Hey Gary...

Well, my employers have been very understanding of any time I need to take off, but not "understanding" enough to volunteer to pay me for sitting at home. So as much as possible, I need to be there. Bills don't stop just because I don't feel good. If it's TOO bad I'll stay home, but I'm used to gritting my teeth and showing up even when not feeling good. Life goes on.

And some more good news. Bone density scan came back normal. That may change with time, but I'm pushing 1500 Mg of Calcium a day to help fight off bone loss.

 

Thanks. Prior to this stuff, "flare effects" were more Star17's area of expertise.

 

Hey Gary. Good to see things are gong along reasonably okay. Shoulder pains are no fun, though.

Light duties at work are probably a handy thing to keep your mind off things for a bit. Nothing that involves heavy lifting, though.

Stay well, and I'll keep you in my thoughts and prayers, Gary.

 

I'm so glad to hear the MRI and bone density scans were both good. Hopefully, if you have not missed much work in the past, you have some sick time built up ( if your employer allows that), or vacation time if necessary.

Prayers are still headed your way, en masse, I suspect.

 

You'd think so, wouldn't you

You get through the rest of the week okay?

 

Yeah. Some more aches & pains, but lots less than the beginning of the week. Nothing I can't handle.

 

Time off with pay falls varies from company to company. At mine, it falls into into 3 categories, not counting official holidays like Christmas and New Years.

Sick time, expected to be used only when necessary for illness/medical things - 4 days/year, not cumulative (doesn't carry over to the next year). Last year, I didn't use ANY sick days. Some peeps consider them a "right" and find an excuse to use them, needed or not.

Vacation. Two weeks to start (which is what I get this year), three weels after 5 years, 4 weeks after 10 years. Not cumulative, and time off must be approved by management in advance to keep too many people from being off at the same time which could impair operations. (We can't ALL be off the week between Christmas and New Years, which everybody would like.) Next year I'll have 3 weeks vacation.

Floating holiday. 2 per year. Basically just a couple more vacation days that need approval and can be taken any time. Since we DON'T get some days off that other places consider "holidays", like the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, New Years Eve, this is one way to give some of that back.

This year, I've burned my sick days and have taken a couple extra "vacation days" when needed. I've got the week before Christmas booked as vacation to fly out to California to see my folks, and have a few days left if needed. My bosses have been good about time off, and are allowing me to use vacation days whenever necessary with no approval, and despite any staffing shortages that might occur because of them. They basically told me I can have whatever time off I need, period, although they won't pay for additional time. At least I don't think so. There's nothing in their rules that allows for that, but I don't think I'll need it. At least not in the near future.

For more serious illnesses, our insurance provides for "short-term disability" and "long-term disability" which covers extended medical leave, but only pays about half of my normal salary.