WARNING - THIS IS A "WORDY" POST
So...in the last post I mentioned some changes in my "professional" life that I am excited about - here's the scoop.
When Jacob was born 3 1/2 years ago I quit working outside my home. I was thrilled we were in a position I could do that and have loved every minute of it. (Well, as long as I'm laying it out here...maybe not EVERY minute, but you get the idea.) Then a little over 2 years ago David lost his job at the hospital where he worked and NO doors were opening in FL. Being the awesome husband he is, he agreed to apply for a job at ONE hospital in Texas in the same town my brother and his family lived in. He was hired and I was beyond thrilled. I was actually going to get to move back to Texas, something I really believed would never happen. Now, don't get me wrong, I loved living in FL, we have great family and friends there, but there's no place like home...espicially to a Texan. ;) Since coming to the East Texas area there have been many changes...I won't go into all of that but I will say I had gotten quite restless and feeling like something had to give. I'm very much a people person and have been feeling a strong urge to get back out into the "working world" but nothing has felt right. (I know, I know, being a Mom IS working!) I'd actually gotten quite down about some things. Then through a friend of mine I found out about someone looking for someone (does that make sence??) in the East Texas area to represent her company. It took me all of 8.2 seconds to decide that this is exactly what I wanted to do.
Way back in the day I worked in Occupational Therapy - it's been several years since I worked in the field and I don't have my license any more (my Mother and Husband have not quit yapping to me about that) but that is my background. Even after I wasn't working in OT anymore I was still in medicine - I worked as a Clinical Research Coordinator for Mayo Clinic until Jacob was born. So...this "someone who needs someone" is an Occupational Therapist who remembered me from when I graduate from OT school 11 years ago. We started talking about the possibilities of us working together. This all happened so fast my head has been spinning for the last few weeks. This is just perfect for me. I will be selling assistive technology communication devices. (Say that 3 times really fast!) I can work as little or as much as I want. My plan is to work really hard 2 days a week and then relax a little the other days. Of course I understand plans are made to be changed. I'm still working on child care issues but I have a few good options. Just have to iron out the details. I went out "in the field" one day last week and was thrilled with what I saw and how I felt about it. Our clientelle is very diverce. On the particular day I went out I saw 2 people with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Diseas). One person was in the hospital and one person was at home...both had progressed to the point they could not speak anymore. They could both use one arm at the time, but that will be gone soon too. We showed them a device that is a camera mounted on a special computer that tracks their eye movements. By looking at the computer screen they can communicate with those around them, and do so many other tasks. AMAZING!! We also saw an 11 year old little boy who is deaf. We showed him a small device that he can carry around that will talk for him. You should have seen the excitement on his face. He's excited that when he's 16 he can use the drive through at McDonalds and order 6 BigMacs if he wants. ;) His family knows sign language and he has an intrepter at school, but there are times when having someone to intrepret for him is not possible. This gives him some independence he would otherwise not have. Our last appt. for the day was a lady in her 50s who had a stroke. As a result, she was paralyzed on her left side and could not talk. We showed her a special lap top computer that she can use to communicate and speak for her. She was able to effectively communicate with us that day - that was a first sine she had the stroke. Needless to say she was thrilled. I will also be going into school systems working with some of the students and assisting them in getting devices that will help them be able to communicate as effectively as possible. All in all that was an emotional day for me...seeing the highs and lows people experience every single day. I came home and was more thankful for the gift of the healthy family I have. I know there will be times my heart will break for some of my clients, and there will be times when I will feel an extreme high for my clients. The bottom line is I feel peace and excitement about the decision I've made to pursue this opportuniy and my family is being 100% supportive. I'm a happy girl.
These are websites of some of the equipment I sell:
ERICA
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