Picking Up the Pieces

Muhammad Ali once said “It isn’t the mountain ahead to climb that wears you out. Its the pebble in your shoe.” We are all inherently strong enough to overcome our obstacles, its the smallest thing that’ll stop you short of reaching your goals. After losing my mother to Alzheimer's disease and suffering a heart attack to begin 2016 it felt like I had more than a pebble in my shoe; there was a pebble, a thorn and a couple razor blades as well, and that mountain was more like staring up at a sheer cliff.

There wasn’t much I could do but immediately set a goal (after never having been very goal oriented), and that goal was simply to never have another heart attack. The first step was dietary; I cut out dairy, alcohol, starchy foods, fat, anything that wasn’t whole grain, and lots of other things. Fruits and vegetables by the truck load have become my staple, along with brown rice and many varieties of beans. Eventually I was able to begin cardiac rehab, a closely monitored exercise program followed. I set the goal to shed pounds and the weight started peeling off! Lab work showed that I had lowered my A1C number several points and my cholesterol level had plummeted while my good cholesterol came up to a healthy level. With my way of eating (I wont call it a diet) and exercise program firmly established, I finished cardiac rehab and set about preparing to go back to work. I enlisted the help of a social worker who directed me to services at HonorHealth John C Lincoln, at the Desert Mission Food Bank, and a lady there named Mary Perez. After meeting with Mary I signed up to receive boxes of food from the food bank, which I’m proud to say is a wonderful service! Mary gave me contact info for a non-profit service called AWEE; Arizona Womens Education and Employment, which isn’t limited to helping women. I went to AWEE for their resume building workshop and to pick out some clothing from their clothing bank. I’d lost so much weight that I literally had NO pants! They provided me a pair of black slacks and a couple dress shirts and I reciprocated a couple days later by dropping off a few large pairs of pants that will never fit me again. That same day I went to their resume writing workshop and got very pointed advice from a lady named Juanita, who has 15 years experience in screening resumes in HR. She basically rewrote my resume and it was vastly improved with her help.

So with new dress clothes and a solid resume in hand, a clear head and a much improved heart, I applied for a few jobs around Phoenix. The third job I applied for was at HonorHealth JCL, I also considered volunteering there, but was almost immediately told I was ineligible for rehire! It seems my previous supervisor at Scottsdale Healthcare, who had it out for me, in her vindictive nature checked off a box when I left for UMC in Tucson, way back in 2009, that I was ineligible to be rehired. I fought back against her assertion as I had left on good terms, had properly tendered my resignation. The HR person at SHC took up my case and found me to be in the right, he was apologetic and told me “we dont do that kind of thing around here!,” and encouraged me to reapply, which I did...promptly. The pessimist in me said that it wouldn’t matter much, that they were just throwing me a bone and would say “sorry, but we selected someone else, good luck.”

To make a short story long, which I’ve done here (sorry!), I got called for an interview in diagnostic imaging support at John C Lincoln hospital. Yesterday they called again...they offered me the job and I accepted!

The reason for the long story is about goal-setting, reaching out for help when you need it, giving back to those who help you, standing up for yourself, and not being deterred by that pebble in your shoe. In my own way, after staring death in the face, I’m moving onward and upward with goals set and a path to get there. I’d like to thank those folks that recently gave me glowing references - you know who you are - I appreciate you guys! I’m now looking forward to reuniting with my cardiac rehab team as both a patient and coworker. I feel like I’ve come full circle.

And most of all, I have to thank my sister Liz, who has been like an angel in helping me. Without her I might’ve slid right off the mountain with a pebble, thorn, and razor blades stuck in my shoe forever. 

Jesse A.

8/9/2016