zept’s Profile

About Me

I am originally from Detroit, Michigan, but I have lived in California for the past 11 years. I went to school to be a teacher but after moving to California, I started working in the computer industry because it pays much better. After years of continual job changes (that is the nature of the computer industry), a company I was working for fired me for being out sick 1-3 days per month. I gave full disclosure of my condition. They waited until after I had my surgery, which diagnosed me with stage III Endometriosis, to hire me as a full timer. I came back to work and within a couple of months began missing work again from the illness. The company changed its tune and started harrassing me. I pleaded with them that they had full disclosure, doctor's and surgeon's notes, the works. They replied, "we thought the surgery would cure you." That's what started the fight - they had been told there is no cure for this illness. They didn't care, they wanted me gone, even though I was a top performer in the company. So I filed a complaint with the state's labor board. As soon as I was fired, the labor board got all the paperwork I'd saved, took my case and launched an investigation against the company. Nine months later, the dispute was settled - the company has to pay me lost wages, remove the stain of 'fired' from my record, provide me with a positive reference, and give sensitivity training on disability issues to their employees. I've had Endo for 21 years, and for that long, doctors kept telling me either it was all in my head, it's part of being a woman, or that I *only* had Dysmenorrhea (painful period). So this is not my first fight against an establishment. I finally found a doctor in 2006 who believed me, and she did the surgery in 2007. Unfortunately, the disease is stage III, which is 'moderate', and was too close to my bladder to remove all of the disease. After surgery, I tried Yasmin - a hormone mix of synthetic estrogen and progesterone, but that made me clinically insane and suicidal. So now I'm back to doing what I did all the years before surgery - managing the pain through dietary modification, exercise and pain medication. At present, I am re-employed in a field I used to work in 12 years ago - I've gone back to the field of child care and currently work as a private nanny. I have respect and trust from real people, not corporate overlords. I have my sanity back!

Interests

Spending time with my honey, IRC, online research, genealogy, astrology, travel, writing, bicycling, walking