Determined to make a change
October 16th 2004, I will always remember where I was at every minute of that day. Why, you might wonder, it is the day my father lost his 10 month battle with small cell carcinoma of the left lung. December 14th 2003, the day my parents were given the diagnosis of this disease, “Mr. Gomes you have Lung Cancer”, we are scheduling you for your 1st cycle of Chemotherapy on December 16th” Our world fell apart. My dad had begun his journey to the end. Every trip to the hospital was good and not so good news. Some of the physicians and nursing staff we encountered were compassionate others were “just doing their shift “. This drove my mother and I crazy. Lack of knowledge about the disease, about what the treatments meant, what the reports told us, being left at the mercy of the on call doctor/s and nursing staff to transcribe the reports within the 5 minutes they had to spare before they skipped off to the next patient was exasperating.
I never got to spend as much time with my father, he was always working to give my mum and I a good life. While he was focused on this, life floated by. His dreams of retiring at the age of 65 to spend time with his grand kids in the US and to travel to the parts of the world he had not visited. To open a woodwork shop where he could design and manufacture custom made furniture, which was his passion. To spend time in his garden.to take long drives through the country side in England . I got to spend 3 precious weeks with him before he passed away. I am grateful for those 3 weeks.
From this personal loss experience, I learned how important it is to make memories with your kids for that is all they will have once you are gone. This brought me to deciding on becoming an MT. The flexibility of working from home, part time and or full time. In September 2009 I entered the medical field when I signed up for night school to become a Medical Administrative Assistant. This gave me ability to read and understand medical terminology and get a better understanding of the medical world and its workings. Medical Transcription, was my next level of achievement, it will give me the freedom of working at my own schedule which allows me time with my family.
In the ever changing world of Health Care and all the reforms that are coming to us, I see how important the medical personnel has become. I am determined to make it in the medical transcription field, for the love of the medical field and all that comes with it. I owe all my higher education, to both my parents. One who is living and should she have medical issues, I will be in a position to have a better understanding of the medical terminology and reports. To the wonderful man that drew his last breath on October 16th
WRITTEN BY: Karen Ferdinands
For a great article on the medical transcription industry check out this link.
