The value of health

When I started PT school about 13 years ago (has it really been that long?), I loved the idea of learning how to guide people in their own recovery. I wanted to develop some magical hands that I could lay on people and make them feel better and possibly improve their lives. I wanted to find something that I would love to do, and luckily I can not imagine doing anything else. I never wanted to think about money, insurance, and other third party payers. I guess I was naive or more idealistic.

As much as we like to have the best in health care, nobody wants to pay anything for it. I realize that the costs of healthcare are really outrageous and a problem of our system. Perhaps that is why I get a lot of fights on my hands when I recommend discharging school based services. It took a while for me to get a feel for when to keep a child on in the schools, and this often conflicts with my medical background. There are kids that I must discharge from the school setting that could still benefit from PT. Needless to say, this is very confusing to many parents. My job in schools is to make the environment accessible to learning and the goals are related to participating in school. Believe me, this is tough for me too, and it puts me between being an advocate for the kids I see. When the area is grey though, I will fight!

Recently one of my clients ran into some family trouble (which will be unnamed to protect privacy). It troubles me so much that I can not see this client. I have developed a close relationship with the child and the family, so it is more difficult. I am tempted to see the child pro bono if things do not work out. The child is too young to understand why I am not there, and I really hate that she may feel abandoned by me. I guess that is what bothers me the most. I also decided recently to drop a school district, and some of the older kids are asking if I am coming back next year. That is bumming me out too, and I do not have the balls to tell them I am not! I really suck at confrontation, so I tell them I am planning on it (I recently decided not to do it, and they have not been asking anymore lately). Although I know I am making the right decision to leave the district, I still feel bad about it.