Toot toot!!

The last few months/weeks have been crazy at work, but I'm starting to see the fruit of my labor. Back in May I labored and labored on writing 2 MASSIVE HIV/AIDS grants for 3 of the hospitals, well, 2 combined efforts because they're close in proximity and then the other is on the opposite end of I-10, anyway, found out last week that they were both funded!!! WHOOP!! WHOOP!!! I'm so excited for the clinics who will be receiving the money. Both were funded at the maximum amount of $1.75M over 5 years. And to think, one of them almost didn't get submitted to the Feds due to some bureaucratic red tape, oh how that would have been a colossal waste of my time to get all that research done, stats researched, pages upon pages written and it all be for naught. I think the people of those regions who are being treated in the Early Intervention Clinics will now have more access to HIV/AIDs care, education and meds. I still find the HIV stats for La and BR to be SCARY and SAD. I can't fathom having unprotected sex in this day and age. The numbers don't lie. I didn't get a real chance to catch my breath once I was done with those 2 grants because I was already knee deep in literature reviews about blood pressure monitoring for another grant.

Just that quick I had to switch gears and "learn" about hypertension and blood pressure. I'm not a clinician nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn at all during that time so I felt like I was back in graduate school with all the reading I was doing and on top of it I was still kinda in HIV/AIDs info mode. Well I can now tell you about the white coat affect, the % of patient population in the state that has Stage 1, Stage 2, Pre-Hypertension and Hypertension. I can tell you what is a good "reading" and at what intervals hypertensive patients should take their pressure. Yea, stuff that has NOTHING to do with my immediate background, but that's part of the luxury with being a grant writer. I'm often thrown into areas that are not my expertise at all but I know people in different fields who I can lean on for resources and what not. And people wonder why I know about "random" things, well, it comes with the job, plus, I'm a closet nerd. I'm still waiting to hear back on whether or not that particular grant was funded, keeping my fingers crossed and guess what NOW I'm on to researching breast cancer information for a grant that is due next month.

I'm hoping to be 4 for 4 when it's all said and done by the end of the year. I got a late start on the grant writing this year because of all of the outside "stuff" that was going on with the organization, but I seem to be on a roll now. Just wanted to take a moment and toot my own horn a lil bit.

Geaux ME!!! Geaux ME!!! Geaux ME!! ha ha

Brown....out!