More Than Just Wiping Bums

It took my dear friend Ruth in Australia to point out to me that there was more going on in my feelings towards my job that just complaining about having to toilet patients and clean up after them when they wet their beds.

(Would you believe that I even learned how to change a bed with a patient still in it?)

My friend pointed out that in my emails I have also poignantly written about my patients, the miracles that I witnessed, and the amazing amount of information that I learned about traumatic brain injuries. She said, "It's obvious that you care about your patients and feel more passion about your job than you realize. I think you should give that some thought."

And I did.

Upon meditating on her words, I realized that she was right. And I realized that I wanted to learn more and become more involved.

So, a few days ago I put in a request to be transferred to the morning shift so that I could have more interaction with the patients, learn more about what goes on, and participate in their treatments and therapies.

(I also had my personal and selfish reasons. I wanted to work on a shift where I could once again have a life - and my weekends off.)

Traumatic brain injuries are a personal issue for me. My husband has experienced multiple head injuries, and there have been recent studies about the cumulative effects of multiple TBIs.

Also, I was raised by a father who suffered a major TBI in the 40s (when there was no such thing as TBI science and research) and who had discharged himself from the hospital before completing his treatment and recovery.

And just a few years ago, I discovered that my mother, too, had a TBI from the same accident that my father was involved in, and that her personality changed as a result of that accident.

Do you know what a mind-blowing concept it was to discover that my sister and I were both raised by brain-damaged parents?

So working at this job is like coming around full circle.

Maybe this job is where I am meant to be - at least for the time being. And as long as I'm at this job, I am going to use it to learn as much as I could so that I, too, could participate in helping miracles unfold, whether it's at work or right under my own roof.

After all, it is no accident that my workplace is often referred to as an "environment of pioneering miracles."