Chain of Events

Okay, there's a story here.  First let me just say that this posting does not include very flattering pictures of me, but it's reality.  Sometimes life just isn't pretty!  But I digress...Once upon a time, I went in for a simple foot surgery.  It was October 2011.  The surgery went fine but it set into motion a cascade of unexpected and unrelated medical complications.  I spent much of the next three months in this chair or in Andy's arms as he carried me from room to room. I got pretty good at crawling and hopping, too! 

 

Several doctor appointments and procedures later, it became obvious that the job change I had long been considering was now mandatory for my health.  We're quite certain that the Lord was in charge.  Not so coincidentally, an ideal opening was posted at the time I was well enough to pull together my resume. I applied and was contacted for an interview.  There I sat before a panel of 6 people and the whole time I was thinking how surreal it all was.  With Andy's encouragement and much-needed reassurance, I have somehow found 20 seconds of courage many times over the past year! 

 

So, I said goodbye to some dear friends in the NICU, goodbye to 12 hours night shifts, and hello to my first non-hospital nursing job. My new role is RN Care Manager for a family practice group. I'd been up in the tornado for so long and going to a new job felt rather like I'd been suddenly plopped down into Oz.  Yet, unlike Dorothy, I'm not trying to find my way back.  It's been a wonderful change for me and our family. Unchartered waters never felt so right.  

 

 

Near the end of my recovery, we traveled south for Ryan's basketball tournament.  I was determined to climb the dunes and hike the trails with the family.  Boy was I slow and apparently put on quite a show.  People would pass us on the trails and tell me I was almost there.  One man commented, "That's gotta be worth double difficulty points!"  I'm guessing that's a gaming reference??  At any rate, it helped strengthen my will to keep going.

 

 

And! After many months, my limp and the other medical issues have essentially resolved.  I guess the Lord knew I needed to get really sick in order to nudge me in the right direction at the right time. 

 

The end?