Overload=Cruising

Well, I'm to that point again where I feel like I'm going to end up in my own cath lab. I think I surpassed 40 hours on Tuesday evening. After that kind of stress and long hours, I felt my body start to break down last night. I left work at 8:30 pm, peeling myself out of my office chair to go home. I had only been sitting there for about four hours, but I was in some serious pain. The right side of my back radiated pain and I couldn't move. Figuring it would get better when I laid down, I went straight to bed when I got home.

After two hours, I finally gave up on my fitful sleep and drug out the heating pad and Advil. Then I called The Edge and asked her to please kidnap me and get me away from Chicago. The Edge is my oldest friend and since Jack now has a job (did I tell you? Jack has a job!), he cannot vacation with me during a time when it's either vacation or two weeks in the looney bin. Edge agreed to stand in for Jack and whisk me away on a 5-night Caribbean cruise. Jack, seeing the stress decimating my wellbeing, encouraged us to go cruising. After all, he deserves a polished, put-together, NICE wife. I haven't exactly been nice lately.

Sorry, Jack!

Jack's uncanny ability to put my wellbeing first has resulted in several girl weekends during our marriage. I return happy, rested, and grateful for his generosity. Overall, a win-win.

So anyway, the last time I ran this type of insanity was during grad school, when I was taking three courses while working full time. There would be times where my exhaustion would blur reality and I couldn't remember if I did something or dreamt I did it! Well, even though I'm back in school, the coursework isn't too onerous. But the job is. This job is killing me and my eyes actually involuntarily cross at times.

For instance, this week alone, I performed a mock compliance survey of three inpatient units, interviewed four people, spoke with at least ten physicians, laid the foundation for a continuity clinic on site, ran three departmental staff meetings, took an 8-hour inservice on disaster preparedness, and created a multi-disciplinary surgery improvement team to attack all facets of surgery quality, safety, and outcomes. My job is cool. And people must trust me, since they're asking me to dabble in surgery improvement, an areas heavily policed by CMS.

But I'm noticing a trend…if something needs organizing, they bring me in. If something needs a structure/methodology, they bring me in. If program creation needs a kick, they ask me. If something needs academic writing or verbiage, they call me. There are thousands of ideas around the hospital, but when they need help organizing them and planning ideas' execution, well, that's where I come in.

I guess that's a good skill to have and I'm thrilled that I've become Administration's "go to" person for this. My only question is…what do you call this person? What do you call an "idea harvester and thought organizer?"

It's a flattering job and because of the trust given to me by the other executives, I'm getting things done at an alarming pace. I say "alarming," because some people don't like change (even if it's improvement we're seeking). Every now and then I sit in my office, face in my hands, and wonder what to work on next. I haven't seen the surface of either desk in weeks. It bothers my Type-A, OCD self.

I need to call someone in to have them organize my CRAPOLA. Ha!

So that's what's up here. Jack has a (wonderful, well-paying) job, I'm cracking at the seams, and I'm booking a girlfriend cruise to escape. How are you today?