Kick me when I'm down!

So, over the past couple of months, I've been kind of dieting. Not really dieting, but trying to reduce bad calories slowly and blah, blah, blah, you know how it goes.


Well, I went to go visit my parents and was freezing the whole time, inside their house, out and about. It was like a deep freeze and I couldn't escape from it. I also had horrible insomnia. I went home a week later and found that I had gained 18 pounds. Yes, 18 pounds from eating the same diet as my parents. (Have you seen my mother? She's tiny.) Anyway, I also began to finally be able to sleep. I started to sleep 12 hours a day and wake up and be tired. All of my muscles began to ache from doing the simplest tasks. I would get a cramp from chewing, walking or even just moving my thumb. Dealing cards became excruciating. I also continued to feel cold and gain weight.

It doesn't take a genius to figure this one out. So, I went to the doctor and said, I think there is something wrong with my thyroid.

I had actually just gone to the doctor before this all started and had a normal thyroid test and was weighed. So, over the course of 2 months, I had gained 50 pounds and yes, it appears that my thyroid has died. My TSH level went from 4.5 (top of the normal range) to 88.0, which is obviously high. The strange thing is that it is a huge jump from 2 months, usually it isn't such a dramatic jump. It is more gradual. My doctor also stated that it appears that my muscles are breaking down and that explains the extreme muscle cramping and fatigue. And he started me down the arduous path of synthroid titration to treat it. He also views me as a medical oddity and has ordered more tests after consulting with an endocrinologist. (I'm so glad I didn't get referred.)

So, in any case, I feel like crap. I look like crap. (My facial structure actually was changed around the eyes...again, not uncommon). Everyone at work can tell I'm sick whether I tell them or not. Then for no reason that I can see, my boss schedules me to work six days next week. I have lots of people offer to work for me on the extra day. So, I go up to the scheduler and ask, "Is there anyway that I can get out of working on Tuesday?"

She looked at me angrily and flatly said, "No," resuming what she was doing.

"Is there anyway that I can set up something like FMLA?"

"Do what you gotta do!" She snapped.

I was kind of flabbergasted that someone would want to kick someone when they were down, so I said "Oh," and started to back away.

My supervisor overheard me and started yelling "You blew it!"

"Huh?"

"You blew it! You can't ask for time off and then use FMLA. How are you going to know that you are going to be sick ahead of time?" He paused for a split second, just long enough for me not to get a response together, "huh?!"

I replied, "well, I have this thing with my muscles. They are cannibalizing themselves and they cramp up a lot. I thought two days off in a row would be good."

He just said, "Oh" and walked away.

Anyway, I've now worked that day that I wanted to get off and it was horrible. I have also just learned that their behavior was in violation of FMLA laws. I don't want to go legal on them, but the desire to report them to human resources is really, really strong.

Also, I had to drop school this term. I think that I'm going to use the time that I would have spent in school to start a dealer's union.