Got fired from the Q - ha ha - Vikefantam

Well, I was officially fired yesterday.  Up until last summer, I was one of their top producers, never having an accuracy problem.  The reason I got fired?  I got sick.

Early last summer, I let a UTI go for 10 days (lived off Rx strength OTC Pyridium) until I was severely septic and urinating almost pure blood and clots.  I also had a kidney infection, kidney stones and bladder stones.  Thought it was over.  IIRC, the urinary organism was proteus mirabilis.  It had made it me very weak and I ended up with an MSSA staph infection which ravaged by body, I was left with inflammation in the lungs, pericardium and other organs, plus pleurisy and costochondritis. Why that poor excuse of a hospital didn't admit me for a couple of days is beyind me. 

I was so sick for 3 months, starting in May, ending in August.  I had called my supe to ask her if I could take 2 hours off here and there in the morning to try and get some sleep to let my body heal.  I was told PTO was closed for those months (she later said that I should have taken some time off).  My line count suffered because all I did was care for the dogs, work and lie on the couch, bathing when I had enough energy and rarely eating.  I went from 117 lbs to 106 lbs because I just was too sick to care to eat.  For those 3 months, I maybe had 4 nights of good sleep due to either peeing too much, the bladder pain or the severe pain from the inflammation due to the infection.  Some of the meds were worse than the sickness, especially the pred 60 mg tapering dose.  I have never shook like that in my life. 

The first day I felt well, which was on a Sunday, I fell down the basement steps with a load of laundry and broke my foot, twisting it under me so the plantar surface was facing the ceiling, then landed on it.  I tore the muscles, tendons and ligaments.  Still, I worked the next few days and saw a doc (did NOT go to ER but you'll understand why here shortly). 

I never lost work from being sick.  At one point, my doc sent me to the ER because he said there wasn't much else he could do for me.  I had had 5 antibiotics, 3 doses of pred, Incodin, etc. etc., and by that point, it had taken 3 antibiotics to clear up my UTI, and the doc, pharmacist and myself (I was too sick to care because I usually check) put me on Cipro, which is a no no for me.  I have a seizure disorder but will not have one unless a doc gives me a med that lowers the seizure threshold (Levaquin, Cipro, Ultram, etc.).  Doc gave me Cipro and it was grand mal city, tongue bite and all.  Anyway, at the hospital, the stupid nurse gave me a contaminated IV and I got sepsis again, after just recovering from it.  My white count was well over 20,000.  It was shortly after that I broke my foot and just limped in a surgical shoe for 4 days until I saw the doc.  I was afraid what that hospital would do to me next.

I was in that Cam boot for 4 months because my foot was so bad, yet I worked.  A tooth abscessed, had root canal (out of everything, this was the easiest!!!!), and a couple of other things happened.  Still hadn't missed work). My lines had improved now in December and Jan. but the last pay period, we got that blizzard and I needed my car the next morning.  I had too dig out 24 inches of snow from on and around my car and break up 4 inches of ice (I blame the Vikings - had they beaten the Saints, I would not have been shovenling snow and breaking up ice with a lead pipe.  I would have been glued to the game. 

So, I ended up with wrist injury.  Also during that time, my chronic insomnia kicked in and I was up 85 hours straight (NOT FUN - 3 a.m. Fri to 6 p.m. Mon).  I was hallucinating.  Not pink bunnies or a trophy case filled full of Lombardi trophies in the Minnesota Vikings' trophy case at Winter Park Headquarters, just seeing stuff from the corner of my eye, a candy wrapper on the carpet that was not there, etc.  It was terrible at night walking the dogs because that's when I'd really start seeing things out of the corner of my eye.  Went to doc, he gave me Ambien CR. I was going to take the dogs out for one final dog and take my Ambien.  Bumper was in my lap twitching, Maggie, as usual, snoring like a Mack truck.  I asked them 3-4 times if they wanted to go out (no fenced in yard).  I went to get up to get their stuff and just hit a wall - couldn't move.  I was asleep in about 1/2 second.  I felt awful about the dogs missing their last walk but I probably would have collapsed outside. 

I gave as much as I could to them and again, I understand their point.  But there IS one more thing at one point - I got an E-mail from my CTL telling me my excuses were sounding ridiculous.  I have documentation of every doctor visit, medication, ER visit, etc. etc. 

So, I get the call today that I've just been sick too much and it had affected my work (I had only gotten one E-mail about this and never had a problem again) so I was fired.  I was nice at first, then let it out about the missing reports, SEC, etc.  You see, I have at least 1 friend in a high place.  He is an atty. for the Justice Dept. in DC.  I know Dan would help me in a heartbeat.

So, I have 2 questions:

1.  I worked there over 2 years, full time/limited.  Do I have any kind of pensions?

2.  Can I collect unemployment?

Thanks for listening.  I'm not a vindictive person and I understand their point too - I didn't ask to be sick for almost an entire year with one thing or another but they do have a business to run.  But they had better not mess with me.

I've already sent out resumes.  Anyone have any suggestions about the Q?  They still can't find my missing reports.  Time for a call to my atty. friend,  Dan, at the Justice Dept. in DC and have him give a head's up to the SEC?  Thoughts?

Thanks so much!

And thanks for listening.