Beginnings - The Family I Work With

A few times over the morning of August 22nd, I had to make contact with my boss to let him know that I was going to be a bit late and eventually that the news was not good. You see, I work for a small but wonderful company. We have always been very close knit even though recent acquisitions has left us longing for the old days. There are five of us that work in the IT department of our company. Because of both the nature of IT and the nature of our company, we are all very good friends. This is why I decided to tell not only my boss but my immediate co-workers what I had found out that morning. Besides, I was taking the afternoon off and they'd be asking questions.

I called my boss on the way to work asking him if he'd be willing to set up a meeting with everyone for around 10:45. I could hear the concern in his voice when he asked if everything was ok. I had originally decided that it was better for them to all hear it in person from me, but thought better of it and told him what I knew. I knew by the silence on the phone that I had probably made a good decision if the other reactions were like this.

I have to give my co-workers credit, when I waylaid them with the news, they quickly regained their composure and started asking a lot of questions. Of course, I didn't have answers for most of these but it got my brain into the mode that I was able to use their questions to formulate my own for when I would be able to see the neurosurgeon. It helped talking things over with them and it reminded me that I was needed in more places than just home.

I spoke briefly to a friend in HR after leaving my immediate co-workers. I had some questions for her concerning benefits so it was probably more out of necessity than anything. However, with my questions answered, I was able to drive home with a mostly clear head.

I would return to work on Thursday and Friday as well. My co-workers frequently tried to send me home but I insisted that I was better off busy than at home. I found out late in the afternoon on Wednesday that I had been scheduled for Friday afternoon with the neurosurgeon. The moment of truth would not be far.