I’ve been working at Children’s Hospital Oakland for the past 10 years and it has been a wonderful learning experience.

I also made some very good friends along the way and they have become family to me.

Over the last 5 years, my life has become more complicated with the addition of not only one but two little kids. I’ve been doing my best to continue working full time but sometimes I’ve felt like I’ve had to make compromises either as a therapist or as a mom. Regardless, I haven’t felt like I’ve done well in either lately.

To make matters more stressful, we went through some staffing changes that have impacted my work life.

• The caseload /schedule that was given to me this past year has also become more of a grind. I was no longer given opportunities to learn or work toward my professional goals.
• Close friends, Teresa and Stephanie, left this past year for different reasons and the office had become increasingly lonely.

Thankfully, Ranee consistently works on Mondays and Thursdays and she has been my source of sanity at work. We’ve also grown up together and are enjoying seeing our kids grow up together as well.

With KK starting Kindergarten this fall, I’ve had to think long and hard about what my priorities are and what changes we need to make this coming year. Last year, we started looking for a house outside of SF, which started my re-evaluation process.  Once we moved to Alameda, I made the decision to start looking elsewhere. After a few months at Kaiser, Teresa gave me the scoop on how her life was now with her new work schedule. She was clearly happier and felt that the decision to leave CHO was worth it.

I had some conversations with the director at Kaiser and other people on her staff and learned that maybe there was a position that would be more agreeable to my family’s  need.  After a long period of consideration and negotiations, I decided to make the leap and resign in order to take a 32-hour position at Kaiser.

My last day at CHO will be on September 8th and my start day at Kaiser will be on September 25th. I took this photo with my OT team last week after my last staff meeting with them.

The new position will give me some flexibility with my schedule, one day off per week, a slight salary rate increase, and a promotion to Clinical Specialist.  Although the decision is bittersweet, I know that this change will be an opportunity for our family and for me to have a reset. I also know that the friendships I’ve made were built to last. To make the deal just a little sweeter, Teresa was told the other day that she will be sharing her cubicle with me at Kaiser.  It’ll be nice to have a familiar face at such as new place.

This coming week will be my last at CHO and it will be a busy and emotional one.  I hope that it will go smoothly and I’ll be able to say goodbye graciously.