Career change after a layoff, where to begin? (update)

After 12 years as a medical assistant I am thinking about moving into a different field. It has been weighing on me all week. I have good customer skills and I am comfortable with spreadsheets. Did you take a pay cut?

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it 10 months ago, and it got easier once I kept a simple log of every call and form.

Try a small project in the new field before committing. It told me a lot about whether I would enjoy it.