Catching up on medical stuff

At this facility since late May, it took a while for me to have an official first meeting (last week) to coordinate Raj's care with the onsite nurse, Judy. I'm relieved to finally have contact info for her. And I'm not the only one getting bossed around by Raj's new friend, Don - During our meeting, a resident died, so Judy needed to step out and speak briefly with hospice; Don was furious that he couldn't discuss getting a new cell phone with Judy at that moment; Apparently, in Don's work life, he was CEO of some big company and he's never experienced waiting. He doesn't like it.

Raj saw the neurologist yesterday & the lung/sleep specialist today.  Though we still don't have a diagnosis or hope for recovery, he hasn't gotten worse; This is both good (not requiring higher level care) and bad (no movement toward specific diagnosis or treatment).  His sleep study yielded helpful info, C-PAP adjustments have been made, and he hasn't been to the ER for falling since June.  I also received contact info for the psychiatrist Raj has been treated by at the assisted living facility, so I can try to catch up on his 2 med changes and maybe half-dozen labs.  I also stopped by the new PCP for samples so Raj can try one new cholesterol med instead of the 3 he currently takes.  Got a copy of the medical records from his Rush stay (only had a few pages before), but haven't had a chance to read through.

Ponderings on Retirement

Since I only taught for one year ($8K salary with minimum contributions to retirement), my North Dakota teacher's retirement paid out as a lump sum in 1991.  I worked in IT (programmer, Business Analyst, etc.) for 16 years, with annual salary ranging from $40K to $100K+ depending on overtime, where I always contributed the maximum to my 401K.  I've kept both in separate IRAs over the years, though they've been invested in the same market with the same funds, just out of curiosity:  Public vs private retirement benefits.  I wondered if there was a difference regarding what one "put in" (contributions and years of service) vs the benefit received.  I have several years before official retirement, but I've noticed a great disparity - $11K+ in my account for the teaching year and about $85K for my IT years; Granted, in today's economy, my totals are down 30-40% from a few years ago, but these numbers still drive home the point:

For 1 year of teaching and about $200 in contributions, I now have $11K
For 16 years of IT and about $80K (avg of $5K ea year) in contributions, I now have $85K

So return on investment, in years:  $11K/year vs $5,312.50/year
                        and in % increase:  5500% vs 6.25%

Interesting, huh?

Mornings

Every morning, for as long as I remember, I've gotten up with a song in my head.  It's not the alarm clock, since I use an annoying buzzer!  Sometimes, it's inspirational or uplifting to set the tone for the day.  Other times, it's some rockin' party dance music.  It might be an old hymn, an unfamiliar phrase (that I should probably write down), a drum cadence, even a nursery rhyme!  I wake every so often to commercial jingles that I've heard before on radio or TV, to recent iTunes downloads, 80s hair-band ballads . . .  I've never questioned why this happens, but recently experienced mild panic in a passing thought that this could disappear.  Maybe some morning I'll wake up to silence - no melody in my heart.

That's when I decided it might be a portal, of sorts, for the Holy Spirit.  You recognize a source by its fruit, right?  Sometimes, I wake up with a particular song I associate with an old friend, and I may reach out to that person, prompted by my morning thoughts.  Sometimes I feel the need to pray for a particular person, whoever is brought to mind by the music.  Other times, I'm awash with gratitude;  The dance beats and Big Band sounds energize me; Jazz can be bluesy and sad; But I'm never unaffected.

I can't be sure God's sending me messages daily, but I hope I can always feel this connection, and be open to its possibilities.

Anger

What can a woman do about anger?  Our society has us suppress it (until it explodes at an inconvient time/place) or express it as frustration.  Sorry, but that's not working for me.