Saturday, November 13, 2010

Back to Work

Monday the 8th of November was my first day at work in 4 months and 1 week. That's 130 days of not wearing a pager. The time off was valuable in many ways and has provided memories that will last the rest of my life. I had 2 major goals in taking the time off; prepare for the US National and World Championships and, just as important, to see if I could not work. Historically, I have not done well with down time. I probably have some element of ADD. To my surprise, I had no problem whatsoever not working. At no time did I feel antsy about not doing something. I did not feel guilty for not accomplishing something. Trish and I stayed busy with lots of travel and obviously exercising, but still, there were times with nothing to do. I loved it. I read 6 books, had time to connect with friends and spent lots of time with my dad. All in all, a spectacular time off.

My first day back to work was a bit of a shock. I was a little out of sync and inefficient. My first operation, a pacemaker, happened on day 2. It all came back very quickly. I guess after 30 years of doing something it is fairly ingrained. By weeks end I had seen nearly 100 patients and done 6 operative procedures. Friday night after seeing my last patient I had the familiar deep fatigue I had not felt for 130 days but have known far too many times in my career. Despite that, I am happy to be back at work. It is a gift to feel wanted and appreciated and I felt both on my return. I felt it from patients and colleagues, alike.

My training will drop off substantially over the next month but will then pick up. I will start to train for the Argus Cycle Tour, a 110 KM road race in CapeTown, South Africa in early March, 2011. I have high hopes of winning my age group. Hopefully, things at work will stay at a dull roar and allow for quality training.

This may be the last entry in this blog for a while. I don't want to bore people with the mundane happenings of my work life. Looking at the stats section of the blog, I note that the blog has been looked at more than 1500 times. Truly amazing. Someone from Germany read it this week. How does that happen? I don't know anyone in Germany. Anyway, to all of you who have read along, sent good wishes and just been there with me throughout this epic, I am truly appreciative.

Thanks for reading.

Larry Wolff

1 comment:

  1. Don't even THINK of cutting back on your writing. Keep it up!

    ReplyDelete