Women's History Month: Brooklynite Adjusts To Life As Working Mom
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There are many reasons women return to the workforce, among them is necessity. NY1's Jeanine Ramirez filed the following report on one Brooklyn woman who decided to re-enter the workforce after her husband became ill. Patrice Pica Bettig is still getting used to her new routine as a working mom.
Everyday, she takes her two children to school in the morning and then heads to her job, which she started just three weeks ago. She had been a stay at home mom for the last 11 years.
"It was more out of necessity," said Bettig. "I love being home with the kids. I love staying at home."
Her husband, Jacques, owned a restaurant and for more than a decade was the sole bread winner. They married in 1998 and had two children, Jacques Anthony and Camilla, soon after. But in 2002, Jacques was diagnosed with kidney disease.
"When he was diagnosed with this disease, polycystic kidney disease, they basically didn't think it was going to progress so quickly," recalled Bettig.
Patrice gave her husband her kidney. And that worked for five years, but then it failed. After not being able to find another matching donor in his own family, Jacques now undergoes dialysis – for four hours, three days a week.
"Sometimes after the dialysis I feel a little bit nausea. It's very tiring," he said. "And most of the time I have to take a little nap right after."
Jacques needed more flexible hours to tend to his health, so he sold his business and became a waiter at the Lever House. The family now has to pay $1,000 a month out of pocket for insurance. To help with the expenses, Patrice decided to go back to work.
"Everything costs money. Whether you have them in an art class, have them fence," she said. "Everything, every week, there's always something to pay."
Patrice travels from Bay Ridge to Park Slope to do administrative work four hours a day. She says it's ideal to work while the kids are at school. And she's out in time to pick them up. But Patrice says explaining the illness to the kids has been tough. She sought help from the New York chapter of the National Kidney Foundation.
"They were confused," she said. "It was little scary, so they got involved in the support group and it really was a great thing."
What would be even better she says, is finding a matching donor. Jacques is on a statewide list for a kidney. But has been told the wait is seven years. Patrice says as they wait, she'll continue to stay focused on her family and now her new job.