I am so happy to be officially off my medical leave and back at work! I was able to transfer from Payroll & Accounting to Animal Care at the animal welfare organization that I have worked at for the past year. I have received some amusing comments/questions and confused looks from my co-workers who know me as the lady who does payroll. One told me that I finally decided to come down and get my hands dirty. Well, that’s what the gloves are for, my hands stay perfectly clean. The rest of me I can’t comment on, but let’s just say that I take all my clothes off as soon as I walk into my house! I have gone from business casual in a cubicle to khakis and a t-shirt cleaning animal kennels, and they all want to know why. Wednesday, I was even congratulated and thanked for making it through my first day without quitting!
I love my new position, with the exception of starting at 6am. I haven’t had nearly enough coffee by 6am! I’m so busy cleaning kennels and feeding the critters, that I only notice the passage of time by my hunger for lunch. I am definitely getting a work-out. I’m learning a lot about the different animals, and myself. For instance, in just two days time, I am now pretty much terrified of chihuahuas. Ok, only the scared or angry ones. Also, small breed dogs seem to poop a lot more than the big guys . I’m pretty sure that a great-dane snuck into a little terrier’s kennel last night just to go poop.
With all the scrubbing and hosing and chasing of dogs (oh yeah, I’ve had three escapees in two days), I don’t have any time to think of brain tumor Bob. Except when I think to myself, “huh, I’m not thinking about the brain tumor” or when someone stops me to ask why I decided to work in Animal Care instead of Accounting. The appropriate answer to that question is NOT, “I have a brain tumor, took some time off, then decided that I’d rather work in a less mentally stressful environment and interact with the animals so that I don’t think about my brain tumor all day.” It makes people uncomfortable. Which can sometimes be fun. 😉
Six days until my next MRI, but who’s counting?
I think back to when I quit drinking alcohol 18 years ago and remember how obsessed I was about NOT drinking, every day, for months and months. Eventually, not drinking became my new normal, it was no longer an “issue” that I struggled with. That experience led me to a faith that I never wanted or considered before. The faith that I have gained gives me hope that there will come a time when I am not obsessed with having a brain tumor, and that I will get to another new normal.
Thank you for reading. More will be revealed…
Love,
Dawn
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