JOANNA CAREW

My son, Alfie, and I organised a photoshoot at the practice but disaster struck when he became ill and I abandoned work to support him. Two bodies down, the team rallied around and made the day a massive success …

The worst twenty-first! 🎂

Work had been pretty hectic as we refurbished an office into a meeting room, finished kitting out a new surgery, and prepped the rest of the practice for the photoshoot on Saturday.

Alfie, was turning 21 on Thursday and the team were massively excited. Amongst the refurb/prep chaos they’d decorated his work station with balloons and banners, and organised cakes and pressies galore. But poor Alf had other ideas, he was feeling like death at home with a mean stomach bug, and all birthday plans were cancelled.

Disappointed not to celebrate with him and a man down, the team covered Alfie’s workload and I extended my hours to get the refurb and prep done.

Freaky Friday 🤡

By Friday, Alfie’s situation had become more serious as, on top of feeling terrible, his right arm had turned purple and swollen, and he was growing increasingly concerned.

I abandoned my lengthy task list, switched to mum mode and focussed on him. After seeing two GPs, we spent many hours in hospital awaiting diagnosis of a suspected deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in his arm.

Alfie was exhausted and we finally got home at 1:00am on Saturday morning, with another hospital appointment booked at 8:30am the same morning – photoshoot day!

A juggling act 🤹

At 1:00am I was exhausted and working out what to do: it was too late to call anybody, Alfie was distressed and needed his momma, we had a photographer and 20+ models turning up, an unbriefed team, and the practice in disarray!

I decided the best option was grab a couple of hours sleep, then I could leave Alfie home in bed and head into the practice super early to finish up prepping before returning home to take him to the hospital.

It was very tight and plenty of stuff just got chucked into cupboards, but I got the practice ready, and as soon as it was a respectable hour I called the team to update them on the situation.

The team steps up 💥

The staff were fantastic! Someone set off to buy the food and gifts for the models, another took my place, extending their working hours, and co-ordinating everybody. Then the whole team pitched in to make the patients, models, and the photographer feel welcome and relaxed.

The practice co-owner added further pressure to the situation by turning up over an hour late for their clinic with actual patients, but nobody let that phase them. Instead one of the clinicians who had come in for the photos took on the first patient and prepped them for treatment, keeping the clinic schedule on track.

What’s more, everybody was smiling and happy throughout!

Alfie updates 🕞

We’d hoped that Alfie’s 8:30am appointment would be completed by 10:00 ish and I could’ve taken him home then gone to the practice, but we ended up in two hospitals and gone for 12 hours! The DVT was confirmed and treatment needed to be considered for both removing the clot, and treating the underlying cause – a rib causing trauma to a vein which then clotted as a result of Alfie being dehydrated with his stomach bug.

Throughout the day, the team kept checking in for Alfie updates, and sharing news about the photoshoot. I had to sit on my hands and not micro-manage, they were doing a fantastic job and troubleshooting as they went.

Parenting vs work 👶

I genuinely considered putting Alfie into an Uber with a justification in my head that it was only diagnostics and he’d be fine. The photoshoot was a big deal and I didn’t want to let my team down.

Then I gave myself a shake and reordered my priorities. Alfie, although 21, is my baby. It has always been the two of us (we’re a one-parent family) and he needed me. He felt like crap and is terrified of needles and medical procedures. Although I wasn’t doing anything, the moral support was so important to him. Plus we play a mean game of I-spy!

Exhausted and emotional, on Saturday when we got home Alfie turned to me and said, “I love you so much mum, thank you for supporting me, it means everything”. In that moment my heart swelled and I knew I’ll never put work above family. I love you too Alfie bear ❤️

The team 🤩

I’m so proud of the team, their commitment and motivation is extraordinarily high. As business owners we often forget that our priorities don’t necessarily match with those of our employees: they shouldn’t work as hard or care as much – it isn’t their responsibility to.

However, I am so incredibly grateful that my team rallied on Saturday. Not one or two people, but the whole team came together and made the day work. Our model volunteers are all either existing patients, or friends, and they too saw the passion the team has for Carew Dental.

It’s pretty special to have built something so extraordinary, with such extraordinary people.

Next steps 🥾

I can not wait to see all of the edited photos!!!!!

For Alfie, we’re still unclear which treatment option he will have, he’s on daily blood thinner injections now so there’s no fear about the clot moving or further clots forming. Next steps are to await an MDT to decide whether to remove the clot and the offending rib in a 2-in-1 operation, or whether to split the treatment into separate procedures.

For now Alfie is enjoying an uneventful Sunday, in bed recuperating!