you will not believe the type of year i've been having.
my story begins during my last year in nursing school. i found a lump on my right breast and i went to have it checked out. i didn't have much money and the insurance i had was so, so bad i only had a sonogram. the radiologist told me it was benign but he suggested having a mammogram. since he said it was benign, i opted to wait until i graduated and got better medical insurance.
i graduated may 2005 and started my job in july. i got so busy learning my job that i forgot about the lump but every month i would check it promising i would do something about it as soon as i cought a break.
during that time, my daughter moves in with my grandson because of marital problems. they were welcomed and we squeezed into a 2 bedroom apartment. at the same time, my husband was diagnosed with stenosis of the cervical vertabrea from c3 to c6. he had a laminectomy and took him until september of 2006 to return to work partially healed.
i finally cought that break on september of 2006. i went to my obgyn and had a mammogram and was referred to a general surgeon. december of 2006 rolls in and a fire breaks out in the building where we live. i was watching everything from a patient's room because i was at work, we were short staffed and couldn't leave. my husband called and told me everyone was ok but we were displaced, at least until the fire marshall could deem the building safe. i go back to the apartment to get some clothes and my grandson's gerbil and got caught by tv cameras. i appeared on the local channel and i'm afraid of what i looked like at the end of my shift, after a three-day-in-a-row shift. i never saw the interview but the people at the hotel where we stayed told me they saw me.
two days after, december 13th, i got a call from the surgeon telling me i had breast cancer. (are you thinking "oh, my goodness, can this woman take more bad news?? 'cos i did and i'm not done).
i had a double mastectomy and my husband and daughter were laid off from their respective jobs but i have long term dissability (not short term) and my husband's boss kept him on the job as long as he could. so we spend the next 71 days praying for money because we only had two small unemployment checks coming in. we filed our taxes and the return payed for our rent.
i started chemotherapy and we applied to any service that will help us support our little family cramped in a small apartment. we still have not heard from them but we counted our blessings because i still had my health insurance. april 27th of 2007 comes around and i got the news from my hospital of employemnt that i was being fired (and with that my benefits were terminated) because of the family leave act is 12 weeks nationwide but in my state, is 16 weeks. the hospital terminated me at the 16th week. we had no health insurance and we didn't qualify for state insurance because we had started a 401k when i started working and had a little bit of money put away ($3000) for our retirement. not enough to pay off bills but enough to pay for two more months in rent. i only needed two more months of benefits to finish my treatment and surgery. the hospital was not open to discuss my benefits at all.
it would have been $826 for cobra that we didn't have. what to do? the medical staff was very supportive, my ex-boss was very apologetic and my co-workers gave me the emotional support i needed. my little family kept me alive. there is one nurse's assistant who gave us $175 for groceries. we were so grateful that we were able to have a ham for easter. i am left with an incredible amount of bills and debt which i can only describe as "my fighting gift from the hospital."
needless to say, i am not going back to work at that hospital and instead, i am forced to do travel nursing because of the pay. i need to pay off all these bills. my husband was finally called back to his job and his boss was so apologetic. we were treated with more sympathy from my husband's job than we were from my hospital. my daughter found another job and graduated and is a massage therapist awaiting to put enough money together to get her license. this only discourages me from the nursing profession. i thought that hospitals would be good to me because i was a nurse, i became a good one and because i gave so much to my patients, i thought i would get that in return. i got friends who cared and sent me pictures of babies that were being born to my fellow nurses in my absence. i have to do travel, getting the worst assignments and being treated as an outsider (as i saw them being treated at my hospital) because i need to pay for those bills. i am so turned off by this career i am searching to see what is the best way to stay away from this and other hospitals. i don't wish this on anyone and i wish i had a better employer.
There is some news. I got a letter from the Attorney General and I got a Public Inquiry number. I'm not sure what this means but they said they would be in contact with me soon. I have not heard anything from them yet.
However...I also got a phone call from a local TV station associated with FOX. There is one reporter who took on the case and he is investigating a little deeper on this matter. This might help for us to get better treatment from hospitals. Let's keep praying.
Thanks you guys! Let's see how far we can take this.
Wow, what a sad story!! I'm so sorry for everything you've gone through; I know financial stress on top of everything else was the last thing you needed.
Perhaps the reporter will be able to put together a good piece on this and you'll get some kind of resolution.
damn! So help me understand, to teach my coworkers and self....
yes, you should have paid for short term disability, 20/20 sucks... try to add it on, once hired, it's impossible. then you had family medical leave act, which only covers you for 30 missed days, not allot with what you're dealing with. My understanding was that after that 30 days, the hospital was not required to hold your specific unit and shift for you, but would retain you as a full time employee to return to any comparable position upon returning.... and they chose not to do this and terminated you???:angryfire
Well, without health, we've nothing, so you're right to put that first, recover and see how you are later able to return.... disability sucks like 2/3 of pay, but maxed out after a certain pay off...
look, I'm recently sick myself with chest pain and GI stuff... the co-pays for all the labs, docs and tests is pulling us under, with me only taking 2 weeks off and working sick... I can't imagine those bills with the loss of pay:devil:
If we can do anything to help, aside from well wishes and prayers, let us know.. thinking about you and wishing you a speedy recovery to full health..... I hope this is a small bump in the road of life for you which makes you stronger.
thanks for sharing, and please help those of us not in your shoes understand a bit more so we can take any protections available to us.
damn! So help me understand, to teach my coworkers and self....
yes, you should have paid for short term disability, 20/20 sucks... try to add it on, once hired, it's impossible. then you had family medical leave act, which only covers you for 30 missed days, not allot with what you're dealing with. My understanding was that after that 30 days, the hospital was not required to hold your specific unit and shift for you, but would retain you as a full time employee to return to any comparable position upon returning.... and they chose not to do this and terminated you???:angryfire
Well, without health, we've nothing, so you're right to put that first, recover and see how you are later able to return.... disability sucks like 2/3 of pay, but maxed out after a certain pay off...
look, I'm recently sick myself with chest pain and GI stuff... the co-pays for all the labs, docs and tests is pulling us under, with me only taking 2 weeks off and working sick... I can't imagine those bills with the loss of pay:devil:
If we can do anything to help, aside from well wishes and prayers, let us know.. thinking about you and wishing you a speedy recovery to full health..... I hope this is a small bump in the road of life for you which makes you stronger.
thanks for sharing, and please help those of us not in your shoes understand a bit more so we can take any protections available to us.
wish you the best
I actually had no income at all for 71 days after the last day I worked. I got one more paycheck which included all my holiday time, vacation time, sick time and because it was the beginning of the year (jan 6th was my last day), I didn't have much accrued. They didn't offer any short term disability otherwise I would have taken it like I took long term dis.
In regards to the employment, I think the law varies from state to state. I am in CT and as far as the attorneys have told me, what they did was immoral:nono: but completely legal:angryfire. The ineptitude of this hospital is beyond my understanding:uhoh3:. All they had to do is pay for my benefits for two more months, and it would have saved them 6 months of training another nurse. A lot more $$. They talk about saving money but did they really?
Anyway, I'm not going back to that hospital. My only interest was to have stability and that dream was shot to h%$#@ll
I'm hoping almost two months from your post, you and the family are doing well. I have to shake my head at how the hospital treated you. My husband has just gone through the same thing. He is in IT(computers) for the same hospital group I work for, and just had a liver transplant in April, one week before his one year anniversary. Well, they posted his job 30 days into his recovery. HR said there is nothing for him right now, so just take the 6 months STD. Now, he is in a depression about this. I am ready to go to the media. Its all about the money with these institutions, not the people. If it dosen't make money, you or it is gone. Our OB unit is moving out of our local hospital because not enough babies are born to make a profit!
:eek:Actually I am surprised ! I worked at a hospital in Tennessee for 4 years as a CNA and one of the other CNAs came out of our break room one afternoon and told us quietly that she had just felt a lump under her arm. One of the nurses told her she better get it checked the next day, so she did. It was CA and she had to have a double mass and chemo and radiation. She didn't work with us for a whole year! They put her on leave of absence so she could keep her benefits and she was single with no kids so she moved in with her folks and lived off her savings. As soon as she was medically released to return to work she came back to us. It is terrible that all hospitals don't care for their own this way!:angryfire They certianly should! where would a hospital be w/o nurses and aides!?:trout: you are in my thoughts and prayers as well!
I too am so sorry for what you have been through. I wish I could say I am surprised about what the hospital did, sadly I am not. I have worked for many, many hospitals in my 11 years of nursing and I can't think of one who would not have done what yours did. In my humble opinion, nowadays, hospitals don't give a crap about their employees. They only care about who shows up to work. If it's a warm body, that's all that matters. I will pray for you and don't stop the faith! Sometimes we go through things in life that are horrible, but God is always with us, good and bad!! Hang in there and keep your spirits up!!!:balloons:
Oh My God Hotomalis!! I can't believe what an incredibly strong, resilient and courageous woman you are. I have just now found this thread, I don't know how I missed it. I don't know how you and your family survived everything you went through, it is truly incredible and an inspiration. How are you feeling now? Are you still traveling? I am stunned by your ability to stand up and take action against that BULLY of a hospital. I hope there is at least one or two people in administration who are having trouble sleeping over this one, how incredibly absurd!!! Are they truly affiliated with the Catholic Church? Maybe you could let the Bishop or somebody in charge of the Catholic Church in your area know about it. (I'm not Catholic, so I'm not sure how that works.)
My prayers are with you. Keep trusting God. I do believe in perfect justice, one way or another.
I wanted to PM you but it did not let me. I only read your post quickly cause I am at work and no patients to prep but noticed your in Conn. I live in New York. Firstly so sorry for all that your have been through and I pray you get some needed relief with all my heart I pray that may be the case.
I noticed you say your still working but doing traveling. How come you dont commute to NY They pay well and as a nurse you should not be suffering financially. If your a CCU nurse you should have a strong cardiac background and hopefully that should open doors.
If you want to leave Bedside Visiting Nurse of NewYork in the Bronx has opening for Case Managers that pay in the 70,000-80,000 a year . If your looking for CCU Presb Columbia in NY (hospital President Clinton gets treated at pays high salaries to CCU nurses.
Post your resume on Career Builders and you will get lots of offers and learn more about how marketable you are through agency work. I did that and found a great perdiem job in the Bronx as a walkin triage nurse that I love. Never thought I would say that about a nursing job since so many times we get treated mean at our jobs. At This perdiem position every one is nice all the time. From patients to staff my whole 11hr shift. I thought I was dreaming.
I know maybe I read to quickly through your post and maybe I missed something but just thought you should not give up. Nursing still has lots of options.
I even got offers from pharmaceutical companies that were paying really well and from insurance companies both of these where desk jobs. So I hope you post your resume and maybe you find something that will meet your needs , time schedule and appropriate location.
I wish something I said helps but I know after all you have been through I am a lost for words other than to say may the Lord open a door, may you not loose hope
Please let me know if there is anything I can do to be of assistance. Do you have a site where I can make a donation to help with your past bills? I am so glad that things are finally getting better for your now.
I hope that reporter follows through and exposes that pathetic excuse for a hospital!
You know this is pretty random but when I worked at a catholic hospital there were nuns and fathers on the board of directors. I wonder if that is the case with your hospital. If so, you may want to contact one of them and let them know what is happening.
Like all the other amazing folks here, I share your anger and tears and send you many hugs.
Hi Hotomails, How are you and your family doing now, and the press and Attorney General, I am dying to hear the outcome. I am praying for justice for you and all of us nurses that have experienced similar injustice. Are still traveling? Continue to be strong and brave.
FireStarterRN, BSN, RN
3,824 Posts
Great news!!!:balloons: Thanks for the update.