Hold me, I'm scared (job and medical woes)

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

So, I called in sick again today because of severe back pain. I’ve had severe back problems for going on close to two years now, coincidentally, had periods from hell (excessive bleeding, cramps so severe that I’ve wound up in the emergency room because I was vomiting and couldn’t even keep water down), and the cramps hang around for three days- I have to dose myself continually with prescription Ibuprofen or I’m writhing and begging God to kill me now). I called off yesterday, and last Sunday as well. I’m doing good to go a month without having to call off work because of my back. I stretch and do exercises to try to make my abs stronger to help support the back, and keep the back muscles loose, but it doesn’t help much.

Last week, I found out I have fibroid tumors in my uterus. One of them is pretty big- don’t know how big because the yayhoo who read my ultrasound didn’t bother to measure it, which really bothered my doctor.

I’m having a really hard time because, being only able to work part time because I’m also going to school, I’m not eligible for health insurance from my job, so my health care coverage is through County Social Services. Which means that I have my pick of one clinic to go to (plus a couple of Quick Care facilities, but I don’t go there too often). Which means, if I want to see a doctor, I usually have a minimum of a month wait to get an appointment. So, in the meantime, while I’m waiting to see a doctor, I’m calling in sick and having unexcused absences (no see doctor=no doctor’s note, you see). Last time I went to the doctor, she ordered up an MRI because prior x-rays didn’t reveal the problem. She ordered up an ultrasound because, due to my horrible periods, and the fact that my back gets a lot worse when Aunt Flo comes to town led her to suspect that the aforementioned fibroids were putting pressure on my back. Apparently, she was right- one of the tumors is quite large and is on the back of my uterus.

So, I made an appointment with the Women’s Clinic that is affiliated with the one clinic in town that the county’s medical plan covers- they can get me in on January 21. I think I called on December 18 to make this appointment. When I called, I told them I had been diagnosed with fibroids and wanted to make an appointment for a laporoscopy and to have them removed. Apparently, the receptionist didn’t understand the “have them removed” part, or she would have explained to me that they don’t due the surgery on the day of the intial appointment. They need to be able to bill for a second office visit, you see…

So, I probably won’t be able to have the surgery until late February, which means I have to suffer through another period, and probably call off sick to work again…

Oh, and the MRI? Never had it. See, the person at the clinic who is supposed to schedule these things didn’t get my chart for three weeks. From a doctor’s office in the same building. Three weeks of calling back before she even got my chart. Then, wow, my health coverage is through the county? MRI has to be pre-approved. The county refused it, but Schedule Person never called me back to let me know about this. After waiting a week, I finally called her, and she got mad at me because she was sure she had discussed this with me. Well, fortunately, the doctor had an opening for the 30th of this month, so I only had to wait two weeks to see her instead of the customary five or six. See, she needs to order me up a CAT scan. We want to find out if the fibroids are the actual cause of my back pain, or if they’re just exacerbating another problem.

Anyhoo, back around May, I had seen another doctor at this clinic. He didn’t even examine my back, didn’t consider the fact that I have severe period problems worthy of note… I spent three months doing the request/form letter back and forth trying to get a change of primary care physician before I finally broke down and made an appointment. The nurse saw my request forms and told me that if I was willing to wait, another doctor at the clinic would be willing to see me when she was done with her patients for the day.

So, three months trying to get a competent doctor, another six weeks to get an appointment once I broke down and made an appointment, going on two months now after that trying to get a correct diagnosis because of delays in getting the appropriate tests, and me calling off sick about two days out of every month because I’m in severe pain…

Meanwhile, I’m wondering how much longer Wal-Mart is going to put up with me calling off so often. I’ve been begging to be transferred to another department because my pain can be reduced to tolerable levels if I’m moving around a lot, but becomes excruciating to the point that I can barely think straight to push the right buttons on the cash register if I have to stand in one spot for more than a half hour. My pleas have thus far fallen on deaf ears. No openings in the other departments, even though all departments are shorthanded and begging for extra help.

Wal-Mart is planning a “workforce reduction” in January or Febuary, meaning they’re going to lay off longer-term employees who are receiveing health care benefits so they can replace them with new hires who won’t be eligible for benefits, thus reducing labor costs.

I think that getting laid off would probably be the best thing that could happen to me right now- there would be no question of my being eligible for unemployment in those circumstances. Meanwhile, on Monday, I’m going to hobble in and put my request for a transfer in writing. Then if I’m fired for excessive absences, I will have not only documentation that I have been under doctor’s care, but also documentation that I requested a transfer to another department because I am unable to do my current job due to my physical problems, of which managemet has been aware for several months. Then if the unemployment folks have any questions, I will have paperwork and a watertight case that my benefits should be paid.

Right now, it seems like my options are

  1. take care of my physical health and call of sick, and risk losing my job

2)go to work, “suck up” the pain, and risk doing severe damage to my body which down the road could result in disability, if having the fibroids removed doesn’t fix the back problems

I’ve already started looking for another job, but there really isn’t much that I’m qualified for, at least until I finish school, plus I have to deal with the fact that I’m going to be having surgery in the next couple of months, which will probably mean at least a week off work.

I really don’t know what to do at this point. I feel like I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t no matter what course of action I follow.

2

I don’t have any answers for you Thea, but know that you are in my thoughts. Sending warm thoughts your way.

3

Oh, Thea.

For what it’s worth:

{{{{{{Thea}}}}}}

My mom has the tendency to get weird fibroid tumors in various parts of her body. Several years ago, I stayed with her when she was recovering from the hysterectomy she had to get rid of an enormous tumor in her uterus.

Oh, and I think that option 1 (take the time off you need) is a lot better than risking your long-term well-being for your job. IMHO–and, of course, this might be different for you–taking care of your health should definitely come first. You could find someone else to hire you when this is all over, but you can’t undo permanent damage to your body.

I hope you have a lot of support from friends and family nearby.

If you’d like to talk, feel free to e-mail me.

4

My mother had fibroids. She had a hysterectomy.

Chin up, at least the end is in sight.

5

I can’t offer anything but sympathy, Thea, but you have all of that I can send your way. Do keep us posted on how things turn out, too.

6

One of my good friends had fibroids, too - she had a hysterectomy at 25, but has NO problems any more! Feel better soon!

7

Thanks for all the tea and sympathy, everyone.

Back’s a bit better today, but I went ahead and called off because I figure they’d put me on a register instead of putting me on a job where I could move around and flex the muscles a bit.

I’m thinking that once I get the fibroids taken care of, it will take care of a lot of the back pain. If it doesn’t totally fix the problem, at least it should get it down to a level where normal doses of Advil will keep me functioning

The back pain usually starts to subside about the time the crampage does. Also, it gets bad about the time I start PMSing. Never completely goes away, but 2 1/2 weeks out of the month, it’s pretty much nuisance level.

I have a doctor’s appointment Teusday, so I’m going to have her give me a backdated note so that my absence this weekend will not be unexcused.

I’m hoping that it won’t come to a hysterectomy. At thirty-six and never married, it’s unlikely that I’ll actually be using my uterus, but I really don’t want the extended recovery time that goes with major abdominal surgery. There are other things I’d rather be doing than laying in bed contemplating missing body parts (although I could probably get a lot of rosaries made, and that’s a hobby I’ve been neglecting since school started.)

Again, thanks.

8

My dear… if a hysterectomy could eliminate 70-100% of your pain, would you consider it a fair trade?

Look, I’m not advocating a hysterectomy by any means. There are several other alternatives that need to be looked into first. However, if your fibroids are severe enough (and since you’ve admitted you’re in pain pretty much every single day to one degree or another, they might be) it may be your best - or even your only - choice.

Extended recovery time? What about your extended suffering time? I’ve heard your very words from more than one suffering woman in her mid-30s’… only to hear a few years later I wish I had done it earlier. Uterine-sparing treatments can also have side effects, they don’t always work, and they are not appropriate for all cases.

As I said - I am NOT advocating a hysterectomy but do not wall off that option too early, alright?

9

{{{{{Thea}}}}}

I don’t know what to say, other than, well… Take care of yourself, and good luck.

10

I had fibroids and I had them treated without a hysterectomy. Although the procedure I had(UAE) is probably not available to you, there should at least be other options.

Also, while I would not normally wish it on anyone, there is a medication that could be used to temporarily ease up on the fibroids until you can get a more permanent treatment. It effectively makes you menopausal (hot flashes and all), so I would use it as a measure of last resort.

Do a search on uterine fibroids and you should get some good information on treatment options.

And that your company requires a doctors note for excused absences is absurd. This is why we will end up with universal health care. Have you talked to a nurse to see if you can get the note without actually seeing the doctor(since they already know the history)? I’ve seen that in private practice. And if that doesn’t work, I recommend you go into your supervisor’s office and throw up on him.

11

Zyada, I had already made this appointment a couple of weeks ago, so it’s no big. I need to talk to her about a CAT scan, since my MRI was declined. I want to find out if there is something else besides the fibroids going on with my back. I have a long history of back problems, so the fibroids might just be exacerbating something that was already there.

I work at Wal-Mart, which is a company notorious for not treating its employees like, well, human beings. So, yeah, since I’ve basically missed four consecutive days of work, I need a doctor’s note. Also, I’ve developed a fun new symptom- there is now a line of pain that runs down my leg that I didn’t have before. I think there might be a nerve being pinched or something. So, I want that checked out.

I’m hoping that I can have the fibroids removed as an outpatient procedure- they can do that if they aren’t too big.

12

Thea, I don’t know you well, but I hope you’ll accept my good thoughts as well. Good luck to you. It sounds like there’s some sound advice floating in this thread, though, so that’s a start.

13

Well, I did a search, and it looks like a myomectomy may be my best option. I’m thinking that if I can live with the side effects, there are drug treatments that may shrink the fibroids down to a size where they can be removed in outpatient surgery. Actually I only know for sure that I have one- but it’s large, and on the back of my uterus. A second, smaller mass is suspected of being a fibroid, but we don’t know for sure. I’m going to have many questions when I see the doctor Teusday.

Ideally, I’d like to use drugs to shrink the tumors and have the surgery done during spring break so I only have to miss one week of class. Another part of me just wants to get it over and done with, so I guess I’ll have to hook up with my instructors and see what can be done about my classwork- I really don’t want to repeat any classes, but attendance is a major part of the grade in some classes. Then there’s my Pell Grant to consider… I really don’t want to have to give the money back because of a medical problem.

I’m actually more scared about the recovery time than I am about the actual surgery.

14

Depending on how the surgery is done, there may not be much recovery time at all. If you can have it done laparoscopically, there are smaller incisions and less downtime than if you have one large incision. After I had my gallbladder removed, I was off work for a grand total of five days (it was Thanksgiving weekend) but on my feet again the day after surgery. YMMV.

Would it be possible for you to go on disability while you get your medical problems sorted out?

Robin

15

Thea- My prayers for you- for good medical care, a quick recovery & financial security (and ultimate liberation from that particular W-M, which seems much more hellish than the one I’ve been with 15 yrs). Blessings!

16

Thea, I am so sorry to hear you are going through the nightmare that fibroids can bring on.

I have had 4 or 5 myomectomies (I kinda lost count) If you have any questions about the surgery, the recovery, the fibroids, the symptoms … anything … please feel free to e-mail me.

Contrary to what a lot of people think, there are a few options for fibroids. This website I am linking you to, this section in particular, discusses various options some for fibroids, some for endo, some for adeno etc.

17

It’s a shame your employer won’t be more accomodating. Strange that they’d be willing to risk an OSHA issue or worker’s comp suit because they don’t feel like letting you work in a different department for a few months. Any chance you can take one of the alternate routes of communication supposedly offered by Wal-Mart? (from their website policies and practices section)

Can’t do much else but wish you as little pain as possible, good luck with your clinic appointments and college classes, and hope that any procedure you decide to have done fixes your problem once and for all.