I mentioned part of this a month ago on Facebook, but not here. So I'll go ahead with the whole announcement.
Late in December, after getting over COVID, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Just having a prostate was bad enough, but it had to grow a cancer as well. Early in March, the doctor and I agreed on surgery to remove it.
And then I get fired. I was worried how I'd pay for the surgery. Turns out my insurance is good until middle of May. But I still have to pay a huge amount myself. Looking at the report that came with notice of being fired was list of others (I wasn't the only one). It looked like a lot of them were 50 and older.
Today we discussed what I can expect. I get the surgery on April 21. It's an overnight stay. One bit of news, for most people would be devastating, but I'm hoping to one day make it illrelevant. No more erections. So a body part I always wished I didn't have in the first place, now won't work.
I'll be out of commission for about 10 days after the surgery. I don't know if I'll feel like writing during that time.
This also makes it next to impossible to look for new employment.
So I'm not in a real good mood right now.
Melanie
Comments
Employment Woes
Consult with an attorney whose area of expertise is employment law. When numerous individuals over age 50 are laid off, grounds for an Age Discrimination law suit may be present.
G/R
Support
I'm totally unfamiliar with the details, but I hear that there is supposed to be support for the low-income with deductibles or copays due to weak Bronze insurance.
Consulting an employment-law attorney: alas, more money.
-- Daphne Xu (a page of contents)
They call this a civilized country
Too many of us bought in to the idea that a bad dystopian science fiction novel was good economic theory. Unfortunately we are all living in the world shaped by Ayn Rand's fantasies. I read the other day that something like two thirds of "go fund me" sites exist to cover medical bills and this is happening here in the US of A. I wish there was a hell so that Milton Friedman, Alan Greenspan, Ronald Regan and Margret Thacher could all burn in it.
If you do start a go fund me site let us know.
Your friend
Crash
Nutty Ideas
One of my nutty ideas here (https://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/comment/594492#comment-594492) was a Take That against Atlas Shrugged. Apart from a whole new concept of energy being picked out of a design diagram, apart from the fundamentals of energy being well understood in Real Life then, the problem with extracting thermal energy from the atmosphere has nothing to do with concepts of energy, and everything to do with the statistics of a huge (1030) number of free particles.
Of course, there is the mundane windmill.
-- Daphne Xu (a page of contents)
I'm glad I still live in the "Mother Country"
The benefits of the UK's National Health Service, notwithstanding our minor gripes, are outstanding. I cannot understand why members of the world's greatest democracy (i.e. our upstart offspring the USA) are so widely opposed to socialised medicine, even those who I know and consider to be socially aware free-thinkers (but are nearly all reasonably prosperous) seem to be unable to explain it to me. Is it matter of "**** you I'm all right"?
It's like the inability of the self-righteous to consider things like LGBT issues to be simply a matter of choice. If that's what their god (note the small initial letter) is like, I am continue to be happy to declare myself (for reasons not stated here) an atheist.
I wish well to nearly all (except the bigots) out there.
I remain (an)
Outsider
(but looking in, with best wishes)
Good Luck
I guess your priority right now is your health and receiving treatment. I know a few people who've had the operation and the follow-up treatment who seemed to live a normal life afterwards.
Employment Law in the UK protects the worker and I'm not sure about the USA. If you were sacked they would have to justify the sacking and the employee can object and go to an industrial tribunal if treated unfairly. Redundancies are more formal and depending on the size of the company and number of employees it varies. They can't select based on gender or age as it is the job that is redundant not the individual for employees with more than 2 years service.
I think it is worth taking advice from a lawyer or employment law consultant. Here we can get the advice free from the Citizens Advice Bureau.
If you had a health condition like you stated the company would have to prove they didn't use that as a reason for sacking you or making you redundant. [If you were in the UK.]
Good Luck anyway for your health and also in sorting out the mess.
Whatever else it is that you are doing, please read this ...
... very carefully and completely:
https://p.widencdn.net/mwhzyu/Health-Concerns-About-Dairy-Fa...
And then, please, very please, get off of all dairy, butter, cheese, yogurt, kefir, low fat, ghee, skim, lactose free ... - all milk products - everything squeezed out of animal breasts.
Dairy has several pathways to start cancers, especially reproductive cancers ( >prostate<, breast, and all of a an XX woman's female plumbing). There is no doubt in my mind that dairy will continue to "feed"/promote/accelerate any cancers we have, and even start new ones.
Follow-up
I'm back home from surgery. Always my luck there were complications during the surgery making it go from 3 hours to 6. But it's supposed to be fine now.
Melanie
You are in my heart.
Much love to you!
Love, Andrea Lena