2018 has just sucked in some ways....and rocked in others....
ways it has be AWESOME:
1. My sister has been married for one year!!
2. I left the post office HALLELUJA!
3. I've been attending church more regularly now
4. My health is fully on track.
Ways that 2018 has sucked
1. my health was shit this year(it's better now but not before me needing 5 blood transfusions and a myomectomy)
2. Because I was out recovering for 6 weeks my job hired someone new so they let me go. I now have bills to pay and no job....
3. Unemployment said that I'm not eligible to receive benefits so I might not be getting any income until I get a new job.... :(
I was counting on the unemployment to at least give me something....UGH! At least my parents are giving me $185 bi-weekly so I'm not completely penniless but this is just sucky...
need to find a job and fast...hopefully it won't take 2 years like the last job...
Now that i've had my time to whine, it's time to get back to work....looking for work....
update- as of Aug. 1, still have no job. I've been looking, had interviews and tests, but haven't found another job. I think that some of it has to do with my work history. It's relatively short and my longest job was a part-time for 3 years. USPS was part-time for 2 years....so they might not like that.
Saturday, June 23, 2018
Wednesday, May 9, 2018
My Fibroid Journey
So this is my story to help other young women who are going through the same thing or might be going through it.
I had always had very long 7 day periods, with lots of heavy bleeding and cramps for the first day or two and then they petered off.
When I joined the Post office in 2015 they were still fine. Over the course of my time there, they started to get worse. I could not really do my job during the week of my period because I was bleeding through a super plus pad and a super plus tampon in the span of 30 minutes to 1 hour. I kept having to get towels during the night to sleep on so I would not ruin more sheets or my new matress cover and my clothes.
One day, I had used up all of my tampons and felt really close to passing out so thank GOD my supervisor for the day was female and willing to buy me tampons. She thought that I might have iron deficiency but I didn't believe that heavy periods could cause anemia.
Eventually, when my new health insurance kicked in, I went to my family doctor. I had experienced excruciating stomach pain, I could not move and I felt like I was going to throw up. When I went to my doctor, he ordered a blood test, and was shocked that I had never had a blood test before.
When we got the results back, the iron level was dangerously close to me needing a blood transfusion. I didn't though so they wanted to rule out an upper GI bleed. In January 2018, I went in for an upper endoscopy, which showed nothing unusual, so then that doctor wanted a lower GI scope done. The inital scope cost me $2,000, so I was very wary of spending additional money to possibly have a negative test.
January 2018 was also the first time I had a visit to the GYN's office. I have never been sexually active so I was told when I had asked before, that I didn't need to have anything done, so I never did. My first experience went fine. The nurse practitioner didn't feel anything when she examined me and because of everything, they prescribed a low dose birth control. I started it in Jan. and in Feb. it seemed to be doing it's job. My period was very light but lasted two weeks. Then the next period started and it was horrible. I was passing clots that I had never passed ever before taking the hormone. I called the nurse practitioner and told her and she said that was normal to have a heavier flow sometimes on hormones because my body was still getting used to it. She told me to keep taking the hormones until they ran out. In April, on tax day, I was bleeding so much and was passing palm-sized clots. I barely made it to the bathroom and felt so lightheaded. I weakly called my parents and they helped me. They were amazing. Once my new insurance through my new job kicked in, I was able to go to the doctors and get another blood test. While we were there, my dad called the gyno's office and told them we were coming in and that we wanted the doctor this time. We got an appointment the same day and when I went in, I was very close to passing out. The doctor took my iron level and said that I needed to be admitted to the hospital and have a transfusion and possible D&C as well. We went straight from the office to the hospital. I had to call my work and tell them what was going on. I spent 4 days in the hospital and had an ultrasound(very uncomfortable), an MRI, to confirm that they had found an 8 cm fibroid in my uterus that was causing my heavy bleeding, and I had fluids and 5 blood transfusions to get my iron levels up to a level where I could go home. My doctor came in that Wednesday and basically said that she wanted to do a histerectomy because it was the most effective and complete way to get rid of the fibroid and permenantly prevent them from coming back. That was a very hard day for me and my parents. We ultimately decided to just take out the fibroid but to do everything possible to save the uterus. My doctor had never seen someone so young have a fibroid so large.They wanted to do the surgery while I was still in the hospital but they could not so I went home and then went back to work the next week for 4 days. My surgery was scheduled for April 27. My veins are small so they had to have two ports ready. The surgery took 2.5 hours and it was successful. They were able to remove the fibroid and keep my uterus. I was not a good candidate for a laparoscopic or robotic surgery because my fibroid was too large so they did an open myomectomy. It takes the longest recovery time(8 weeks complete recovery) and is the most invasive. I spent two nights in the hospital and have only been home for a week and a half. I'm recovering and just wanted to write this story to hopefully help and encourage other women who might be going through the same thing.
I had always had very long 7 day periods, with lots of heavy bleeding and cramps for the first day or two and then they petered off.
When I joined the Post office in 2015 they were still fine. Over the course of my time there, they started to get worse. I could not really do my job during the week of my period because I was bleeding through a super plus pad and a super plus tampon in the span of 30 minutes to 1 hour. I kept having to get towels during the night to sleep on so I would not ruin more sheets or my new matress cover and my clothes.
One day, I had used up all of my tampons and felt really close to passing out so thank GOD my supervisor for the day was female and willing to buy me tampons. She thought that I might have iron deficiency but I didn't believe that heavy periods could cause anemia.
Eventually, when my new health insurance kicked in, I went to my family doctor. I had experienced excruciating stomach pain, I could not move and I felt like I was going to throw up. When I went to my doctor, he ordered a blood test, and was shocked that I had never had a blood test before.
When we got the results back, the iron level was dangerously close to me needing a blood transfusion. I didn't though so they wanted to rule out an upper GI bleed. In January 2018, I went in for an upper endoscopy, which showed nothing unusual, so then that doctor wanted a lower GI scope done. The inital scope cost me $2,000, so I was very wary of spending additional money to possibly have a negative test.
January 2018 was also the first time I had a visit to the GYN's office. I have never been sexually active so I was told when I had asked before, that I didn't need to have anything done, so I never did. My first experience went fine. The nurse practitioner didn't feel anything when she examined me and because of everything, they prescribed a low dose birth control. I started it in Jan. and in Feb. it seemed to be doing it's job. My period was very light but lasted two weeks. Then the next period started and it was horrible. I was passing clots that I had never passed ever before taking the hormone. I called the nurse practitioner and told her and she said that was normal to have a heavier flow sometimes on hormones because my body was still getting used to it. She told me to keep taking the hormones until they ran out. In April, on tax day, I was bleeding so much and was passing palm-sized clots. I barely made it to the bathroom and felt so lightheaded. I weakly called my parents and they helped me. They were amazing. Once my new insurance through my new job kicked in, I was able to go to the doctors and get another blood test. While we were there, my dad called the gyno's office and told them we were coming in and that we wanted the doctor this time. We got an appointment the same day and when I went in, I was very close to passing out. The doctor took my iron level and said that I needed to be admitted to the hospital and have a transfusion and possible D&C as well. We went straight from the office to the hospital. I had to call my work and tell them what was going on. I spent 4 days in the hospital and had an ultrasound(very uncomfortable), an MRI, to confirm that they had found an 8 cm fibroid in my uterus that was causing my heavy bleeding, and I had fluids and 5 blood transfusions to get my iron levels up to a level where I could go home. My doctor came in that Wednesday and basically said that she wanted to do a histerectomy because it was the most effective and complete way to get rid of the fibroid and permenantly prevent them from coming back. That was a very hard day for me and my parents. We ultimately decided to just take out the fibroid but to do everything possible to save the uterus. My doctor had never seen someone so young have a fibroid so large.They wanted to do the surgery while I was still in the hospital but they could not so I went home and then went back to work the next week for 4 days. My surgery was scheduled for April 27. My veins are small so they had to have two ports ready. The surgery took 2.5 hours and it was successful. They were able to remove the fibroid and keep my uterus. I was not a good candidate for a laparoscopic or robotic surgery because my fibroid was too large so they did an open myomectomy. It takes the longest recovery time(8 weeks complete recovery) and is the most invasive. I spent two nights in the hospital and have only been home for a week and a half. I'm recovering and just wanted to write this story to hopefully help and encourage other women who might be going through the same thing.
Thursday, July 2, 2015
Patience ....and Maturity lol
So, as many people know(some may not), I waited to buy a smartphone for years...and by years I mean that when I was 18 (in 2007) many of my friends already had smartphones. I bought my first phone, a super cheap flip phone with no camera from Samsung.
When I got my first smartphone(a Droid Razr HD in 2013) I thought I was flying high....until I dropped it and it shattered. Luckily I had insurance on it so I got another one, which I had until I dropped that in 2015 and that one shattered.
I had the option of buying a blackberry(I had originally wanted one of those for YEARS because most of my family and friends had them when they were still really popular) but decided that I wasn't terribly willing to trade the screen size or the app store.
When my sister upgraded her 3+ year iphone 4 to an iphone6 she gave me her old phone which saved me about $175 in repairing my old smartphone.
Normally it's good but every now and again it's just terrible.
I found a SUPER old Blackberry Curve 8300(no wifi,ect.) that someone was giving away at a clothing swap so I got it and bought an $8 battery. Tried to use it for about a day before the trackball and everything else was just too much for me to translate and try and go back to.
I've got it on reserve incase anything happens to my iPhone before upgrade time.
I (as well as my whole family) can upgrade their phones in 2 weeks time but with the Iphone 6s coming out in two months, and with my eyes on the iphone 6 as well, I don't see why I would buy a $299 iphone 6 64GB phone(that is the storage that I want) and not wait for the release of the iphone 6s, where the original iphone6 will probably drop in price significantly. It helps that currently my phone is doing ok, and that we are moving and I need to focus my time, energy, and money into that, instead of what phone I should get. I wish that the stores actually had blackberry phones to play with but they just have the Samsung, LG, and Iphones.
Looking forward to CA but I've got a ton to do in the three weeks(approx.) before we move...
UPDATE AND TOPIC SWITCH
well now we've moved to CA and it's been almost two years from that move. A lot has happened. I have a job with the Post Office(one that I'm happy to have the income from but it's not enough of a draw to make me stay at the job if a nicer opportunity presented itself...soon)
I've been with the USPS for a year and a half...let's just say I now know why "going Postal" is a thing...it's because of Christmas and November with political season...luckily my first one was also my trial by fire because it was an election year so.....3 ft of political mail which we have to sort in by hand....OMG....
so i've been silently looking for a new job but recently I asked my station manager which phone I should use for him to be in touch with a potential job...an office job that has weekends and nights off and holidays off too....you know, a normal job....so apparently he took it upon himself to tell his boss(the PostMaster for all of where I live) and since I go to the same church as the guy and he knows me, he thinks it's ok to give me shit about it...ALL THE FREAKIN TIME! why don't i like my job here??
Here's a list: (all of this was included in the interview for the job so I knew what I was in for, but then again I didn't really KNOW)...
1. working overtime...a lot...I can work up to 12 hours(they don't like that at all now) but if a regular carrier needs help or someone gets sick, I can do a whole route(7:30-3:30 without help and then be expected to help out in whatever capacity until about 6)
2. Holidays...the USPS has an exclusive contract with Amazon because we need revenue and they need to get the packages to people....so they work us on Sundays now and most holidays...so every holiday except for Christmas and Thanksgiving...potentially July 4th too....we work(we=the new temp hires that dont have benefits or full time jobs and are technically on contract)
3. I work almost every single Sunday...I'm religious and go to church...well I went to church until this job and now I havent really been to a full service in about a year....just go get communion way early from the pastor and call it good...i have yet to be able to go to a night service on Saturdays because we work then as well and I work too late for that...
4. CHRISTMAS AND NOV...November came around last year and normally our work limit a week is 40 hours and anything over that is considered overtime....November that gets increased to 72 hours a week is the norm and anything past that is considered overtime...December rolls in and all hell breaks loose and you're just at the post office all day, every day until Jan. Management takes the limit of hours off...so 12-13 hour days 6 days a week, possibly 7?? you got it(you also just get one day off instead of two...i didn't realize that....)
generally they give you two days off but they're never on the weekends and if they are you savor them....but they're normally in the middle of the week so none of my friends who are still in the area can do anything because they have jobs and actually work during the week. hours can change so i can work collections which is only about 4 hours or I can work 10 hours....this week i'm only supposed to be working about 31 hours a week...it's a part time job that they treat as a full time job because the mail HAS to go out and be delivered...
so i'm looking for a new job that is full time and has benefits....i'm almost 29, have my Master's degree and am working part time for the post office....it's the most money I've ever made but I don't want to sacrifice family time and weekends and having a life for my job....
I would love to tell the post master all of this but the nicest way of putting this all into words is this job isn't for me...
my dad is retiring tomorrow(essentially June 5) so he'll be home more with mom and i'll be working...hopefully they'll be able to get stuff done around the house and relax when they go on vacation this week.
When I got my first smartphone(a Droid Razr HD in 2013) I thought I was flying high....until I dropped it and it shattered. Luckily I had insurance on it so I got another one, which I had until I dropped that in 2015 and that one shattered.
I had the option of buying a blackberry(I had originally wanted one of those for YEARS because most of my family and friends had them when they were still really popular) but decided that I wasn't terribly willing to trade the screen size or the app store.
When my sister upgraded her 3+ year iphone 4 to an iphone6 she gave me her old phone which saved me about $175 in repairing my old smartphone.
Normally it's good but every now and again it's just terrible.
I found a SUPER old Blackberry Curve 8300(no wifi,ect.) that someone was giving away at a clothing swap so I got it and bought an $8 battery. Tried to use it for about a day before the trackball and everything else was just too much for me to translate and try and go back to.
I've got it on reserve incase anything happens to my iPhone before upgrade time.
I (as well as my whole family) can upgrade their phones in 2 weeks time but with the Iphone 6s coming out in two months, and with my eyes on the iphone 6 as well, I don't see why I would buy a $299 iphone 6 64GB phone(that is the storage that I want) and not wait for the release of the iphone 6s, where the original iphone6 will probably drop in price significantly. It helps that currently my phone is doing ok, and that we are moving and I need to focus my time, energy, and money into that, instead of what phone I should get. I wish that the stores actually had blackberry phones to play with but they just have the Samsung, LG, and Iphones.
Looking forward to CA but I've got a ton to do in the three weeks(approx.) before we move...
UPDATE AND TOPIC SWITCH
well now we've moved to CA and it's been almost two years from that move. A lot has happened. I have a job with the Post Office(one that I'm happy to have the income from but it's not enough of a draw to make me stay at the job if a nicer opportunity presented itself...soon)
I've been with the USPS for a year and a half...let's just say I now know why "going Postal" is a thing...it's because of Christmas and November with political season...luckily my first one was also my trial by fire because it was an election year so.....3 ft of political mail which we have to sort in by hand....OMG....
so i've been silently looking for a new job but recently I asked my station manager which phone I should use for him to be in touch with a potential job...an office job that has weekends and nights off and holidays off too....you know, a normal job....so apparently he took it upon himself to tell his boss(the PostMaster for all of where I live) and since I go to the same church as the guy and he knows me, he thinks it's ok to give me shit about it...ALL THE FREAKIN TIME! why don't i like my job here??
Here's a list: (all of this was included in the interview for the job so I knew what I was in for, but then again I didn't really KNOW)...
1. working overtime...a lot...I can work up to 12 hours(they don't like that at all now) but if a regular carrier needs help or someone gets sick, I can do a whole route(7:30-3:30 without help and then be expected to help out in whatever capacity until about 6)
2. Holidays...the USPS has an exclusive contract with Amazon because we need revenue and they need to get the packages to people....so they work us on Sundays now and most holidays...so every holiday except for Christmas and Thanksgiving...potentially July 4th too....we work(we=the new temp hires that dont have benefits or full time jobs and are technically on contract)
3. I work almost every single Sunday...I'm religious and go to church...well I went to church until this job and now I havent really been to a full service in about a year....just go get communion way early from the pastor and call it good...i have yet to be able to go to a night service on Saturdays because we work then as well and I work too late for that...
4. CHRISTMAS AND NOV...November came around last year and normally our work limit a week is 40 hours and anything over that is considered overtime....November that gets increased to 72 hours a week is the norm and anything past that is considered overtime...December rolls in and all hell breaks loose and you're just at the post office all day, every day until Jan. Management takes the limit of hours off...so 12-13 hour days 6 days a week, possibly 7?? you got it(you also just get one day off instead of two...i didn't realize that....)
generally they give you two days off but they're never on the weekends and if they are you savor them....but they're normally in the middle of the week so none of my friends who are still in the area can do anything because they have jobs and actually work during the week. hours can change so i can work collections which is only about 4 hours or I can work 10 hours....this week i'm only supposed to be working about 31 hours a week...it's a part time job that they treat as a full time job because the mail HAS to go out and be delivered...
so i'm looking for a new job that is full time and has benefits....i'm almost 29, have my Master's degree and am working part time for the post office....it's the most money I've ever made but I don't want to sacrifice family time and weekends and having a life for my job....
I would love to tell the post master all of this but the nicest way of putting this all into words is this job isn't for me...
my dad is retiring tomorrow(essentially June 5) so he'll be home more with mom and i'll be working...hopefully they'll be able to get stuff done around the house and relax when they go on vacation this week.
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