I had to go on FMLA today. The Family and Medical Leave Act in the U.S. basically guarantees your job will still be there if you have to go on extended medical leave. You don’t get paid, you just don’t get fired.
So now we will be on a single income for the foreseeable future. I wish I lived in a civilized country where I would be covered in this sort of situation, but instead we’ll get deeper in debt because we won’t be able to keep up with the medical bills.
I hate it. I hate it so much. I don’t expect to get paid indefinitely if I was away indefinitely, but the only pay I will get is that the two days of paid time off I had saved up will be spent on this, so when I do come back, I’ll have nothing left for the rest of the year.
I don’t even blame the people I work for. I blame the system that they’re a part of. Why should they pay for my sick time if no one else does? I get that. It just sucks and is yet another bullshit part of living in America.
I hope you get things sorted. I was diagnosed with RA about five years ago and it’s been hell. I’m just starting to get sort of back to normal.
It really sucks. They don’t know what’s wrong with me yet. I’ve been through a ton of testing and missed 96 hours of work already, hence the FMLA.
That’s rough. The worst part of this chronic bullshit is uncertainty. I was lucky that we learned what it was before I needed FMLA but it took years to treat. It does get better on the other side. I barely made it and will be dealing with emotional shit for a long time.