The last several months have been a whirlwind of emotions to say the least. December was life as normal. Then 2020 hit. What should have been a “new beginning” as the decade changed, quickly turned into my father dying, a pandemic spreading, my mother moving into our house, and emptying their house of possessions they accumulated over the last 45 years of life together.
Dad started his treatment for cancer the first Monday of February. I had decided to take intermittent leave from work to help take care of him. I would drive him to his appointments during the week and work my assigned weekends. Before February was over Dad had lost incredible strength and was quickly dying. I changed my leave from intermittent to long term. Dad died March 9th. I was able to stay out of work on leave to help my mother adjust to life without Dad and close out his estate. I was out of work for just under 3 months. What a 3 months they were.
This is the inbox for my work email. In the event you can’t read the number in the picture it says that 1854 unread messages were waiting for me on my return. You see, as a paramedic during a pandemic where information changes nearly daily, you receive a LOT of emails. I also had almost 8 hours of online learning I had to complete before returning to work. I was able to watch all the videos and complete all the tests the day before so on day 1 of return to work I just had to tackle that inbox. Our responses had changed since I left as well. Now we have to wear masks (different style depending on call type), gowns, eye protection, and face shields along with our gloves on some calls. A new tool to assist during transportation of cardiac arrest patients had been implemented. To say returning to work was a mix of emotions and overwhelming would be an understatement.
When I walked into my office I was greeted by leaves and flowers and signs and a card. How welcoming! Any trepidation I may have felt flew out the window. My coworkers will help me adjust. They will have my back.
That weekend I received a total of five cards. All five cards were thank you cards. Not welcome back nor sympathy cards. Thank you cards. They all said thank you for being their supervisor. They were signed by day shift, night shift, and people who aren’t even on my shift. One of the cards even contained a gift card. I felt so incredibly appreciated. I felt loved. I felt warm fuzzies.
It is such an amazing feeling to know people appreciate you. I have some of the best coworkers around. They sure know how to make a girl feel special!
Oily Minded Medic 