Gardening Blog and stuff to Debz

[Guest guest]

Hi Debz,

I am almost afraid to take up any of your attention on something

so frivilous as a gardening blog....but I agree wholeheartedly that

gardening to us fanatics is more therapy than a chore. I know

that I would have literally given up on everything if it wasn't for my

garden. It really is the one thing in my life that keeps me

going...the garden and the cats. The cats I know will not live

forever, but my garden, hopefully will. I am so excited that you

are interested in looking into this and starting one. I will do the

hard work for you if you want - that is, finding out how to get one

and how to get it going. Then I will email you the information. I

want to make it as easy for you as possible - especially while

you are feeling so badly. I will keep you informed on what I find

out. It may take a little while to get the info but I am definitely

looking forward to getting it going and seeing how it grows!

I am quite concerned with your recent posts about your pain that

is not being effectively treated. I hope that you are able to get

this addressed very soon. I would think that there has to be

something that will work in the short and long term. I hope all of

your doctors put their heads together to come up with a method

that will address all of the contributors to your pain. Somewhere

out there a method, medication, treatment, procedure,

SOMETHING has to work. Everyone just has to be stubborn

about looking and trying.

As far as my job......no news since I was last told that the lawyers

are looking into the contract language. I am operating on the

idea that any day can be my last one if the hospital lab here

decides to be nasty and enforce the exclusivity contract.

Rumours are that on paper, the clinic will not transfer to the

hospital until early spring 2006, however, the nurses and desk

people were all transferred on Monday. Me, a nurse practicioner

and a research nurse are the only clinical, non- physician staff

left in our department. Kinda lonely - on paper anyways.

I have run into another political problem here that is a very long

story but basically it is that because I am considered a

" non-professional " by the college that I do not qualify to work

part-time and keep my health benefits. I have decided after some

deep thought in the last few weeks that I am should only work

part-time; I am thinking 4 days a week. When I inquired if there

was a way to accomodate my wishes with the needs of the

department, I was told that I my education, experience and

responsibilities do not meet their requirements to be classified

as a " professional (and only professional staff are given the

luxery of working part-time with benefits). So I can go part-time if I

am willing to give up my health insurance etc......which means

giving up my zofran because my husband's insurance won't pay

for it. The thing is, I give up my zofran, I won't even be able to

work the four days a week. And if I don't get benefits, it really

doesn't pay for me to work at all. (the salary I get is really

pittance, doesn't contribute much to our living expenses at all).

So I am a " slave " right now to the full-time or no-time choice. I

am thinking I can get Family Medical Leave to cover this situation

- put when I put that to our administrator, I could tell she didn't

like the idea at all. But I say, tough! This is the corner that they

have backed me into. That and looking for legal means to

ensure that I always have my zofran covered. I have contacted a

malpractice lawyer to see if it there is still time to file a lawsuit

against that surgeon. All they need to do is give me 32 hours a

week with health coverage.......it seems so little to ask

considering what they did to me to put me in a position where I

cannot work full-time effectively. So that is my work woes and

saga. I know compared to everyone else here it is a very minor

annoyance. But it has given me a double whammy - the insult to

my 25 years of work here as a " non-professional " and reluctance

to acknowledge that my limitations are a direct result of their

surgeon's gross incompetence. A hard situation when all I want

to do is to give them my best when I am here.

Oh well........I will let you know what I find out about the blogs. I

really hope you are getting the right help with your pain. It tears

my up to read how you are feeling and the lack of relief that you

are getting.......

laurie