Hump Day... or the question: Is it Friday yet?

Wednesday morning blahs are happening here! Yesterday did not go too well. I think I needed to sleep about 4 more hours. I managed to get to work exactly on time for "case conferences". You ask.... case conferences??? Huh??? Basically, the nursing director and each case manager, who is an RN, discusses patient cases and any challenges that might be seen. I am at the conference to add any insight I have on a specific patient or to listen to any problems that the case manager has encountered. It is nice for me because the case manager will discuss the new patients and referrals that I will be receiving. I say it is nice, because having a little background about a patient before actually visiting a patient helps me. It is almost a luxury having more information other than the dry medical information and referral that I receive daily. Most of the time, during the week, I deal with the paper referral and don't have the rich history that case managers provide at the conferences. The conference lasted a little more than an hour yesterday. Approximately 3 case managers are assigned to Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. And I go to two of the conferences dates each week. Why not all three? Good question. For now, I have agreed to be at the office at 8:00am two times a week. I would like to keep it that way. Patients do not want to see a social worker first thing in the morning. I don't blame them at all. So, my visits usually happen after 10:00am. I work from home, so I am doing the tons of paperwork when not on the road visiting patients. I swing by the office once a day to pick up any new referrals and check for any messages.

Yesterday became a disaster because of the weather. It was pouring, and I mean torrential downpours. I thought I was going to visit a patient who lives in a rural part of our county, but when I arrived and saw I had a long dirt road to navigate, I became concerned. I started driving down this muddy road with my car slipping and sticking. I then figured that I was going to get stuck at any moment as the road was becoming worse. I turned around and left! Driving back to town the weather conditions worsened. Water was pooling on the highways and roads, and I had one spin out. The decision was made after my spin out, that this rainy day was the perfect day to do paperwork! I guess a 4-wheel drive truck would be another good tool for this job!

Today I will be at the office at 8:00 again for case conference. After the conference, I will be hitting the road and visiting patients for the majority of the day. After work I will be driving to a neighboring city, about 30 minutes away, for a board meeting at 6:00pm. You will be reading a lot about the organizations and fundraisers I am involved in. I am on the Board of Directors for CASA, an agency that advocates for the rights of foster children in the system. We are working on the planning of an upcoming fundraiser this Spring. I like this board of directors because they are all active with planning and helping out. I can't say for with another organizaton that I co-chair a fundraiser with. So this experience has been positive for me and I don't feel like the weight of the world is on me! Raising money in this economy has been challenging at best. Fortunately, there are some generous folks in our community who always come through when asked to help out with a cause. This fundraiser will be a dinner and oral auction. We are still working on the guest speaker. Maybe tonight there will be some suggestions for our speaker! I'll be talking about more specifics of the fundraisers as time goes on here.

Anyway, hump day it is!! I can hear the wind blustering outside, so I have a feeling that driving today is going to be another interesting experience. I just ask for a little less with the typhoon rain! I need to get going, because today I will not go to my conference without first stopping at Starbucks for my caffeine! It is quite obvious that I am addicted to Starbucks (a habit fully developed in grad school), and without my jet fuel, my day quickly sputters to a stop!