It’s my last day, my car is all packed up and I am so ready GTFO. I’m halfway to the facility when I hear a *ping* , my tire pressure light suddenly comes on, and I can feel my car veering. I got a freaking flat tire in the middle of nowhere, Missouri on a cold January day. Specifically, I made it to a gas station in Qulin, MO calling AAA saying “I’m stranded in the god forsaken state of Missouri and I’m in the middle of freaking No where.” I was cussing this state up and down. My hands were numb from the cold and after I unloaded my entire trunk, I couldn’t get my own spare tire out because my hands kept slipping and slamming into the metal… and then I cussed some more.  (I swear I really am a pleasant person, I’m just dramatic)

All that being said, my coworkers stepped up like no other. I let Kim, my DOR, know what happened, she offered to send her husband to come help me, he was about 30 min away. Katie, the OT asked where I was and said she could find someone she knew to come help me. And Garrett, the PTA, 1.) left my donuts at the facility I was heading to for my last day and 2.) texted and offered to come help. Another man at the gas station offered to help. As I want to keep cursing this state, I was just overwhelmed with the appreciation I had for my co-workers and the kind stranger who hopefully wasn’t a serial killer targeting me for his next kill. The co-workers I would go out with on a Thursday night: Jeff, Garrett, Kim, Katie, and the PT who used to work there Traci (who was awesome and reminded me of my mom). We would do tequila shots and blow off steam from our week and our crazy case load (b/c let me tell you it was always crazy ESPECIALLY with facility C). I had a patient take a swing at me, another one stalked me through the facility that a psychiatrist warned me to not end up trapped alone in a room with, and spent half my days taking residents (that weren’t even therapy patients) to their correct room because they were wandering into the wrong room. But it was kind of worth it at the end of the day being able to go out with the only people who understood what I just went through and share laughs with me about it. I will forever be grateful for them and if they ever see this and make it through the first Missouri post without exiting, I just want to say thank you again to Jeff, Kim, Katie, Traci, and Garrett. 

Adventures #Missouri #PhysicalTherapy #Travel #TravelTherapy travelPT