I Think I May Have A Screw Loose

I saw my podiatrist yesterday. One part of my foot is still hurting (it's been almost two months since the surgery). He thinks it may be one of the screws in my foot. That means the screw needs to come out.

I asked him if he had some sort of magic wand to make the screw magically come out . He said that he doesn't (darn it!)...and that I need to have "a procedure" to have the screw removed : ( The "procedure" will take place in his office on June 15th.

I am not looking forward to it : ( sigh.......breathe in...breathe out

ER

Please someone remind me...in case I forget...that I should NEVER go to the ER without a phone charger, an ipod charger, and a warm blanket...sigh.

Handicap Parking Spaces

Since I've had my foot surgery, my podiatrist signed off for me to get a temporary handicap parking placard. I've really needed it these past few weeks, as walking for even a short distance is difficult (my almost 88 year old mother walks faster than I do these days...sigh). I've decided that there are a lot of people on this planet who need to experience first hand what it feels like to look for a handicap parking spot only to find that they are all taken : (

Dear Bitch in the Lin.coln Navi.gator,
I want to thank you for your thoughtlessness the other night. Clearly the fact that you drive a big-ass SUV means that you are absolutely allowed to park in as many spaces as you want. In fact, your parking job was so thoughtless that I think that you should teach a class to other self-involved bitches instructing them on the proper technique for taking at least two parking spaces, and for making sure that one of them is a handicap parking space. My daughter and I especially enjoyed how you walked out of the store and got into your car without any apology to me for taking up the one spot that I needed to park in. That's right, the one that was painted blue with a white wheelchair on it. I must have missed your placard.

I want you to know that I am looking forward to the day when you need to park in that spot, and some other self-involved bitch makes it impossible.

BTW, in the State of California, the fine for parking in a handicap parking spot, when you don't have a placard is...$250-$500 for the for the first offense...of course, seeing how thoughtless you are, I'm thinking that you have already worked your way up to 3+ offenses at the cost of $750-$1,000 each. Please remit your check to any DMV office.

Signed,
Limping along slowly

Return To Work

I'm going back to work tomorrow. If I wanted to take off two more weeks, my podiatrist would write a note for me. It's just that I have so much to do...so many reports to write, so many meetings to attend...and most importantly...so many children to see.

I'm not sure how I will hold up. Tomorrow I plan on spending the whole day writing reports...yuck. Today I fell asleep on the sofa at 11:30am...how will I ever last until 3pm? Tomorrow should be interesting...sigh.

Don't Tell Anyone

Shhhhh...don't tell anyone...especially not my podiatrist...but I drove today. Yep...I couldn't stand relying on other people to take me places or to get me what I wanted...so I grabbed Elle, she grabbed a wheelchair...and off we went.


I felt great getting behind the wheel again. Of course, Elle told me that I looked pretty dorky driving with my left leg up on the dashboard...but a woman's got to do what a woman's got to do. We accomplished quite a bit:

1. Pharmacy - picked up prescription...didn't have the kind of kitty food we needed : (
2. Supermarket - picked up apple pie filling...didn't have the kind of kitty food we needed : (
3. Pet supply store - picked up the kitty food we needed : )
4. Different supermarket - picked up blueberry pie filling : )

Whew- each stop we made was quite a production...Elle had to get the wheelchair out of the back of my car...push me into the store and reverse it once we were done. It reminded me of how it used to be when my kids were little and I would lift the stroller in and out of the car. (I remember how strong and 'cut' my arms looked back then...sigh)


Elle had worked up quite an appetite not only lifting the wheelchair in and out of the car...but also pushing me around in it...so we stopped at the local ice cream store. It made perfect sense to me, to get Elle two scoops of icecream to go (and to get some for DH and Sport)... however, I can't figure out exactly why I also needed two scoops of icecream...I was just sitting in the wheelchair the whole time...sigh.

We came home, I put my foot up and now I am ready for a nap...hopefully no one will eat my icecream while I sleep...breathe in...breathe out.

Time Limps On

I am now one week post surgery and have learned some important lessons:

1. My bathroom is a long, long, long way from my bed. (o.k. fine...it just feels that way)
2. I am a well-hydrated woman. (see #1 above)
3. Showering while standing on one leg is tough.
4. Shaving while standing on one leg is tougher.
5. I'm pretty tough.
6. Accepting help from others is difficult for me.
7. I expect perfection from myself...but not from others.
8. Going down the stairs on your bottom is more fun when you're a kid.
9. Going upstairs on your bottom doesn't really work : (
10. Sometimes I whine...for no other reason than I am feeling sorry for myself.

Clearly I've had a lot of time on my hands to sit and do nothing. Before the surgery, I had a fantasy that I would use my time in bed to organize my bedroom (by cleaning out my dresser drawers) ...instead I've used my time to veg-out in front of the TV...sigh

People Don't Think

I am having foot surgery on Thursday...why do people feel the need to tell me "what a horrible experience they had 20 years ago?"

The Meeting From Hell

I'm trying to recover from a meeting that I attended in which I was verbally attacked/abused by a parent... and the administrator did absolutely nothing to stop it.

In my many years of work, I have attended meetings where the parents have disagreed with my recommendation and findings. I accept that. I understand that many of these parents have fought the school district for years in order to receive my type of services. and that although their children no longer need my services to access the curriculum, these parents are reluctant to 'let these hard-won services go'.

I believe that it is my job, as the expert in my field, to explain to parents why it's a good thing that their child has made progress and is no longer in need of my services, and to reassure these parents that I will continue to be available as a resourse to their children, their children's teachers, and to the parents themselves, even once their children are dismissed.

In the hundreds, if not thousands, of meetings that I have attended, over the years, there have been a handful of times that the parents have demanded a 'second assessment be done by another trained professional'. I have never been bothered by these demands, as I have always felt confident that additional testing, by someone else, would continue to yield the same results. In most of these cases however, the administrators, have always controlled the meeting and kept all parties maintaining a certain level of decorum...until the meeting this past Thursday (which by the way was not at one of my schools).

On Thurdsay the participants arrived at the meeting with a high level of stress, knowing from a pre-meeting the previous week, just how unreasonable this parent could be. The tension in the air was palpable. The parent had been given a copy of my report, which included the good news that the student no longer needed my services or support in order to access the curriculum. Standardized testing, classroom teacher reporting, as well as student performance were all included in my report.

The moment I started to speak, the parent questioned the validity of the tests...stating that "asking a few questions doesn't count" and that "a Social Worker with a masters degree can administer the test" (and her point would be???????) It went downhill fast from there. At that point, the administrator should have spoken to that parent and suggested that this parent allow me to finish my report, and that there would be time to discuss it when I was done. Instead the administrator did nothing and the parent continued to escalate into quite a tirade. What spewed forth from this parents mouth was nothing short of verbal abuse. This parent accused me of : being a pawn of the school district, being a liar, being incompetent, and being unethical.

At no time did the administrator attempt to stop the parent, or the meeting. I sat there frozen. My heart was pumping wildly, but I was so taken aback by what was happening that I couldn't even get up and leave. I have no idea what I actually said during the meeting, because everytime I tried to speak, the parent continued her verbal attack.

Finally, the adminstrator said that we should take a vote as to whether or not this student should continue to receive services from my department. EXCUSE ME !!!!! What the hell was she talking about...."Take a vote"????? HAD SHE LOST HER MIND ??????? You don't vote on services...either a student meets eligibility criteria...or they don't. If the parent disagrees, they can write that down in the meeting notes, and an independent review will be conducted. In my professional opinion, based on all information at my disposal, this student did not qualify. For an administrator to then ignore what I have said and decide to put it to a vote was beyond unprofessional.

Believe me when I say that I was ready to "blow a gasket"! The administrator said that she wanted to take a short recess to conference with me. We stepped out of the room and the administrator had the audacity to ask me to ignore: testing, teacher input, clinical observations and just allow the student to continue to receive services to appease the parent. EXCUSE ME!!!!! As keepers of the public's money, we are entrusted to spend that money wisely. To ask me to sign off on spending the public's money unwisely, just to appease a parent (which would mean that the money wouldn't be available for a student who DOES need the services) is unconscionable.

So I took a deep breath and told the administrator that she was acting very unprofessionally by allowing the parent to take control of the meeting, by allowing the parent to accuse me of being incompetent, a liar, and unethical, and by asking me to be unethical by recommending services just to appease a parent. The administrator's reply was "Um, you know how the parent is."

I have never in my life come across such an incompetent administrator. Maybe I've just been incredibly lucky. If I was new to the profession, I would have quit that very day. For now, my heart races when I think of attending another meeting (of which I have 31 scheduled between now and the end of April). This experience has really shaken me to my very core. I am trying to breathe in and out and remain calm...but at the moment it is a losing battle.