I have been meaning to blog for the past month or so about our future plans in the UK as John and I knew we wanted to extend our time here a bit longer. Each time I have wanted to do an official update, life has thrown us another curveball. Let’s just say that if I had written and posted a blog two weeks ago about our plans, it would have been completely different than what I am writing today.
As John’s year-long contract was quickly coming to an end here in Cornwall, we began looking into available options to stay in the UK until the spring. We didn’t want to wait until the last minute so we began exploring our options a few months ago. We have both loved Cornwall, but knew that the possibility of us being able to stay here was slim, so we began searching for opportunities throughout the entire UK.
As John began looking for jobs throughout the country, he was aware that the hospital here in Truro had received some charitable funds for the stroke program. As a result, he was asked by his director to write a business case to develop a FEES service for the hospital. Since John was the only speech therapist trained in FEES here it would be a great opportunity for him to stay on with the hospital a bit longer and a great opportunity for the hospital to develop this service. Since the economic climate of the hospital is currently very tight, he decided to put the proposal forward but continue to look for other jobs in the meantime.
While the proposal in Truro was being handed from one administrative level to another (and taking forever), he was given a fantastic job opportunity to work at a hospital right outside Liverpool. Time was quickly going by and the hospital here in Truro still hadn’t made a decision, despite having the proposal for nine weeks. Finally, two weeks ago, John was told that they wouldn’t make a decision on it for another month so we decided to move forward with plans and move to Liverpool. As a result, we made the mind-shift and began preparations for a big move by the end of the month. I gave my four-week notice at work, we told our landlords and officially gave up our home, we set-up a moving van and even put money down on an apartment in St. Helens. As we finally had a direction and began to accept the loss of leaving Cornwall, it all changed with one phone conversation.
John received a phone call on Wednesday, October 5th from the Director of Acute Services of Truro hospital. She had been watching the business proposal closely over the past two months and couldn’t believe it when she heard that the proposal was delayed another month and John was planning to move. So unknown to anyone, this woman set up meetings with the Executive Director and Financial Director of the hospital and basically told them that they had to fund this proposal and keep John here. So that phone call on Wednesday was from a woman who John had never met, but offered him the chance to start a FEES program at the Royal Cornwall Hospital. Yes, this was two and a half weeks before our move up to Liverpool!
So after a couple nights of intense conversations between John and I and multiple meetings about specifics with John’s work and recruitment agency, we made the decision to stay in Truro! It wasn’t an easy decision to make, but we are happy with it. And we are lucky as so many things fell into place once the decision was made. Our landlords had just put our place in the paper and were more than happy when they heard we wanted to stay. My boss at work was able to rescind my notice and is willing to work around our visit back to the States. The difficult part in all of this was regarding the job in Liverpool. John felt bad needing to turn them down but ultimately the opportunity in Truro was too good to pass up.
So now that a decision has finally been made, we are happy to say that we’ll be staying in Cornwall until the contract ends on March 31st of 2012! Having a definite plan for the next six months has been nothing short of amazing this past week, as we’ve finally been able to relax a bit and de-stress. Now we just can’t believe that our next adventure begins in nine days as we fly out to the States and get to see friends and family. It’s been over a year since we have touched US soil and we can’t wait to remember what it feels like!
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