Jim was diagnosed with lung cancer (yes, a smoker) a year ago. Shortly after his diagnosis, his wife, Jean, was diagnosed with Parkinsons. Jean is my age, 55, actually, I'm 5 months older if we're counting months. Jim went through the chemo treatments, and as of last December was Cancer-free. Jean has been on medication treating her Parkinsons. Jim and Jean have a 27 year old son, JD who is still single and living at home, now a caregiver. Jim's Cancer returned with a vengeance, his lungs filled with fluid. I was informed today, he is being released from the hospital this afternoon. Arrangements have been made for Jim to be brought home by ambulance, Hospice has been called to visit the family.
We saw Jim and Jean last December, at the funeral of another friend who was just 50 years old, an ex-Navy Seal, John. John never smoked a day in his life and died on December 19th of Esophageal Cancer. John had surgery a year prior to have his esophagus removed and his stomach relocated to his throat. Losing John hit me pretty hard. We've been out a couple of times with Laura, John's wife. She's trying to adjust to being a widow at 47 years old.
I know death is a part of life. It seems I'm losing my friends too fast and way too young. It's heartbreaking. I've been disappointed and frustrated with my unemployment status as well. I continue to apply for positions posted. I'm waiting to hear from the county on the interview almost two weeks ago. I know what the answer is already. Let's just say if it were good news, I would have heard sooner from them.
Another economy disappointment is my 401K retirement funds seem to be dwindling down to dust. The other day, I'm sure you know, the stock market dropped 634 points. Yesterday, it came back 438 points, today looks like it is losing what it gained yesterday. I know this is just a flux in the market because of the reaction from the USA receiving a downgraded credit rating. It has been difficult to watch, especially being about a decade from retirement (maybe longer now?). Every time there is something that shakes the economy, the stock market (my 401K retirement) takes a nose dive. I was starting to see my losses from the past couple of years come back before this last dive...sigh. The Baby Boomer generation supposedly had it all...now, not so much.
I've decided to make a change. I am going to go back to school, starting anew, something different. I plan to start an online training curriculum for Medical Billing and Coding. Seems the health care field is the place to be these days. I didn't do well in science or biology in school. I knew I'd never been nurse or doctor. I'm hoping not to revisit those failing miserable days by making this choice (worry). This decision has been weighing heavily on my mind. Is this the right thing to do? Give up my career of 30 years in Human Resources? I have to do something. Other than applying to positions, nothing else seems to be working. Even if I continued to pursue my education in Human Resources, I'm convinced of the age discrimination I've incurred, although I would have a tough time proving it. In physicians offices I see many middle aged (sounds odd to describe myself as middle aged) females who process the medical billing. It apparently is more acceptable to be older in this profession. I happened to be in the local walk-in clinic last week because my thumb has swollen to the size of my big toe. Apparently, my thumbnail was ingrown and caused an infection in my thumb. Another occurrence for my "bad things" happening column. Doctor prescribed an antibiotic, clipped the thumbnail and the pain and swelling is gone, whew.
My plan is to complete 9-15 months of (self-paced) online training and receive a Medical Billing and Coding certification. From there apply to physicians and hospitals for Medical Billing and Coding positions, even insurance companies are having a need for this expertise. Medical records are now part of medical databases, plenty of medical records and information needs. Finance and medical fields have been the slowest to go high tech due to the liability of exposure. I was on the phone all last week following up on internet inquiries I had made. If anyone has any comments or suggestions, please feel free to chime in with your comment below, I love hearing from you!
Time for a smile, right? Tomatoes run-a-muck here. My worst fears rang true, seems like they're all turning orange at once! I took some tomatoes last Saturday to the Walking Group and gave them away. Here's what I picked and gave away.
Here's what I've picked since last Saturday.
I've been eating lots of BLTs and salads lately, imagine that? Here's another giggle, John does not like tomatoes, he does like tomato sauce. I don't know how to make tomato sauce (or can tomatoes). Another great opportunity folks to chime in with comments! I could really use your help!
Here's what is still left on the vine. You can see, it's picking time again. There are still green ones waiting to turn as well. Spots of orange are the ones that will be picked probably tonight and added to the already awaiting pile shown above.
I've disappointed myself with my walking program as well. Since this latest heatwave of 90+ degree temperatures, I haven't been out to walk except for Saturday with the group. I promised myself I would get up earlier and get out, I haven't. What I have stuck with throughout this short turmoil period of mine is watching what I eat. I haven't done any harm thankfully (no gain), but I haven't lost anymore weight either.
John came home yesterday from work at 1pm announcing he was bored at work and had decided to take the rest of the week off. I don't seem to get done what I need to when he's home, ha! After this last trip to Texas, there was so much work that needed to be completed by others. John could not proceed with his work until others completed theirs. He scheduled regular vacation time off for the week after Labor Day. I asked if he still intended on taking that week after taking the remainder of this week off. He said he wasn't sure, it depended on how fast the work he's waiting on others to complete gets done.
There's a possibility John may have to make another trip to Texas in a week or two, depending on how things go. John gets six weeks vacation leave per year. The company's policy states he can only carry over a balance of three weeks from year to year. John has five weeks vacation time on the books now, he has two weeks vacation leave to use between now and October 1. If he doesn't use it, he loses it.
If John is going to be home a little more, he wants to join me in walking. Although, he is not willing to get up early on his time off to go walking. I can't blame him, he's usually up by 4am and at work by 6am. I don't want to walk in the heat of the day. So either I go early by myself (and be more diligent about setting my alarm) or we go together in the evenings when it is cooler.
Thank you friends for checking in on me during my absence. I appreciate your concern, it means so much to me. I'm okay, just having to work through life I guess. Trying to figure out where to make changes, give encouragement to friends, juggling everything, same as you. We'll take it one day at a time, right?
4 comments:
Sorry to hear you are going through some hard times. It happens to all of us.
Sounds like your trying to do something about it though.
Things will get better. My dad used to say to me "this to shall pass."
I'll be praying for you.
Hang in there. : )
Sure sounds like a slump to me - with everything slumping at the same time. I sure do know about that!! But like Happyone said, you seem to be doing something about it and I think the choice of medical coding and billing is a good one. From what I have heard ... it is also a job that lends it self to "work at home" opportunities. Not sure how that works exactly, but if that is true, it save alot of money on gas and work clothes. It is also the kind of job you can do for a long time if you need to ... not physically taxing like some jobs.
And I hear you on the stock market and the 401K. For us it is very scary because we are already retired. And there is no way either of us can go back to work. My husband's eyes make him disabled and I have mom - the reason I stopped working. So we just hang tight, try to spend carefully and pray.
Keep your chin up. We all go through this. I feel like I have been in a slump about 18 months. At times I feel like I am pulling out of it, and then something happens and I feel my spirit sink - but I keep struggling upward. Exercise helps greatly in feeling down. If you can do only one good thing for yourself, walk!
You are not alone in this!
Thank you ladies for your encouragement. I can't begin to tell you how much it means to me. I hope what I'm doing by changing careers this late in life is the right thing to do. I guess I won't know until I try, right? It just seems I've run into so many brick walls, chasing my tail as they say or walking in circles. I'm tired of it all. I almost gave up on myself. I had to make a change or I would have. I still must continue to look for work. John is not happy that I'm haven't gone outside my field of expertise. I'm probably going to have to start thinking about retail, ugh. Worked for Lerner Shops and Home Depot, both were very long days. Stay tuned!
You always have a great attitude and things will change and you will get a job. I believe that. Have you checked the Dept. of Labor and Statistics website? They have a predictor of what jobs are or will be hiring. Just a thought.
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