...you make lemonade, and God gives the sugar to make it that much sweeter. I found out about 5 days before Christmas that my job contract was going to be cancelled. I knew going into my contract term that there was a clause in there that I could be terminated "without cause"...but my hospital company told they had only used that once or twice - ever! So, after a day of seeing my handful of Pediatric patients at our new clinic that had only been open about 3 and a half months, one of my 2 other partners and I were called to a "financial meeting" with the CEO. He cut to the chase and told us he was "sorry" and for financial reasons, our contracts were being terminated and this was our 90-day notice, but that our clinical services ended that day. My heart totally sank, and not because I was going to be out of a job, but because I have some patients (and parents) that I really love and care about, and I felt like I was now going to let them down somehow. But my partner and I packed up our offices, turned in our badges and keys and walked out...we were done.
That night I couldn't sleep, I wanted to cry, but I was so mad that I couldn't...and I knew there was no reason to feel sorry for myself - I didn't do anything wrong except pick a job were there weren't enough patients to supply 3 Pediatricians. I laid in bed forever, and when I finally fell asleep, I woke promptly at 5:30, got up, showered and quickly updated my CV. I knew of a few jobs that had openings in the area, but none of them were in my town (not that I wanted to go to a practice that was affiliated with the same hospital anyway). In less than 24 hours, I had contacted 5 practices/offices and 4 of them scheduled a meeting within the following week (even though it was Christmas week). Unfortunately for us, we bought a house in the town of my old job, so moving was out of the question...there's no way we could sell our house or pay 2 mortgages - we quickly realized this.
We did a lot of praying in the following weeks, and everyone was so supportive of me...I even had patients' parents calling to see if I knew where I'd work next because they wanted to follow me if I'd be practicing close enough to them - so sweet. I had so many things to consider with my options...do I join a practice that was offering partnership or do I work for a corporation, or another hospital (yikes!)? Would I have nursery privileges, mommy call, weekend hours, and what was the salary anyway? ...I knew I'd be taking a significant pay-cut anywhere I went. I had finally made my decision, which was a really hard one because it meant no nursery, a 40 min drive to work every day and likely a weekend commitment once or twice a month, but everyone was so nice and seemed flexible to help me and my family - I was going to call them and let them know I'd take the job at noon after Weston was down for his nap. Only then a strange thing happened, that morning, I got a text from another job offer that they were willing to increase my salary (very close to my previous wage). Would it be greedy of me to take this job just because of this offer? Or was this God's way of saying...hey lady, take this job that has nursery and clinic work, gives you an opportunity to serve "the least of these", has the best health insurance and retirement and a chance to work with your friend and colleague from residency that you've already worked with for the past 3 years? Hmm...maybe now I'm starting to see what He's doing here. So I called the one with the most recent offer and asked a few more questions (that's just what I do) and then I had to call everyone else and tell them I took the job. Starting in late February/early March, I will be working for HealthFirst Bluegrass, which is part of the Lexington Health Department, to take care of nursery babies and clinic patients. I know that God is watching out for me and he has always taken care of me and my family...so this is my lemonade. Now I have another month to sit back and relax (scratch that)...run around after a toddler, and visit as many friends and family as possible. Just in the last month we have seen four friends from college (Sarah & David; Angela; Donna), 2 friends from medical school (Sarah, Selina); and some of my family (my Dad, Step mom Dee, Amy, Uncle Tim and Aunt Tammy) and I had Christmas and New Year's off for the first time in 3 years....how fantastic is that? God is good :)
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