Update: I made it to N.Y. City and saw the wonderful broadway play - Wicked. It was a great performance. The choreography & music was amazing. I really empathized with Elpheba and learned that Glenda the "good" witch wasn't as good as I recalled from Wizard of OZ.
Driving in Manhattan was an experience I'll never forget. Our hotel was in Long Island City so we had to go through Manhattan and the Lincoln tunnel to get there. I almost went through a red light when I was distracted by the J-walking hot dog stand. This was after being slowed down by a 3_wheeled bicycle & a ricochet that were only moving 5 mph. Left & right turns were blocked by swarms of pedestrians crossing the street. Letting my daughter drive once we got back to PA was a breeze after that. We even let her try the highway on the way home from the dance wear store yesterday afternoon.
Anyway, I'm anxious about returning to work this morning. It's been 1 month and 5 days since surgery. My boss isn't too thrilled that I'm returning on a Transitional Work Arrangement- TWA ( gradually on part time basis 20 hrs per week until next Friday, 25 hrs per week the following week, 30 hrs the next then full time 40 hrs after that). On Monday, I was informed by my disability case manager that forms to return to work would possibility be required by my employer but not necessarily when I asked him to send the return to work from to my Dr. to complete. I then emailed my boss to let her know my plans for a gradual return to work starting Thursday. On Tuesday I read her response which She asked if I was required to only work part time & if I had a Drs note. I didn't because my dr was expecting my disability insurance carrier or my employer to provide any required forms for him to complete. I searched my employer' s intranet for information on returning to work after short term disability and sent what I found to my manager. I also left a message with my dr's nurse requesting a note to provide my boss outlining the gradual return to work schedule & went on the Rothman Institute portal where a patient can request standard disability forms to be completed & requested a note explaining why I was only cleared to work part time. Then I called my disability case manager & told him that my boss required a dr. Note outlining my return to work clearance. I requested that he contact my dr office. He said he'd call but still didn't have any forms for them to complete. So I went to NY hoping this issue would be resolved by the time I returned. The next afternoon I checked my email to find another reply from my boss telling me that my disability case manager is supposed to have the TWA form for my Dr to complete.
So I called him but just got voice mail so hit zero to get another claims manager. This lady didn't know what a TWA from was so transferred me back to the voice mail. I left a message then hit zero again, this time I spoke with someone who at least listened to me and found my case manager & eventually transferred me to him when he was available. I learned that the TWA from was faxed to my Dr. Tuesday but may take a week to get back. So I asked what I'm supposed to do tomorrow, go to work or not. He said go to work so I said you'll need to notify my boss that you are allowing me to return with the TWA form pending. He agreed to do that for me. What a run- around and a waste of an hour of my nap time.
It's early 4:15 am EST, since I've only been able to sleep 5 hr. stretches. Going to shut my eyes,, listen to some Caitlin Jane & try to fall back asleep.
United States
