9/19/25

 I was thinking about the frustrations of my job today. It’s so much different than being a licensed veterinary technician in a clinic. My biggest stressors as a recruiter are :

1. why didn’t somebody answer my call when they scheduled the appointment the day before?

2. Why would you have a number that doesn’t accept unrecognized numbers when you are interviewing?

3. When I provided the number I was calling from, why didn’t you program it into your phone so your phone recognizes it?

4. If this “happens a lot” why aren’t you investigating why?

5. If you schedule a meeting 3 hours prior, how do you forget said meeting?

I was getting frustrated by multiple factors. The landscape of interviewing is so different than from 20 years ago.

Our local heart transplant friend is not doing well. He had his heart transplant in NYC a year or two prior to us. He is around Ethan’s age. His Mom is doing as well as one would expect. She shared that Rochester doesn’t do transplants on patients that have already had a heart transplant because it is too high risk.

This poor kid is in serious rejection. He has had a cardiac arrest and is currently on ECMO. They are trying to figure out a way to get him transported to NYC to be considered for surgery and potentially “listed” there.

Suddenly, my work problems aren’t so bad. They are minor annoyances in the grand scheme of things.

It’s scary because of how real this reality is and how quickly things can change. I need to be ready to go into battle mode/survival mode at the drop of a hat. Do now, process later.

It really made me appreciate my annoyance with traffic today. I was happy that was the worst of my day. Things could be so much worse. Being trapped in the hell of being at the hospital. Also the fear of them not letting me stay…..which I would find a way to make it happen…bribes….money….candy…..whatever it takes….I would not leave Ethan’s side.

Reframing has always been a valuable lesson I learned from the psych doctor NYC sent to evaluate me. If I reframe my annoyances and remind myself of how lucky we are today, it just doesn’t seem so bad.

If you pick one thing a day to reframe, it can help you perceive things differently. Ask yourself “what am I thankful for today?”