Halloween "Shots"

Is it sick that I accidentally stumbled upon my Halloween costume while unpacking the bag I carry back and forth to the hospital? I was digging in there and found a pair of scrubs, a pair of gloves, a surgical mask, and booty shoe covers in there.

I borrowed a patient gown for Jack and we're going as a surgeon and her patient. Yes, yes, he will be wearing pants (I think!). I know it's lame. It's either that or I'm wearing a suit and going as a hospital administrator.

A few of our friends are hosting a blow-out Halloween party. I haven't made much time for socialization lately and Jack made me promise I'd go. Okay, fine. Twist my arm.

I should also mention that our CNO, Nurse Jackie, had a box of syringes tucked under her arm as she left the hospital this evening. I inquired about the box, thinking she had a diabetic at home. "Nope," she said. "They're for my niece's jello shots." Nice! Really? And how old is your niece? Apparently, Nurse Jackie's niece mixes up the jello shots and sucks up the liquid into syringes before it hardens. They're quite the conversation piece.

Doesn't that sound like a neat party favor? I'll have to try that one!

Lean Six Sigma

I went to St. Kermit’s for my first Six Sigma class last Wednesday. In all honesty, it was a bit dry, very unorganized, and it felt…fluffy. So I emailed throughout the whole thing and stayed current on my communique with St. Fozzie’s. I will attend subsequent sessions, but it felt pretty elementary. I think it would have served me better a few years ago. Oh well, water under the bridge.

I've had frequent exposure to Six Sigma in the Muppet Corporation. Everything is driven towards utmost efficiency and all the hospitals were truly ahead of the curve in terms of data-driven process improvement. The premise behind Six Sigma is that if you can measure it, you can improve it. So you define a problem, measure corresponding data, analyze the data, improve processes, control future outcomes. Fun stuff, eh?

One of the great connections I made, however, involved the grant proposals I’ve been slaving over for the last two weeks. My Six Sigma project perfectly dovetails the grant proposal for Electronic Medical Records (EMR) in the OR suites . Because of the EMR software, cases take longer to document than they do to complete by the surgeons. This is a problem. I proposed it to the team and they readily agreed it’s a feasible, if huge, project. We’ll see how that plays out…my plate’s so full that I’m not sure I can take on another massive project without giving up something else. I may take a step back on the physician recruitment efforts or maybe the strategy stuff. Both are very time consuming and technically, they’re other peoples’ areas.

The grants were due today and I submitted them online. I’m not holding my breath for the $100k, but I AM glad for the experience. I also made friends with Chicago’s premier grant writing consultant, so she will be in touch with me when other suitable grants cross our path. I’ll get them some money sooner or later! Cha-ching!

The Pep Rallies

Today was Day #2 of the St. Fozzie's pep rally. Actually, it was more of a big tent revival. We hired a motivational speaker, set up a big top tent, passed out popcorn, and fired up the troops. Our patient satisfaction scores have gone through the roof, spirits are high, and we wanted to draw a line in the sand to make sure everyone realized that this was a cultural change, not just a flavor of the week. Most things were donated, so we didn't cause much ruckus to our rocky bottom line.

I slept about 3 hours last night because I had to be on campus at 6 a.m. for the preparations. It was okay, as Dietary brought out a huge carafe of strong, trucker brew coffee. I moved from exhausted and zombie-ish to completely giddy.

The first three rally sessions were Monday. The last three sessions were today. It rained both days! It was great, though, and everyone collectively teared up when they played the "Together We Can Save St. Fozzie's" song we filmed on campus. The speaker was great and had a few poignant points to share. Also, hearing the same speech six times will hardwire a few things into your skull.

One of my favorite take-aways revolves around becoming human beings. Sounds so easy, right? The speaker advised the rally participants to not become human doings. Human doings define themselves by what they do, their jobs, parenthood etc. Their identity is so tied up in their jobs that when those jobs go away, they have no sense of identity left. He re-emphasized the fact that we should be human BEINGS and live life outside of our primary responsibilities.

I looked up from my Blackberry, startled. I had to frenetically email about 38 people and I couldn't stand to lose those few hours of work time. It was so ridiculous...I was on the pep rally committee and helped get everything set up for the events. Once the speaker started, I would gravitate to toward the back of the tent, break out my notepad and Blackberry and get to work. I actually wrote one of the grant cover letters this morning during the first session.

His message wasn't lost on me, though. I was did my back-of-the-tent working thing during the noon session, but didn't take any books or phones with me during the final session. I sat there and listened. I realized that my friends and family members are right: life isn't just about work. I'm more than an administrator-in-training. I'm more than a young woman who feels she must work three times as hard as everyone else to get noticed and make a true difference. Naaaah, I'm also a wife, a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a friend and neighbor.

Then it dawned on me that THAT's the balance I'm lacking in my life. I can work all I want but I cannot forget that I am not identified or defined by my career choice. It was strangely freeing.

Still Writing

I met with my grant writing consultant and I'm still writing. Turns out that it's really hard to integrate 21 peoples' opinions, experience, data, perceptions, and logic. Actually, I have the logic parts figured out (and verified, thank you, hours of logical practice in undergrad philosophy classes); it's the data integration with which I struggle now.

Blech.

Prayers? Please?

Sunglasses and Sunscreen

No, it's not another "I'm-leaving-my-life-and-hopping-on-a-plane-to-the-Caribbean" post. I AM leaving and hopping on a plane to south Florida next week, but that'll be another post.

Teehee.

I'm laden with sugar, caffeine, and that singular adrenaline that washes over you only when you've accomplished something huge.

I was sitting in the typical senior leadership meeting this morning, trying to wrap my brain around value-based purchasing and upcoming bundled payments from CMS. And then my phone kept vibrating. Usually, that means I'm being inundated with emails. I couldn't help it...what if it was my mom? Jack? Therese? What if someone was terribly hurt and needed me right then and there?

So I succumbed to the temptation and logged onto my phone in the middle of the meeting. This is generally frowned-upon, but more and more lately, people are just emailing on their Blackberries while other people are TALKING to them.

I didn't find that anyone was hurt (thank God). Instead, I had six emails from IHI (Institute for Healthcare Improvement), that all of the patient safety storyboards I submitted on St. Fozzie's behalf were accepted for exhibition at the annual conference in December! I wonder if my face betrayed the fact that I received great news. I sat on it until it was my turn to update everyone during the round table discussion. I broke the news and Sister Lourdes actually squealed!

I received a round of applause (which caught me off guard). I shared the news with the key staff in Quality Improvement, Emergency Department, and Cardiology. Everyone was so happy and excited about it.

Then I rushed off to Ethics Committee and got sidelined by a new medical resident who wanted to talk ethics. I'm a sucker for this, so I stayed and we hatched a plan to integrate the medical residents into Catholic bioethical formation. As I walked back to my office, lunch balanced precariously across my portfolio, Sister Lourdes ran up beside me and grabbed my calendar. She penciled in "Orlando" in early December. St. Fozzie's is sending me and Carrie, the clinical informaticist, to Orlando to present all the posters! EVOO agreed, telling me to "go and learn it all."

I'm just so excited, but not just about going to Florida in December. It's deeper than that. In this blog, I've decently refrained from putting down my former boss at Muppet Corporate. I became quite accustomed to my former boss trying to cage me and keep me in a tiny box. She denied me responsibilities, kept me from conferences, refused my request to join a Six Sigma team, and even urged me to "not take school so seriously."

When opportunities like this happen, I'm recognized and rewarded for my hard work, and they actually encourage me to go out and better myself, it still amazes me. The contrast is unbelievable and I'm so grateful to my mentors at St. Fozzie's who are constantly pushing me (hard) to better myself. Did I mention that my first Six Sigma class is tomorrow? It only took three years to finally get into that class!

My First Gala

Jack and I flourished at the hospital's Gala last night! It was underwritten by the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago and it was GORGEOUS. Their lobby is the definition of romantic atmosphere and the grand ballroom was recently refurbished to become a spectacular space reminiscent of Venetian palaces. I kept looking around, taking in the experience, wondering how in the world I ended up here.

First, I finished up my grant proposals at work. Then I met Jack at my Chicagoland house for some primping. I got dressed and walked around in one of each shoe. I decided on the (sound of cracking whip) Sex & the City shoes. I took the pumps in the car, just in case a nun yelled at me. Alas, no one yelled at me!

In the ballroom, there was an ante-room for cocktails. I introduced Jack to the 150 or so people I know from the hospital. We sipped buttery Chardonnay, mingled, and bid on silent auction items (everything from Spa packages to wine tastings to weekend get-aways to restaurant gift certificates to jewelry). Then we moved into the main room for dinner and the program started. Elvis and the VP of PR, Rocco, ran the show. They showed the commercial we created for St. Fozzie's (when my part came on, Jack leaned over and told me his heart was swelling with pride for me), the music video Marketing created for the rally (details coming next week), and presented the Gala honorees with their awards.

During the presentation, we were served exotically-decorated salads. The main courses then arrived, complete with filet and red snapper. Dessert followed with succulently-prepared fruit and champagne sorbet.

The presentations concluded as the tables were cleared of dessert dishes. The live band came alive and filled the room with your typical standards. Just as Jack and I decided to get up and dance, the band opted for more of a prom vibe. I didn't understand why they played wedding-staples such as "Brick House," Pink's "I'm Comin' Out so Get This Party Started," and the theme from "Love Boat."

Now. The Love Boat theme is completely acceptable when you're traversing the Caribbean on a cruise ship. But it is not expected (nor accepted) when you're wining and dining in a posh Chicago hotel with hospital execs, numerous doctors, and state legislators. Despite the strange play list, Jack and I still hit the dance floor. It was towards the end of the evening and we graced the dance floor with Elvis and wife, EVOO and wife, the CFO and wife, and a couple other young doctors. Jack swung me around flamboyantly and we showcased some of our rehearsed dance moves.

We gathered up our belongings and bid everyone farewell. I stopped by the silent auction table and discovered that I won a large gift certificate to a new, fancy Pan-Asian fusion sushi place downtown! As we waited for valet to return our car, we shivered in the cold and dreary Chicago night. It was an amazing experience and now we have an amazing dinner awaiting us in the coming weeks!

Quote Journal: Peace

This is the quote scrolling on the church that I pass by every morning on the way out of town:

"Do your best. Then be at peace."

It struck me deeply, that perhaps, some measure of personal peace is a decision we make for ourselves.

Lunchtime Procrastination

Would anyone blame me if I just drove to O'Hare and hopped on the next flight to Tahiti? Or Fiji? Or Florida? Or let's be honest, a cabin deep in the woods that doesn't have cell phone reception? Actually, I don't think you get cell phone reception in Fiji. The water under your hut would surely disrupt the signal. If the water didn't, the margaritas surely would.

I'm on a quick lunch break (gulping down forkfuls of gooey mac & cheese), scrambling to finish my second proposal. They're rough drafts, but they're decent rough drafts. I'll make my deadline; I'll force myself to make the deadline...but I'm probably taking days off my lifespan today.

I'll get them back when I take off for Fiji!

Why Do We Live Here?

As I walked by the cafeteria today, I noticed swirling gray clouds coming in off the lake. The skies darkened with impending rain. I watched yellow and brown leaves blow off the trees and circle through the courtyard. When I left the office this evening, it was pouring down a cold rain. Because the umbrella is always in the wrong spot, I was drenched as I ran between the hospital and my car. I had full intentions of going to the gym on the way home, but the rain impeded my motivation. The rain pounded my windshield harder with each mile. Traffic crawled and I hit every red light, windshield wipers going full steam. I drove right by the gym.

I was soaked in just getting my bags out of the car. I clomped up my stairs and deposited my pounds of files and books just inside the door. I peeled off my wet suit coat and soggy shoes. When's the next time we're going to see the sun? April? The snowy, dark, and truly dreary days aren't even here yet. Why do we live here again?

Speaking of meteorological metaphors, I got snowed under today...by a blizzard of work. It was another one of those days where I could not take one more minute of people talking. I worked 14 hours, had five hours of straight meetings, three of which I regularly lead. Somewhere along the line, I assumed responsibility for the strategic planning process. Not to be crass or ungrateful, but isn't that above my paygrade? Don't they typically hire, oh, I don't know, STRATEGISTS for things like that? It's just stressing me out. I feel like they need to pay me more, but a bigger paycheck still won't give me more hours in the day.

Tonight, after this post (I do have my priorities straight), I need to start the grant proposals. I have two due to our consultants tomorrow. My brain feels awfully fried. I know I tend to put a lot of pressure on myself, but I'm really starting to feel overwhelmed...

Time to invoke St. Padre Pio, patron saint of astigmatism.

Immersed in Chicago Life

I've been downtown Chicago the last two nights. Tuesday night was a recruitment dinner with a gastroenterologist. We dined at a great steak place and I'm taking these opportunities to learn how people feel each other out. We have a few options for physician recruitment and the senior execs' chosen discussion points make me think. It was a late night and I didn't walk in the door until after 10 pm.

Wednesday night was a United Way fundraising event for Young Executives' Network downtown. I went with a new friend who has about three master's degrees and hails from South Africa. Inevitably, the people in healthcare gravitate towards each other and after being recruited to take leadership roles in the United Way (yeah, like I have time for that), we met up with a few folks from the downtown hospitals. Our informal fellow network is growing!

After the event, I wandered back to my train station and was heavily annoyed by the "ambient" saxophone player that's always playing "Careless Whisper" at the corner of Randolph and Michigan Ave. He frequently hits the same wrong note and I realized that I'm probably no longer a tourist if I'm picking on the street sax player.

Work's been flying this week. The stroke certification committee is well on its way. I've been in touch with a neurologist from our transfer hospital and he gave me a copy of their clinical protocol, saving us from having to recreate the wheel. The grants I'm writing are NOT started yet; I sent out an urgent message asking the team members for their perceptions of the projects. I need to draw on their verbiage. While that process is still challenging me, I had a neat political experience yesterday…

As leader of the stroke certification efforts, I needed additional information about some of the nitty-gritty parts of the Illinois legislation. I scanned the bill and couldn't find my answers. So I contacted a policy analyst downstate and she told me the rulemaking's not even complete. Huh? Then she solicited questions and clarifications that I thought should be in the bill, for they are still writing up the regulatory language! So I wrote her back with all my suggestions and she passed them along to the assembly.

SO maybe, just maybe, I'll have a hand in writing this bill. Or at least the regulatory language!

Prom Part V

Well, I'm about to attend my fifth prom.

I went to two proms my junior year and two my senior year in high school. And several formals in college...And Jack and I went to a formal New Year's Dance a few years ago...so I guess this is my twelfth prom. Whatever, who's counting?

Have I told you about our preparations for the upcoming prom? I mean, dance. Whoops, I really mean Gala. Yes, Jack and I will attend the St. Fozzie's Gala this weekend. I'm a bit nervous about it, but not for traditional reasons.

I'm not worried about schmoozing or hobnobbing with Chicago's finest. But I *am* worried about my stiletto heels and whether I can walk/dance in them. I'm kind of worried that they appear a little S&M, but at least my dress has a drapey neckline that will distract most people from my (sound of cracking whip) shoes.

Despite my lingering illness this past weekend, I braved the mall (twice) to get things I needed for the Gala. Tiny black clutch? Check! Black, strappy stiletto shoes? Check! Cute necklace because I broke the one I originally bought to wear with the dress? Check? New tie for Jack that matches dress? Check! New shirt for Jack? Check! New belt for Jack? Check! Whole new freaking suit for Jack because we discovered his pants needed replacing? Check! Plans to remortgage the house to pay for the Gala tickets, assumed donations from Administration, clothing needs, and valet parking in Chicago! Check!

I'm excited to show Jack off to my co-workers. I'm excited to showcase our dance steps, dancing the night away to a live swing band in downtown Chicago. I'm excited to get through this week so I can bail on work and enjoy a night on the town. Details to come. Events like this usually involve some degree of drama!

Football? Oui!

Well, I survived the cow flu and feel almost well today. I jumped back into my life this morning and just had a phenomenal workout at the gym. My evening meeting let out early because all the doctors wanted to be home in time for Monday Night Football...hey, works for me!

First thing this morning, I ran into one of my Stroke center physician champions in one of the hallways today. We had a great off-the-cuff discussion and I am feeling more confident that our Stroke center will become a reality. I felt cool when I gave the transfer agreement (if patients really digress in our care, the agreement allows us to airlift them to a medical center downtown) to our lawyer and he approved it within the hour. Whew!

Then I learned that Elvis nominated me to join the newest Six Sigma class starting up in the Northern Indiana hospitals of our system. I'm very happy about this because A) I need to know how Lean Six Sigma works and B) it's exposing me to all the northern Indiana hospitals. So far, I've only attended meetings in Chicago and Indianapolis. Yes, it will mean significantly more time on the road (during lake-effect snow season, I might add), but I started listening to books on cd in the car. I'm thinking of getting an audio French course so I can brush up on my Francais. Je voyage à Paris avec ma tante l'année prochaine. Oui!

The other neat thing that happened today is that I became a certified leader of the "Bronze" type. Our leadership certification steps up from Trainee to Bronze to Silver to Gold and then to Platinum. I emailed one of the Sisters who leads all things Educational, to ask her where I need to begin. She told me I already qualified for Bronze and that I should be halfway through Silver by New Year.

I scanned the list of requirements for Silver and realized that all that managerial literature they're thrusting at me is for the Silver level! New Years doesn't seem quite so daunting now. I do have to take a few more Leadership classes (again, requiring me to drive across the state of Indiana), but they seem interesting….The Five Dysfunctions of Team, systems thinking, and why HR should be your friend. Okay, I made up the bit about HR!

Love Story

I feel compelled to give Jack another shout-out. When I was at rock bottom, suffering with raging fever and a flu that could have rivaled the plague, Jack made me feel better.

He couldn't take the fever and cough away, but he made me feel all warm and fuzzy and, well, LOVED.

At 2pm on a Thursday, he showed up on my Chicagoland doorstep with a large box balanced across his arms. In the box? I'll give you $10 if you can guess.

Give up? Yeah, I thought so!

He brought me a toaster, a loaf of bread (one of the only things I eat when I'm sick and I've been living WITHOUT a toaster these past 5 months), a few seasons of Friends on DVD, a huge selection of movies which he downloaded onto my laptop, an electric blanket, a heating pad, homemade stew, and brandy. We bought the brandy in error a long time ago and he grabbed it for me...but it tasted just like cough syrup and I preferred the actual cough syrup. Oh well, I'd heard so much about hot toddies and just couldn't get onboard.

Anyway, Jack drove a total of 3 hours to bring me creature comforts to get me through that flu. He Lysol-ed his way through my house and braved the germs. He's the best and I can't believe he was so willing to drive all that way to make me feel better. Thanks so much, Jack-o. You're The Man and I appreciate everything you do for me!

Show Me the Money!

I took over another project at work this past week. Cardinal Health (a real company) is offering several million in grants to hospitals trying to better their processes. Cardinal is specifically gearing these grants towards non-profit hospitals and their processes surrounding medication administration.

Ping!

That's where I come in. Remember those storyboards I slaved over for the Leadership Conference? The systemwide Six Sigma coordinator emailed me for synopses of the boards we created for St. Fozzie's, as he's entering us in another national conference. Since I had the synopses already completed, I sent these to Cardinal for first consideration of the grants, particularly in regard to our patient safety endeavors. They accepted and asked for a secondary, detailed proposal!

We're up for $100,000 here, so I'm very, VERY excited about making this happen. I got a team together today and we're meeting on Tuesday to expound upon our ideas. As all-time Scribe, it'll fall on my shoulders to complete the proposal....but that's okay, because I've been wanting to try my hand at large-scale grant-writing.

Now that I have immunity to H1N1, I can work my tail off again, right? I'm taking multi-vitamins! :-)

Bosses' Day

Today is Bosses' Day! Traditionally, I've signed the card circulating the office and pitched in $1-2 for the communal brownies baked by one of the office brown-nosers.

I felt out of place today when I realized that, in my new job, I don't really have a boss. Sure, I kinda sorta report to the CEO and COO, but both of them gave me limitless freedom. The CEO signs my expense reports and the COO gives me feedback on my projects and encourages me to forge onward....and that's about it. In my first month, I had a big meeting conflict and asked the COO for advice. He shrugged and said, "You're in the big leagues now. You figure it out." My secretary got me out of the bind with some cleaver calendar management. When I wanted to notify a few folks of my approaching vacation, my secretary just popped it on everyone's calendars. When I was sick, I emailed my secretary and she cleared my calendar and let everyone know I was out of the office. Whenever I have an grant application due, a meeting to plan, or even a card to sign, my secretary notifies me.

In a weird way, I think my secretary is actually my boss! She brought in these wonderful, homemade Italian pastries, complete with rich, warm, apricot filling to celebrate the day. I still feel a bit uncomfortable accepting such gestures. I feel like I should be making her homemade pastries...yeah...that would be a great project for the weekend. Except I'd have to buy the mix at Meijer because I usually burn toast and ruin boiled water!!!

Subdued by the Flu from Hades

Well, I had my first sick day in years. My first NON-surgical sick day, that is. I was at work last fall (in the old job) when I came down with appendicitis on a Thursday. I worked Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. I finally called the doctor about my excruciating pain and she told me I better go to the ER immediately. So I did the logical thing and finished up my work for the week before driving myself to the ER.

I had my appendix out about 2 hours later. I remember calling Therese, asking her to close my curtains and take care of the dog because I was in the hospital, about to have surgery. She was fabulous and didn't bat an eye about helping out a friend in need. It was also midterm week in school and I had two massive midterms the following Monday (Stats) and Wednesday (Law). I stayed home from work a few days, giving myself time to study. And yes, I took those exams!

I had another sicky experience during midterms during spring semester of 2008. I came down with a terrible flu bug at 7:48 on a Sunday evening. My midterms that semester were Tuesday and Wednesday nights. The Tuesday night midterm was for US Healthcare Policy and the professor was a nazi from Hell (and that's being nice). I floated through work those couple of days, holding the flu symptoms at bay with massive amounts of medication. Then I finally went to take the three hour exam and my fever flared up badly. I distinctly remember putting the exam paper up to my face; the coolness of the paper felt fabulous next to face, on fire from the raging fever! One of my friends in class always laughs at this story. That's how I truly know I'm sick...when I want to put papers on my face to cool the fever.

Fast forward to Tuesday afternoon. I had several key presentations on Tuesday, one regarding Corporate Ethics, one to lay out my strategic plan and obtain buy-in from senior leadership, one to lead the stroke designation planning efforts, and one to explain my house-wide savings tracking and how I've documented $4.6M savings for St. Fozzie's.

It was in that last meeting, the stroke designation committee, when I fought the temptation to lay my face on a stack of paper to cool my hot face. Prepared for the occasion, I ran back to my office and took a large gulp of DayQuil, right from the bottle. I survived that last meeting and at 5pm, drug myself back to my office. Facing stacks of files, reports, and charts to review, I succumbed and laid my head down on my desk. I swear I had a quick dream and was startled awake by my secretary dashing in to give me a few messages. She laughed and told me I needed a cab home. I purposefully left all that work at the office, so I wouldn't be tempted to work last night.

I woke up this morning at 5am, unable to even get out of bed. The body aches made me feel like I was in a car wreck, the shaking chills were downright terrible, and my throat felt like I swallowed a batch of razorblades. I was supposed to be on the road today, visiting physician offices for physician partnership and recruitment. Blech. My personal philosophy is that if I can get out of bed, I go to work. Well today, I couldn't get out of bed. Literally.

So I texted Elvis and EVOO. Elvis wrote back within a few minutes and this was his response (verbatim): "If u r sick u should take care of urself. Hope u feel better 2." This is the regional CEO talking in "teen-ese." I cracked up at his shorthand response, then broke out into a wracking coughing fit. Thank goodness for kleenex, Vick's, apple juice, and Theraflu!

I'd Rather be at the Beach

I need another weekend. Last weekend was just too full to get any relaxation accomplished! Yes, because I think of relaxation as one more thing to accomplish!

Anyway, after a long, LONG week, Jack and I decided to go to a movie. I was really hankering for a tropical themed evening, so we went to "Couples' Retreat." I'm not a Vince Vaughn fan, but the movie was hysterical. It offered a few poignant thoughts on marriage on a gorgeous backdrop of a 5 star resort in Fiji. Anyone who knows me well knows I will give everything except my soul over for a trip to Fiji. Or Bahamas. Or anywhere with that crystal clear, azure water that when you're boating, looks a bit like Windex!

On Saturday night, Jack and I went out with our friends Kim and Lula. We gorged on amazing Italian food (including tirimisu) and then Lula and I went out for coffee. It was great to hear the stories of another professional woman, how she manages herself in the corporate world. We sipped our steamers and helped build each other up for our respective challenges. I had such a great time and wish I could see my girlfriends more often! In fact, can we all just hit the beach?

Different Strokes

Well, I think I have H1N1. Or some variation of some terrible farm animal flu. I worked a "half day" today, stopping at 4pm to run to the grocery store. I ran in for a thermometer, kleenex, and that gross throat spray that actually helps one swallow a couple times without grimacing. I walked out of the store with 4 kinds of juice and nothing I went in for. Oh well, who needs a thermometer to tell me how high the fever is?

I know the sickies are making me feel terrible, but I'm still feeling pretty overwhelmed. At last week's Ethics meetings, I spoke with a couple consultants who encouraged me to publish a couple other Ethics papers I wrote in school. I feel like I *should* work on them (and all the managerial literature I'm supposed to be reading) but it's taking so many hours to finish my "regular" work. In lieu of yesterday's computer crash, I saved my big flowchart and presentation on my flash drive...then left my flash drive in my office. GEE, that worked!

My first meeting as director of the stroke certification team went well today. The docs are letting me lead them and they're actually adhering to the deadlines I've been setting. YOU try contacting the Interventional Neurologist from Northwestern to review and make suggestions on our Ischemic stroke protocol!

On a positive note, I'm learning so much about strokes. The docs patiently answer my clinical questions about inherent risks in tPA administration and co-morbidities with anti coagulation medications. After my strategic planning presentation and presentation of St. Fozzie's financial model, we're meeting with all the neurologists and ER docs from metro Chicago who volunteered to be on our team. I'm excited, but I really hope my voice holds out. If only I would have remembered the throat spray from the store!

R.I.P. Old Laptop

As I sit here, sipping my hot chocolate and trying to ignore my raging sore throat, I'm typing on a brand new laptop. It's pretty. It weighs almost nothing. It's fast. It's...white and chrome.

Is it weird when your computer sort of matches your refrigerator?

Oh well!

I've known my laptop was limping along, wavering between life and death. Jack has had to recover data a couple times now and we knew it was just a matter of time before it went to the repair shop in the sky (even though I just bought that laptop in early 2007). Regardless, we had no idea it would die while I was working on two huge projects for work. We had no idea it would die while I was walking to the other room to back up my work and email the files to everyone. I'm chalking it up to the fact that I was working on a Sunday and I should have been keeping the Sabbath holy!

When Jack couldn't resuscitate it, he ripped the harddrive out of the old laptop, and we jumped in the car to Best Buy. The Geek Squad wanted $100 to transfer data and Jack thought he could figure it out. So I bought the refrigerator laptop and Jack headed to his office to attempt the impossible. He called an hour later, voice full of glee, that he was able to save everything!

So my presentations, reports, and flowcharts were safe. Not to mention my seven vacations' worth of pictures and 2.5 years' worth of music files! Yes, yes, I know. I should have been backing up my files. I DO back up my work, but my external drive just notified me the other day that it was FULL. So even though I usually back up my work, it still bit me in the rear today!

The only crappy thing is that my immune system formally cried, "Uncle!" and I'm sick. My throat's on fire and I'm feeling feverish, but at least I have homemade chicken soup that I brought back to Chicagoland with me. I'm fighting a pretty sizable homesickness tonight, as Jack and I winterized our house this weekend. We put all the patio furniture away, recaulked and weatherstripped a few things, and I got all the autumn decorations out. So just as I got the house feeling all homey and cozy, I packed up and left. I keep reminding myself that I'm doing this to achieve my dreams. But it never gets any easier.

My Brain's Nauseous

I reached a new point of exhaustion today. It’s called the “barf phase.” I was so weary and drained that I actually felt like throwing up.

I participated in so many meetings today, that after 12 hours, my head was full. My head regularly feels full, whereas if I turn my head too far sideways, my brain matter will leak out my ear. Today, my head was so full that I literally didn’t know what to do with myself. You know how you feel when you eat way too much cookie dough or fudge and you just want to die? That’s how I felt on a mental level. I had eaten way too much intellectual dough and wanted to die. Well, not DIE (that’s a bit dramatic), but I definitely felt like I over-indulged in brain fodder today. In fact, to counteract the effects of the brain binge, I almost feel like blowing an entire day by playing Dr. Mario on Wii with The Edge.

Anyway, today was Mission Integration and Ethics. As I stated before, the spiritual nature of today’s meeting caught me off guard. The morning consisted of centering reflections and time to decompress. The afternoon, however, spiraled me UP a vortex of corporate management. It started with a discussion about healthcare reform and how Muppet Corporate was going to respond to the healthcare reform bill that will be released from the Senate next week. A few folks started talking about how we needed to respond RIGHT NOW and the easiest way was to create webpages both in the Intranet and the Internet. One of my former co-workers (a Sister), said “Dorrie knows website design!”

So I found myself on an instantaneous task force with two regional CEO’s and two long-term Sisters. I realized my advantage in being technologically-savvy; as we discussed, I pulled right-to-life websites down on my Blackberry for additional discussion. In the span of one hour, we charged the corporate marketing people with the direction. That’s all they wanted me for…to think it through, explore the options, and conceptualize a plan. Not to actually do the work. How refreshing--and another element to my executive training.

After that, I joined the Ethics committee meetings and ended up leading a portion of the disaster-preparedness discussion. There are a lot of ethical questions surrounding H1N1, especially if we run out of ventilators. How will we decide who gets them? Will there be an age cut-off? Co-morbidities? Yeah, the list goes on and on. After mentally and verbally sparring with a room full of doctors and Sisters, I was bushed. I guzzled a regular Coke in the hope I could capture some energy!

Because (drum roll, please), I had to teleconference back into St. Fozzie’s and pitch my strategic plan to the people in strategy and marketing. I explained my logic, my reasoning, and the structure to the plan. It was silent for a full 10 seconds before someone finally started picking at word semantics. I couldn’t believe it, how no one picked at the structure of the plan. That was what I was worried about! To me, words were just place-holders! I did decide to work with our corporate strategist on Monday before I present everything to Senior Leadership on Tuesday. There’s another way I can structure it…but I’m still presenting MY ideas first and the corporate strategist’s SECOND.

So after 12 or so hours of this, I had overdosed on intellectual fodder. I need some Pepto Bismol or Tums for the brain. Do they make such a thing? Is that where wine and chocolate* come in?

*Because of the terrible gloominess outside, I baked a tiny batch of chocolate chip cookies. I didn’t overdose on actual cookie dough, though.

Just Keep Surviving

Hey everyone, I'm stopping in to say a quick hi. I *just* closed up shop on my work for the evening, having updated my whole-house savings initiatives for the hospital. Earlier, I designed a massive flowchart illustrating the strategy for St. Fozzie's. It's insane; I attended that strategy retreat last week and put together a flowchart from what I interpreted the conversation to agree upon. My EVOO boss asked for a copy, conferred with Elvis, and they accepted my draft of the Strategic plan for the hospital. I can't believe it. They like me. They really like me!

Even though I'm at Muppet Corporate this week, I'm still on the spot. Tomorrow, I have to step out of my Ethics meeting to teleconference in and explain my logic to the St. Fozzie's strategic analysts. Then I found out that I'm pitching my ideas to the rest of senior leadership and corporate strategy folks on Tuesday morning. Knowing my tendency to overachieve, I already started brainstorming my powerpoint presentation and I'm taking Jack up on his offer to help me design full-color booklets for my presentation. I have to admit, I'm having a blast trying to wrap my head around the strategic planning process.

However, this massive presentation will occur *right* before my first official stroke designation committee meeting as the director. I'm still wading through stroke protocol from various other hospitals and the US government. Instead of reading Dan Brown's new book this weekend, I guess I'm still going to be reading stroke regs. Y'know, after I adequately stress out from the strategic presentation.

The upshot to this is that my next two days I'm in Mission Integration and Ethics meetings. There's a lot of praying and reflecting and the meetings begin tomorrow and end Friday with Mass. Tuesday's leadership conference also included Mass. I had no idea I'd hit Mass three of four workdays this week. Cheers to working for a Catholic healthcare system.

SO much has happened this week. I'll fill you in this weekend. I vow to relax a little this weekend...vacation is still four weeks away and it's about time to stop and smell the suntan lotion!

Organizing a Conversational Cloud

Part of my executive training involves watching, learning, and then executing my own brand of organizational thinking. I think I've practiced a fair bit of these thinking skills in grad school, but it's completely different to outline a textbook. In the boardroom, I find that everyone likes their voice to be heard. Everyone has an opinion. It's very much like an large Italian family's dinner, where people are yelling over each other and unless you cut someone off, you won't get to talk.

I also notice that, in the boardroom, folks are often more interested in what they're going to say next, then what you have to say. People wait for others to finish, just so they can say their piece. It's a verbal vomit of epic, technicolor proportions.

On Thursday, St. Fozzie's conducted an all-day strategy meeting. Even though we had a distinct agenda for the day, the morning session was more reminiscent of a large Italian family's dinner. Nothing was accomplished and all we did was talk around 28 topics, in no particular order or structure. It was awful, unproductive, and exhausting.

During the lunch break, I asked Elvis if there was any structure to the morning. He shrugged and admitted he couldn't follow it, either. Well, that's good! If the CEO's also lost, then I can cut myself some slack. :) However, I still had to document the morning, as it was my responsibility to create an action plan out of the verbal vomit, which meant I had to adhere the material to some sort of structure.

The afternoon session was much better, as the EVOO boss stepped up and enforced the agenda. That part was easy to organize, but I still struggled with how to best capture the morning's conversation and formulate it into steps. Later, I hunched over my desk and made some sense out of everything. This is one area in which I still need practice...how do I harness these verbose and assertive personalities? How do I keep people on track, to best address the items in the agenda? And how do I get through these long meetings without requiring vast amounts of sugar? I actually excused myself at break to visit the hospital's gift shop and pick up a bag of candy corn!

Please Pass the Advil

First, I feel compelled to confess the fact that Jack and I bailed on the Fighting Irish yesterday. We had perfectly good tickets in section 134 (above the student section), given to me (for free) from one of my buddies in St. Fozzie's marketing department. I verbally accepted the tickets last week and they didn't materialize until Friday afternoon, a scant 24 hours before game time. Since I decided I was too busy to drive home to SB for the weekend, I tried to find an owner for the tickets. Since it was so late in the day, I couldn't even Fedex them overnight. So they sat, unused, in my briefcase.

It turned out okay, though. Jack and I both worked in the morning and accomplished a lot for our respective jobs. We went to a sports bar to watch the game and ended up meeting two of the nicest Michigan fan we've ever encountered. They rooted for the Irish and we shared stories from our individual undergrad experiences. The four of us cheered the Irish onto an overtime victory, despite our collective angst at ND for creating nail-biter games every single week!

That was the fun part of the day. My masochism got the better of me earlier in the day. Because I have that ritzy gym membership that I feel guilty for not utilizing, I decided to try a few of the exercise classes. I took the Spinning class a few times and felt ready for a new challenge. So yesterday morning, I joined the BODYCOMBAT class. One, I should have known it would be tough, since the word "combat" is part of the title. Two, I should have known that a class with its title in CAPS would prove reminiscent of an Army training drill. I walked into the exercise studio and asked around if anyone had attended this class before. The woman to my right answered, "Yeah, and I thought I was going to have a heart attack!" Great! I love heart attack-inducing work outs!

It started off benignly enough, with aeroboxing moves I've known for years. I was having fun, I already knew these moves! Take that, pent-up stress!

Then the choreographing started, with intricate foot movements and corresponding punch sequences. After a few tries, I caught on. Take that, Jillian Michaels!

Then another instructor stepped up on stage. To the beat of mesmerizing dance club beats, she taught us martial arts moves focused on balance. My core hasn't been worked like that in a while and after swaying unsteadily a couple times, I caught on. Take that, Karate Kid!

The martial arts moves quickly turned to street-fighting moves, where we were encouraged to "bash in the skull with your elbows!" and "Keep him down on the sidewalk and keep beating him!" The music swelled to a frantic pace as I obliged and beat the crap out of my imaginary attacker! Take that, imaginary rapist!

As I was bashing skulls and beating some attacker senseless, I felt my vertebrae cracking. I felt my left deltoid stretch a little too far. I felt my left calf muscle buckle after 45 minutes on my tip-toes. Gratefully, the pace of the class slowed down and we resumed the regular aeroboxing moves again. We eventually stopped the boxing and spread out on the floor to stretch our poor, exhausted muscles. I held "the plank" a little too long and felt my abs strain painfully.

I hobbled out of the studio and headed home for a well-earned, long, hot shower. I emerged feeling pretty great. I can DO this BODYCOMBAT class and LIVE to TELL about it. Who-hoo!

Then I sat down and worked and watched 7 hours of football. I realized it was NOT a good sign that I was already sore from my workout and it was still the same day! Every hour increased the pain exponentially, and I found myself repeatedly reaching for the Advil. The gym offers this class on Tu/Thur/Sat...so I only have 48 hours to recover before the next session!

IOC Decision

Well, I'm a bit saddened to hear that Chicago will not be hosting the 2016 Olympics. While Rio is certainly trendy and diverse, I will not endure a another 14-hour plane ride (did that in 1999 on my South American Immersion trip) to attend the Opening Ceremonies. I *would* have sacrificed all to attend the Opening Ceremonies if Chicago hosted the games!

Oh well, in the words of Cubs and Notre Dame Football fans everywhere, "Maybe next time!"

And yes, I'm lightly blogging on my lunch hour. My "lunch hour" is defined as the length of time it takes to microwave processed soup products and inhale them without choking. :)

15 Seconds of Fame

I starred in a commercial today! I was shocked that Marketing asked me to say a few lines in a commercial advertising St. Fozzie's. It only took me three takes; the first two were cut because some of my obnoxious co-workers kept trying to make me laugh (what are we, first graders?!).

It was a hoot...I got a slight bit of make-up (covering up ye ol' dark circles) and they used lighting to de-emphasize my angular disparity (my big schnoz). I almost asked for a fan so my hair could blow sexily as I channeled joyous thoughts to let my inner light shine....And that was when I realized I've been watching too much America's Next Top Model!

It was a great experience. The commercial was shot for the St. Fozzie's gala coming up in October. If they end up posting it on Youtube, I'll post the link.