When It Rains, It Pours...

And let me tell you, I'm about ready to build an arc!
Let me take a second to fill you guys in since its almost been a year since my last entry.

As most of you knew, I was happily working full time in Pinehurst as a radiation therapist. In February I was laid off due a decrease in our patient load that never seemed to pick back up. I'm not pointing fingers or blaming anyone for this unfortunate event, but I will say that many educated, skilled people seem to be in the same boat as me since ObamaCare came into effect. I'll leave it at that.

In March of this year, I turned 26. Hard to believe! Seems like just yesterday I was turning 16 and getting my license. Birthdays are great! I mean, you get presents, cake and get to go out to the restaurant of your choice. If you have facebook, you'll probably get 100+ notifications and texts from people wishing you a happy birthday who normally wouldn't know it was your birthday. There are only two problems with turning 26. 1)- It means you're that much closer to 30, which means you're that much closer to 50- It means you're getting older! And 2)- At the age of 26, you can no longer be insured under your parents insurance.

Being 26 and technically unemployed means you don't have insurance. No big deal. I'm healthy, I workout, I don't ever go to the doctor. WRONG! Just a few weeks after getting laid off, I was training for my third half marathon, fell and messed up my ankle on one of my long runs. An ace bandage and an $80 doctor visit later, determined that I just sprained it pretty bad. I was still able to run in my race a month later, and had a great time doing it.

Not too much happened after that- I laid low for a while. We went on a cruise the beginning of June. Wade, myself, and our friends Adam and Lily. We had a great time, saw two new islands we'd never explored before. Got to play with stingrays and of course eat lots of great food.

After getting back from our cruise, I had my 6 month cleaning at the dentist. Still unemployed, my first question is "How much is this gonna cost?". Come to find out, it wasn't too terrible. $140 including x-rays. Manageable. What I wasn't counting on was that they would find a cavity. REALLY!? I haven't had a cavity in 10+ years and as soon as I'm uninsured, one would come up. They scheduled to have it filled the next week. Two shots, 30 minutes, and $120 later it was filled.

That very same week I was scheduled for my last shot in the Gardasil series. My GYN recommended I get these series of shots back while I was employed at the hospital. It helps protect against HPV and cervical cancer and since I was still in the recommended age range for the shots, insurance would cover 100% of the three shot series. My last shot however, was scheduled after I had lost coverage, costing me a bruise on my right arm and  $175.

After a depressing week of throwing money down the drain, I was ready for a break! I went to Oak Island Beach for the fourth of July with Wade and his family. Had a relaxing week soaking up rays and playing at the beach. Went deep sea fishing and caught some big fish and even some sharks! Even got to see Jessi and her family for a short while. Other than being there when Hurricane/Tropical Storm Arthur came through, no big unfortunate events happened. Yippee.

Then fast forward to this week, just when I think everything has calmed down and cant get much worse....

I get this:

The determologists had no idea what exactly it is. Sunday morning it had popped up on my forehead and around my eye. By this morning it was way worse- my eye was swollen, it was all over my face, and it was ten times worse on my back. It didn't itch or bother me at all, other than the swelling of my right eye. The best idea they could come up with was my sweet cat, Cali, had rolled in poison ivy and brought it in the house. After a shot, $75 doctor visit, $20 prescription, clean sheets/bed spread, and a cat bath later, hopefully it'll clear up in the next few days.

It could possibly get worse from here on -hopefully not though. But in the event that it does, I'm ready for whatever life throws at me.

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"