#320 - LC

#320 is a girl that I met on my first day of work.  She was a PT tech which means that her job was to bring patients back from the lobby to the treatment rooms and then to assist the therapists with whatever the need to terms of treatment.  #320 and I were the same age, so right off the bat, it was kinda awkward.  I was not technically her boss, but I still had to tell her what to do.  She was a little stand-offish at first, but it did not take her long to figure out that I was going to be a friend, not foe.  She and I worked well together and slowly as I took over the position as the office manager, I gave her more and more job duties.  She did great with all of them.  Her biggest problem was her self confidence.  She did not go to college and she did not feel comfortable being in charge of the really important stuff.  One of the main duties that she took on was computer work.  Being of a younger generation, she was not scared of the computers like some of the other ladies in the office.  When we (I really mean me) decided to dictate our daily patient notes instead of hand writing them, #320 took over as our transcriptionist.  She had to learn a lot of medical terms and lingo, but worked really hard and did a great job.  As she grew more confident, she started to realize that she had potential to move up in the medical field.  Long story short, she got married, went back to school and got a degree in medical coding, and took a job at the hospital with better hours and benefits.  Since then, she has had two children, and continues to work hard and do well. 

I have seen her several times over the years when she has had trouble with her back, and when one of her children had some medical issues.  She calls me from time to time when she has a question or a problem that she thinks I can help her with.  I am always glad to hear from her and we spend more time catching up than working on the problem.  I have gotten to know her family also.  They are good old folk from down da bayou.  The kind of people who make friends for life, and when you are friends with one, you are friends with all.  Being from down da bayou, #320 talks pretty flat, if you know what I mean sha.  I cannot go into detail on this blog, but she taught me a few Cajun French words that opened my eyes and made me smile.  When I hear these words from patients from down da same bayou, I always smile and think of #320.