MT Inner Circle

As 2012 draws to a close, I am doing one final post in the “12 in 12” series you may have been following with MT Inner Circle.  Thank you, Kathy, for allowing me to be a blogger for your community.  I have enjoyed your posts all year and I hope I have been able to contribute a blog on the lighter side of life for your readers.

November is traditionally a month to give thanks and this year doing that on a daily basis was a good reminder of what blessings I have in my life, and surely yours too.  Hurricane Sandy brought into focus for many of us what is important, how a community can help others in needs great and small, and how loss comes in many shapes and forms.  Putting things into perspective on a daily basis is a good way to live as every little nuisance does not need to overwhelm, every little problem does not need to take over our emotions.

In December I focused on bringing added value to each day, putting into practice some of the past year’s “12 in 12” actions and what I have learned in the process:  Just 15 minutes a day, every day,  to work towards a goal is  achievable.  Accountability helps.  Small goals may lead to larger dreams.  The perceived value of the goal influences its success.  Not achieving a goal has its own hidden message.  Goals are really stepping stones to a life one envisions. That last one is the most important, if you ask me.

Here is a look back at 2012, “2012:  What Brought Us Together.”  Happy New Year!

Happy December! I hope you are getting ready for your holiday season and finding some time to stop and enjoy it. I find this time of year can tend to get really hectic, so if you can build  in some quiet relax time, be sure to do that!

The December issue of MT Link is out! We are so lucky to have the folks who produce this awesome newsletter let us post it here. It’s a great thing for the MT industry and one you won’t want to miss. You can find it on the MT Link page.

Another great thing that comes with the holiday is the Advent Calendar at MT Desk. I love this because it’s so full of things related to the holidays, from songs, to recipes, to ideas for decorating and ideas for doing for others. Put this one on you calendar and visit often as each day opens something new.

Have a great week!

In Danish the name “Mathilde” traces its root back to German and means “Mighty in Battle.”  Mathilde swept into our lives in October as a college exchange student and it sure was a crazy ride for everyone.  Week one, Mathilde; week four, Hurricane Sandy.

Having Mathilde come into our lives is one of those occurrences that may not have even happened if we listened to the voices around us.  As an adjunct professor at a local college I often see postings for host families needed as students come to study from abroad.  For some reason, a posting recently for the same caught my eye…..students from Denmark coming for one month, activities planned for weekends, classes for weekdays.  We live less than a mile from the school, have two spare bedrooms our own kids no longer need, and, frankly, we couldn’t think of a good reason not to do it!  My husband and I gave it some thought, weighed the “don’t do it” advice of prior hosts, and decided to follow our instinct and jump in.  Background check, application, itinerary, and logistics ironed out, and we were all set.  This was going to be a perfect “12 in 12” challenge as it certainly was out of my comfort zone and would require daily commitment!

From the day the students arrived and we met Mathilde, we could totally relax and open our home.  It was like having a family member come to visit.  She understood English very well and what we couldn’t quite discern from each other we used the iPad to Google or pull up photos.  We met her family by Skype and she met ours by Facetime before meeting them in person.  We opened our world up to her and she opened hers up to ours.  I can hardly put into words what a great experience this was for us.  Our daughter studied abroad several times and we saw the enrichment this brought to her life on her return.  This time we saw that enrichment happen right in front of us and it was remarkable.  After the initial jet lag wore off and the schedule kicked in, we were fortunate to have other students to our home, take out to dinner or give a home-cooked meal.  They were similar to 18-year-olds in the US in many ways but also dissimilar in many ways.  It was fun to have our world open up too as we spent time with them……flexibility, miscommunication, mishaps, lots of laughing and lots of junk food were all good parts of the experience for us all!

As their last week approached, we were all faced with a different challenge coming our way…..Hurricane Sandy.  As the hurricane approached and the east coast braced for the storm, the students retreated to the homes of their host families and their families in Denmark braced for news from the US.  Our area received strong winds, massive power outages, structural damage, etc., but nothing like those of the states just east of us, who lost homes and lives.  The students were not only lucky in that they were not in imminent danger but that they experienced the resourcefulness and resiliency of the American spirit.  By the time they flew out Friday, 4 days after the hurricane, they certainly had a great appreciation for Mother Nature, heat, electricity, warm food, hot showers, family, community, and our national spirit.

Mathilde was Skyping with her parents when a 25-foot tree fell down in our backyard, then shared with us the loss of power, a long night of hurricane winds, and news from our family members and friends over the next few days as to their safety and challenges post hurricane.  She went outside with us when the storm passed and saw more of our downed trees and home damage, damage to our community, damage to businesses, road closures, school closures, and later helped us open our home to family, friends, and exchange students who were without power for more days than us.  Mathilde was officially part of our family and helped us make the best of the situation, as we all counted our blessings.  As power, computers, phones, and storm cleanup commenced, we all ended the month knowing that the people in our lives are what is important, that the things in our lives enrich but do not replace our basic needs, and that the ride at Disneyworld “It’s a Small World” is not just a fantasy.  […and I know that song will now be stuck in your head]

Teacher Turned Student

Every 5-10 years I find myself with a “free” semester when the class I teach gets cancelled for one reason or another.  I generally find this a nice break to have extra time on my hands, specifically that night of the week I am not in the classroom for 4 hours, but also for the extra time I am not putting towards preparation, grading, and all of that joyful stuff that follows the professor home.  The last time this happened I was so excited that within an hour of hearing the cancellation I signed up for an EBay class I had my eye on for years.  That class sparked me to start a business and by the end of the “real” semester I had launched a business and became a power seller!  That has remained a pretty successful side business, much to our surprise and our tax man’s happiness.

This time around I decided my fall class cancellation was a good time for me to become a student again.  I wrestled with taking a formal class, starting a new career path, or taking one of the ONC programs online.  After much research and many sleepless nights, I realized nothing was jumping out at me as the right thing to do, at least not right now.  I have a few ideas of where my professional life may need to go in the future, but additional formal education in September was not the right choice.  Instead, I decided September was my month to become a “student of the world.”  I know, very corny.

I had the pleasure of attending the first night of a coding/billing course at the community college where I teach.  I was given permission to audit the course but knew after that first night that if I was going to invest in the four books I may as well take the course for credit and matriculate in the program.  However, that one night in the classroom was awesome!  Not only was I the “teacher turned student” but the teacher was a former student of mine!  She did an awesome job and I learned a few teaching tips from her that will enhance my own classroom next semester.  It was also good to meet the students as a student myself, learning about their interests, reasons for being in the program, challenges of balancing school, work, and families.  Sometimes when I am the teacher I only hear of these things when there is a problem, sometimes as an excuse as to why they are falling behind.  It is a good reminder that even when I don’t hear firsthand what their life is like outside the classroom, I should be mindful of that.

My teacher-turned-student continued through AHDI-NEMA, mostly in preparation for our annual meeting in Richmond in mid-October, but also ongoing initiatives.  I tried to organize that aspect of my life and stay on top of things as I currently serve on the board and have a responsibility to help engage our members and bring value to their membership. There is a lot to learn about leadership and how the organization runs, especially as it is a chapter in infancy.  There is now one regional chapter representing 13 states and Washington,DC, so I will need to continue to wear the “student” hat and learn the ropes and adapt to changes we need for our members.  Virtually all of our meetings are done via webinars or conference calls, but we do have the face-to-face conference once a year and local chapters do the same several times a year.  There is something quite different about learning in front of a computer and learning in a group setting and I am thankful I can do both at this point in my life.

I also attended a meeting of a local chapter of AHIMA, something I never made time for.  I am so glad I attended!  We share a common language, a common healthcare work environment, and common challenges as our industry undergoes change.  I enjoyed knowledge from the speakers, the attendees, as well as the intangible good feeling of being with others for a few hours that were utter strangers until that moment yet were instant colleagues.  Definitely plan on continuing this opportunity to be part of their chapter.

One of my favorite learning experiences this month was attending a USA Hockey Coaching Symposium.  No, I do not coach or play hockey but my husband does, and he serves as the USA Hockey Coach-In-Chief for the Atlanta District.  He ran the meeting and I always benefit from seeing a meeting from both sides….the planning and the actual meeting.  Most attendees have no idea what goes on behind the scenes to bring speakers and resources together for a 3-day program.  Whether it is 400 hockey coaches or 400 health care professionals, the process is similar, as is the experience.  Bringing value and education to the professionals who are working in the field.  Hockey-specifics aside, I learned a lot about leadership, integrity, honesty, and humor from the variety of speakers from the NHL, college coaches, and referees.  Everyone has a story we can learn from…even from hockey.

Is it really month 8 in this year-long challenge?  This is hard to do!  I recently learned that the inspiration for this blog, Fitarella, jumped off her own project.  She got me going on this commitment idea and it looks like I am going solo now.  Maybe some of you readers can help me along the last quarter so I make it to the end.  Who said change is easy?  Certainly not me…or Fitarella!

Employment from home, continuing education online, meetings online, shopping and selling online, etc., all keep me indoors most days.  I often joke that I could be a recluse if I wasn’t careful as you can get just about any service at home nowadays –  groceries, dry-cleaning, dog grooming, meals, pharmacy, and then there’s craigslist for just about everything else.  Heck, even religious visitors and politicians come calling!  Half the summer had gone by and I did not feel I was enjoying it.  You know when you’re a kid and the summers were so awesome?  I wanted that again, even if it were only 15 minutes a day, which technically is all I commit to in this monthly challenge.  I was sure August would be the perfect month to force myself outside to at least walk, enjoy nature, maybe even shed some of that baby weight (although I had the “baby” almost 30 years ago so I wasn’t expecting a miracle).  Fifteen minutes a day rain or shine sounded so ridiculously short – I was sure I would be out there for much longer once I broke away.  My only “requirement” of myself was that I had to stay out of an MRI machine…..let’s just say I had past experience with spinning that I did not care to repeat.  I wasn’t going to do anything crazy outside, just go outside and enjoy the planet!

Started out well, taking a 10-day vacation on a cruise ship first week of August.  No problem enjoying nature for those days!  Swimming, walking, miniature golf on the ship, rock climbing (I just watched but it was outdoors!), enjoying the ocean breeze morning, noon, and night.  Life was good and I felt pretty good too.  We even did a charity walk for Make-A-Wish while on board and a zip-line inHaiti.  Our good friend on the cruise broke her heel in Bermuda and her week in a wheelchair made me appreciate my mobility and the great outdoors more and more.  Back home, I was sure the sun, the tan, and the memories would propel me to keep up my outdoor theme when we got back.  I was looking forward to lunch hour walks, gardening, catching up with my neighbors, enjoying the birds, visiting our parks, and slowing down.  I managed to do it most days but not all, through no fault but my own.  I chose it, I realized it was good, but that practice part was tough.  Old habits of not making that a priority snuck in some of the days, unexpected “life” snuck in on others.  Plan B was not always an option and I didn’t always look for a plan C.  Some days I tried to rationalize it by justifying Zumba class….after all I did exercise, and I was “outdoors” from my car to the gym.  However, although I didn’t quite make the mark every single day this month, I have to say the days I did were better in so many ways.  I worked more productively, felt better physically and mentally, and knew it was a missing piece of my life that I should commit to again.  Losing the baby weight, now that is a bit unrealistic with just 15 minutes a day, but starting that bit of exercise should be a bare minimum of what I should require of myself.  Enjoying the beauty of the outdoors, even if just a short stroll on my lunch hour or after dinner, is really a gift I should give myself as often as possible.  I am still working on it.  And I did stay out of the MRI machine!

The September 2012 edition of MT Link is now out! You won’t want to miss this one as it has some great articles and some fun things in it.

Included in this issue:

• A great list of EHR terms
• A fun word search puzzle
• Curious about some of the strange laws we still have on our books in America? Don’t miss this list!
• The ever popular spot the errors column
• New FDA approved drugs
• And much more!

MT Link is a newsletter for MTs, published by MTs! We’re fortunate that they have chosen to have a home here as well. My thanks to those folks who produce this great newsletter. It is a wonderful resource for all of us.

Get your copy of MT Link today!

Oops…it’s almost the end of month eight and I am just getting around to telling you about month seven.  Can’t say I haven’t thought about writing this but my brain is still a bit in August vacation mode.  Sorry!

I thought of July as a good month to de-stress and I planned to practice something every day in that regard.  July was a bit of “calm before the storm.”  August’s calendar was already a nightmare and I was getting ajada just thinking about it.  So my plan was to pretty much ignore what was coming – after all the beginning of August had a nice 10-day vacation kicking it off so I could be in “ignore” mode for over 40 days.  Kind of like being holed up in an ark not worrying about the storm swirling outside.

It was a joy to spend time every day just doing something I liked and finding new things to like in the process.  Some days I spent this all-too-brief time doing nothing at all – which is not easy for us Type A people!  I played lots of Words With Friends, Scramble, Matching with Friends, and Hanging With Friends, which was great relaxation after a full day of work.  (Look for me if you want to play – username Judy CMT.)  I have to admit some of my de-stress things were probably not good for me or time well spent but I enjoyed them all the same.  I read a trashy book (Fifty Shades of Grey, couldn’t resist the hype), earned some gift cards on Viggle, baked, took my grandchildren to Old McDonald’s, went to lots of garage sales and even had an impromptu garage sale of my own.

Early in the month I asked some young adults at a party what this Pinterest thing was all about and why they liked it so much.  I decided this virtual bulletin board was worth a try and I will admit I was hooked after just one day.  It was very relaxing and definitely a de-stress activity.  I just had to “pin” things to my virtual bulletin board and it was accessible at the stroke of the keyboard.  Besides my own pinnings, I have thoroughly enjoyed visiting other people’s boards and seeing the vast amount of beautiful, interesting photos, recipes, craft ideas, etc.  Today I read an article titled “Health Care and Pinterest:  Not Just a Website for Finding Recipes” and now have a host of other boards to check out with health information.  Definitely keeping this new hobby!

I have a hard time relaxing and this month gave me some food for thought on why that should be a priority.  By the time the Olympics started I was packing for a cruise, relaxed, and in a great mood.  My husband didn’t begin packing until the night before and I was even okay with that.  Not my problem if he forgot something (which, of course, he did!).

Month seven:  success!

“What I Did on my Summer Vacation.”  Remember having to write that essay when returning to school in the fall?  For this month’s “12 in 12” I took a virtual vacation.  Every day.  No fees, no luggage, no complicated travel itineraries.  For the month of June I felt like I travelled the world via my computer by some spectacular professional (and amateur) photography and videos.  It was a complete joy to visit the World Wonders Project by Google.  Using Street View, 3D modeling, and other technologies, they have posted photos and information on some of the most famous sites on earth, world heritage sites, most of which I have never had the pleasure of seeing in person and certainly never will.  Using their 360-degree pan feature of some of the featured photos, you actually get the feeling that you are standing there looking around.  It was breathtaking as well as enlightening, as each location and theme included text.  I learned a lot and thoroughly enjoyed those minutes each day when I could “travel” to my chosen destination and enjoy the view.  It really felt like a month of mini vacations….minus the airline fees, passport, and jet lag.  It was sheer pleasure.  Try it!

Am I a loser?  May’s “12 in 12” proved to be more challenging than I anticipated and I definitely did not rise successfully to the project.  This was the first month I was not able to keep up with my plan.  Since I had tackled the backlog of reading during the winter in February’s challenge, I did not think another reading challenge would be trouble.  I was wrong!  Here’s the scoop – life got in the way of my good intentions.  I found myself playing catch-up more often than not.  Who said change is easy?

My plan was to actually keep up with a few 365-day books I never seem to complete.  I chose The Maxwell Daily Reader, The Grandmother’s Bible, and Courageous Faith Through the Year.  One short reading from each book each day.  That would certainly jump start me to keep going the rest of the year and finally read these books cover to cover.  Good intentions?  Maybe.

The beginning of the month found me attending the Florida AHDI state meeting.  I totally forgot to pack any of the books.  The next weekend found me headed to Buffalofor a visit…forgot the reading material again.  Obviously I was not setting myself up for success.  Add to those excursions a few days of illness, a few days of company, and I got totally side tracked.  One day I was envisioning I Love Lucy when she couldn’t keep up with the conveyor belt of chocolates.  My “12 in 12” was totally derailed and going down the tubes quicker than I could figure out how far behind I truly was.  Yikes!

To be honest, those are just excuses.  It wasn’t a matter of time to do the month’s “12 in 12.”  Life did not get in the way of this.  I got in the way of this.  I lacked focus.  Every day this month I “found” the time to play Words With Friends, read two newspapers, and check Facebook.  Today while writing this blog I took a Facebook break and reality set in.  It wasn’t that I couldn’t do the challenge, I lacked focus, discipline, and motivation to do it.  Those were all things coming from me, not “life.”  Even writing this blog took me two weeks because I just kept procrastinating and couldn’t get myself started….until one day here was an article waiting for me in my Facebook stream:  “Top 10 Reasons Why Losers Give Up:  And How Not To Be a Loser Too!”  Talk about a nudge from the universe!

According to the post by Ani Chibukhchyan, here are the top 10 reasons why losers give up too soon:

1.  “You Can’t Do It!”

2.  Your Life is Already Good Enough

3.  You Lack Self-Confidence

4.  You Lack Focus

5.  You Don’t See Immediate Results

6.  You Lack Motivation, Enthusiasm, and Inspiration

7.  It’s Not Your Dream!

8.  You Miss Your Comfort Zone

9.  People Think It’s a Stupid Idea!

10.  You Think It Should Be Easy.

I think most of those fit the bill for why I was not successful this month.  No matter when I tried to plug that 15 minutes into my day, it was a struggle.  The struggle was all in my head because the reality is just about anything can be done for just 15 minutes a day.  It just took more stick-to-it-iveness than I could muster this month.  I gave myself a good talking to and I have hopes June’s challenge is going to go a little better.

Am I a loser?  I would rather think of this as a reality check.  I lacked focus, not time.  Fifteen minutes a day is really not too much time to fit in anything if I keep disciplined.  Not all goals are achieved all of the time and failure is part of life.  I know June is going to be more successful…and, no, I’m not a loser….I am a work in progress!

The June issue of the MT Link newsletter is now available! If you haven’t taken an opportunity to get your copy, I sincerely suggest you do it now.

This newsletter is for MTs, by MTs. I love that a group of MTs have just decided to get together and provide something of value to the professionals in our industry. They do it without fail, every other month. We’re blessed that they have allowed MT Inner Circle to be a “home” for their publication.

Thanks, guys, for all you do for the industry!