A couple of weeks ago I was asked to run a Web 2.0 course for all library staff before the end of the year. Most other States in Australia ran these courses back in 2007, But not Western Australia. So my work has decided to go it alone and gave me eight hours to put a program together.
I looked at what other placed had done, field-stripped their courses and assembled a 10 week package of Web 2.0 Basics with the really fun stuff to follow in a subsequent course next year. With the assistance of Mark (the eservices coordinator aka web guy at my work) it went live two days later.
You can see it here at: http://swanlibraries.blogspot.com/ If you are interested feel free to play along - you just wont be eligible for the prizes :)
I also sent a report to the State-wide Public Library eServices Working Committee explaining what we're doing, why we are doing it, why we are doing it this way, when we are doing it, a link to the course itself and a explanations of our measurements for success.
The PLWA committee rang me Friday afternoon and asked if I would allow them to copy my work and send out it State-wide in two weeks time. Some negotiations were had with my managementwitht e result that Mark will be will be opening up our course state-wide tomorrow and I will alter the content appropriately on Wednesday. I've also been asked if I would be a consultant to a couple of state-wide committees.
Which will all look good on the resume. Especially as all of this has been in my own part-time work hours and around my usual work. With a migraine.
The Bad
I have named my migraine Bruce in honour of Bruce Banner, Unfortunately Bruce has been getting too agitated lately* and has turned into the Hulk for the last couple of weeks. So I've been working with the lights off at work, wearing sunglasses and wincing every time someone laughs, I also average 5 hours a week out with the customers.
I'm back to having broken sleep because the pain wakes me after an hour or so. The other morning I fled to work within 15 mins of walking up because the next door neighbours had their bathroom exhaust fan on, and the sound was making me scream. My short-term memory is so shot I can't tell you what I had for breakfast without looking at the utensils in the sink (and its only 8:31am here). In short its as bad as it has ever been. My doc has also been off work ill so I can't get in to see her for another fortnight to change the medications I'm on.
I know that stress is a trigger or at least an amplifier for the migraine, and I've recently established that caffeine is another trigger**. I would still have expected the medications to be countering these negative influences, not have the whole mess spiral back into what it was earlier in the year.
The Ugly
Trubs has been diagnosed with kidney disease. I had to fight the vets every inch of the way to get them to test for it, but yes it came back positive. I'm taking her in this week for the associated blood test to see how advanced it is. Either way kidney disease is not curable or reversible so we are talking quality of life from here on in.
When I let loose on the vets for not agreeing to perform the tests earlier, they said they didn't like to perform kidney function tests because most people, on hearing the results, put their pets down. Well geez you fuckwits, if you administered the tests earlier maybe other responsible owners would have the knowledge to help their pets before it became too advanced! Apparently not. Apparently treatments are considered too expensive and too traumatic for the owners so 99% to opt to euthanize their pets immediately.
Treatment seems to consist of changing Trubs to a low protein, low phosphorus diet and taking a pill every day. From what I understand this reduces pressure on the kidney and reduce the build-up of toxins int he blood, dementia, glaucoma etc. I say "from what I understand" because I've done all of this research on my own. The Vets haven't treated any cats with kidney disease because of the afore-mentioned immediate euthanizing. They do have a dog patient who has had kidney disease for seven years and is now dying of cancer, but no cats.
So I'm also looking for a different veterinarian clinic, one with a bit more understanding of these specialist needs ... or perhaps its another case where the locals think differently than I do.
So to sum up ... I'm frustrated!
- I'm frustrated that I live in a State where all major decisions get briefly discussed a s a good idea or passed over once every eight-week meeting and then they pounce when someone actually does something. God forbid anyone local should actually use initiative.
- I'm frustrated that my work management are finding so many ways to capitalise on the work I'm doing, but they wont pay me an extra hours to actually do it well.
- I'm frustrated that my ex-supervisor is speaking to HR about all the tiniest facets of all the other parts of my job that I'm not getting to, in an effort to get me performance-managed out of the organisation,
- I am frustrated that my health is deteriorating and I don't know how to stop it.
- I'm frustrated that Trubs is dying and I don't know what I can do to make her pain less. I don't know what to do to give her good palliative care.
And I swear to God, if the next-door neighbour doesn't finish whipper-snipping soon - I'm going after him with an axe!
If the Police ask, this blog post doesn't exist :)
* maybe something to do with trying to run a state-wide training course, an internal training course, setting up two other training courses for next next month, all the cataloguing, setting guidelines for good cataloguing practice, training complete novices into the art of good cataloguing and completely re-writing the 200 page work manual for all facets of work in the library pending our software change in November - all in 20 hours per week.
** I don't drink caffeine regularly so this came as a bit of a surprise. I have the rare iced coffee milk or Coke about one every couple of months, so this one was actually hard to pin down.
15 comments:
I can see where you're frustrated!
Gentle hugs for the pain in your head! You must go through hell. I am very happy that my migraine has diminished considerably with the setting in of the menopause, but yours has other causes, so I do hope they will still find a better treatment for your head!
The caffeine being a trigger for your migraine is a strange thing. I can drink black espresso (even with the sugar I like in there) and it actually helps. Many medications against headaches and migraines have caffeine as one of the acting agents.
As for Trubs - Sarah lived with deteriorating kidneys for about two years, but when the vet said that her kidney had about the size of peas I did let her go. It was incredibly hard, and it hurt for a long time, but I couldn't watch her suffering anymore. Be prepared for everything, sweetie, even if it is terribly scary!
I really commiserate with you about the migraines. I tried every drug available but the only one which works with me is Migril. Its VERY strong, is a diuretic (which makes you pee gallons) but it does work. I have no idea if this would be suitable/available for you. But it may be worth a mention to your specialist.
I'm truly sorry about Trubs. Vets really are hit and miss. The vet we found for Delbert was an absolute gem. She's brilliant and if I could send her out to you I would in an instant. Go for quality of life. Spoil her; give her lots of love and cherish the time you have left with her.
As for work; hurry up and win the lottery and then you can tell them to stuff their job:))
Hugs to you honey.........xxxxxxxxxxx
Kay has the answer, buy that winning ticket.
LOL! thanks Kay & Jim - if only if it was that easy to obtain :) :)
Thanks for the migraine info Kay - I've made an emergency appointment with my doc for late this afternoon - so we will see what she says. Hopefully she can recommend something :(
I wish it was that easy as well! If I had the money, I'd send you my brilliant Veterinary Homeopath who gave Dudley two years extra and saved one of my cats when he almost sliced his foot off, and another when she had a chronic bowel condition. http://www.homeopathicvet.co.uk/ I've known Mark for 20 years and he is brilliant. Shame there is not a cloning machine!
Work - do it your way. The higher ups are noticing despite the pettiness of your manager and since when can they sack you for underperforming with a chronic health condition?
Caffeine and migraine has always been a grey area - I drink lots of coffee, tea, Coke and of course my bodyweight in chocolate each week - each containing caffeine. Yet my frequency of migraines remains unchanged. It is is the OTC remedies to speed up the uptake rate of the main drug. Same as it is with aspirin.
OK back from the doc. Her instructions:
* increase meds up to 150mg of doxeprin per night
* go "completely hard-core" caffiene-free
* concentrate more on my meditation and relaxation techniques
* at work, do it well, ignore the idiots and forget about everything when I walk out the door.
See her in two weeks time.
So chocolate-free *and* reduce my stress levels ...... oooooh kayyyyy.
I have a good doc. Never had a doc say "hard-core" to me before!
and I thought that was something to do with porn movies:)).
Not sure what sort of porn you've been watching? lol
Oh, Miss Mel, what a mess. I commend you for continuing to give way more at work than what they're paying for. I know first-hand how frustrating that can be. But, believe me, someone will notice and hopefully find out the treatment you're receiving and something good will come of it. I'm an optimist. What can I say? LOL
Poor Trubs. I'm sure it's all the more upsetting because of the Vet's lack of care. Hang in there, love on her, give her the best you can and then let go. She may surprise you and hang on for a good long while with some TLC.
I don't understand migraines. Obviously, the medical field also doesn't understand a lot about them or there wouldn't be so many people who suffer from them. I do think you've been under a great amount of stress for the last few years and that has to boil over at some point. Take a deep breath, get a taser and play tag with the neighbor when he isn't looking!
Just a short note to thank everyone and say "sorry about that - I'm feeling better now" {sheepish grin} {blush}
The change in meds has helped with the pain and the "out of control" feeling. I'm still sad about Trubs, frustrated and FURIOUS at my work management but I can let it go. When the pain is bad I can't seem to do that.
I've also been chocolate-free for five days and its hard. I didnt realise how hard it would be until I thought about why I eat so much chocolate - its usually the ONLY gluten-free sweet or ready-made snack on the menu. So instead I'm taking nuts to work to munch on, I've upped my fruit consumption and I made a GF date cake. We have bring-a-plate morning teas at work on average once a week, so I've been experimenting with GF cakes that will substitute - as I usually bring sices of vegies and dips.
I also feel able to do stuff around the house when the pain isn't so draining. I'd never inderstood that constant pain is more than just going ow all the damn time, it so very very exhausting. Little chores like washing up or ironing a shirt are simply too much hard work.
But thankfully for now (and hopefully for a long long time) that phase is in the past. I spent yesterday washing and cleaning and tidying and the spent a glorious afternoon with the cats in nice Spring weather reading Terry Pratchett books. He does my soul wonders, that man and his ideas!
Good to hear you feel on the up. Long may it continue.
No-one ever does until it happens to them so stop beating yourself up! Since when do you **** a shirt. That is truly foul language from you Miss Hicks!
Its great to hear you up beat for a change. Long may it continue.
Sorry Kay - I'll try to blog more when I'm on the up-cycle :)
Post a Comment