Raleigh was a tough act to follow, no doubt about that. But all good things must come to an end – for now anyway. In the meantime, I am in search of the next great adventure and need to make memories in my new locale, before I have anything to recommend on my current area. With that in mind, I’d like to start this blog post with a new location to talk about. But before I do, let me tell you how I embarked on this journey and how it led me to there.
My first travel assignment was 3 years ago and began a little over a week before the global pandemic hit. My first job was one that I chose for its proximity to home and the ability to “ease” into, by taking an unusually short term assignment (5 weeks, which ended up being 7 after a short extension). This job was in Albany, NY and I had the luxury of living with a family member. As a new traveler, working a short term assignment can be a great way of trying this lifestyle on for size, as well as seeing how it works for you and those close to you. If you hate it, or discover it just isn’t for you, you have only a few weeks before your commitment is over. If you find it can work for you and you love it as I did, then before long you are off to the next great location and this time, you won’t be afraid to take on the more typical 13 weeks. If you are fortunate enough as I was to live with a family member or a friend, you can lower the amount of your rent payment, which otherwise can chew up a lot of the money you make. The reason you make the money you do is because you have duplicated living expenses in two different locales that are too far away to commute to. Saving the money that I did, in the case of my first job, proved to be very helpful for me, because little did I know what was around the corner … 3 entire months of unemployment. The money I saved helped me ride through that stressful time … financially anyway. I did not realize at the time how long this drought would last: Covid caused so many people to lose their jobs due to company cost cutting, as a result of the ongoing uncertainty about the pandemic. Luckily, I am in the right profession, since even a pandemic will not stop people from having babies, and in fact, maybe even resulted in more births, since there was nowhere to go and not much to do with all the restrictions in place around the country, let alone the world. So “thank you” to all the childbearing women in this country, you provide people in my profession with job security.
Aside from the financial implications, the second thing I did not prepare for in the early stage of the pandemic, was the mental anguish I went through during that uncertain time, wondering when the job market, including travel jobs, would ever turn around. But that summer, it finally did. Finally an end to my financial struggle and an end to the downward mental spiral I was in. I was overjoyed when my recruiter at that time called to tell me about a job in Louisville, KY and asked whether I was interested in being submitted for this position. He had been diligently working to find me something when the job market was slim pickings, and understood the frustration and anxiety I was going through up until that point. I was grateful to have him on my side and to have his support, compassion, and encouragement at a time when I really needed it…. it really felt like I had a friend in my corner. So of course, my response to whether I was interested in this job was an enthusiastic yes, and within an hour, he called to tell me to keep my phone on because they would be calling for an interview. Later that night, I received that call and by the next morning, I was informed of the job offer and just 3 days later, was on the road headed to Kentucky, in an effort to settle in and start work the following week. Everything happened so fast. Which given my dire circumstances at the time, was a God-send.
My story, I am sure, was nothing out of the ordinary. So many people lost their jobs, travel jobs were being cut short or fell through after the contract was signed (in some cases, before the traveler may have even started), and worse than all of that, so many people lost their lives. I thank God that this pandemic, although not gone completely, has at least become more manageable and am grateful that it didn’t affect me or the people I care about in a way that proved to be catastrophic to so many others. My heart goes out to all of those people who lost their lives or someone they loved.
The pandemic changed our lives in so many ways and our lives have been forever altered as a result, whether it be physically, mentally, in our social and sometimes virtual interactions, or in our current apprehension when in a crowded or small space. Something we never gave a second thought to, something as simple as a series of coughs or sneezes, now makes us all think twice about our health and the health of those around us. Masks which became the norm only one week into my first travel assignment provided a layer of protection. It was a love – hate thing for the mere fact that it not only provided protection, but also made it harder to breathe and communicate in a warm and personal way. In my job, where patients want to have that human connection and interaction, a mask strips away our ability to show our empathy and excitement for their baby, yet when things that rarely go wrong do, you are grateful for the mask to be able to hide your necessary stoicism. That is one of the hardest parts of a job as a sonographer – the delicate balance of giving the patient the excitement, enthusiasm, and social interaction they desire during their bonding experience with their baby, yet at the same time trying to not allow yourself to become distracted and to maintain your focus on obtaining the images (which can be difficult to obtain in many cases with a moving baby or a difficult to scan patient), all while staying on schedule with a moving target. The mask mandate in healthcare as it relates to my job, seems to be lifting (although very site specific). My current job does not require it, however spending your whole day in a room not much bigger than an oversized closet, does make you more conscious and at times, more apprehensive, of the air you breathe.
Numerous obstacles abound for a sonographer, the cause of which weigh heavily on a baby’s position and a patient’s BMI. The higher the BMI, the more difficult it is for the sound waves to penetrate deeper into their body and thus degrading image quality. The work around for these challenges, which provides better, but never perfect image clarity, is to sometimes contort your wrist into a difficult scanning angle or to push harder on the abdomen to obtain the picture, for prolonged periods of time, thereby causing either wrist pain / fatigue and/or arm and shoulder pain from having to apply more force throughout the exam. As much as the patient dislikes this, believe me when I say, so do we – it is not comfortable for either one of us and in fact, causes a lot of sonographer’s to become injured. This obstacle was very prevalent in my job in Louisville, Kentucky. I worked in a nice ultrasound department with some very pleasant and talented sonographers who taught me a thing or two, but the specific BMI population of this area made this job extremely challenging to do my best work and not end my workday feeling arm fatigue.
Louisville, or as the locals pronounce, “Lou-a-vul” is a city by the Ohio River, with a beautiful waterfront and where enjoyable activities and sightseeing can be found. I will delve more into that in my next post, but would like to close this post with one of my favorite experiences of something fun to do in Louisville – and that is at none other than Churchill Downs and it’s attached Kentucky Derby Museum. This museum is incredibly informative and is steeped in history of the Kentucky Derby and it’s past winners. This is where I learned that before the race, the jockeys are weighed aboard their horse and that the jockey’s weight must be exactly 126 lbs on a colt or 121 lbs on a filly. I had no idea it was that precise! And they talk about models having to watch the scale like a hawk!
The Kentucky Derby is generally held the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs and marks the beginning of a series of 3 races (Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes), which are referred to as the Triple Crown. During my time in Louisville, in the first year of the pandemic, the race was postponed until Labor Day weekend, which was my final weekend in the city. In addition to the protests that were happening that weekend about the Breonna Taylor shooting, much of the hoopla that goes on throughout the city on race day for the Derby was still prevalent, except this time in the form of house parties. The 2020 Kentucky Derby went on with no paying spectators in the stands that day, due to concerns about social distancing. The winner of the Kentucky Derby is crowned with the Garland of Roses in the winner’s circle, which is why the Kentucky Derby is also known as “The Run for the Roses”. The drink of the derby is the Mint Julep. And the song “My Kentucky Home” is the song played when the horses are led to the post. Being able to explore the museum and learn all these fun facts (and more) was a fun experience, so much so, I went more than once in my 7 weeks in Louisville. If you are lucky, you can also sign up for a racetrack tour to be able to get an up close and personal look at the paddocks and see the racetrack from the grandstands. I have always enjoyed horse racing and it was very interesting to see what you watch on television every May, from the vantage point that a ticketholder would have on Derby day. If you are a horse lover and have a few hours while in Louisville, I would put the Kentucky Derby Museum and Churchill Downs Racetrack Tour on the top of your to do list!
