A Very Unordinary Miracle

I just got back from a spur-of-the-moment weekend vacation and have been trying to catch up on life, since it obviously did not stop to wait for me while I was gone. Which is why I have not written anything about the amazing thing that happened while I was on vacation until now. I just got back on Monday from a quick, three-day cruise to the Bahamas. I hadn't had a vacation in a while, and happened upon a very discounted price, so at the last minute I grabbed a couple friends and off we went. We had a wonderful time, reveling in the chance to sit back and enjoy some of the warm weather Florida has been missing, while enjoying the freedom of having every meal made for us, nearly every whim catered to. Which is exactly what we were doing on the last evening of our cruise...

We were sitting on the top open-air deck of the ship, next to the pool, playing a rousing game of dominoes and enjoying some beverages as we watched the Atlantic Ocean go by, when my friend spotted a small white object bouncing in between the whitecaps. At second glance, it almost looked like a tiny white flag. She immediately said, "That looks like a tiny little boat out there in the ocean!" Always the skeptic, I quickly dismissed that idea, sure that it was just some debris or a "lobster trap" or something...but she kept her eye on it, and as it slowly got closer to the ship, it did indeed look a little like a toy boat with a white sail. And as it got even closer, you could almost be certain that there was something on it that was moving. By this time, the object had attracted the attention of a few other passengers, one of whom informed a crew member. Before we knew it, the giant cruise ship was making a slow U-turn to investigate. As the object inched closer and closer, we discovered that it was indeed a boat, though not a toy one, but actually a raft with what appeared to be more than one person on it. Over the next several minutes, the most amazing thing happened. The cruise ship finally got close enough to discover six people on board a homeade raft. They were eventually rescued off of the raft by being hoisted with ropes up to the ship...and discovered to be six very dehydrated and weak individuals, five men and one woman, from Cuba that were attempting to sail to America. They had been at sea for 15 days, 8 of those days without food or water. We also learned that there had previously been seven people aboard the raft; one of them had died and been thrown overboard the day before. It was also said, though this is unverified, that they were no longer in the current that would have taken them to the coast of Florida, but were drifting and would most likely never have been found, had they not been spotted by people on board the cruise ship.

If you think that was an amazing coincidence, that the ship happened to be in the right place at the right time, it gets better. Early in the morning of that day, our cruise ship was scheduled to stop at a small private island for several hours before heading back to Florida. However, that stop was canceled at the last minute due to weather and choppy seas affecting the ability of the small tenders to safely dock on the island. Because of this, we started heading back to Florida earlier than anticipated. If we had docked on the Bahamian island as originally planned, we would most likely not have crossed paths with the raft at all, or if we had, it would have been dark and they would not have been seen.

All of this leads up to an amazing rescue that I personally believe was more than a mere coincidence. It was also thrilling to watch, and to hear the details from the crew later. It was a little sad too, knowing that these people were so desperate to leave whatever situation they were in that they risked their lives to try to make it to America...and yet, they didn't make it. As you may know, there's a law in Florida referred to as "wet feet, dry feet" that basically means that if these people had made it to dry land and had stood on American soil, they would have been able to stay in America. Because they were rescued at sea, they will now be taken back to Cuba instead. I'm sure it's better than dying at sea, but it's still a little disheartening. However, it was still an incredible thing to witness the rescue, and certainly surreal.

This story made local and national news, and I've posted a link to a video of the raft and passengers just prior to rescue that was shot by one of the cruise passengers. Being several stories up, I had not seen the rescue in such close detail until I saw this video; I was only able to get some blurry stills from my vantage point on the top deck of the ship. It definitely shows the joy on the faces of the passengers as we approached their vessel, dispelling the rumors that I had heard that they were reluctant to be rescued. One of the passengers was even blowing kisses toward the ship, while lying on his stomach, too weak to do anything but pick up his head.

http://www.wesh.com/video/26035168/detail.html

A Lion Called Christian

I'll keep this short, but I just had to share. I just stayed up way past my bedtime to watch the full, extended, true story of Christian the Lion. I laughed, I cried, sometimes both at the same time. What a beautiful story, much better than anything on TV these days and absolutely worth sacrificing bedtime for. Here's the YouTube link for Part 1 of the story, you can find all five parts under the same user/subscriber. Goodnight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cqouVL0AiQ

Why I hate and, once in a while, love my job.

Today something kind of awesome happened at work. I actually helped make a significant difference in my patient's quality of life. I have been working with this patient since I came to Jacksonville six weeks ago, and he was on therapy for at least a month prior to that. When I started working with him he was not able to get out of his bed and into his wheelchair without extensive help, due to physical disabilities and several other issues. Today I could tell him that he no longer needed physical therapy because he can now safely get in and out of bed and into his wheelchair with the use of a sliding board (a tool used in therapy, for patients who are not able to stand or or support their body weight on their legs). To some people, this may not seem like a big deal, because we take for granted that we are able to get out of bed on our own strength every day. For this man, this was a HUGE accomplishment. Imagine being a grown person, and yet having to rely on other people to physically lift you out of bed because you can't do it yourself. This man is now able to regain a little of his dignity because, after months of therapy, he is now able to get out of bed on his own, without physical help. When I told him he had officially graduated from therapy, he was a little quiet, didn't say much...but later, he came back with tears in his eyes and thanked me for pushing him so hard and making him "stick with it." He even said he was going to miss coming to therapy. This is so significant because he was a very difficult patient...when I started working with him, he had an irrational fear of falling, to the point that he was terrified to sit on the edge of the bed. There were many times were I was sure he hated me, because I really pushed him hard, never giving in to his fears, but making him face them every day, many times until he was close to tears. He has not completely conquered all his fears yet, but he is so much better, and he was able to get past them enough that he could learn how to transfer himself using the board. He told me that he never believed that he could do it until I believed in him, and that just made my day, my week, and probably my month.

You must be wondering why I hate my job, then. Here's why...this ALMOST NEVER HAPPENS! If I could treat patients like this every day, all day, I would LOVE my job. Wait, you say? I'm a physical therapist, this should be happening all the time, it's what I do for a living, right? This is exactly what I THOUGHT when I graduated, too. However, that is not the case, not even close. For every patient like this, I have ten patients that are the complete opposite. These are the patients that couldn't care less about therapy, that are completely content to remain at the level of care they are in and have no desire to get better. They complain all day, every day, find every excuse in the book to not do the things that I am trying to teach them to do. They don't want to put in an ounce of effort, and are only in therapy because that is the only way their insurance will allow them to remain in the nursing home without significant financial loss. (If the nursing home can show that a patient needs the skilled services of physical therapy, most insurances will pay for a patient to stay in the nursing home for a certain period of time, as opposed to the patient paying for it.) And since, of course the nursing home wants the money, I'm required to treat these patients whether or not they really need or want the therapy, and whether or not they can significantly benefit from it. So I basically have a lot of "filler" patients that are making the nursing home and rehab companies money, but that are entirely unmotivated, undeserving and unqualified for therapy. For every patient that thanks me, I have dozens more that glare at me, grumble constantly, and even several that flat out just curse at me. And since the rehab department is basically required to bring in a certain percentage of the income for the nursing home, if we don't have enough patients on our caseload to make the grade, we have to "find" more patients, which is usually done by "screening" the nursing home residents and finding the ones that have "declined," in order to bring the caseload up. It's such a joke, and it's hard to go to work every day when I rarely get the chance to actually put my skills to work and really make a difference in someone's life. Which is why I get so excited when I actually do...

"Proud, happy and thrilled!"

I am SO excited right now. Beyond excited. Thrilled. Ecstatic. Elated.

I just ran.

Yup. That's it. I ran. And I'm excited about it. Why? Because I am finally healthy enough to run again!!!! This feels so amazing!

It's the first time I've run in about five weeks...and I really sucked at it. But I don't care. I RAN!!! It feels so good to be able to run again, I just can't even explain how good it feels. Now I just have to get good at it again. Especially since I challenged my brothers to a 10K on Thanksgiving.

Also, I'm making some great new friends here in Jacksonville, and having a great time with my good friend Meredith, and there's even a small chance I may be able to stay here past Christmas...though this is still very up in the air right now and, like my very superstitious patient Mr. M would say, "You don't want to jinx it."

And...cupcakes for the first person who can tell me the movie that the quote in my blog title came from. This does not include my sister, who I have no doubt already knew the answer before I even posed this challenge. In fact, this is way too easy...anyone else who isn't already awesome enough to know every word of this movie by heart could just Google it. So the cupcakes are out. But let's see who gets the correct answer first. Go!

Life is what happens when you're trying to plan it.

I don't even know where to begin. As I'm writing this, I'm also thinking about the millions of things I should be doing instead. True to form, my life has not slowed down at all since arriving in Jacksonville. Sure, I finally found a place to live, settled into my job, and worked on getting healthy again...but that's just the beginning...

The first great thing that's happened to me so far is that I'm starting to feel better again! I'm always amazed at how much of a difference this makes in every aspect of my life, as silly as that sounds. Sometimes I just get used to feeling less than 100% and I forget what's it like to not always worry about my health and whether or not it's going to affect my job, my social life, my sleep, my weight, my appearance, my future...As a rule, I try not to let my health affect any decisions I make, but all the same, it doesn't stop me from worrying and thinking about it ALL THE TIME. I truly don't remember how incredible it is to feel healthy until I AM healthy and all that worry is gone...it's an amazing feeling! I feel like I can conquer the world! Which is apparently what I'm trying to do, or at least it feels that way...

I've been so busy the last couple weeks that I haven't even finished unpacking yet. I got most of the important stuff done, but there's still a few boxes to take care of...one of the things I should be doing right now. I'd like to have it all done tonight so that tomorrow when my friend Meredith comes over the place will look nice. I've been seeing a lot of Meredith lately, it's been great to spend time with her, I haven't seen this much of her since we went to college together several years ago. We're having fun making dinner for each other, going out for dinner...and brunch, we also went to a movie...and she helped me unpack my truck when I moved in! I've also met some new friends in Jacksonville, including a girl I work with named Jessica, who went to the Jaguars game with me...Ugh, what an awful game that was...but we had tons of fun anyway, and I hope this isn't the last Jaguars game I get to attend this season...

Since I'm also getting involved with the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation here in Jacksonville, there's a good chance this will not be the last I see of the Jaguars. Many of you know that I'm a huge Jags fan, and also a David Garrard fan, and he, as well as the Jaguars organization, is involved with CCFA too. Maybe I'll even get to meet him again! We'll see...but in any case I have several things going on with CCFA right now, just trying to lend a hand wherever I can by helping to raise awareness as well as fundraising in the Jacksonville area, and that involves a lot of time, which of course is always in short supply. I'm happy to do it though, because CCFA has done so much for me. I met with Katie from CCFA yesterday after work, we had a lovely time at a fabulous place called Bistro Aix, just a few blocks from where I live...we talked up a storm, she has so many great ideas, and I can't wait to get started on them! I have a couple meetings to add to my already busy schedule, and Thursday I'm going to see a familiar face from camp at one of these meetings, can't wait!

Also excited for Florida/Georgia football weekend, coming up in a few days, not sure how I'm going to be celebrating yet, but you can be certain that I will not let it pass by unnoticed...

In between all that, I'll be working on settling into my new home and job, at least for now, can't believe that I might have to start all over again in a new town in 9 weeks...I'd like to stay here a little while longer, if possible. The job isn't bad, really, I don't actually have a lot to do, and I spend a lot of time doing nothing and taking little catnaps at my desk...but that could all change...I found out yesterday that my boss is leaving, this is his final week...Haven't met the new boss yet, so I don't know how much my job is going to change after this week. I'm just going to enjoy this week of freedom, in case it's my last. I'm also enjoying my new temporary home. I'm really glad I waited until I found something just right, even though it was stressful staying in hotel after hotel, and looking at place after place. By not settling, I got this great little townhouse right on the river, with a gorgeous balcony view, as you can see...and it's a two bedroom, so everyone can come visit! I love guests, and I promise to fit you into my schedule somewhere...

Oh yeah, now that I'm feeling better, it's high time I start training for my next half marathon! Ever since the first one, I knew it wouldn't be my last, that was such an awesome feeling...My plan is to do the same one in Gainesville, as long as I'm still in Florida in February. Now I just have to find a safe place to run here in Jacksonville...and a gym...and time...

Life is a runaway train...

This is the song that keeps running through my head, courtesy of Sugarland..."Life is a runaway train you can't wait to jump on." I feel like my life has been exactly like a runaway train these last few weeks! Let's see, three weeks ago I was in Venice, on the beach, wondering how much longer I'd be staying...

Well, I didn't end up staying in Venice after all...I tried like crazy to get the rehab director at VRMC to keep me around longer, but in the end they really needed a PT, no way around it. I was sad to leave, I really liked Venice and mostly just really almost enjoyed my job there, which is something I haven't really experienced before while working in physical therapy (sadly). So...while still in Venice I landed another assignment, this one in Jacksonville, FL. Not my ideal location, but there are FAR worse places to be, as I've experienced firsthand. I had over a week's notice this time, which meant I had extra time to prepare for the move, find housing, get settled, etc. Riiiiight...

Housing...ugh. I spent so very many hours looking for housing...searching, searching, searching. Affordable corporate housing is not easy to find in Jacksonville. (I'm also greedy, and didn't want to use all of my generous housing stipend, because of course that's less money in my pocket.) I finished my assignment in Venice on the 24th of September and headed to Gainesville the following day for another weekend with my parents...after a mini-reunion in Tampa with a lovely lady from camp. I still had not found housing yet, after several false alarms, so my plan was to just stay in Gainesville for the weekend, then head to Jacksonville Sunday evening and stay in a hotel for a day or two until I found something more permanent. Riiiiight...

Sunday came around, and knocked me on my knees. I got really sick, had the worst flare of my ulcerative colitis that I can ever remember having, didn't even know how I was going to drive to Jacksonville, much less start my job on Monday. I stayed in Gainesville Sunday night, with plans to hopefully feel better in the morning and drive to Jacksonville very early. The morning came around and I didn't feel any better, but had no choice but to get going anyway. And get going I did...right up to the point where I got a $400 speeding ticket halfway to Jax...and I wasn't even speeding! Well, technically I was...I was going the speed limit, but apparently missed the reality that I was in an active school zone, which meant I was going 20 miles over the speed limit. (More on the legitimacy of that claim later.) So this was officially one of the worst Mondays I've had in a while. I finally make it to work, only 15 minutes late, even after all that, and it didn't matter anyway. I was the first one there, apparently my recruiter didn't get the memo or forgot to tell me that nobody would be there until 8:30...so I was actually still 15 minutes early. Anyway, I eventually met the rehab team, which was basically only two people, both of whom are very nice. I made it through my first day of work, but barely, still feeling very ill. I checked into my hotel and went straight to sleep...

Tuesday I was still as sick as I'd been, and I finally had to tell my boss that on my second day of work I needed time off to go to the doctor. He was VERY understanding and supportive, thank goodness. Since I had to make an appointment with a brand new doctor on such short notice, I didn't exactly get to pick which doctor I'd like to see, I just had to take whomever was available. I ended up with a doctor that prefers his patients to be seen, not heard. I'm so over doctors that are not open to discussion, other opinions, etc. It's like they're offended if you actually want to make a decision on your own; they'd rather "lead the blind." He did eventually give me some medicine that I could actually agree to take, and I started feeling a teeny bit better within a couple days.

I still hadn't found housing at this point, and after looking at countless places, I was even more discouraged. I felt like I'd be staying in a hotel forever. I must have looked at four or five places last week, including one that was outrageously priced and didn't even have a kitchen! Obviously not something I could do without...For every place I went to see, I'd called at least three or four possible options without success, and eventually just resigned myself to the fact that securing housing just wasn't going to happen this week. Riiiiight....

On Friday, I was supposed to leave for Kansas for my cousin's wedding, but Thursday had made a last ditch effort to contact one last person about their apartment for rent. She had agreed to let me see the place on Friday morning, so I rushed there before leaving for the airport, saw the place and it seemed to be what I was looking for, but the owner had some stipulations that I just couldn't agree to. So with a sigh, I raced to the airport and made it to the gate just as my plane was boarding, already dreading returning on Sunday only to stay in yet another hotel. I decided to put aside all the anxiety about finding a place to live and just enjoy the weekend in Kansas...which I did. The wedding was lovely, and it was just so great to see my cousins and extended family that we stayed up late every night, I barely slept all weekend. (On a side note, while in Kansas my mom tells me that she got a $400 ticket while on her way to the airport in Jacksonville...in the exact same place that I got mine last week, and for the exact same thing! I was completely resigned to paying the ticket, and shaming myself for speeding in a school zone...until I heard this! The fact that the tickets were in Waldo, which is a known speed trap town, according to Triple A, and that we both got one in the same place tells me there may just be something fishy about all this. I mean, how could we both have missed a flashing yellow school zone warning light? I fully intend to look into this further as soon as I have a moment to breathe.) When I got back to Jacksonville, I had a message on my voicemail from the apartment owner that I had met Friday morning...she decided to rent the apartment to me at the price I wanted, and without all the stipulations...I was jubilant!! I checked into a hotel Sunday night for the last time, and Monday moved into my new home!

It's a cute little townhouse on the river in downtown Jax, and less than two miles from my job. Did I mention that I'm going to be in Jacksonville until Christmas?! That's right, almost three months in one place, I'm so glad I can finally unpack my suitcase and actually live like a normal person again! Riiiight....

I still have to go back to Gainesville to get all my clothes and other random things that have been in storage since I left Eustis at the end of July. So technically I'll still be living out of a suitcase until Sunday when I get back from Gainesville, but after 70 straight days of living out of a suitcase, what's a couple more, right?

So now you see why I feel like the last few weeks have been quite a ride...on a runaway train! I almost feel bored after the excitement and craziness of it all...almost. I'm starting to wonder what it will be like having an entire weekend to myself with nothing planned...but of course that won't happen until the weekend after this one, since I have to go to Gainesville this weekend. By then, I'll probably have something else going on anyway. But that's just my life, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Riiiight....

Venice, FL

If you read my last post, I talked at the end about a potential work assignment that I was hoping to get. That assignment was located in Venice, FL...which is where I am right now!! I obviously got the assignment, and even though it was another short one (three weeks), it's in a place that I knew I'd at least not mind being...which is an understatement. I had no idea that I'd like Venice as much as I do! I'm staying on the beach, my job at Venice Regional Medical Center is less than a mile from where I'm staying, and I actually almost like it! I've never worked in acute care before, but it's a lot different than the other travel jobs I've had. I don't know if that's because it's acute care, or if it's because this is a small hospital (only four floors), or if it's because the people I work with/for are of higher character than some I've come across in the past. I'm not really sure, and I really don't care. I just know that I don't mind going to work right now, even though it's hard work. I just finished working seven days in a row, and I'm exhausted but not frustrated. Well, not about working that much anyway.

I'm supposed to be leaving a week from Saturday, and I knew up front that this was (yet another) short term assignment. (For the record, I have now been living out of a suitcase for 7 straight weeks.) When I accepted the assignment, the people I work for were very clear that they only needed me for three weeks, and my recruiter tried in vain to get them to extend it any longer than that. However, almost since I started, they have been dropping hints that they MIGHT need me longer. Maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part, but I'm really hoping I'm not wrong. It's why I agreed to work seven days in a row, in the hope that they might find me indispensable and decide to keep me around. I'm supposed to find out today...it figures that on my first day off I'd be sitting around just thinking about work. But I do like it here and I want to stay. I've been putting off doing much exploring, sticking mostly to my cute little condo on the beach, the beach itself, and Publix (even though it does close at 9PM). (The pictures you see are of the trail I walk to the beach and of the beach itself, the very one that I sit on almost every night after work.) I know there's A LOT to explore, and Sarasota is just up the road, with even way more stuff to do. But since I don't know if I'm staying, I'm trying not to like this place even more, in case I have to leave next week. If I do end up staying longer, I'm definitely going to fill up my days off with things to do. Or do nothing...either way, I'd love it.

The only thing I have planned besides work is going to dinner tonight...with my Camp Oasis co-counselor Stacey! She lives not too far from here, about 20 minutes I think, and I'm super excited to spend a little time with her for the first time since camp. She was such a sweet lady and I can't wait to find out what's been going on with her since camp, and share all my new experiences with her as well. It'll be fun (and relaxing) to spend time with her in a non-camp related way, without seven teenagers around. Not that I don't love all my campers, but it can be stressful at times. Anyway, we're going to dinner at Sharky's on the Pier, a famous Venice landmark, and definitely my kind of place. I know this because I've seen it during my beach runs, since the pier is less than an mile and a half from my little strip of beach. (By the way, barefoot beach running is HARD! My calves have never been this sore before.) Should be fun to get out for a little while, then it's back to work tomorrow. I'll let everyone know whether or not I'll be staying in Venice, just as soon as I know for sure. Another reason I want to stay here is because there are still very few jobs out there right now for traveling therapists, and I really don't want to be unemployed again. Here I go getting my hopes up again...