So as many of you know Carson and I moved to Richfield last week. This move has been pretty interesting for me. I feel almost like I switched lives with someone. As I am doing everything completely different than I was a month ago. I used to be "Shay Markham", the girl who was pretty much a mother to 3 amazing girls with special needs, I wasn't married, I lived in the city, I had a pet fish who required little care/attention, with a couple friends. Now only a month later I am "Carson's Wife" or "Mrs. Maughan" the woman who makes pizzas for a living, I'm married, I live in the tiny town of Richfield, with my Husband and my furry kid, a cat named Remi, who knows absolutely nobody. It's crazy how much can change in a month. And while I miss my girls terribly. It will be nice to have a more relaxed job for a little while. But rest assured, I will not be making pizzas forever. I am going to finish getting bachelor's degree in special education and then will continue to work with the amazing spirits I hold so close to my heart.
A lot of people have asked me what inspired such a bizarre switch in jobs just like that, especially since I am now making less money than I was before.
I am not ashamed to admit that I am still having nightmares and night terrors from an experience I had at my old job.
I will leave out personal details as I recount this experience as to protect the individual from being exposed.
It was July, I had finally gotten the hang of my job and was really starting to enjoy it, my work felt more like a second home than getting up and going through the grind every day. We had just had a client move to a different home, which meant we would be receiving a new client. The case worker who brought said client left out some very important details about this client's medical history. Such as the amount of extreme episodes she had where staff that was watching over her would be attacked and In one case even stabbed in the arm. We were told only that she was suicidal and severely depressed. When in reality she had extreme schizophrenia, was prone to attacking others, and running away along with trying to commit suicide. It's safe to say that we were extremely unprepared for the challenges ahead of us with her. My first day working with her I went in expecting things to be fairly normal. We watched a movie and played games. Suddenly she had an episode . She kept telling me to stop talking about her even though I clearly was not speaking at all and looking her directly In the eyes. She ran out the door and a co-worker followed her from a safe distance. A few moments later the co-worker texted me telling me that crisis team was on their way because she was throwing HUGE rocks at my co-worker. They showed up and basically gave up, leaving us to deal with her. I sat at a far distance where I could still keep an eye on her and told my co-worker to go home (This is what we were trained to do). Eventually she got up and began to walk back. I followed from a safe distance as to give her some space. She Was In The House And I Was A Little Ways Back when I heard my co-worker scream. I RAN to the door and saw my co-worker attempting to restrain her as she was out of control and trying to beat her up. She had injured my co-worker's wrist. And my co-worker was beginning to lose control of both the client And her own emotions. I quickly told a new co-worker (it was her first day ) to help help me get the client into a prone (laying down) restraint. We struggled to restrain her as the injured co-worker called crisis team. They refused to help us saying that we had it under control, even though we so clearly didn't. As this was happening the client managed to elbow me in the throat causing my already swollen throat to swell shut. I could not breathe. One of my other clients saw me struggling and grabbed my arm, pulling me aside as my other co-worker told us to let her go. She ran out the door. The new staff followed her out while my injured co-worker called her sister (a stronger, more experienced employee.) As I struggled to breathe my severely autistic client who helped get me out of the situation stroked my back trying to help me breathe. She went She went and got me a glass of water and eventually I was able to breathe again. The police had to be called to get the client to calm down. And the next week she was moved to a new facility equipped to handle her. This situation haunts me to this day. It began effecting my work. So I finally made the difficult decision to take a break from the work that I love. Although this experience was truly terrifying it made me want to work in special needs even more. Because I saw how quickly my client was to step in and save my life. These individuals are so incredible. I love them so much.
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