Write From Karen

The doctors I schedule for help a lot of veterans.

Which … cool.

Only. Any time we do anything for them, we have to run it be the VA office/organization so that they (we) will pay for their office visits and any tests that need to be done.

I’m totally cool with that. In fact, I would RATHER pay for our veterans, men and women who have sacrificed their LIVES in order to serve our country than say, people who sit around with laminated homeless signs and beg for a living.

(True story. We passed a man on the streets of Chicago with a laminated homeless sign. Now look. I realize that people fall on hard times. But there are so many programs, charities, churches that exist for THE SOLE PURPOSE of helping these people get back on their feet and off the streets. But let’s be real – when you have taken the time to seek out/make a laminated homeless sign, that tells me that you’re not really looking to get back on your feet but are perfectly happy to beg for a living. And THAT, I have a problem with).

Our veterans SHOULD be taken care of. We owe them. Period. But I get so frustrated with the process. There is so much red tape to go through – needless red tape. It takes FOR.EVAR to get anything approved for our veterans and it just shouldn’t be that way. These brave men and women not only deserve to be taken care of, they deserve to be taken care of in a TIMELY manner.

And trying to get physical therapy approved for our veterans is darn near impossible. Which doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. Because the whole reason they come to our doctors is so they can heal and get better and what better way for that to happen than to be taught how to strengthen their weak spots and make them whole again??

It’s all so ass backward.

And the vets that visit our clinic? Are the nicest people!! They are always so pleasant and respectful … it just breaks my heart that it takes SO LONG to help them.

Kevin sent me a link at work today …

Number of Flu Cases Drops by 50 Percent in Greene County MO
(Springfield, MO) — The number of reported flu cases in Greene County is now on the decline after a two-week peak period.

On Tuesday, the Springfield-Greene County Health Department reported 71 cases from March 18-24, 2012.

That’s down from 138 the previous period and 137 the week before that. A majority of the cases have been Influenza A.

Out of the recent 71 cases, 16 of them were among residents ages 5-14. Fifteen were between 15-24 years old.

There have been 479 reported flu cases in Greene County since September 18, 2011.

Shortly after he sent me this article, we got a company-wide email stating that the suspensions had been put on “hold.” But they still reserved the right to implement the plan if the numbers rose in the next few weeks.

*snort*

And can you believe that 479 people out of 275,000 people in my county constitutes an “epidemic??”

Really?

I have become the clinic mascot over this thing. I had a nurse stop me today to ask me if I had heard anything. I was the only person in the entire clinic who hadn’t taken the flu vaccine. And the final tally? Ninety-five percent of the employees at the hospital I work for had taken the flu vaccine.

That’s a lot of cattle mindlessly sticking their arms out for a shot of poison.

The conversations have been interesting these past few days. This was the first year that the hospital had implemented their new policy and from the sounds of it, they have some major tweaking to do. It’ll be interesting to see how this affects NEXT flu seasons round of poison vaccinations.

I’m pretty sure I’ve annoyed a few people at work with my talk, and firm disbelief, in this whole vaccination process. Some of these people have been getting flu vaccines for 30+ years and they don’t exactly appreciate my speculation on a possible correlation between getting vaccines every year and all of these mysterious diseases that we haven’t found cures for and no one knows where they originate.

I’m not saying there IS a correlation, but can you confidently tell me there isn’t some sort of connection??

Food for thought.

I also think people are a little annoyed that I wasn’t reprimanded in some way. Though I don’t think they WANTED me to get in trouble, I think they were EXPECTING it and when I didn’t, they were annoyed. After all, if this all washes under the bridge, then what’s to stop more people from refusing the vaccine next go-around?

At any rate, it looks like my job is safe … for now. I’ll stop talking about it … for now.

But just know this – you take my choice away or try and bully me into doing something I think is morally wrong and unnecessary? I will fight you tooth and nail.

Period.

A fellow co-worker directed me to a company Intranet article about “getting the flu vaccine or else” article (though the company likes to call it a “choice,” it’s anything but a choice considering you either get the vaccine or be suspended), and I was amazed at the comments. For you see, in order to comment on these articles, you have to leave your first AND last name AND it’s your REAL first and last name. There is no anonymity on the Intranet – Big Brother is watching and Big Brother knows exactly who you are.

People are furious. ENRAGED is actually more accurate. It’s sort of comforting to see I’m not the only “crazy” person out there refusing to succumb to what I now like to affectionately call, “a syringe full of poison.”

Anyway. The comments? Are pretty freaking awesome. Nearly every comment touches on a point I’ve made here at one point or another. I thought a nurse had an excellent suggestion – why not just make the people who opt out of the vaccine wear a mask during the duration of the “epidemic.” (Remember, I use that term VERY loosely because I’m not convinced, at all, that there IS an epidemic).

Why indeed? I’d totally wear a mask if it meant I could keep working every day. And that makes sense to me. I’m not getting the vaccine, I’m potentially carrying this year’s flu strain and could potentially give it to someone else (that’s a lot of potentially, don’t you think?) so yeah. I’m more than happy to protect others from my non-vaccinated germs. (*snort*).

Another person brought up this point: the hospital is all about the patients – as it should be. It’s all about protecting the patients – as it should be. How, exactly, is it in the patients’ best interest to suspend a bunch of healthy people, making those left behind to work twice as hard and twice as long to cover the gaps left behind by the suspension?

An excellent point, I’d say.

I didn’t have time to really read through all of the comments (and there were a quite a few), but the ones I read? Were pretty spot on and I agreed with about 94% of them.

I was beginning to wonder if I was the only “crazy” person out there. I was comforted to see that I am not.

I just can’t get this image out of my head of us humans, all lined up, like cattle, being herded into a shed somewhere and being mindlessly vaccinated for some mysterious “virus” of something that changes every year and then coming out the other side, glassy eyed and dazed and all mumbling the same inane phrase because we’ve all become so used to being brain washed into doing what the group is doing that none of us has an independent brain cell left in our heads to say, “Wait a minute. WHY are we doing this again??”

Hi. My name is Karen and I’m a non-conformist. Give me a sound, logical reason why you want to me to go along with the pack and I’ll do it, otherwise …?

BITE ME.

So they’ve implemented the procedure that will start the ball rolling to suspend those of us who opted to thumb our nose up at the system and refuse to be vaccinated with poison – I.E. the flu vaccine.

(The same government agency that declared a pandemic of the H1N1 just a few years back. *snort* Pardon my skepticism).

My boss called me into her office today to ask me, once and for all, if I still wanted to refuse having the vaccine.

I said YES. (I mean, how many times do I have to refuse this sucker??)

So now … more waiting. (Don’t you love navigating red tape? JUST MAKE A FREAKIN’ DECISION ALREADY!!!!!!)

Please note that I am not making this decision lightly. I KNOW it’s going to cause a hardship to the people I work with. I KNOW they are going to be short handed because of me. I honest to God feel awful about doing that to them … but folks. I simply can not make myself go through with this.

My boss defended the company – the hospital is trying to protect itself. They don’t want one of their associates inadvertently giving one of their more sick patients the flu. I GET IT. But it’s a crap shoot. Let’s be real. Okay. So the associate doesn’t give the patient that strain of flu. That is no guarantee that that same associate, the same one who got the flu shot, won’t give that same patient something else – like a really bad cold or another strain of flu … it just doesn’t make sense to me.

I think having the flu shot should be purely voluntary. I think if associates opt out of the flu shot and then get sick, they should have to stay home for 3/4 days WITHOUT pay until they are well enough to return to work. I DON’T think the hospital should suspend a handful of perfectly healthy people simply because they refused to be bullied into getting an armful of poison.

Are we clear yet on my position on this issue?!?!?

I hate to keep harping on this, but hell’s bells, this whole thing just flabbergasts me. It’s so idiotic. And I’m a fair-minded person. I understand where the hospital is coming from, but when looking at the issue logically, there are WAY more cons than there are pros and there are WAY more efficient ways of dealing with this issue than “DO IT MY WAY OR BE SUSPENDED” scenario.

OMG, I’m so sick of thinking about this. I told my boss today that I wasn’t sure I wanted the stress of dealing with this situation every single freaking year. It’s just not worth the stress. It’s not fair to my co-workers. And it’s certainly not worth the small amount of money I’m being paid.

I told my boss that maybe this wasn’t the job for me. I didn’t tell her that to scare her or threaten her, but I wanted to be honest with her; this may not be the job for me. I’m a non-conformist (in case you haven’t picked up on that little fact). And if I perceive a situation as being unfair, or illogical, or just downright stupid, I won’t succumb. Just because everyone else chooses to get on that bandwagon doesn’t mean I will. It’s my choice and BY GOD, don’t take that away from me.

This company is bullying me into succumbing to their policy and I simply won’t do it. One, because I don’t think it’s necessary given all the reasons I’ve harped on these past weeks and two, the more someone pushes me into something, the more I dig my heels in and say, “screw it.”

Just ask my folks. I’m stubborn like that.

So … dilemma time. I love my job. I love my co-workers. I can honestly say that this is the best bunch of people I’ve worked with in a very long time. They’re awesome. The work is challenging and I was told today that I’m quite good at it, (especially for someone who doesn’t come from any medical background). I don’t want to leave it. But by golly … is it worth sticking around and having to put up with this crap every year? Granted, the “odds” of there being a flu epidemic are small, but still, it happens. (I still don’t understand why we haven’t been scared to death by this “epidemic” on the news. WHERE IS THE MEDIA HYSTERIA!?!)

*sigh* I hate to keep bringing this up, but it’s like a black cloud hanging over my head – I can’t seem to shake it. In the meantime, I see job offerings from other industries that I’m probably more suited to and would likely have a good chance of landing if I really applied myself.

But I’m not a quitter. I HATE letting people down. I HATE giving up on something, especially so early in the game.

I HATE being in limbo and right now? I’m dangling from a rope right before your eyes, and I resent the hell out of it.