay on the line (usually by guilt cause they're trying to be tough guy) and get them to Triage.

If they had lab tests and want the results, I put a note in their chart and send it to a Nurse Case Manager who will decide if she can give it or the doctor must. No one but a doctor can give HIV results, for example.

Also, I handle all secretarial duties for the Diamond Team, which has 4 doctors, 3 nurse case managers, plus all of Geriatrics which may have up to 6 residents plus the doctors who oversee them, plus their nurses. Patient caseload is about 2,000.

That means I type up releases, fax things, get forms back and forth (for example for disabled plates there's a form the patient will want the doctor to fill out and I handle that process), and basically anything else, up to and including taking requests for narcotics from patients and completing the narcotics renewal process so they get their methadone or oxycodone or whatever on time.

And, if a patient has been hospitalized for any reason, their release, follow-up, scheduling, and labs all go through me. I figure out the puzzle of the discharge facesheet and make everything happen usually by phoning the patient and getting him to come back on a certain day, then I order any lab tests or x-rays he needs. If the doctor was unclear (Wow, surprise there, haha) then I have to track down the doctor and get her (or him) to tell me what she wants. Most of my doctors are women in Geriatrics, one or two are men but I don't usually have to work with them and they aren't as good anyway. ;-)

So! I'm usually worn out and brain dead by the time I hop the bus home. I take roughly 50-60 calls per day and I'm always on the computer. I get yelled at constantly by the veterans, and they really like to get abusive to the secretaries. The wives are just as bad. Mostly I handle things well, and if someone is yelling at me I can tell them that whatever it is they want will have to go through me so they'd better straighten up or I will end the call. That works amazingly well, and I have a really good track record of getting apologies so far.

So that's my job. I'm considered a Program Support Assistant, a Firm Clerk, and a Primary Care Team Secretary. I use every part of my brain, all the time, and everyone with whom I work is smart. I love all my doctors even when they are primadonnas, and I'm very lucky to have gotten this job, especially with our economy.

But, if I'm online less or I forget things, that is why.

Goodbye Xe

Tonight my perfect friend - my wonderful companion went to sleep forever
and I will miss him terribly as long as I live.
Goodbye my sweet boy, I was humbled to be your person, there with you even as you took your last breaths, and I hope you think of me wherever you flew.