I have not fallen off the face of the planet

I am so sorry that I've been absent.  With the new job, I've been training like mad, plus I have a sciatica flare up so at night I've pretty much been putting my leg up in bed and resting and trying to stretch or applying heat to my back and ice to my leg and it hasn't really been fun. But I've been soldiering on.  My trainer's last day was Wednesday, so on Thursday and Friday I was on my own, and I think I'll be okay.  Still working the kinks out on things (like authorising Dysport injections, as those are a little tricky).  And she said I could text or call her if I did need anything.  I do have a question for her, but I messaged with my former boss (she left for another facility right as we were making the transition.  I owe a lot to her and was wishing her well on LinkedIn, and we discussed who at headquarters might be able to help on that one.)  And I'm finally making headway on scheduling off-site tests.

I'm back to working normal hours, which we are adjusting to 8 am to 4:30 pm, so shifting a half-hour earlier but later than I have been coming in lately.

I'm happy with my office, and I've got it set up quite nicely, with lots of plants:

Succulents in the window with pretty stones arranged around them.

Blooms on the succulents.

This is the orchid I got at the Bluegrass Orchid Society's meeting, plus the sign I had at my old desk.

My peace lily. I think I have to move it; it looks cramped.

An orchid that's been blooming since February, plus an African violet on the desk.

An orchid reblooming on the left, its counterpart, which is peach, but resting, and ivy in the middle.

A lovely bunch of peonies I got at Kroger.

My new title and sign to my office.

I've made contact with several people at the University of Kentucky and corporate that will be of assistance, and I had some training from a liaison from UK yesterday regarding a software package I need for my job since I get authorizations for UK surgeries for our patients that have out-of-state Medicaid plans.  The funny thing is to get access I had to have an account with UK and once they give you a computer account it's for life, as mine is based on one I got in 1985 as a student in a computer science class that has my old initials in it. :)

Here is my agenda for today:

1. Get insulin I've been out of for 24 hours
2. Caffeinate and eat breakfast
3. Work on game notes for our Call of Cthulhu game
4. Shower and get ready - I look a mess
5. Go see Incredibles 2 with friends!!! With free tickets from my hoard of employee appreciation tickets [I'm using 3 and I'll still have 5--shows how often I go to the movies]
6. Check on an ill friend and his mother
7. Dust two shelves in the bedroom.
8. Move some files on the computer for YKWIA [we're going to do that tomorrow; I'm tired and hurting]
9. Do more laundry tonight or tomorrow morning [again, tomorrow]

Not quite restful, but I spent most of last evening in bed with the sciatic pain, and I am going to do everything possible to be productive and enjoy this weekend.

PS They realised that there was no way I could cover for the Physical Therapy secretary's maternity leave and do the new job, so I'm in my office full time now.  New people have been hired in the department for my old job and another checkout position.  One of my co-workers moved into the specialist position I was hired for before the other person left, and then another co=worker moved into hers.  They're still working with headquarters to get my job official, the new pay rate, etc., as it was such a quick transition.  I'm hoping that's just a mere formality, as everyone else has taken the other positions. :)  But I should know for sure next week.

Glad that it's Friday, but

I am planning on going in to work tomorrow, at least for a few hours, maybe a half a day. The plan is to move some files (I'm going to stay in the same office, so I need to switch the outpatient visit authorisations and the surgery ones,  as the woman who has the other office said I was welcome to, so long as she knows where things are.) I also have some authorisations to document that we didn't get in today because I trained all day on surgeries and off-site imaging and testing. Finally, I'll work the queue, filling out forms and creating a running request for clinical notes that can be fulfilled by the medical records department on Monday so I can fax a whole bunch of requests then.

That should keep me occupied for quite awhile.  I'm going to run by the storage unit earlier in the morning and get out one of the folding bookcases to take in since I can park in the building's parking lot tomorrow.

On Monday, I'm training from 7-9 and then will be in the rehab department all pretty much all day, or at least till 3 or so.  I think I return to my desk then if I remember right.  Tuesday I'll train from 7-9, be in rehab for the rest of that morning, leave for an appointment, and come back from 3-5 for more training.  Wednesday and Thursday I'll train from 7-9, be in rehab from about 9-12 and then in my office thereafter.  By then I should be doing my job with my trainer nearby for any questions.  On Friday I'll be in my office all day and should be working on my own, again, with her just a couple of offices away if I need her.  Meanwhile, she's going to train my replacement on Monday and as needed throughout the week.  So hopefully I won't be doing it all for very long. I seriously don't know how she's done it for months now, with just a couple of things taken over temporarily by others.  The off-sites alone could be a full-time job.  Scheduling is difficult and can be frustrating, as you are playing go-between between families and facilities.  One she showed me today took about 45 minutes to hash out.  That's my part, the scheduling, as my replacement has already been doing the pre-auths for those and they didn't see any reason to switch, even though the others were doing the opposite section prior to this.

So I'll be responsible for getting pre-authorisations for surgery cases that are done in our ambulatory surgery centre, as well as those of our patients done at the university that have out-of-state Medicaid, and patients undergoing halo traction, which is a long inpatient stay, plus scheduling the MRIs, ultrasounds, and EMGs that are done at the university and other facilities.  My counterpart will get authorisations for outpatient visits and off-site imaging and tests.  There are some others things--reports and audits, for example, but that's the bulk of it.  For the outpatient visits, there's a lot of faxing.  For surgeries, there is more contact via phone with the insurance companies, plus, of course, the scheduling is mainly done via phone.  We will, of course, be each other's back up and help each other as needed, too.  I think we can work well together.  We're a little more isolated from the department--on a different floor, in fact.  But because we deal with so much protected health information, we each get our own offices, which is nice.  You've seen mine.  I like the setup there better as the desk is on the left facing out towards the common area and so the phone and computer are on the left.  I am right-handed, so I prefer the phone on the left so I can write with my right hand, although I have a headset, too, and that will help.

If I stay for four hours tomorrow, I'll have a total of 22 and a half hours of overtime for the two-week pay period or an average of about 10 hours a weekday.  Which is good, as I have to file my taxes still, and then pay on them.  The overtime won't last forever, but I'm trying to do as much as I can while it's approved.

Okay, I'm going to try to get some notes transcribed for the game Sunday. I'm assuming we'll do that.  It's supposed to be 95 degrees that day, and I'm not sure we'll be comfortable, but we'll try anyway. :)

Good night.

My head is still spinning a bit

So awhile back one of our co-workers left and the woman who was in my position filled her place. She has been training me to request pre-authorisation for the clinic visits and getting me set up with tools I need to do my job since I started the new position a couple of weeks ago. I've been doing some overtime to train and still be able to cover in physical therapy for the secretary who is on maternity leave, then coming in at the end of the day to cover check out upstairs. Lots of hours, lots of bouncing around, lots of learning.

This week my trainer's husband got a dream job that will require relocation to another state, and they will be moving and he will start in less than two weeks. She will follow shortly thereafter, once she's fulfilled her two-week notice. So the last couple of days have been a bit of a roller coaster ride as we're trying to get me trained before she leaves, and of course, I'm her back up, so there was that to consider (she does the surgeries, which are more involved, as well as other things). So the powers that be did some shuffling and now I have been offered and accepted her job, the second promotion in a matter of weeks, and one of my teammates will take mine. It will still be a struggle to get trained in such a short time due to my coverage of rehab, but tomorrow the whole day will be spent on training. So my new title will be Revenue Cycle Coordinator. I'm assuming it will kick in when the other person leaves.

In the entire time that I've been with the company (21 years), I've had six jobs, four of them in the last year. So it's been a whirlwind since getting laid off from the first two when the hospital moved. But things have, indeed, worked out pretty well. I'm happy, and a little scared given the time frame we're talking about, but I'm pretty sure I can handle it. So here's to new adventures.

I finished the normal

Sunday chores, but it took about 45 minutes of lying under the ceiling fans to recover. Now I'm going to work on the shelves (which is technically a Saturday chore). The only other things on my list are to take some library books back, buy some glucose tablets, and get a birthday card for a co-worker. Oh, and of course laundry goes on for awhile, so I'll finish that tonight. My first load is still in the dryer. There's a second. I also have to wash the mopheads, the blanket the cat threw up on the other day, and YKWIA's laundry. I've been listening to Pandora all morning, mainly the 3 Doors Down station.  YKWIA has mainly had quiet time.  No game today because Brenda is celebrating Father's Day with her husband (I know, Father's Day is next weekend; either she is celebrating early or they made a mistake, but regardless we had a break from the game this week, so I didn't have to do notes, although we should be good to go for next week).

Hot

It's 69 degrees outside and 80.8 degrees in here--at 7 am. So much for getting up early to do chores when it's 'cooler'. Time to check the weather forecast for this week. :( No idea when we can get the air conditioning looked at, much less fixed.

Warm

This weekend we're in the 90s during the day and it's been miserable in the house even with the fans on. And because the house is brick, it holds the heat in. So wishing it would cool back down. I did go in to work for 2 1/2 hours today, so at least I spent a bit of time in air conditioning. Tomorrow I have to do laundry and chores, so I'm getting up early in the morning to beat the heat, hopefully.

I feel a bit like a bouncy ball

Today: I was in my office-->my trainer's office-->physical therapy-->checkout-->kiosk to sign in-->checkout-->physical therapy-->checkout. Whew! I walked 5,588 steps today (not great, but better than my usual lately). It was a lot of mental gymnastics with lots of different tasks and learning more. It was kind of stimulating actually; I feel like I got a real workout, mentally, anyway. So this will be how things go until 1) they get the new person at checkout or fill my position, whichever happens first, then the maternity leave coverage is about six weeks in duration. I'm going to start working the authorisation queue tomorrow morning with my trainer sitting with me, and I'll be able to work part of Friday on top of the early morning sessions. From there I might need to work on the weekend as well, so there's some overtime to get, yay! Okay, off to work on a project with my friend. Good night for now.

Sleepy

Last night I tossed and turned, afraid I'd oversleep for my first day juggling three offices (my new office, physical therapy (where I'm filling in during a maternity leave), and checkout (where I've been working for a year, first as a contractor and now as a regular employee) and training for the new job. I finally got up at 4:40 am, was at the parking lot by 6 (only two spaces from the shuttle stop), at work by 6:30, and clocked in and training by 7:00 am. I moved to PT by 8:45 am and to checkout at 3:45 pm. I've made a food run for a friend of ours who is battling cancer, had a great home-cooked meal with my roommate (who is an excellent cook) , cleaned up the dishes afterwards, and now I'm ready for bed, to do it all over again tomorrow. :) Hopefully I'll sleep better this time. PS The cat has stealthily crept up bedside me. He likes to sleep with me.

From my favourite poet

Welshman Dylan Thomas, one of his most famous works, as expertly read by Sir Richard Burton. I love the lilt of the poem as much as the theme itself.

So I've moved into my office

Before I moved in

Added my name to the plaque

After I moved things from upstairs to the office [more to come, of course]

Me sitting in my new office

Starting Monday, this will be my schedule:

• 7:30-8:45 am -- Training for the new position (continued on weekends, if necessary)
• 8:45 am-3:45 pm -- Coverage in physical therapy for the secretary there, who is on maternity leave (she was in labour as I left on Friday)
• 3:45-5:00 pm -- Coverage of checkout (my former job) till closing time

So the idea is that I can do all those things without having to stay super late, and only coming in an hour early for training, and maybe weekends if necessary.  That means that I'll get overtime both during my training period and if needed while I am covering for the maternity leave.  They should have someone in place for checkout and trained by the time the maternity leave coverage ends, and I can transition to my job full-time.  Wednesday I get to park in the back (I normally park in a lot at and take the shuttle) as I need to leave early for an appointment so I may bring some more plants from home. :)