Got a job offer
 

'Today's Joy' - got a phone call from a student loan company today. I will be starting June 1st going through some training first. It will be a 'sit-down' job with light data entry. Sounded perfect for me - having had the scare of the hemangiomas in my liver.

[Note: Doctors must not know much about 'hemangioma'. My Mayo-Clinic - trained family doctor called me today and said the hepatic hemangiomas shown on the CT scan was not revealed in the ultrasound and he's going to schedule another in early August - will coordinate with my oncologist. I got on the web and searched via National Institute of Health and found this interesting information:

Exams and Tests Return to top

The following tests may be performed:

• Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)
• MRI
• CT scan of the liver
• Hepatic angiogram
• Blood tests (thrombocytopenia may be present in large hemangiomas)

Ultrasound was not on the list - I guess it's already been known that Ultrasound won't do. But how interesting!

[Gee, it is very hard to keep 'my' mind off BC - I guess it
is part of our life...]

Congratulations Jackie :)

Super News, Jackie!!!!

Thank you, Jamieh and MA in Texas,

My husband's going to drive me for a while. I worked at the college library 7 miles further down from 'Sallie Mae' during 1995-2002, so I am familiar with the area. But I haven't been driving much lately.

Chemo does 'traumatize' our brain some. Fortunately I've been staying active with this group - it keeps our brain intact.

So, a 'thank you' to everybody - especially Joe and Christine.

congratulations on the new job!!!!

Got a job offer
 

congratulations on the job offer.

Thank you, Juanita and Elaine.

Jackie - Congrats! I also have an hemangioma on my liver. We found it back when I was first diagnosed.... went through every test imaginable to be sure it wasn't tumor.

How interesting! Did you do anything about it? It was
bothering me when dianosed by the CT - the reason why I had requested for the scan. But lately I haven't noticed much - could be because I've already scaled back my activities.

Thanks for sharing. I wonder how many other members have it. The information I've gathered seems to point to 'estrogen' - too much of it. The same stuff that fuels the ER + BC?

We found mine 5.5 years ago and my doc told me it is just a cluster of blood vessels that can occur anywhere in the body. I have never noticed it or had any symptoms...

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/liv...ngioma/DS01125

I was having 'irritable bowel' problems in January. It has been better but the color and shape of the stuff is quite abnormal these days. [Forgot to mention it to my family doctor when he called.] I think there must be an internal bleeding somewhere and possibly some obstruction(causing the 'bent' shape.)

Oh, just found something on the web. Perhaps my doctor was looking for this:

How is liver hepatoma diagnosed?

In addition to a complete medical history and physical examination, diagnostic procedures for a liver hepatoma may include the following:

• liver function tests - a series of special blood tests that can determine if the liver is functioning properly.
• abdominal ultrasound (Also called sonography.) - a diagnostic imaging technique which uses high-frequency sound waves to create an image of the internal organs. Ultrasounds are used to view internal organs of the abdomen such as the liver, spleen, and kidneys and to assess blood flow through various vessels.

Jackie,

Congratulations on your job.

Amelia

Is it a hemangioma or a hepatoma that they suspect? They are two entirely different things...

My doctors never mentioned anything other than confiming 'it is fine'. I was the one dug up the 'hepatoma' information and figured that's why they did the ultrasound - to rule out the possibility of 'hepatoma'. (The info about the 2+cm and new .4cm hemangiomas was relayed by the radiologist over the phone after I had inquired about the result of the ultrasound.)

My family doctor did agree to check it again in August. And my oncologist - after seeing me today about the genetic report - said he will arrange for an x-ray on the area of my spine where there's spot that bothers me (when pressure is applied.) He told me to wait (not to call Myriad - the company who did the analysis) till September to see the [new?]geneticist who will be on board.

*******

Thank you, Amelia.

Jackie, I am so happy for you on the new job you will be starting tomorrow!! Will be thinking of you....
wishing you a great day
Maryanne

Thank you.

I'm going to bed now.

Congratulations on your new job! Good luck on your 1st day!

Thank you.

My first day went fine. I walked in just one minute past 8 when all the 'new hires' were still waiting in the lobby. Most people got a blue-colored pass. The ones that came late, got a yellow-colored pass - or so I thought. At the end of the day, the security guard clarified with me that there were just so many blue-colored passes. They use the yellow ones when they ran out the blue ones.

We will be in intense training for 6 weeks. There are other staff whose job is to listen to our conversation with the customers.

I also found out that the new hires comprise of 3 different categories. Somehow (didn't know how - test scores? interviews? choices? - I was hired full-time with benefit. The other two groups are 'seasonal workers' and something else. So starting July 1, I can cut the expensive COBRA and switch to the not so expensive (the company pays for more than 3/4 of the cost) PPO which has a high $5000.00 deductable. (So it's probably going to come out the same.) I am pretty sure my doctors are on the preferred list because our hospital has practically taken over the health care of the whole area.

My energy went downhill fast and by four o'clock my mind was drifting away and did not hear the instruction - the co-trainer who's sitting in the very back (not far from me) came and gave me a hand - I must have 'blacked out' for 15-20 seconds because I did not hear the instruction from the trainer at all.

The past 20 years I have lost numerous jobs because of my cognitive problems caused by the brain surgeries and chemos. Since this is going to be a 'sitting down' type of job and the interaction will be one-on-one on the phone, I think I might have a better 'shot' to stay on the job longer.

Thank you all so much for the support. We take it for granted the support we get here within the group. We got so used to 'ask' and 'receive'. The last couple of weeks I had found out that most people have no idea what we are going through and have very little 'sympathy' for it.

Thanks again and 'good night'.

Just 'lost' my job! :) Looking back, this was not the shortest-lived job in my life. I worked exactly 14 work days there. After had I filled out the 'exit interview' on the computer, the lady who's doing the 'processing' came back to the room and offered me a 2-week 'severance'
deal. I haven't even worked 3 full weeks yet! They must have really, really wanted to get me out of the door quickly, hoping never to hear from me again.

Talked to a Texas Workforce Center staff off the phone and learned that accepting the 'severance' would not affect my unemployment compensation. I should have two more months left over still.

Well, I have tried. Just wished people could be a little more patient. I might be a little bit slow at the beginning (haven't worked for a whole year), but I know in the end (of the 6 weeks) I will get everything 'stored' in my brain and do a superp job. That's the pattern of all of my academic records. I always ended up with mostly A's when the semester is over.

Next time, I will definitely wear my wig no matter how hot it is...