Character Building

 

Fall 2005

I don't sleep the night before the first day of school.  Ever.  It started my first year teaching.  A combination of excitement and anxiety keeps my mind spinning and me tossing and turning all night.  When that alarm starts beeping, I bounce out of bed and get ready in record time, energized by the adrenaline coursing through my body. Now that I'm into my 8th year teaching, the adrenaline rush of the first day quickly wears off and my morning slows down considerably. 

But that first year was rough.  Almost everyday was like the first day.  Up at 5 am, to work by 6:30 am, home by 6:30 pm if I was lucky.  Often I'd get up at 4 am and start working because I couldn't sleep.  With a caseload of 35 kids in two schools, ages 8-17, and disabilities ranging from mild to severe, I was stressed to the max.  For once in my life I was glad that both of my parents are therapists.  Through talking with them I was able to develop some habits that minimized the sleepless nights and helped me get through that first year. 

By the time school had started, the loss of vision I experienced over the summer had vastly improved, allowing me to drive the 40 minutes to work each day.  However, the stress I was experiencing triggered another attack.  Fortunately for me, this one was not as disabling.  Numbness wrapped around my torso, leaving a sensation similar to wearing a tight band around my chest.  Patches of numbness appeared on my legs.  One leg began to drag slightly behind the other, making it difficult for me to walk.  It was impossible to run.

At 23, I was clueless about how insurance worked.  I knew I had it, but I had never used my own policy.  Now I was across the country, without a primary care physician or a neurologist, and I needed help.  I called the MS Clinic in Rochester, but because of my policy and distance, they were unable to prescribe anything.  I couldn’t wait to get an appointment with a primary care physician, a referral to a neurologist, and finally an appointment with a neurologist to obtain the prednisone I knew I needed.  Plus, it was the weekend.  I couldn’t wait.  I had work on Monday!  So it was off to the emergency room.

After seeing several doctors, very briefly, they approved the IV of prednisone and started the 3-day course immediately.  Initially, I was thrilled.  I had managed to obtain the treatment I needed (on my own, how grown up!), and after the first couple of days I was already noticing improvement in my mobility.  Then the first bill arrived.  And another.  Followed by several more. 

I had no idea that each of the doctors that said so much as “hi” to me would be sending me a bill for hundreds of dollars.  In the end the tab was over $4,000.  I broke down.  How would I manage to pay this?  I had no savings and was barely managing living expenses and paying off student loans.  I called the billing office in tears and the kind woman on the other end told me to stop by and figure out a payment plan.  They helped me figure out a manageable amount that I could pay each month.  It was rough for a while trying to figure out how to live on such a limited budget, but as Calvin's dad would say, it builds character. 

 Comic by Bill Watterson