Thethil

I'm back at work! Yay! It feels great. I'm starting slow with just a few hours a day, but it's enough to get me out of bed, force me to put some pants on, and actually use my brain (there's also the added perk of socializing with my work buddies!) I'm still experiencing some pain in both knees, but the pain is totally manageable and I'm spending most of my days sans crutch and sans brace. I texted Dr. M, "Guess what? I'm crutchless and braceless!" and then nearly had a heart attack when I thought I had typed, "I'm crotchless and braless" (although entertaining, that would have been...weird). Anyways, I'm free! I was also happy to hear that Britney was releasing her new video, "Work Bitch" this week. It's no coincidence that she's back in fantastic shape singing, "You better work bitch," the exact same week that I'm returning after 5 months of being down and out. I'm pickin' up what you're puttin' down, Brit Brit.

After 5 months away from the hospital, I really do appreciate my job and the people that I work with. It seems to me that so few people actually enjoy what they do for a living, and although 5 months away from the office may sound like a grand idea, it's made me realize just how much I appreciate and enjoy the people I work with and the job that I do. My awesome office-mate, Heidi, covered my patients for me the entire time that I was gone. She never complained to me once. Heidi rocks. Heidi and I share a passion for speech therapy and the adult population. It's our thing. This week as we caught up, discussing complicated cases and brainstorming therapy ideas, I felt whole and consciously aware of the fact that this piece has been missing from my life. It feels great to be back doing what I love.

The one thing that's been missing from my epic week back to work is a phonecall from my favorite patient, "Thethil."

When I first began working as a Speech-Language Pathologist nearly 8 years ago, I received a call from a man who was in desperate need of speech therapy services.

This man explained that his name was "Cecil," however, with the terrible frontal lisp that he demonstrated, it sounded more like "Thethil." He explained that he had lived with this frontal lisp his entire life and now that he was 30, he was ready and willing to work on improving his speech.

Calmly and professionally, I explained to Cecil that he would need to commit to regular therapy with myself in order to eliminate the frontal lisp. As I explained the process, Cecil began laughing hysterically. It soon became apparent to me that "Thethil" was actually Evan. Funny. What a jerk - mocking my noble profession 3 weeks into my first job!

About a month later, I received a call at work from a gentleman with a terrible stutter. As he painfully attempted to explain that he had stuttered his whole life and was now finally ready to receive therapy, I put two and two together and and just knew that Evan was playing with me again. I wasn't going to let him get away with it this time.

"Yep, Ok sure, " I responded on the phone, "sounds like you stutter alright - good one."

As the line went silent, a sickening sensation took over me....Shit. This was not Evan. This was a patient. A real patient. Oh my god. I quickly backtracked and began a professional and compassionate response that I would normally offer a patient in this situation. I managed to save it, but felt terrible for the way I had initially responded, assuming Thethil was back at it.

Four years later when I received my job as an SLP in Prince Albert, I was excited to check my very first voicemail message. I sat down, pen in hand, ready to document my communication with my first patient in my new position. I couldn't help but laugh hysterically when i heard,

"Kirthtie! It'th Thethil! Where have you been? I mithed you tho mucth!"

Thethil! If you're out there, I'm back at work again buddy! Call me :)