Dissertation Nightmare....HELP

I have been working so hard on my dissertation. I really want it to be over, I am sick of it, I want to graduate already. In fact, I was in a little store down town here last week, and they had out a bunch of graduation cards, and I said to Kevin "I want one of those."

So this weekend, I finished a draft (just a draft) of my chapter 4...all 60 pages of it. I was very pleased and so today I send it off to my advisor. I get an email back that says "Jody, can you call me?" So I immediately panic...I really worked hard on this and now he is going to say it is all wrong. So I email back, and say "Sure I would be happy to call you when and at what number?"

Within 10 min I get a message that says "How about now at xxx-xxx-xxxx" Sigh....Ok, so I give him a call. What do I learn...it is worse than I can imagine.....First of all he says he hasn't looked at my work yet, but that it seems pretty substantial. At which point I already start making excuses at how I know I probably really need to rework areas and how unsure of myself I am. Now he is just the best so he compliments me, encourages me says chapters 4 and 5 are hard for everyone, and he knows I will do well etc...etc...then he says "Item number 2, that I need to talk to you about is a little more delicate"

So I start racking my brain thinking "what have I done?" Well it turns out that he has been offered a position in Wyoming. So he will be leaving in June, and he is trying to finish up a few people with their dissertations that he knows will be done. To be done in June, means you have a final write up by May, and have your defense with your committee scheduled by mid May.....so that is almost impossible for me right now, since I haven't started on Chapter 5.

What does that mean for me? I have to find a new advisor. I am really heartbroken. My advisor has been with me for the last 4.5 years, he was the one who interviewed me to accept me into the program. He was my professor for 4-5 of my courses. He has been a true mentor and guide to me all along the way. I carefully selected him to be my advisor for my dissertation committee and then picked the rest of my committee who I thought would work well with me and with my advisor.

So now what? Well he gave me the name of someone he suggests I consider for my advisor. I know this other person (he was also a past teacher), and to be honest he may be a good fit, because of his background and research interests....but there is a reason I didn't pick him to be on my committee or be my advisor to start with. So I don't know. I guess I don't really have another choice, and I just want to finish.....

I am so upset...I am actually crying right now. :(

Poor Jody