Doing What I Didn’t Want To Do

I don’t really like thinking outside of the box or stepping out of my comfort zone.  I find that old and tiresome.  I like to think I don’t have a box to step out of, and there is nothing but wide open spaces and endless possibilities. 

Now that does not mean there are things in life that I don’t particularly enjoy or that I would not find scarey to tackle.  Would life not be boring if we did not have those kinds of challenges to grab and see where it goes?

I mentioned way back in my post of July 21 that I was involved with organizing the first chapter of what was then AAMT (now AHDI) in Akron, Ohio.  That was such a great experience because I was able to meet MTs in the Akron area, and then eventually we had an annual symposium in the Fall with about 125 MTs from all over Ohio and the surrounding states in attendance.  Some of those MTs are still my friends to this day.  One of the things that is always the most difficult with any association is finding those who are willing to serve as officers and committee chairs.  I very much wanted to be involved with that, so I offered to be nominated for secretary.  I served 2 terms as secretary and enjoyed it very much.  I also served as committee chair for the continuing education committee and contributed often to our monthly chapter newsletter.

There were a couple of things I knew I never wanted to do—serve as president or be the newsletter editor. I was not afraid of the work involved.  I loved being a part of this association and volunteering my time to help keep things up and running.  Those were simply 2 areas that I felt I would not be very good.  My strength lies in being a great 2nd banana, you know, the sidekick.  I am great at details and keeping track of things that others might forget about.  When my friend was president, I would take notes as we spoke on the phone of the things we wanted to do as far as speakers, symposia or whatever the situation was that needed attention.  If she would forget a detail or an idea that we discussed, I always had my handy notes.  

Well, there came a time when our newsletter editor wanted to step down. You know how it goes. The same people always doing the same thing.  She was tired of handling this job and felt she could not devote that time any longer.  We needed someone, and no one would offer to take it over.  I definitely did not want to see it just come to an end, so I said, why not?  It would be something completely new for me, but I knew the routine as far as what information needed to be included each month.  Taking on that job was one of the best things I ever did.  It was then that I realized I really enjoyed writing.  I added my own column of “Notes and Reminders” and would add in other things I thought would be of interest, along with the President’s Message and contributions by members.  But doing that newsletter led me to actually writing articles that have been published in MT journals, serving on a national committee, and even speaking at State meetings in Ohio, Montana, and Idaho.

The office of President was another job I never wanted to undertake. Again, it was not about the work, but I did not feel my strengths were in leadership.  We needed someone or the chapter would fold.   I did not want to see that happen, so you guessed it—I allowed myself to be nominated.  When no one runs against you, the odds are pretty good you are going to get the job.  I won by a landslide!  My first meeting, I was so nervous.  Turns out, everyone was so supportive. Well, all except for one person.  We were having a discussion about something or other, and I voiced an opinion on the matter before we voted.  After the meeting, this MT came up to me and told me in no uncertain terms, and in front of almost the entire group, was I to render an opinion.  She was right, of course, because the President is supposed to lead the conversation, but not try to sway the group in one direction or another.  Not such a great start to my presidency, and it was not the only difficult situation I found myself in not too long after I took office.  Oh, I learned so much about myself during my time as President, things I never dreamed I would have to take on, but I will get into more details about that next time.  Let me just preface it by saying if you ever encounter a difficult situation, don’t let it pass you by.  It is during those times that you can learn the absolute most about yourself and what you can handle. My experience was pretty wild, and I look forward to sharing that with you next time.  Until then, enjoy your day. 

Honesty is the Best Policy

Well, I guess I did manage to let the holiday season get away from me, but I am determined not to let the entire month of December go by without a post.  Then again, I guess the good thing about blogging is that you can do it when the mood (or time or thought or energy or lightning bolt) strikes you.

That PA I worked for back in the 90s, as it turns out, was probably the nicest medical professional I ever had the pleasure to work for, because he was also the most forgiving.  His office had called me asking that I pull a chart note on one of his tapes and get it faxed to him as soon as possible, which of course I did.  Now I should have just finished the entire tape, but I had a couple of older tapes that needed to be done first, so I put that tape aside to get the older dictations completed.  I almost always returned everything I had on my desk the next day, but I wanted to be sure I did get the older notes done just in case I did not get everything done.  Tapes to be transcribed were on one side of my desk; the completed tapes were placed in a separate area.  It was very rare that I would get a call to pull a chart note off a tape to get done ahead of everything else, so as was my usual practice, when I got the note done, printed and faxed, I took the tape out of my transcriber and placed it in the to-be-deleted pile of tapes.

I finished up the rest of the dictations for that day and then did what I always do—erased all the tapes.  The interesting thing is that the very minute I did that, I remembered I had not finished that one tape!  Gee, it sure would have helped had I remembered that little tidbit before I erased everything. I think every single muscle in my body tensed up when I realized what I had done.  The one good thing, if there can be a good thing in this situation, was that only 7 patients were seen that day.  It could have so easily been a day of 20 or 25 patients.

I could have taken the easy way out and said it was a bad tape or that there were no other dictations.  But really, that is not taking an easy way.  That would be taking a very unprofessional  and dishonest way out of a difficult situation.  Honesty is truly the only way.  I can tell you it is very hard to dial a phone, even a push button phone, when your fingers are shaking and the muscles in your hand are pulled so tight you can barely breath.  Please, let the line be busy, let the line be busy, but alas, the line was not busy.  The PA was with a patient when I called, so I told the assistant what had happened, apologized profusely, and said I would not charge for that day’s dictations.  About an hour later the phone rang. There was no way I could make my line sound busy, so I answered.  What did I hear?  “Patty, you don’t make mistakes.”  My reply, “True, but when I do, they are real doozies!” 

Any of you reading this who is a working MT knows what it is like to have to deal with a difficult doctor or any health care professional.  The MT angels were looking out for me that day, because this PA could not have been kinder or more understanding.  He actually realized that all of us are human and make mistakes, even the real doozy kind.   I can think of a handful of docs that had they been the receiver of such news, I would have just quietly thrown my computer away, closed up shop and headed for parts unknown, never to be heard from again.

I was not expecting this story to be quite this long, so I think I will save those other opportunities I mentioned previously for my next post.  I promise I will talk about the few things that came my way that I never wanted to do, but they fell into my lap and really wound up being pretty great experiences.   In many ways, I am glad I did erase that tape.  Obviously, if I could have avoided that experience, I absolutely would have.  The thing is, because I put forth my best efforts every single day on the job and worked very hard to develop a good working relationship with my clients, when I needed a favor (or needed forgiveness), I got it.  When you run into difficult times in your job, and you will if you have not already, never take any road but the honest and professional road.  Following that path, even on the very ordinary days, will always lead you in the right direction.

I wish all of you a very prosperous, challenging, exciting, and always, a very Happy New Year!   Thanks again for reading.