A New Career

Moon behind winter branches

2/09/12

Back on June 30, 2009, my life was changed dramatically. I was caught in the middle of one student trying to attack another and as a result wound up with a herniated disc in my neck. That disc ultimately ruptured and I required surgery.

My surgery was done in January of 2010 and, although it did alleviate much of my neck pain, I was left with permanent nerve damage affecting my left arm and hand. I was on Lyrica for a good while and it seemed to help with the nerve pain. Eventually, I went off of it because the side-effects were not worth it and only became worse every time my body adapted to the dosage and had to be increased.

As a result of my injury I am left with permanent restrictions which make it impossible for me to perform the full scope of my job duties whether in the field or teaching. Because of this, I was approved by worker's comp for rehabilitative retraining. What that means is that I have been approved to go to school in the field of my choice and it is paid for in it's entirety by worker's comp.

I signed the paperwork with my comp worker yesterday and now it is official. I start school in March. The program of study I have chosen is Paralegal. Way back when, it was a toss up between going medical or legal and I chose medical. Pretty cool that I can go back and study something that I have always taken an interest in. I will be going to school in the evenings and now that Hubz will have new work hours, it looks like we won't need any outside care for lil'man at all.

Every once in awhile we may need sitter coverage and for that we have Boy-20 and Girl-15. When Girl-15 does it, credit will go in her Africa ledger as money earned toward her mission trip next year. (a subject for another post) If Boy-20 does it, it will be chalked up to the 'you are lucky we are not kicking you out and still feeding you' fund. Muhuwahaha!

So, there it is. I start a new chapter in March. I am excited!