Sometimes the world works in weird ways. As I shared in my last entry, my mother had a kidney transplant in 2006. After the transplant she had many complications requiring hospital stays. For both the transplant and the extended stays, she was on R5 at Maine Medical Center as they focus on nephrology patients. I made a lot of visits to that floor. It got to the point where it would be a regular afternoon coffee break for me. I’d go in after work or on the weekend, grab a cup of coffee from the little kitchen, and visit with my mom. Sometimes Abby, who was a toddler, would have a cup of ice cream during the visit. We spent a lot of time there.
Fast forward to 2009. Griffin was just born and Jason found out his company was being purchased and ultimately he was laid off as his office was shut down. He wasn’t too sad about it. While the job paid fine, had good benefits, and he liked the people he worked with, he didn’t love the job. This wasn’t the best time to be out of work as the economy was rough and jobs weren’t as plentiful, so he didn’t have any luck finding a job that was comparable to what he had. He decided to stay home and be Mr. Mom for a year. Griffin was a baby and Abby was starting kindergarten. Having Jason home was nice because the kids were taken care of, the house was clean, errands and groceries were taken care of, and dinner was made most nights.The only thing missing...a paycheck. After a year off, Jason knew he had to do something.
When he talked about going back to school, especially to be a nurse, I was surprised. This was not a profession I ever expected from him. Having been a submariner in the Navy, working for an insurance company, and then a financial company, nursing seemed quite different. I wasn’t sure if it matched his “sensitive” personality. After all, in his corporate jobs, he’d occasionally have someone break down crying when he met with them and he never knew how to respond to their tears. I’m sure he just wanted to tell them to suck it up. He also gets enjoyment from watching people get hurt. I’ll see him in his chair laughing hysterically and I find out he’s watching videos of people falling. Those sound like perfect traits for tending to sick and injured patients and dealing with their family members.
Despite his “empathetic” ways, Jason applied to the accelerated nursing program at USM, which is for people who already have a Bachelor’s Degree. It is difficult to get into as it has a minimal number of openings and certain requirements must be met. Fortunately, he was accepted. It was a very intensive program and he was required to do well, so he studied a lot. It was a bit challenging at home because I went from having Jason home helping with the kids and doing so much there, to being gone to class, doing clinicals at Maine Med, or studying all the time. It was from one extreme to the other. Although at times I think he may have said he needed to study at the library just to have some peace and quiet from us. Just a theory…
Eventually Jason graduated with his BSN and passed his NCLEX on the first try. He was officially an RN. His first job was at St. Mary’s in Lewiston, but after four months there, he got a job closer to home at Maine Med. Coincidentally, he was hired to work on R5, the same floor my mom spent so much time on. When my mom had her transplant in 2006, we had no idea that Jason would ever become a nurse, let alone one on that floor.
If I am lucky enough to get a kidney and go through the transplant process, I will be a patient on this floor. Jason speaks highly of his co-workers, so I know I’ll be in good hands. Jason did start the process of being a living donor for me since we have the same blood type, but because he has had one kidney stone in his whole life, he has been ruled out. While that’s a bummer for me, it’s probably a good thing for him and his co-workers. If he was a patient on that floor, his co-workers, who are mostly female, would probably see way more of him than they care to. At work he’s wearing scrubs. As a patient, he’d be in a little johnny and they’d have to do what nurses do and that might be awkward for them all.
While I did make mention of Jason’s lack of empathy, it was mostly a joke. Mostly. He really is caring and thoughtful. After all, it was more than just his good looks that made me fall in love with him way back in 1998. I think his character attributes in addition to his previous work experiences make him a good nurse. I know he truly likes what he’s doing and that wasn’t the case when he worked in the corporate world. He finds helping others much more rewarding. I think those patients on R5 are lucky to have him. I know I am.
