Dissertation on hospitality management

Hi everyone! TIA for replying or reading my post. I work as a dispatcher for a hospital & I do 12 hour night shifts on Saturday & Sundays. My department is merging with another dept (I used to work at this other one) & the goal is to have everyone know how to dispatch in order to have people cover for each other for break or call outs. As of right now there are only 6 people who know how to dispatch including myself (I just got off training).. no one else in the other department has bothered to learn how to dispatch and my manager is not enforcing it. Since, I work by myself because no one else wants to do transport dispatch at night during the weekends I receive not a single break during those 12 hours & am obligated to connect my phone to the work phone in order to not miss a single call (even while I’m on the bathroom). My boss literally told me in a “jokingly” way that if I’m sick I can still come in to work since it’s the night shift & I can just put my head down when there’s nothing going on.
I’m starting nursing school soon & that will be my priority.. I would like to return to my old department because I’m much familiar with the work over there & know that the workload is lighter so I’ll still be able to get work & school work done. What can I tell my boss in order to get a shot at switching over to the other department? Or am I better off finding a different job? Thank you

This post isn’t probably what people think this is about. I work on an old unit on my hospital and for some reason the kitchen door has a Staff Only sign on it. I saw a TikTok about how families ask the nurses too much to get water and how they can do it themselves but for some reason our work gets pissy if families or patients go into the kitchen.
I let them in especially on nights, most families try and grab water on their own but aren’t able to find the kitchen or don’t want to get in trouble. I feel like they put the rule up during Covid and never got rid of it and it’s so stupid to me, so I literally have to get water for people on days so management isn’t pissy

This is my first time writing anything so if I make a mistake please forgive me.
I need to vent, to get it all out before it breaks me.
My Mum died on NYE in 2022.
BG: Around 20th Dec 2022 my Mum started to feel ill. We assumed it was a cold or the flu and that she would be fine in a week. She was still no better by Christmas so in the evening she went to the hospital.
She came home on Boxing day and they said that she had a chest and throat infection. She was unable to get in touch with her GP until the 28th to try and to see about medication (she couldn't swallow the tablets they prescribed her because of the throat infection).
The week between Christmas and her death she was unable to administer her insulin (she was a Type 2 diabetic). On the evening of the 30th she seemed to be doing a lot work and when i checked her bloods the metre wasn't ablto get a reading. She finally allowed me to call for an ambulance.
In the 40 minutes we waited for the ambulance to arrive she became really disoriented and she just went downhill from there. They managed to check her bloods and they were obviously high. When we were finally got to the hospital they had to give her something to calm her down because she kept pulling her oxygen mask off and wouldn't stay still.
We were there for about 3/4 hours before someone finally spoke to me and explained that she had pneumonia. They said that there was nothing they could do because her organs had already started to fail.
I had to make the worst the 6 worst phone calls of my life. One to each of my siblings, two to my aunties and one to here best friend.
In the maybe 30 minutes it took for my family to get to the hospital I just sat with my Mum and cried. When they all arrived we sat with her and said our goodbyes. She was crying. We sat there for about 20 minutes. Then she died.
My Mum was my only parent. She was my only friend. She was the only person I could cry in front of. She was my everything. My Mum lived with me and we took care of eachother.
I have 3 siblings but I'm not exactly close to them. I love them and When she died they all had partners and 2 have kids and friends. I was alone. I still am.
My first thought when I was told that she was going to die was that I'd be all alone.
I hate her for dying because she was all I had. My only parent, my only friend, my everything. And I hate myself so much for hating her.
I've not had a cuddle in over a year (since her funeral) and all I want most is to just sit on her bed with her and hug her and just tell her how much I love her and how much I need her.
Sorry for all this but I've held everything in for over a year. I will be contacting someone on Monday about counselling but I just needed to vent and get it all out before it breaks me.

So I’m a single mother of a 12-year-old son. So yesterday I got a call from the school that my son had got into a fight with multiple boys. So after running from the boys, my son turned around and grabbed the biggest, and the loudest one slammed them on the floor and then kicked him in the chest, my son was arrested. They said it was because the boys didn’t actually hit him and the witnesses said that the boys were chasing and yelling but did not make contact only my son will be in trouble. The other child is OK and I don’t blame his mother for pressing charges because I did the same thing. I know my son went too far if he felt that he was in danger just stopping was one thing even he admitted that he wasn’t just annoying him and he wanted to leave him alone and he wasn’t taking leave me alone answer. Typically, my son is a good kid good grades he likes to read play video games. He has friends and somehow he’s managed to talk all a little old ladies into adopting him as a grandson, but he messed up. He went too far and now we have to face the consequences. And he’s willing to face the consequences. I’m very proud of him of that. He’s not gonna lie and say that he didn’t do something wrong or that it wasn’t him. He’s not even trying to sugarcoat it and make it sound like he didn’t do what he did, I’m scared of the next steps , I’m waiting for the paperwork and speak to the district attorney who handles juvenile cases and I’ve been crying for 24 hours straight. I tried to call my son father but he has my son and myself blocked because his new wife doesn’t like us. I’ve never met her. I’ve never met their kids, my son has only met them once or twice, my son has only met them once or twice now here trying to figure out how to get a lawyer. now here trying to figure out how to get a lawyer and therapist for my son. I’m also waiting for the hospital bill from the other kid’s mom. I know that kids mess up and generally speaking I got a good kid. He’s 12 he cooks he cleans he babysits his little cousins. He’s really good kid and he messed up and I feel like his mess up is my fault like this gotta be something I could’ve done. I just don’t know. What do I do next? How do I approach this? What questions do I ask? Can this hurt him for life?

This is my first time writing anything so if I make a mistake please forgive me.
I need to vent, to get it all out before it breaks me and I do something stupid.
My Mum died on NYE in 2022.
BG: Around 20th Dec 2022 my Mum started to feel ill. We assumed it was a cold or the flu and that she would be fine in a week. She was still no better by Christmas so in the evening she went to the hospital.
She came home on Boxing day and they said that she had a chest and throat infection. She was unable to get in touch with her GP until the 28th to try and to see about medication (she couldn't swallow the tablets they prescribed her because of the throat infection).
The week between Christmas and her death she was unable to administer her insulin (she was a Type 2 diabetic). On the evening of the 30th she seemed to be doing a lot work and when i checked her bloods the metre wasn't ablto get a reading. She finally allowed me to call for an ambulance.
In the 40 minutes we waited for the ambulance to arrive she became really disoriented and she just went downhill from there. They managed to check her bloods and they were obviously high. When we were finally got to the hospital they had to give her something to calm her down because she kept pulling her oxygen mask off and wouldn't stay still.
We were there for about 3/4 hours before someone finally spoke to me and explained that she had pneumonia. They said that there was nothing they could do because her organs had already started to fail.
I had to make the worst the 6 worst phone calls of my life. One to each of my siblings, two to my aunties and one to here best friend.
In the maybe 30 minutes it took for my family to get to the hospital I just sat with my Mum and cried. When they all arrived we sat with her and said our goodbyes. She was crying. We sat there for about 20 minutes. Then she died.
My Mum was my only parent. She was my only friend. She was the only person I could cry in front of. She was my everything. My Mum lived with me and we took care of eachother.
I have 3 siblings but I'm not exactly close to them. I love them and When she died they all had partners and 2 have kids and friends. I was alone. I still am.
My first thought when I was told that she was going to die was that I'd be all alone.
I hate her for dying because she was all I had. My only parent, my only friend, my everything. And I hate myself so much for hating her.
I've not had a cuddle in over a year (since her funeral) and all I want most is to just sit on her bed with her and hug her and just tell her how much I love her and how much I need her.
Sorry for all this but I've held everything in for over a year. I will be contacting someone on Monday about counselling but I just needed to vent and get it all out before it breaks me.

FTM here. Baby was born via c section at 36 weeks because of a previous surgery.
He has been too sleepy and tired to latch. I have seen 3 lactation consultants so far. currently using the nipple guard and SNS to try to initiate latching. Baby mouths the nipple guard but promptly falls asleep with a happy look on his face. He uses my boob as a pacifier lol.
I have been pumping using the medela symphony to build my milk supply. At 2 weeks pp I started to make about 50 ml/2 oz per pumping, which was encouraging.
Just when I made peace with the fact that I might exclusively pump, just so he can at least drink breast milk, my nipples are now cracked with white flakes and so painful to pump. Today instead of pumping every 3 hours I'm pumping every 5-6. I know my production will go down soon.
With my c section recovery and a post partum preeclampsia that had me go back to the hospital, and now these painful nipples,I'm at the point of giving up. Some of the advice the LC have given have not been helpful. For example, I've seen them 3 times and still no one has checked my flange fit (15 mm nipples using 17 mm flanges), it took 3 visits for someone to measure my nipples. I don't have faith in my LC group anymore. It feels like they are withholding information so I will make more visits.
Looking for advice and inspiration. Did anyone else manage to continue with painful, cracked nipples? How can I try to latch my baby, he is 38.5 weeks as of today.

I became obsessed with the idea of charity groups arriving on Irvrana and helping the Bissem with various things that don't necessarily show up in the big picture- so you know what? I decided to do it myself. Enjoy!

When the news came of aliens being real, it had been a shock- how could anyone in Irvana have seen such an audacious announcement being made by the government? Yet as the news was streamed as these strange beings from the stars appeared before a gathered crowd of reporters, all three of them as different from each other as they were from the Bissem, it was impossible to refute the claims as being some sort of hoax.
For those like Director Pengele, however, the news was... perhaps less impactful than it was for others- an exciting oddity, to be sure, but the main relevance it had for her life was that it was an effective way of keeping her patients occupied. The children in particular were enamored with the news, fascinated by the sight of such alien beings, chattering amongst both themselves and their caretakers about countless questions, observations, and hopes they held regarding these enigmatic visitors who claimed good intentions.
It made guiding them through physical therapy all the easier- talk of the tall alien with no feathers or fur a ready distraction from movements needed to compensate for a missing flipper or foot. Pain that would have been an obstacle they needed to be pushed through faded with the distraction of the way the quietest alien was covered in quills and barbs- how did one function normally with so many weapons hanging from their back?
Even the adult patients welcomed the distraction- the melancholy of lost mobility and crushed dreams buried under theorizing about what the aliens might actually want, or griping about them being an affront to the gods- though thankfully the crowd of protestors who believed the same about their prosthetics seemed to have found a new target for their demonstrations, appearing outside of public courthouses and official government buildings instead of harassing her doctors and patients with insults and screaming declarations of them stripping their patients of their bissemity and replacing it with metal and machinery.
Their prosthetics didn't even use metal- too prone to rust, and weighed down too much! What limited mobility they could manage to provide for their patients required much lighter plastics and alloys be used!
Anyways, news of aliens quickly faded from her attention as she focused on her work as usual- signing documents, trying her best to continue sweet-talking the groups her hospital relied on for funding, doing her best to remain civil in the face of complaints of money being "wasted" when replacing missing limbs was a fantasy, reviewing potential new patients whenever they came up or got through the paperwork of appealing for a place in her halls, coordinating between the research teams who tried to find new solutions to improve their prosthetics and the doctors who would need to actually implement such changes and make sure they worked for the patient... The work was never-ending, and not well suited to indulging in distractions, even ones as big as Aliens actually existing!
So her current circumstances, sitting nervously inside of an official Lassmin limo speeding through the city streets, escorted by armed guards sat to either side her, with no explanation beyond the statement they'd given when they burst into her office and 'invited' her down to a meeting with a representative from those aliens? Well, it wasn't exactly something she'd been scheduling in advance!
Nervously combing her feathers back into place and ensuring they were evenly coated in just enough oil to give herself a healthy sheen, Pengele straightened her posture and practiced her best business-deal resting expression as the column of vehicles pulled into the central government building's parking lot. She might not know what the aliens wanted with a specialty hospital director- one of her more 'inventive' patients would probably suggest that she was simply deemed an acceptable sacrifice by her own government. She did her best to quiet that annoyingly intrusive though as she was waddled through the halls, past onlooking groups of bissem turning from whatever they were doing to see what the commotion was about.
"Ah, the woman of the hour!" The mayor's perfect politician tone was a welcome distraction- even if it couldn't completely hide the slight nervous tremor to his words. The vritalian male's more modest stature was ever so slightly raised- he preferred to wear claw-boosters, saying the added height granted him a natural air of authority. Right now though, his demeanor was that of someone who thought they were in trouble but didn't know why- a flipper idly tugging at the ceremonial garnet of office around his neck. "Quite the unexpected series of events, isn't this? Why, aliens within our city- and apparently with a deal to offer! The tabloids ought to have a field day with this once it's announced!"
"That is... an unexpected surprise, indeed!" she slipped into her practiced 'meeting with investors' speaking patterns with ease, giving a socially-acceptable head-bob of polite agreement. "Though, I haven't exactly had it explained why such a... momentous moment requires my own presence? My facility isn't the most prominent industry within the city..."
"Nonsense! Your hospital and it's research are a prize of the city- a statement of our commitment to bettering the lives of our people, even the ones struck with the most unfortunate of circumstances!" The mayor gushed words filled with positivity but little substance- especially when she remembered the last time they had met regarding certain financial grants for their continued operation. "In fact, the aliens seem to have caught notice of your valiant mission, and are interested in cooperation in the pursuit of shared goals, in order to reach a better tomorrow with joined flippers- er, whatever they have! I for one, have no doubt that their contributions will be valued and most beneficial for us all!"
...Those were a lot of words for him to essentially say that he was missing a lot of details too and didn't actually know why the aliens had taken an interest in her facility, but then that was the way of most politicians- fill the conversation with enough noise, and people would focus on the feelings of the statements made rather than the actual substance. Fortunately, she'd long since learned to navigate such methods of obfuscation, though knowing that he was also unaware of their purpose here made that twisting in her gut just a bit more intense.
Thankfully, her worries were temporarily pushed to the side as they were waved into a conference room, where a Selmer was already seated and waiting for them. The trappings draped across her shoulders were adorned with several metals, denoting her as a military officer- though Pengele wasn't familiar enough with their system of rankings to know exactly how high she must be in the chain of command. The officer looked between the two of them as they moved to take their seats, and nodded in satisfaction as the doors were closed behind them.
"Thank you both for attending so promptly- this situation is rather unprecedented, so there was no time to explain in... unsecured environments. I apologize for any stress that caused you, but we need to move quickly in order to take advantage of this opportunity."
"That's perfectly understandable, ma'am!" the mayor gushed before Pengele could finish opening her beak- leaving her to carefully close it again as he began to prattle once more. "Time is a resource we never have enough of, especially when it comes to matters of supreme import! Why-"
"As I said," The officer interrupted coolly, "time is of the essence here, so forgive me if I insist on skipping the pleasantries in favor of briefing you both on the situation. That is," she looked directly down at the mayor, his boosters not even close to making up for their natural height difference, "assuming that is agreeable to you, sir mayor?" It did not sound like a question.
Pengele watched him start to look offended, before settling his expression and leaning back in his seat. "I suppose explanations would be prudent, given the... urgency with which we were summoned."
"Great." Picking up a folder and tapping it on the table, the officer glanced between the two of them and clacked her beak. "The short of it is, we've been approached by an internal group within the aliens- not their government, but some sort of charity organization- which has expressed interest in beginning operations within our nation. Having reviewed the nature of the offer, the government believes this would be a boon worth accepting, should we find someplace willing to accept them. Your facility, Director Pengele, is a fit for the parameters they requested, and thus we would ask for you to consider their offer, should you choose to hear them out- and for you, sir mayor, to approve of their operations being set up within your city."
"My facility?" Pengele questioned. "They were interested in our facility above all others? Forgive me, but... we are quite specialized in our purview, and not nearly as advanced as some of the other hospitals even within this city. Is there a reason we were of particular interest to them, miss...?"
"General Kippar," the Selmer clarified, "and it's your specialization that is of interest to them, director. They are offering to provide their own knowledge of the design and production of prosthetic limb technology, and believe your facility would be the best starting point for integrating their advancements with our own efforts- and for what it is worth, we hold that same belief. Your advancements in the field are beyond what anyone else has accomplished, so it is our hope that you will have an easier time adapting whatever they provide for our own use. Though, I hope it is understood that the government is going to wish to receive access to any of the technology they are able to provide."
"That..." pausing for a moment, she thought over what she had just been told- the heady giddiness of potential access to that kind of resources and knowledge temporarily pushed aside as best she could manage in the face of a request for a commitment. "...the information I would be perfectly fine with sharing- we may even produce some official medical journals to release it to the general healthcare community. For hardware though, we cannot offer anything already assigned to a patient, as it would be their property at that point. Perhaps providing working examples unspoken for by a patient yet?"
"Seems reasonable enough," the general nodded crisply. "Though perhaps we should let this alien make their sales-pitch first, before we start counting the fish in our net. If the two of you are ready?" Pengele nodded eagerly, and the mayor nodded as well- though he seemed to be pouting about being excluded from their previous conversation. Ignoring his ill mood, the general turned to one of the guards and waved a flipper at him, getting a salute in return as he left the room.
Pengele fluffed her feathers in her seat, the mayor striking up a conversation about permits and such barely registering to her as she grappled with the thought of what was being offered. Alien medical technology, likely beyond anything her people had managed so far- how much would that push their own progress ahead? Had they figured out waterproofing of the joints? Were their prosthetics capable of powered articulation? The best prototypes her own people had managed so far was a replacement leg that provided a steady base and enough flexibility for the patient to walk without needing a cane, even if the battery life of it wasn't great. Just having more advanced batteries would do wonders for giving their patients something so they could move under their own power! She might need to hear this alien out before hashing out the details, but at face value, there was no way should was going to refuse this offer!
Her internal thoughts were interrupted by the door opening, and one of the tall, lanky aliens striding through. Their long limbs bending and swaying as they moved around was fascinating to observe- so different from the normal sway of a bissem's walk, this alien barely shifted to either side at all as they moved! Their unfortunately-bare face brightened as she (was it a she? Their body was different from the male that had been on the videos from first contact) laid eyes on them all, lips pulled apart in a baring of teeth as she pulled alongside the table, pulling out a seat and setting a rectangular carrying box of some sort down beside her.
Her lips began moving, releasing a series of guttural noises from her throat, before a device affixed to her chest crackled to life. "Greetings and good day," the device spoke in perfectly-understandable speech- even bearing a similar tone to the alien's voice! "My name is Lucillia, and on behalf of the Daedalus Initiative, I would like to thank you all for hearing me out and giving us a chance to bring our work to you. While our races have only been in contact for a short time, it is a great pleasure to be working with you towards our mutual mission of ensuring everyone has a chance to live Life Without Limits."
Not speaking their language herself? That made sense- not everyone could learn a new language quickly- especially if it crossed the species barrier. Thank goodness they seemed to have figured out machines that could translate in real-time for them- otherwise this conversation would be much more awkward to parse through.
"That is my hope as well," Pengele chimed in quickly, noting how the last bit sounded like a practiced slogan. "I'm Director Pengele, and I run the Prow-Wave Prosthetic Institute, and I'm very interested in getting my flippers on whatever innovations you can offer us to help our patients return to a normal life. I am glad your government chose our facility for the first site to introduce this technology- we'll be sure to get to work right away finding how to adapt any advancements to our own work on limb-replacement."
Whatever response she was expecting, the tall alien tilting her head back and barking out a laugh was certainly not it. "Oh, I am not here on behalf of the UN, my dear- Daedalus Initiative is a non-profit organization dedicated to relief efforts and providing medical care to those who either don't have access or can't afford the care and resources that they need. If it was up to the UN, this meeting wouldn't be happening, and you wouldn't be seeing hide or hair of this technology for months, much less getting started on it." She gestured energetically with one of her long limbs, the spindly fingers of her hand twitching in a deliberate eye-catching way. "However, I hope you'll agree that spending several months refusing children and patients medical care while politicians play their little games doesn't exactly sit well with me."
"Such games are not without reason, miss Lucillia," the mayor spoke up, sitting up in a professional posture. "While I am willing to accommodate your efforts here, I now find myself worrying if we are causing a diplomatic incident allowing you to set up a facility in my city."
"If we were setting up a facility, then we WOULD be in trouble," she answered quickly, pointing an index finger at the mayor while her thumb was held skyward- some sort of human gesture? "After all, they don't want anybody contaminating culture, especially with a new uplift, and telling them we just want to help people who've already lost limbs doesn't really seem to work. However," her finger swung around to point at Pengele, "if an EXISTING facility were to request the Daedalus Initiative provide aid, then the SC's charters on charities and relief workers would leave us free to provide as much aid as possible, so long as it is confined to within that existing facility!"
Blinking at the energetic display, Pengele crossed her flippers in front of her beak, considering the boisterous human as a few missing pieces clicked into place. "Well, that certainly sounds like it would be beneficial for your organization- if such a request was to be made, could you give us some examples of what might be offered to us? I can't imagine you already have prosthetics ready-made for bissem just yet."
"Well, not specifically, but we do have something that should be easy to adjust to the required specifications!" Reaching down into her case, the human pulled out a technological pad, then started fiddling with it as images popped up and scrolled along the screen- what a marvelous piece of technology that would be! Just imagine how much paperwork such a device might be able to replace! "See, we have a species back on Earth called penguins- technically several species, but I digress- and conservation efforts did end up designing some prosthetic flippers for a few members who had lost them due to either predators or human shipping. Obviously adjustments will need to be made, seeing as it's not a perfect comparison- for one thing, your flippers are far more dexterous than a penguin's would be- but I think you can see that the base design is a promising starting point!"
The human slid her dataslate over, and Pengele picked it up, examining the blueprints she was being shown... and slowly felt her beak falling open at what she was seeing. This... this was something at a level that her engineers thought would be decades away at minimum- full articulation, no cables in need of being plugged in, no external batteries- was that a direct connection to the patient's nervous system?! Did these aliens have that kind of medical technology in such abundance that even charity workers could provide it?! While she was right that this wasn't the full dexterity of a natural bissem flipper, this was still leagues beyond the best tech she could provide to those with deep enough pockets for it- and she was considering this a base model?!
"H-how much are these going to cost us again?" she questioned weakly, the tablet clattering back down onto the table. "Our budget... while we have a decent fund for research and development, this kind of tech..."
"That's the beauty of it! We're a non-profit- and most of our funds come from donations anyways! For this project, we've already arranged the necessary funding in advance- none of this will cost you a dime! Or, whatever currency you use."
"That is... quite generous," The mayor interrupted, tapping the table with a flipper, "though you'll forgive me for asking... are theoreticals all you have to offer? While this all sounds very nice, it's good to have confirmation you can deliver the product offered- or at least something similar, to show you have the capability. That's only fair, yes?"
Something devious sparked to life in the human's eyes. "Oh, that's no trouble at all- I even brought along an example of the product we offer! This model is one I can personally vouch for!"
And with that, she reached up her sleeve, shifting something around... and then pulled her own arm off, setting it down on the table with a thunk- one drowned out by the mayor's terrified shriek as he pushed away from the table, flippers flapping at the air as his chair slowly tipped backwards and crashed into the ground, spilling his flailing form onto the floor.
Pengele barely managed to keep her own chair balanced, flippers held to her beak as she stared at the detached limb- before jerking her gaze towards the grinning human, who seemed disturbingly nonchalant about being reduced to a single arm. Thankfully, it didn't take too long for her brain to kick back into gear, slowly clicking information into place as she noted the lack of blood, or disturbance, and the fact that she had been asked to present a working model...
"I-I didn't even notice," she stammered, eyes flicking back to the prosthetic on the table. She could see the metallic sheen at the end, with some obvious connectors sticking out... but the rest of the limb looked almost indistinguishable from the human's other limb, which she had blatantly laid on the table for comparison. Gingerly, Pengele reached out and poked at the smaller digits of the limb, feeling not heavy iron, but some kind of soft, firm material- and the fingers flexing closed with barely any pressure from her touch.
So many tiny joints, so close together, and they'd all been working perfectly- no external power source that she could see, either on the limb or on the human. The way she'd been able to detach it so easily, without any obvious pain. Picking it up, it was surprisingly heavy- a soft material that felt so much like normal skin, so unlike the harsh firmness of their own plastic limbs that she couldn't help but run her flipper along it, marveling at how it gave and flexed so similarly to the real thing. There were differences, now that she looked at it up close- bits that were a bit too angular to be natural, strange spots of firmness where there shouldn't be- but the fact she had to focus to find them, even this close up...
"Pretty good work, right?" the human spoke up, a tinge of pride in her voice- even as the device on her chest clearly began to struggle with the speed at which she began talking, giving a strange echo between her natural speech and the translation. "Not as good as the original obviously, but that model's served me well for about fifteen years now- and it's a decent upgrade from the first one I got fitted with after, well... unfortunate events at my old position." Sitting back up, Lucillia patted at her empty shoulder proudly. "So as you can see, I've got a personal stake in making sure all the prosthetics we provide are the best they can possibly be!"
With shaking flippers, Pengele pushed the limb back across the table to her. "W-would you mind putting this back on?"
With a knowing smile, the human rolled up her sleeve, exposing an obvious technological port right where her shoulder should be- and with a bit of shuffling, lined up the connectors and pushed it into place, the limb locking in with a solid-sounding click. Dexterous fingers flicked up a panel and pushed a few buttons, then flicked it close as a tiny light came on. Rolling her sleeve back down, the human rolled her reattached arm, making a show of flexing her fingers in sequence before grasping and spreading her entire hand.
"No stutter, no lag, just got to make sure the connection is seated properly, lock it in, and turn it on! Battery lasts for about six hours, and the charging plug is discreet and can fit into any typical electrical port. No pain when it's disconnected either- you basically turn off your connections to the nerves, and it feels more like the arm has gone numb- a bit trippy for the first few months, but certainly better than some alternatives!"
Pengele felt her chair wobbling beneath her, and chose to simply abandon it, ignoring the clatter as she climbed onto the table and waddled over as fast as she could, eagerly extending a flipper towards the human. "As Director of the Prow-Wave Prosthetics Institute, I am requesting the Daedalus Initiative's aid as quickly as possible. Just tell me what you need from me- anything it takes to get this tech available to my patients as soon as we can!"
"Well, of course there are papers to be signed and filed," Lucillia grinned, the grip of her prosthetic warm and soft as she gripped Pengele's flipper and shook it, "but once we take care of that, we'll have a ship flying in by the end of the week. I look forward to working with you, Director Pengele."
"Likewise, Director Lucillia," she beamed, fluffing her feathers in joy. This kind of miracle-tech was going to help so many Bissems!

I just left my job after three years. The first two were great, however, a few months ago things went down hill after I was promoted, and my new boss took three months to let me know my old position was never being filled. My old supervisor and I had a really great working relationship, but after I was promoted, I had to report to my old supervisors supervisor. He had always been extremely ageist towards me, even during my interview process. For the record, I had been the youngest employee at my company by several years. I worked really well with everyone else at this company, but for some reason it really seemed like my new boss took a personal offense to the fact that someone in their twenty's could do my job competently.
For example, during my final interview, where he and the COO of the (small) company were present, I asked at the end if they had any hesitations about me working there. The COO said no, not at all. However, the manager in response started asking me if I had ever bought a house before, and when I said no, he said he felt that I did not have enough "experience" to be working there. This question really had nothing to do with the job requirements for the position, and on paper, I was technically overqualified for this job. Even when he first called to offer me the position and I said I would like to review the offer letter first and asked when they needed to hear from me, he called me back five minutes later to ask me if I was "really sure" I wanted the position.
For the first two months at the company, he repeatedly would make comments about my age in front of other people multiple times a week. For example, during my first ZOOM meeting, he introduced me to a group and then made a comment about how we all "looked like a bunch of Brady Bunch Squares" then followed that up by commenting on how I specifically was too young to understand the reference. This is just one specific example, which by itself would have been pretty benign if it wasn't such a constant occurrence.
We had to have a few "skip-level" meetings during the beginning, and instead of saying how excited he was to have me joining the company or anything else like that, he would just repeatedly ask me if I really felt like I fit in there or not, and when I said "yes, everyone seems really nice, I am excited to get started", he would just reply by saying "I really want you to think about EXACTLY how you fit in here". My desk was right next to his office, and I have heard him have these same meetings with other new hires, and he treated them completely differently and was saying how excited he was for them to be there.
When my first supervisor went on maternity leave, we were supposed to split her job responsibilities three ways, with her supervisor, myself, and my co-worker. However, I pretty much inevitably took on the majority of her work since I had the most similar position to hers. At one point during her leave I became pretty swamped with referrals we had coming in, and since I was the only person managing the referrals, I approached the supervisor for assistance, and he just flat out ignored me and I never got any help.
Now, fast-forward to when I was promoted. As mentioned earlier, it took three months before I was informed that my old position was never going to be filled. I had asked my boss a couple of times before then, and he had always avoided the question. I only found out after his boss came to me after working hours to tell me that my program was costing the agency too much money, and that the grant that was currently funding it was most likely going away after a few months, but she would do what she could to create a new job position for me. Needless to say, I did not find this very comforting. The only way to keep this grant was for my program to double the number of clients it had within a few months, but each application we had to send to a government agency to add a new client would take 4+ months. Of course I let the higher ups know about this processing time.
His supervisor also told me that she believed he was not doing enough to help me with my program, and was going to start making him do more. After this, I heard him complaining to my co-workers about having to start managing referrals because his boss was making him do it.
Another thing my boss did was refer a client to me that he had been working with for a while that was not specifically in my program. Basically, my supervisor was the only person in my company who had experience with these types of cases, but when he found out that this mans court date and time conflicted with the total eclipse, he referred the client to me and did not prepare me well enough for it outside of introductions. I asked for help, and even tried doing research ahead of time, but I still did not feel qualified to handle it. I ended up being the only person in my entire company who was not present during our solar eclipse party. When I got back to my desk, my supervisor came and said he was sorry I had to miss the total eclipse then proceeded to tell me how great it was without me even asking. And yes, my office was located in the path of the total eclipse.
As part of our efforts to increase referrals to our program, we had to plan these community events for individuals and professionals to learn more about our program. For the first event, I did the majority of the planning and marketing efforts under my bosses supervision. Two days before the event, he made me clear my calendar to make a bunch of last minute changes because his boss did not like how the event was planned out/ promoted. When I came to her office to apologize, she said there was no need since she did not feel my supervisor effectively communicated what was expected for the event.
At my goodbye happy hour, one of my co-workers shared that they are also leaving my company soon for a higher-paying position. He shared how much he had been making currently without me even asking. This co-worker's salary was significantly higher than mine. We worked in the same department, and I had been there a year longer. I was a manager as well, and he is still in college to get the same degree that I have had for years. When I had approached management for a raise in the past, I was told "We don't do this for the money". I was making significantly less than what the average was for my profession five years ago, as a manager.
On my last day, I did the generic thank you's to my boss for his supervision and guidance, and the only comment he really made was to refer back to my interview three years ago about how he felt I did not have the experience to be working there. I did not really care to respond to that as I was just tired of being fed up with him, and it was my last day anyways.
A couple of months after my promotion, my health issue I have had for a while flared up so badly I had to have two emergency procedures within two months and spent my birthday in the hospital. I was told by my specialist that if this happens again, I may have to have a body part removed. Right before my second procedure, I had been out sick with the flu for over a week. My job was so stressful, I was regularly waking up with anxiety attacks at 3 AM. I started to get terrible migraines.
It was not until I gave myself permission to leave that I started feeling like myself again. I did the "taboo" thing of quitting a job without another one lined up, but luckily I have a very supportive partner who had actually encouraged me to leave the job when he saw how badly it was affecting me, and he is able to support both of us financially. I am taking some time for myself now, and I am ready to see what is in store for me next. My husband and I are moving out of the city in the next few months. The head of my old department reached out to me and said she would love to serve as a reference for me. My first supervisor who is currently the head of a new department did the same, and even wrote me a very generous recommendation letter for future employers. My last boss, not so much, and I would not dream to ask him to be a reference.
Obviously my job was not completely terrible, otherwise I would not have stayed for as long as I had. I did get a lot out of it, and I felt the work I did was really impactful, and overall, I worked with a good team. I do think I learned a lot about what I will and will not put up with future employers. Looking back, I probably could have gone to HR or my boss's boss regarding his behavior since we did have good rapport. However, at the end of the day I had no desire to continue to work with this particular supervisor, and he had been there for 10 years, so I doubt much would have changed. I am now starting this new transitional period in my life, and I am trying to be optimistic about the future. If you have read this far, please take my experience as a cautionary tale. If nothing changes after you have tried standing up for yourself in a toxic work environment, know when it is time to leave. Do not tolerate it for so long that it affects your mental or physical health. We only have one life and body, and there are always other jobs out there.

I’ve (26M) struggled with depression and some suicidal ideation on and off since I was 16. It was a long road and took a lot of work on myself and countless hours of therapy, but around the end of 2023, I was in what I now consider to be the peak of my life. I was working a job I mostly liked, two semesters away from finishing my bachelor’s degree online and exercising almost every other day. After years of loneliness, I finally found a friend group I really adored spending time with, and I had a boyfriend with whom I hadn’t even realized I had fallen in love, whom I’d seen for about 6 months. For perhaps the first time, I had a generally positive outlook, I felt confident and attractive, and I had so much going for me. I had no clue that I was about to make a decision that would significantly alter that course and steer me off into the deepest, darkest depression and most relentless desire to end it all that I’ve ever felt. This is a very long and personal post about my decision to have surgery that I now, in hindsight, believe to have been unnecessary. The surgery itself has left me with chronic pain and probably lifelong negative consequences that are far worse than anything I ever experienced prior.
I’ve kept most of this to myself other than sharing it with my therapist, and although I’m on the ledge, I think writing it all down and putting it out there may calm me somewhat. I haven’t spared some graphic details of some of the more sensitive changes to my body because I want this to be as detailed and accurate as possible. And anyway, why should I care? I may be dead soon anyway... My hope is that if I share my story, someone, somewhere, might benefit from it and might not make the same mistake I did that has me sincerely wanting to off myself. So here it goes.
Around NovembeDecember 2023, I started experiencing some strange stabbing pain in my upper right abdomen that would come on suddenly and then go away for no obvious reason. I also thought I saw trace amounts of blood in my stool, and this concerned me enough that I reached out to my primary care doctor at the beginning of January. My doctor is always booked for months, so they told me to go to the emergency room. The ER was packed, and I ended up sitting in the waiting room for about eight hours in between going for an ultrasound and a CT scan. I was getting very tired of waiting and was about ready to give up and leave as I had to work early in the morning the next day. Looking back, I wish I had left. But just before I did, they called me back and told me that they found something on the CT scan called an intussusception in my small bowel. This is a condition where the intestine gets caught on a “lead point” and folds in on itself, sort of like a telescope. It is most often found in infants and is very rarely found in people my age, yet I was told it is a medical emergency because the tissue of my bowel could die if left untreated, and/or the lead point could be a potentially cancerous tumor. They admitted me and told me they would scan me again in the morning because, despite the severity, there was a chance it could resolve. Hearing that I would be staying overnight shocked me, as I had never been hospitalized before, having always been in good physical health. I have never had digestive issues in the past, I’ve never been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis or anything of the sort, and I had never heard of this condition, but every medical professional I spoke to seemed very concerned that I had it. They didn’t have a bed for me in the hospital at that point, so I had to sleep in the packed and quite chaotic ER. About an hour after I was given a bed, a man was admitted a few feet from me who was very aggressive with all of the nurses, screaming and cursing at them throughout the night. I was not allowed to eat or drink, given the possibility of surgery. I struggled to get any sleep in that environment and woke up the next morning feeling very lethargic.
The surgeon and resident came by my bed and we spoke briefly. The surgeon explained that while the condition was serious, if it continued to show up in my CT scans, they could do minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery to resect the piece of my bowel that was telescoped and stitch it back together. I feel they really downplayed the severity of this procedure. I will never forget them saying, “It’s such a small piece of your bowel, you won’t miss it.” They felt that since I was young and otherwise healthy, I should have no problem making a full recovery. I felt confident in the fact that I was speaking to the chief of surgery at the hospital, who has more than twenty years of experience in the field. Then they brought me for my second scan, and within a few hours I was told the intussusception had not resolved. I was admitted to a hospital room, and the resident came to discuss moving forward with the surgery. My first impulse was “absolutely not,” but I quickly second-guessed myself. (my first mistake) Everything I saw in the limited research I was able to do on my phone stated that this was indeed a serious condition that warranted surgery. In that moment, it seemed like the reasons not to go through with it were somewhat vain, such as not wanting the scars and having to forgo lifting weights at the gym for some time. Though it didn’t quite make sense to me that they wanted to operate on the complete opposite side of my body from the one that was in pain and which brought me into the ER in the first place. When I asked the resident about this, he responded, “We don’t understand how referred pain works,” Okay, fair enough, I thought. More than anything, I thought that if a doctor was in front of me, telling me what was going on with my body was an emergency situation that warranted immediate surgery, I should probably listen to them. They’re the “experts,” after all. And given the state I was in, having been in the hospital for over 24 hours at that point, running on very little sleep and nothing to eat, I don’t think I really had the capacity to fully parse what was going on, but given the doctors level of concern, it seemed like I urgently had to make a decision. After about an hour of talking it over with my mother, even though I never had any pain in the area they were about to operate on, I signed the consent papers. (Biggest fucking mistake of my life) I remember they listed risks of things that could go wrong during or shortly after the surgery, such as infection, bowel perforation, etc. They did not mention the procedure’s possible long-term consequences, and neither the surgeon nor resident ever mentioned possible long-term complications, and I didn’t think to ask. I had no experience with this kind of thing whatsoever; I am not a doctor, I don’t know any doctors, and no one I know has ever had abdominal surgery… I was so naive to trust these people, but I did. In fact, I trusted them so much that I was not terribly scared of the procedure I was about to undergo. Again, I chalk that up to the reduced mental capacity I was in, given a tough overnight stay in the ER. I remember the adrenaline rush as I was wheeled down to the operating room. I was singing one of my favorite songs in my head, hyping myself up for the procedure ahead of me. The last thing I remember was one of the OR nurses telling my mother not to worry, that the surgeon was “the best,” and that they had even operated on her husband.
I woke up high as a kite. I heard one of the nurses say I had been given fentanyl, which I remember freaked me out; I had forgotten it is more than a street drug and actually has legitimate uses. The procedure had gone fine, and I was discharged only a day or two later, with my only guidance upon discharge being not to lift heavy objects and “take it easy,” I was in some pain, but it was to be expected at that point and was well controlled by combining Tylenol and Advil. The surgeon called later that week to inform me that the pathology report had come back and that the lead point was simply “some swollen lymph nodes,” I was relieved to hear that it was not cancer. At my follow-up appointment two weeks later, I reported feeling pretty much fine. I had been granted medical leave and short-term disability from my job for six weeks following the surgery. This was the full length of time after which the surgeons expected I would recover fully. I used the time off to hang out with friends and my boyfriend and to focus on finishing what would have been my final semester of school. Those were the last few weeks that I felt somewhat normal despite what I had just gone through. I had no idea what was about to come.
About 5 weeks post-op is when I first began experiencing worse pain deep in my abdomen, right where I had the surgery, plus the pain in my upper right abdomen had not gone away. This new pain is crampy, yet sometimes stabbing, and had seemed to worsen with activity; I have experienced it every single day, nearly every hour, to varying degrees, since the beginning of February. That was also when I began regularly bloating and having difficulty going to the bathroom. No matter how hard I try to push, I can’t fully evacuate my bowels. (This is a nightmare for someone who has receptive anal sex like I used to do regularly. It is now impossible). With the emergence of all these symptoms, I felt very, very scared that there was something else wrong with me. And, of course, this all happened in the week when I was set to return to work. I have a physically demanding customer service job, and I was in so much pain that I found it impossible to be nice to the customers or even stand, so I left and, thankfully, was allowed to take the rest of the week off to figure things out. I obviously called my surgeon, but it also prompted me to do deeper research into the complications that can develop following abdominal surgery. I began pouring over medical journals, trying to figure out what was going on in my body on my own. That was when I first learned about “surgical adhesions.” These are fibrous bands of scar tissue that can develop due to the incisions made during surgery and handling of the bowel. As your body heals from the trauma of surgery, this scar tissue forms and can cause your intestine to stick to other organs or structures in your body. According to medical literature, they form in 90% of all patients who undergo abdominal surgery, but not all adhesions cause complications like what I’ve experienced. They are not easy to diagnose as they are impossible to visualize on any imaging tests, they do not go away on their own (it’s scar tissue), and the only treatment is surgically cutting them apart, which is risky, given that there’s a strong chance they will just grow back and possibly be even worse. This was obviously terrifying to me, but when I asked the surgeon about this, they said, “There’s very little chance that’s what’s happening,” given that the procedure was laparoscopic, not open. I scheduled another appointment with them, wherein they seemed quite dismissive of my concerns. They said the pain was likely “incisional” (it wasn’t and isn’t) but that they would order another CT scan so we could see what was going on. They also wrote me a script for gabapentin, an anticonvulsant meant to prevent seizures that is used off-label to treat pain and anxiety, with the qualifier that they would not write a script for anything stronger, basically implying that I was seeking narcotics, which was not at all the case, and which I found extremely offensive.
My next CT scan was scheduled about a month following that appointment in early March. In the interim, I began taking the gabapentin. I used more than I was prescribed because it was the only way I was able to control the pain and allow myself to feel comfortable at work. I didn’t anticipate the changes it would cause to my mood and behavior. In addition to feeling depressed and scared, I was also becoming easily emotionally dysregulated in ways I believe I would have been able to control prior to taking the medication. But when I didn’t take it, I was in pretty bad pain almost all the time, and I didn’t understand why at that point. My boyfriend noticed these changes in my mood and decided he needed space from me to protect his emotional wellbeing. I didn’t blame him then, and I still don’t, but I miss him terribly. We were supposed to remain “friends,” and he at least pretended he wanted that for a bit of time. At that point, I became determined to ween myself off the gabapentin and continue to work on improving my mental and physical health, for myself, but also for him; as I said, I really loved him. Later that week, after we split, I had my CT scan, and the surgeon called to tell me that it looked like I was just constipated. They advised me to take Miralax daily to ease that constipation, which should hopefully make me feel better. To me, this seemed like a huge relief. I started taking the Miralax, and at that point, I started exercising and lifting weights again.
So April rolls around, and I am still trying my best to resume my normal life, which felt possible again at that point. I did end up successfully weening myself off gabapentin. With this newfound reinvigoration, I attempted to get my boyfriend back. We would make plans, but then he would reschedule again and again. Eventually, he kept our plans, and we met up for a talk in the park. We obviously had a lot to talk about in our relationship, at which point he told me that he simply was not attracted to me anymore. This was devastating news, as that was the first time I realized it was really over. Before I had thought that if I could show him how much I was trying to get back to the place I was in before the surgery, he would stick around, but that was the moment I realized it was impossible for him to see me in the light he once did. Nevertheless, I tried to push on, kept going to the gym, and kept trying to get my life back. I was still seeing my friends regularly, and I was able to push myself to get through work, even though it was painful and hard. Plus, I was still working on my degree despite not feeling able to give it my best effort and focus with everything going on. I was still motivated to keep going, and I thought things might improve from there.
Well, lo and behold they did not. One day in early April, I was sitting on the couch, sort of mindlessly snacking on some almonds before I was set to go have drinks with friends and see a concert. Immediately afterward, I felt that pain again in my abdomen. Despite that, I was really excited to see my friends and see the show. We met at a bar, where I had three cocktails before we made our way to the venue. I drank one or two more while the opener played. But by the time the headliner came on, I ended up in so much pain that I told my friends quite regrettably that I had to leave. I walked home and ate a small snack, wrongfully thinking it might make me feel better, before popping a melatonin and heading to bed. I woke up around 2 AM in the most intense pain I have experienced both before and after the surgery. I was extremely bloated and unable to pass gas or move my bowels. I had read somewhere that this was a sign of bowel obstruction and that I needed to seek medical attention. I made the decision to go to the ER.
I walked down the stairs to leave, and as I did, I felt myself begin to vomit. Thankfully I was able to make it to the sink as I puked up what I imagine was that snack I’d had before bed. Shortly after, I arrived at the ER, this time choosing a different facility from the one where the surgeon had dismissed all of my post-surgical concerns. I was quickly admitted and given another CT scan. They confirmed my bowel was obstructed and told me they would place a tube into my nose down to my stomach to try to pump some of the blockage out. I asked the ER doctor if I was going to need to have surgery, to which he replied, “It’s a strong possibility.” This was horrifying to me. Getting the tube inserted into my nose was so painful, and I was screaming in agony the entire time. Then they gave me morphine, and I passed out. The details and timeline of that hospital stay are somewhat hazy in my mind, but I ended up being there for four days, over which I was given a “gastro graph challenge” test, wherein I was instructed to drink a contrast element which would be visualized by a series of Xrays so the doctors could monitor if anything was passing through my intestines. I met with another surgeon, whom I found to be much more attentive than my prior one, or at least simply possessing superior active listening skills. In fact, I felt that all of the staff at this second hospital were a lot more sensitive to my needs than the first. I really wish I had gone there the first time, as it’s the best hospital in the city. Add that to my long list of mistakes… Anyway.
Despite her more positive demeanor, she recommended another emergency surgery, this time a laparotomy (open) surgery to resect my bowel a second time. Her hypothesis was that the anastomosis (the medical term for the connection formed between my bowel loops during the first surgery) could be too narrow to allow food to pass through properly. I asked this new surgeon if it was possible I had adhesions causing this problem, and unlike the last one, she said, “It’s possible,” especially given that these symptoms began emerging a few weeks after the first surgery. But, like I said, they don’t really know what’s going on until they cut you open and go in there. Given that I am now much more aware of the risks of surgery and the risks of having a second procedure, I was fervently against going under the knife again. I simply couldn’t handle it. So I opted for conservative management, which meant waiting it out, taking an enema, and eventually getting back on a liquid and then solid diet. Thankfully, sitting in the hospital being NPO (Latin for nil per os - “nothing by mouth”) and taking the gastro graph made it pass eventually, and I didn’t have to have a second surgery. I was discharged from the hospital with instructions to schedule another diagnostic test called a “small bowel series,” in which they use xrays to track the amount of time it takes liquid to pass through your digestive system and to start a “low residue” diet- meaning eating very little fiber. Suddenly gone from my diet are all of the fruits and vegetables I once loved, and I can’t eat nuts or seeds (It seems to me that those almonds caused the obstruction in the first place). Basically, I’m now forced to exist on a diet of the most processed foods imaginable because although they are demonstrably unhealthy, that is all that my body is now able to safely digest.
After leaving that second hospital stay, I proceeded to delve even further into research about not only long-term abdominal surgery complications such as adhesions but also the nature of adult intussusceptions in general. I once again started furiously googling, finding results from medical journals and personal accounts from Reddit. First, I found that over 50% of cases of small bowel obstruction are the direct result of post-operative adhesions. I also came to the conclusion that intussusceptions in adults, while ostensibly serious, have a strong possibility of resolving on their own, especially when they present in the small bowel, in the absence of vomiting (I never vomited before going to the hospital in January), when there is no obvious lead point (they couldn’t see it on my scans) and there is no obstruction (I was never obstructed before the surgery). Furthermore, while intussusception does present with blood in the stool, it is usually described as “currant jelly stool” (something I don’t recommend you google because it looks atrocious), which is not even close to the trace amounts of blood I saw in my own stool. (But no one ever asked, so how would I know the difference?) I never experienced any pain whatsoever in the area of my small bowel before the surgery. And yet I was told by a doctor that I was experiencing a medical emergency, which might have been caused by some malignant growth, which scared the shit out of me and made me feel at the time that immediate action was necessary. At one point, I even found a paper that attributed intussusception to cannabis use, which I had engaged in that week. In these papers, the authors highlight that these intussusceptions were transient and did not require surgical intervention. And on the point of adhesions, they are not easily diagnosed, and they are not easily treatable without surgical intervention; and said intervention is a catch 22 scenario because every time you get cut open, you risk growing back even more adhesions.
With all of this knowledge, I became absolutely distraught. I was never informed that by having this procedure performed, I would be at this increased risk of experiencing bowel obstruction. Like most people, I literally had no idea what an “adhesion” even was. What made me lose hope the most was that it seems as if doctors do these surgeries and simply ignore adhesion as a consequence because they don’t have any feasible way to prevent it or treat it without potentially creating more adhesion. So, although I was released from the hospital having avoided a second surgery, I felt more lost and hopeless than ever. I simply couldn’t cope with the realization that this would be something I would deal with for the rest of my life, something I could’ve avoided had I never agreed to get the first surgery because although I had that original pain I mentioned earlier- which has still continued to this day, it wasn’t and isn’t anything close to how excruciating the obstruction was, and it wasn’t really disrupting my life in the way the post-surgical pain has. But under the guidance of doctors, I opted to permanently alter my body, and there’s no going back. I feel so incredibly stupid for being deceived by these “medical professionals” who didn’t take the time to understand what was actually going on with me and chose to take an overly aggressive course of action that has left me permanently altered, in pain, and completely diminished my quality of life.
That week after leaving the hospital was truly the most suicidal I have ever felt. As I mentioned, I’ve dealt with suicidal ideation on and off since my adolescence. I’ve always had latent thoughts about wanting to die, wanting to escape, feeling like I’m hopeless and there’s no use trying to better myself. But this time, the desire to end my life was so much more intense. I became extremely disassociated from everything in life. In that week following my second hospitalization, there was absolutely nothing that could bring me joy. Before the surgery, I used to find deep pleasure in simply walking around my neighborhood for at least an hour every day. But I couldn’t do it anymore because walking gives me time to think, and thinking is too painful. It always leads back to the realization of the way I am now. Nothing could make me smile or laugh, all I could do was sob uncontrollably. I couldn’t even listen to music, one of my favorite things in the world. I became completely devoid of all emotions other than a deep sadness as my research transitioned away from my various new ailments and into ways I could end my life. I tried multiple times and considered multiple ways, but each time and method either didn’t work or I pussied out.
The rest of April and May passed by in a blur. Over that time, I’ve had two more appointments with the surgeons I met at the second hospital, a small bowel study (a more in-depth series of x-rays tracking the transit time of liquid through the GI tract), and a colonoscopy and endoscopy. Those have not yielded any significant findings as to what is going on, making me believe even more that all of these problems are being caused by adhesions. However, the small bowel study did reveal that my stomach is slightly herniated, which I believe is the cause of the original pain that I sought care for in the first place. At my last appointment, I was told to see a “small bowel specialist” GI doctor. But that was three weeks ago, and I haven’t even been able to get an appointment with them. I’m on a waiting list, but I imagine I’m looking at many months before I can get an appointment. I don’t know what they’re going to do for me. I don’t know that there’s anything that can be done besides more surgery, and I am very fearful about that. I fear the only way that these fucking doctors who fucked me up in the first place are going to even try to help me is if I’m obstructed again. But the changes to my diet, as much as I hate them, have kept me in a more manageable amount of pain and out of the hospital for now.
It is now June, and I am shocked that I am still here and confused about what to do now. Despite the diet, I still feel pain and discomfort at some point in the day, every single day. I think about wanting this all to end all of the time. I have not attempted again, though I have the means, and knowing I have the option comforts me. I am sitting here in a cycle where I think about doing it, but I still feel obligated to go to work, to see my friends, and to feed my cat. My life has continued, but I don’t feel like I’m living anymore; I merely exist. I am drinking two bottles of wine or half a bottle of vodka nearly every night. Alcohol is the only thing that seems to quiet my thoughts enough to get through each evening. I feel extremely unattractive because although I look the same as I did on the outside, I’m overcome with never ending emotional pain and turmoil on the inside. I am now unable to take care of myself and be on top of my life the way I used to be. After the second hospitalization, I dropped out of school and have no plans to continue, as I won’t need a bachelor’s degree when I’m dead. I have stopped exercising altogether, as it feels like there’s no point in trying to improve or take care of a body that has been permanently fucked up. Through all of this, I’ve lost much of my confidence and I feel I have completely lost my identity. I miss that old me so much. I miss my boyfriend so much. Plans with my friends are sometimes the only thing that keeps me going, and I am extremely grateful for them, but despite their continued presence, I feel extremely isolated and lonely. It’s hard to explain what I’ve been through to people without the context of all that has happened. I don’t have the energy to share it with them. And I feel if I speak about what I’m going through, I will feel like a burden, killing the vibe, and I don’t want that.
I have never felt this alienated from my body and from everything in life. I have lost so much more to this surgery than I ever could have imagined possible: the ability to eat healthy foods I loved, the ability to have sex I enjoy, my favorite hobby, my boyfriend, and subsequently, my will to live. I cannot cope with the fact that things will never be how they were before. I feel so incredibly distraught that I threw away what was shaping up to be the best days of my life. There’s nothing I or anyone else can do to change what has happened to me. It took me such a long time to get to the place I was in before the surgery. It was a brief and beautiful couple of months, but it’s over, and there’s no way for me to return. I just don't have the fight left in me. I feel like such a complete and utter fool for allowing the doctors to do this to me. I look around at all the happy people around me and know that I am dragging them down with my depression. I am tired of feeling helpless and like a burden on everyone I love. I am a shell of the person I once was. Ending it all is the singular thing that’s in my control. It is the only way to end all of this pain and suffering and stop the concern and confusion of my loved ones. I know that my exit will be painful to them, but they will all get over it in time. But me? I don’t think I will ever get over this. I will never be able to accept this horrible choice that I made. I am so tired of living this way. I am supposed to turn 27 soon, but I really don’t want to live to see my birthday. I have nothing to celebrate. My life is completely, irreversibly fucked. I don’t know when I will go, but it will be sooner rather than later. I am so sorry to everyone. I know this will hurt. I just can’t go on living this way. To all the people I care about, know that I love you, and I am so thankful you were part of my life. I know you will all go on to do great things without me. This entire saga has been unbearable; my life has spun out of control, and suicide is the only way to end my suffering. I’m sorry. I’m signing off.
TL;DR: Doctors misdiagnosed my pain and performed surgery, failing to warn me of the long term consequences which have me wanting to end it all.

Hi all! Aspiring physician here, and I’d really like to hear the community’s thoughts on my competitiveness.
I am a non-traditional white male who is looking to transition to medicine after 10 years in the tech industry, most recently as a Senior Product Manager. My educational background though is, well, quite unique. I dropped out of high school in 10th grade simply because I was bored and went straight to college at my local CC. During that time, I bounced around multiple universities in several states (6 in fact) with mediocre grades as I cared for my grandfather. I later enlisted in the Navy but was injured in boot and cycled out. I came home to return to school, but eventually, I dropped out of college to start a company with a few colleagues. We had great success and were later acquired, and I then went into industry leaving school in the past.
Later on, I went back to school, attending ASU Online, and got a degree. I achieved a 3.8 GPA over the span of about 16 courses and finished undergrad with an overall GPA of 3.4. I then did a premed post bacc at Northwestern University and attained a 4.0 post bacc GPA and received a 518 on the MCAT.
During the last few years while making this transition, I’ve volunteered with a local free clinic helping the less fortunate with their care (overall around 400 hours of volunteer hours), volunteered at the local veteran’s hospital helping vets where I can (overall around 150 hours), and shadowed physicians of multiple specialties including a cardio thoracic surgeon, a radiation oncologist, and a cardiologist (overall around 100 hours).
I am now preparing to apply next cycle with my top programs of choice being UChicago, Pitt, UCLA, and Case. Obviously, I will be applying up and down, and I intend to apply to close to 60 programs including a few DO schools. With all of that said, am I competitive for the programs I’m looking at? Am I competitive at all?
Thanks, everyone!

Hello,
I (29 M) am looking to for some advice on what types of jobs I can look into for a career change. I graduated with a Masters in Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling in 2019, with a Bachelors in Psychology, and so far have had mainly had experience in jobs related to case management, accommodation processing and scheduling. I would be looking for a career that pays 60K/year or more.
Right out of graduate school I worked for a small liberal arts college as an accommodation specialist for about 8 months within disability support center, providing classroom accommodations for students on campus.
After that, I transitioned to a large pharmaceutical company for about 2 years where I worked in the corporate office to provide workplace accommodations for employees nationally, a lot of case management and phone calls.
Currently, I work for state hospital as a scheduler for new cancer patients.
All my jobs duties so far have largely incorporated a desk that where I manage a high volume of cases involving frequent phone calls and monitoring a queue all day.
I am looking to transition out of this line of work, but not sure where exactly to start. I am tired and stressed out of having to make constant phone calls and manage an ongoing queue, and would like to avoid another job that heavily emphasized those types of duties. I wouldn't mind something more hands on and interactive, as I am sedentary for 8 hours in a day with not much room to move around. Any advice or feedback would be greatly appreciate. I am open to different types of roles, but would like to avoid case management if at all possible. I'm not in the position where I could go back to school for a career change, but am open to online certificates etc if it would help with a change. Thanks everyone!

So I’m in a really bad headspace right now and I need help.
My current status:
39 year-old male.
Unemployed since March. Pretty shit employment history, qualifications in Audio Production and Baking but no degree.
Overweight and out of shape. Emotional and stress eater.
Fighting and losing a battle with cannabis addiction. You could probably throw in sugar addiction and screen addiction too.
Need about A$7k worth of dental work.
Have about A$7k cash and a A$200k inheritance coming probably before the end of August.
I come from a broken household and am seeking therapy for childhood abuse and trauma that I haven’t properly addressed. Back in 2014 I went to a residential rehab clinic in South Africa. I was there for just under 6 months. It was super Christian, cost an arm and a leg and I relapsed in 2016 when I moved to Australia. But it did give me the tools I needed to recognise the warning signs etc. I did not smoke all that much between 2016 and 2018 but I have been in active addiction probably since 2022. This period of addiction hasn’t been as bad as my addiction prior to 2014 because up until fairly recently I was having some success in managing my life, but I desperately want to stop using. I can afford it, but it’s not a good use of my money. I use a dry herb vape now to eliminate the combustion element, because I do want to improve my health in general, but the marriage of unemployment and frequent consumption is wreaking havoc with my mental health.
I know I can do it because I’ve managed to quit before. I also managed to quit tobacco/nicotine in 2020 and I have managed to remain quit, not a single puff. I’m desperate to get in shape but can’t seem to lift myself off the bed or the couch. I tend towards comfort and shy away from challenges and discomfort. Change terrifies me. I’ve had my dreams crushed by abusive family members a few times and have a terrible tendency to get excited about something, go out and buy all the gear, then someone will say something negative and I get depressed and all the cool shit I just bought gathers dust and I go back to being miserable. I recently dropped a lot of money on a new home recording studio setup, and I want to give a fair shot to producing again. It’s always been my dream, and I don’t want to screw it up. I’m also starting a Cert IV in IT at the end of July. I’m hoping to continue with a degree and just get any IT job that’ll pay the bills until I can afford to produce full time or get a really interesting job in IT. I’d also love to be a maker fabricator or start a YouTube channel or something creative where I customise peoples gadgets or design new cool stuff.
In general, I carry around a lot of guilt and shame, because I have seen so much suffering in the world and I am a privileged white male trust fund baby. Basically, my grandmother remarried very well and her husband set up a small trust for the grandkids before promptly dying. It isn’t huge, but it’s managed to keep my sister and I in education and has helped with some costly family emergencies, and it paid for my rehab. But it’s not enough to set anyone up for life. It’s going to be liquidated and split between my sister and I soon because my grandmother died in 2021 and my mother will be moving to Australia soon and doesn’t want to have to deal with stuff in England for the rest of her life.
I have been in a relationship since October 2017. We met in Australia and we were long distance Sydney to Manila for a year and half until we moved in together in Sydney in 2019. She is an Angel on earth and I am terrified of losing her. In my guilt and shame I don’t believe I deserve her. She has supported me financially since day one and has shown infinite patience with me and my mental health struggles. She is loving and caring and generous, and is a truly beautiful and wonderful person. I don’t know what I did to deserve her love and her grace. Our expenses are going up, we are renting currently and are desperate to own in Sydney. Combined we could probably drop 250k on a deposit and still have a year’s worth of living expenses stored away. She earns very well, A$133k per year or about A$8k per month. Our expenses are sitting at about A$6k a month and very little is going into savings. Even if I was on an entry level A$60k a year job and we were on A$200k a year combined and with a A$250k deposit I don’t know that we’d be able to afford in Sydney mortgage-wise. Partner is very adamant to stay in Sydney. I would not be averse to going to Brisbane to be near my sister and her kids, and my mum when she comes. Or even Melbourne for the milder weather and slightly better prices.
I have contributed to our finances as well. Some big purchases have been from me, I treat us to good food and take us places and drive everywhere. I have had some odd jobs here and there but haven’t managed to really hold it down for more than a year. I have a problem with my ankles where my tendons get crushed by my ankle bones and it gets inflamed and I can’t walk for up to a week at a time. I have a history in Hospitality. I can’t just take a week off every time my ankle hurts, and up to the beginning of 2024 I was on a temporary visa and did not have medicare or health insurance to cover treatment. I still have not been treated and the pain persists to this day. I feel powerless that this pain has made me sedentary and angry that I could be fit and healthy and not a drug addled parasite on the world.
I do all the cooking and cleaning and laundry folding and all the handiwork and maintenance etc. I’ve had some really bad luck and I’ve also made some bad decisions. Covid also really fucked me hard, and so has my tendency to choose to do the hard thing over the easy thing, even if it means I’ll suffer so someone else can have it easy. I know it’s my fault and I need to be better and try harder. But we are very good to each other and we communicate well, and I like to think that aside from the imbalance, our relationship is pretty solid.
My relationship with my dad has frankly always been shit. He abused us frequently, my mum eventually got sick of it and they divorced almost 15 years ago. We maintained low contact, and then he had a heart attack in 2011 and I tried really hard to forgive him, not just for his sake but mostly for mine. I carry around so much rage and anger that he fucked me up so hard. But I also have to take responsibility for how I deal with things, and my decisions, and my life. He has made some necessary changes to not have another heart attack, and he has improved a bit. After the divorce he got a good chunk of money, then he went back to his home country and pissed it all away within 4 years, then returned to England when the money ran out and has been working and saving for his retirement ever since. He has also done alright, but he wants to pack up and move to Australia as well to be with my sister and her kids. I didn’t talk to him for 2 years after I proposed to my fiancée, he just didn’t seem interested at all.
I reached out to him again because I felt like I would regret it for the rest of my life if we never got to patch things up. But he’s also such a mess. He is so manipulative. He lied to me about having cancer when my mum was divorcing him. He knew I would beg her not to leave him because we need to look after him while he gets his cancer treatment. There was no cancer. I begged her anyway. He used my love for him as a weapon against me. He would argue with her, then disappear for days at a time while we were at home. He would instruct his friends to say he wasn’t there when we would call asking if they knew where he was. He once won 7k pounds at the casino and came home all happy, laid it out on the bed and everything to count it. We went to bed happy, but he couldn’t sleep. So he went back to the casino, lost the 7k he’d won, then came home, stole another 10k out of the safe and lost that too. Can’t believe my mum stayed with him after that but here we are. He threatened to hurt himself so many times, and when I was maybe 7 or 8 I heard him tell my mum he was going to drink a bottle of whiskey and drunk drive 100mph on the highway and crash, me and my sister would try to hide his keys and lay on the ground behind the car so he couldn’t leave.
I don’t want to lose my dad. I feel like I never had him really. He never taught me how to be a man, only ever gave me bad examples, but I guess now I know exactly how to identify bullshit and how not to treat people if I want to still be in their lives. He’s an unhealthy 66 and will probably die soon. All his siblings have been dropping like flies. This life is such fucking bullshit. I don’t want to lose my parents. He hasn’t got enough money saved up to buy a place in Australia. If I know anything about him, he will try to buy a place in QLD, live with me rent free while he collects on his property and he will fuck up the relationship I’ve built with my partner by overstaying his welcome and acting like the victim. He will probably happily destroy my life to fund his and I will have to refuse to help him and possibly end whatever vestige of a relationship we still have.
I really need help to unfuck my life. I need a daily schedule, goals to stick to and to not lose sight. Partner and I are almost 40 still with no kids and we want to have a baby and I don’t know if I’m ready to manage a child when I can barely hold my own life together. Please help me, Reddit. I don’t want to lose everything I’ve built, I don’t want to fritter away my remaining years and my money that, let’s be honest, I haven’t earned, but maybe it’ll help put me on the housing market or start a business or something good for my future.
Sorry for the rant, mods please remove if inappropriate.

I just learned from an MRI I have severe bulges by my T9 and T12 in my spine and that is where all my pain is coming from. I just worked a shift at work on my feet and I’m in so much pain. I’m scheduled a nerve block (I think that’s what it’s called) with my pain management doctor next week and he gave me muscle relaxers. They don’t do anything. I can’t take the pain. I want to go to the hospital for pain medications just so I can get to my nerve block next week If I go in and show them my MRI results and explain I need temporary pain relief until I see my doctor next week, do you think they’ll help? I’m SO scared they’re going to think I’m a drug seeker when I just need help desperately. I’m a mom of three young kids in the middle of moving and I just can’t bare it.

I'll make this long story short but I need help with how I can proceed, hoping someone here has experience with something like this. I am US-based and hired the UK freelancer Aymen Bou, he is top rated plus, has over 200k in completed jobs, yet still scammed me. I need advice on what course of action I can take to get him to finish the work or get my money back. Part of it is on me for letting it go this far, I regret being so tolerant, refrain from clowning me please. Context below.
I hired him in December, he convinced me to pay him per hour (massive mistake) because of troubles in the past for not being paid out the work he completed. He would rack up the max amount of hours each week, then the first red flag came. He was sick during some week, told me he was going in for surgery, yet still charged me, told me he'd refund it and was closing the contract to avoid further charging me on Feb 14 (doesn't make sense obviously as he clocks the timesheet) - never refunded. He told me we'd finish out the whole project when he got back from the hospital. He came back, chatted back n forth as if he was working on it, then went off the grid and didn't respond to me for over a month. I managed to take him to mediation even with the contract being completed so long ago.
Mediation was absolutely useless, they won't take sides even if there is clearly a guilty party. He racked up all of the charges, never gave me a sliver work. I was out over 10k nothing to show for it. He said he wouldn't refund as he'd worked too many hours on it and lies and lies as you'll see. He said he got sick again but when he returns he'll give me the work. He came back end of April, chatted back and forth with me, then handed off the website in May. The website is utter trash, take a look yourself and tell me if this is 138 hours of work: Moderndecorsupply.com (I looked thru the Admin piece, all edits were in the week before hand-off, and this website is literally a WoodMart template with pictures from my current website on it lol) a high schooler with 4 weeks of comp sci could have done this. He very obviously threw something together in a week just to hand me off something after mediation and get me off of his back. He agreed upon result was supposed to be a combination of doordesignlab.com and allmoderndoors.com, his reference for what he would make it look like was his website https://musicvilla.com all of this looks nothing alike with what he ended up giving me. He promised he would get it to a satisfactory state, yet here we are on June 8th, I have the garbage website he gave me, am out 13,000 and he is again not responding.
I'd like to take some actions that will force his hand to either finish the labor or give me my money back. I don't know where to report him legally as he is UK-Based and I'm in the US, I spoke to upwork again today to report him but I don't think it will get me far. Who can give me some decent advice on what I can do here? He has a company in the UK I'd like to try and report to some equivalent of the Better Business Bureau in the US but can't find much. I need to take some steps but don't know what, advice??
I have all of the chats of evidence and mediation evidence, I just don't know where to take it. Upwork is completely defending this guy, even when he didn't hand off the work and took all of the money back in April mediation they wouldn't take sides and "won't judge work," so now that I have this laughable piece of "work" they'll say they can't judge it.
There is more context and info but I tried to keep it short-ish

I’m about to finish my sophomore year in college, pursuing Life Sciences. I’ve been looking at similar courses at University of Amsterdam, University of Erasmus, University of Leiden, and Utrecht University.

• By the time I graduate (in 2026) I’ll have a GPA (American system) of 3.4 or 81.7%

(I don’t have a steady academic record so I do plan on giving GRE as well)

• I have average extra curricular activities, and volunteer experience.
• I am hopeful that by the time I graduate I will at least have 2 research experiences either through internships or just asking my professors if I can help them out. And a research dissertation of my own (for my bachelor’s degree).
• I can get decent LORs as well from a few professors.

The thing I’m worried about most is that my parents don’t have the budget to finance my master’s even if I get selected (which is a big IF). They can manage something around 9000 euros in total without burdening themselves financially. Does anyone have any idea as to how likely I am to get into any of these institutions and would appreciate any tips for the application process.
(Tips regarding scholarships and their process are also appreciated :)

I am currently with Sure CW but my number stars with 07829 as I was previously with Airtel. (about 6 years ago) I don't receive the SMS messages from virtually all of the internet suppliers (AWS, Neteller, Skrill, etc) so I can't register with any of them. With AWS there was an option to receive a phone call as well, but that didn't come through either.
Do any of you have the same issue and if so is it limited to a specific supplier?
If you have managed to fix this what was your fix.
So far I have checked my phone. I don't block anyone or anything. I have switched it off and on again, same with airplane mode. I have deleted messages and cleared the cache. The Phone updated to UI 6.01 yesterday but is still not receiving the codes.
I receive messages from the Hospital and the Doctors to advise of appointments so I know the SMS on Island works.
Any help appreciated.

I'll make this long story short but I need help with how I can proceed. I am US-based and hired the UK freelancer Aymen Bou, he is top rated plus, has over 200k in completed jobs, yet still scammed me. I need advice on what course of action I can take to get him to finish the work or get my money back. Part of it is on me for letting it go this far, I regret being so tolerant, refrain from clowning me please. Context below.
I hired him in December, he convinced me to pay him per hour (massive mistake) because of troubles in the past for not being paid out the work he completed. He would rack up the max amount of hours each week, then the first red flag came. He was sick during some week, told me he was going in for surgery, yet still charged me, told me he'd refund it and was closing the contract to avoid further charging me on Feb 14 (doesn't make sense obviously as he clocks the timesheet) - never refunded. He told me we'd finish out the whole project when he got back from the hospital. He came back, chatted back n forth as if he was working on it, then went off the grid and didn't respond to me for over a month. I managed to take him to mediation even with the contract being completed so long ago.
Mediation was absolutely useless, they won't take sides even if there is clearly a guilty party. He racked up all of the charges, never gave me a sliver work. I was out over 10k nothing to show for it. He said he wouldn't refund as he'd worked too many hours on it and lies and lies as you'll see. He said he got sick again but when he returns he'll give me the work. He came back end of April, chatted back and forth with me, then handed off the website in May. The website is utter trash, take a look yourself and tell me if this is 138 hours of work: Moderndecorsupply.com (edit: I looked thru the Admin piece, all edits were in the week before hand-off, and this website is literally a WoodMart template with pictures from my current website on it lol) a high schooler with 4 weeks of comp sci could have done this. He very obviously threw something together in a week just to hand me off something after mediation and get me off of his back. He agreed upon result was supposed to be a combination of doordesignlab.com and allmoderndoors.com, his reference for what he would make it look like was his website https://musicvilla.com all of this looks nothing alike with what he ended up giving me. He promised he would get it to a satisfactory state, yet here we are on June 8th, I have the garbage website he gave me, am out 13,000 and he is again not responding.
I'd like to take some actions that will force his hand to either finish the labor or give me my money back. I don't know where to report him legally as he is UK-Based and I'm in the US, I spoke to upwork again today to report him but I don't think it will get me far. Who can give me some decent advice on what I can do here? He has a company in the UK I'd like to try and report to some equivalent of the Better Business Bureau in the US but can't find much. I need to take some steps but don't know what, advice??
I have all of the chats of evidence and mediation evidence, I just don't know where to take it. Upwork is completely defending this guy, even when he didn't hand off the work and took all of the money back in April mediation they wouldn't take sides and "won't judge work," so now that I have this laughable piece of "work" they'll say they can't judge it.
edit: there is more context and info but I tried to keep it short-ish

I am a new RN on orientation with few weeks experience. I am still getting familiar with using the Pyxis by myself.
The other day (Wednesday) I had a patient with an order for 5mg or 10mg (depending on pain level) PRN oxyCODONE Q8. There was an event where, when I went to the Pyxis to pull the 10mg oxy, it asked for a med count as usual, and I accidentally miscounted and typed in the wrong count, and the screen prompted me to recount. My dumbass literally managed to “miscount” a 2nd time, this time accidentally typing the numbers backwards (I know, I need to slow down and be very careful from now on). After the second count error the Pyxis count screen disappeared and the system seemingly booted me out from fixing the count. At this point I closed the med drawer (with the med back in the drawer), signed out, and immediately went to my preceptor and told them I miscounted the med and that the Pyxis now likely thinks the count is off.
My preceptor and I went to the Pyxis and I explained exactly what I had done, and she “re-created the event” to verify my story, reviewed the Pyxis history where it showed my foolish count errors, and we recounted the meds. She managed to correct the count in the system and watched me pull the med and administer it to the patient safely.
Two days later (Friday) my manager and I received an email saying the Pyxis diversion surveillance software found a missing administration or waste for a 10mg oxy for the patient under my name with a Pyxis record for that day and time, and there’s a request to my manager to “update the chart” …and I don’t know what that means. The record shows I dispensed a 10mg oxy with no admin, waste, or return recorded, but a few mins later shows I dispense a 10mg oxy and administer it. However, the day the email was sent was on a Friday when my manager and I were off, and I didn’t see it until today, Saturday (I check my work emails from home) and I don’t return until Tuesday.
I have not been called by the hospital, nor have spoken to management yet.
I know this type of thing is VERY serious and I am afraid of what will happen. I never took or administered the med un-scanned; but am worried and second guessing what else could have went wrong or if I could have missed something—(did I actually forget to sign out and someone took advantage of that, did the preceptor and I miscount the third count attempt)? Why does it say a 10mg dose is missing?
What should I do and how can I rectify this situation?

Hello,
I (29 M) am looking to for some advice on what types of jobs I can look into for a career change. I graduated with a Masters in Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling in 2019, with a Bachelors in Psychology, and so far have had mainly had experience in jobs related to case management, accommodation processing and scheduling. I would be looking for a career that pays 60K/year or more.
Right out of graduate school I worked for a small liberal arts college as an accommodation specialist for about 8 months within disability support center, providing classroom accommodations for students on campus.
After that, I transitioned to a large pharmaceutical company for about 2 years where I worked in the corporate office to provide workplace accommodations for employees nationally, a lot of case management and phone calls.
Currently, I work for state hospital as a scheduler for new cancer patients.
All my jobs duties so far have largely incorporated a desk that where I manage a high volume of cases involving frequent phone calls and monitoring a queue all day.
I am looking to transition out of this line of work, but not sure where exactly to start. I am tired and stressed out of having to make constant phone calls and manage an ongoing queue, and would like to avoid another job that heavily emphasized those types of duties. I wouldn't mind something more hands on and interactive, as I am sedentary for 8 hours in a day with not much room to move around. Any advice or feedback would be greatly appreciate. I am open to different types of roles, but would like to avoid case management if at all possible. I'm not in the position where I could go back to school for a career change, but am open to online certificates etc if it would help with a change. Thanks everyone!

Hello,
I (29 M) am looking to for some advice on what types of jobs I can look into for a career change. I graduated with a Masters in Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling in 2019, with a Bachelors in Psychology, and so far have had mainly had experience in jobs related to case management, accommodation processing and scheduling. I would be looking for a career that pays 60K/year or more.
Right out of graduate school I worked for a small liberal arts college as an accommodation specialist for about 8 months within disability support center, providing classroom accommodations for students on campus.
After that, I transitioned to a large pharmaceutical company for about 2 years where I worked in the corporate office to provide workplace accommodations for employees nationally, a lot of case management and phone calls.
Currently, I work for state hospital as a scheduler for new cancer patients.
All my jobs duties so far have largely incorporated a desk that where I manage a high volume of cases involving frequent phone calls and monitoring a queue all day.
I am looking to transition out of this line of work, but not sure where exactly to start. I am tired and stressed out of having to make constant phone calls and manage an ongoing queue, and would like to avoid another job that heavily emphasized those types of duties. I wouldn't mind something more hands on and interactive, as I am sedentary for 8 hours in a day with not much room to move around. Any advice or feedback would be greatly appreciate. I am open to different types of roles, but would like to avoid case management if at all possible. I'm not in the position where I could go back to school for a career change, but am open to online certificates etc if it would help with a change. Thanks everyone!