Throwing in the towel ...

I'm throwing in the towel... well, at least temporarily. See, I've been self employed for almost 15 years and I think it's time to give it up.

I love self employment! Yes it can be hard and demanding, especially when you work by yourself and there's noone to delegate anything to. One of the great things I like is being your own boss, especially on sick days. If you're sick, you're sick. Stay in bed, drink some hot tea, eat some cure-all chicken noodle soup (my wife makes the best) and get well. If you've had an early morning hypo like Kerri did the other morning, drink a little, eat a little, get yourself back together and start your day a little later. No big deal and no groveling with your boss making you feel guilty, etc, etc, etc.

So you ask, "Keith why are you throwing in the towel after 15 years?". Well two reasons actually. Our income is always on a roller coaster and lately it's been mostly down. That get's very tiring. Second, we don't have any health insurance. Yikes!! A diabetic without health insurance... not a good deal.

For some time we've had spotty insurance coverage, but several years ago the state of Tennessee had a great plan for all us "uninsurables" and I was able to enroll. Unfortunately, this great plan was just about to bankrupt the state, so they did the logical thing (for govenment), they kicked everyone over 18 off. So I have limited prescription coverage for another 6 weeks and then ta'ta. (I just today got a letter in the mail saying it's extended until the end of June!)

I've got the resume' polished and have been submitting it around and I'm doing alot of networking as well. I know it's just a matter of time till I get a bite.

So, here's my dilemma. What do I do with my pump? I've only been pumping for a little over 3 years so the last time I interviewed and had a regular job I didn't have a 'pager' with a funny tube hanging out on my belt. When I was on MDI it's no big deal, you don't carry around a little pager and you can discretely reveal your diabetes after you've been there 3 or 4 months and clearly shown them what an awesome employee you are. Yes, it's a pain in the rump being overly discrete with testing, but hey it works.

I also have concerns about career limitations. I like what Violet said, in a response to Kerri's low post, "I keep those diabetes cards pretty close to my chest. I've found I don't like the idea of the disease making me vulnerable in my career, which is feasible even though we would all agree it never should. " Right on sister, me neither.

During the interview process it shouldn't be a problem. I'll have on a suit jacket and noone will notice. However, come that first day on the job do I keep it in my pocket for the designated 3 - 4 months and then 'come out of the closet' so to speak. I don't know, but I'd be interested in hearing comments/wisdom from the Dblog community on what you did and how it worked out!