Job, Daily Life and EB

I was with my previous company for over 10 years. When I started I was so new and fresh and nervous. I was 21 and inexperienced in the job market. I got lucky with my former position. I loved my supervisor immediately. She was such a blessing. She gave me a chance and I truly hope that I didn’t let her down. I was with a branch of part of a larger company. It was a small position during Accounts Payable, part-time reception, part-time mail, etc. It was nice and I really liked all the people I worked with. After I had been there for about two and half years, the larger company decided to merge the accounting departments together. I went from doing such a small amount of work to doing 3 times as much. My supervisor wasn’t even my supervisor anymore. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. I got a new supervisor and my original manager was the same. At least that was survivable.

Overtime, things got better and then worse and then better. It was definitely a roller coaster there. The insurance was good, that’s how I was finally diagnosed anyway. I was allowed to wear whatever shoes I wanted, which made things easier for my feet when they were acting up. Eventually, I received my handicap placard so I could part directly in front of the door near my desk. Of course, I was embarrassed about using my placard and there were many times where I would stand inside the door waiting for coworkers to leave before walking out to my car. The placard, however, is a whole other story!

Early this year, I realized I just wasn’t as happy as I used to be. I celebrated my 10 years with the company, but getting up for work was becoming a chore. At night, I was exhausted and could barely take care of myself let alone my children. I felt like we were short-staffed and I didn’t feel like I could ever keep up with the work load. I decided I would look for a new job.

It actually didn’t take long. If you are ever at that point, where you know it’s time to go. Please it’s better for you and better for your company if you just leave. Find something new, they are out there. I put out four applications. Two came back pretty quickly saying I wasn’t qualified. Okay. I didn’t give up. The third one scheduled a phone interview and I took it. The phone interview went well, I really liked the HR person and it seemed like she liked me. It took a few days, but they scheduled a face to face. I took it. I took a half day at my current job and drove to the interview. Guess what rode with me the entire way? A giant grasshopper! Was it a sign? Maybe.

The interview went well, my met the HR person, the controller (would be my new boss) and the CFO. They asked me a ton of questions and overall I thought it went well.

A few days later, they offered me the job! I started in May and couldn’t be happier. The people are so nice and friendly. There is so much less stress and overall I feel like I can grow here. I don’t feel like I don’t want to get up in the morning. I’ve been assigned so many projects and little tasks and I’m learning so much! I can honestly say that I’m happy to be here and I don’t even miss my old company.

WAIT. As I said I do not miss my old company. I DO however, miss my coworkers. Most of them were there with me for that 10 year period of time. They are great people. That has got to be one of the hardest things about leaving them. I really wish them all nothing but the best and I know I had to do what was good for me and my family.

Now, I’ve been here almost three months and the only real issue that I’ve come across is my feet. Of course, my feet would be an issue. This company is a little stricter on the dress code and I’ve been doing my best not to say I need something special for my feet. I’ve been wearing flats every day, but I’ve been having some bad break outs on my feet. It could also be because we have been having a horribly hot summer.

So, here’s my routine. I can’t just pop my blisters because they tend to fill back up with fluid, so I usually put a slice in them with scissors and then coat them in antibiotic ointment. I then wrap my feet up and make sure to keep them covered. See, the thing about EB is that you can only do what you can to prevent the blisters from forming. Once they are there, well, that’s it. You can pop them to relieve the pressure when you are walking, but you have to make sure to watch so they don’t get infected. I have never had one get infected, thankfully. You keep the open wounds covered as much as possible so that they can heal. Of course, it’s hard for them to fully heal because you keep walking on it. My new coworker is pretty awesome about it. She can tell when I’m having an issue and she has no problem running up and down the stairs for me.

About a month ago, I went with my mom, my brother and my kids to Knott’s Berry Farm. I wore the wrong shoes! We ended up renting an Electric Scooter (and let me tell you, I want to get me one of those!) because I was in so much pain.

It’s been a four weeks now and the blisters haven’t fully gone away. My right foot is like blistering central. It started with two directly on the bottom. I popped those two and two more grew connecting to those two. I popped those two and THREE more grew connecting to those two. That’s where I am right now. I currently have the remnants of 7 blisters on my right foot and two of them are still causing me some pain.

Today at work, I sat on the bathroom floor cleaning and applying new ointment, and then I wrapped my foot and applied tape to try to keep it there. While I probably could have done it at my desk, I do share an office and my foot looks pretty horrible. After getting my foot all doctored up, I limped back to my desk to finish the day. I think my new coworkers are getting used to my limp. One day at a time.