Help Wanted

A desperate plea to end a catastrophe!

So this is it. The end? Of much of my work potential.

I hate to admit this, but I’ve been using AI to attempt to find remedies for my health issues while I’m waiting on the United States Health Care System to actually give a shit about me and my needs. Because I’m desperate.

Here’s a brief history, for those of you who care:

In 2022, I developed what I thought was a typical case of Plantar Fasciitis. So I rested for a week, started taking over the counter pain relievers, and through the process of trial and error, discovered that Acetaminophen (Tylenol) doesn’t do crap to affect the amount of pain I’m in, but Ibuprofen does. I go to my doctor and he prescribes me a slow release form of NSAID (a classification of medications that Ibuprofen is a member of) and when I ran out of that, he approved 800 mg of Ibuprofen. Alright, well that was in 2022.

Because where I work, it’s a standing environment. I’m on my feet all day long. Sometimes just standing idly. Other times, I’m walking back and forth between cash registers assisting the cashier’s I’m responsible for. (The entire system needs to be optimized, but that would effectively delete my current job, and that’s a different conversation.)

Fast forward to 2026. I’ve been to my doctor several times over the past four years to discuss my foot pain. The fact that it’s not localized to only my heel (the typical pain point for Plantar Fasciitis). In fact, my entire foot hurts. The balls of my feet hurt, the arch hurts, a dull pain most of the time, but sometimes it feels like a nail piercing the sole. The top of my foot, feels like a hammer just starts smacking my foot, right below where my toes begin, and speaking of my toes, they ache too. I have lumps on the underside of my foot— scar tissue. I believe this may in fact be Plantar Fibroma. And the toe pain? That could be Gout. And this is both feet. To cope with this pain, I’ve been taking between 2,400 mg and 4,000 mg of Ibuprofen every day. Typically, the dosage is on the lower end on Saturday (my work week start), and increases towards the upper end by Wednesday. Rarely have I exceeded 4,000 mg of Ibuprofen, because when I do, despite eating, it makes my stomach nauseous. I’ve been given a topical creme that I can rub on my feet, which I do every morning, and although the package states I can do this up to four times a day, I can’t get a break from work to take off my shoes or boots, find a place private enough to disrobe my socks just to massage my bare feet for ten minutes.

My vitals are shit?

Now, you’ll notice that I’ve been dealing with this escalating pain for over four years now (it all began in April). I’ve been referred to see a Rheumatologist. I think they specialize in arthritis? But honestly, I don’t know. Because I’ve got a fuckton wrong with me. Hence why I went to the doctor most recently. You see, I’m falling asleep— in the morning on my way to work. So I went to get tested. Lots of blood labs, and come to find out, my Vitamin D is still critically deficient (18 ng/mL), despite taking 5000 IU of supplements for nine months— it was 15 ng/mL back in July Normally, this should be between 30 ng / mL and 100 ng / mL. Mine’s 18. My red blood cell count is also borderline low at like 4.27 Million uL (normally, it’s supposed to be around 4.20 M to 5.8 M)— and this is what explains why I’m so exhausted. Literally why it takes every bit of my morning energy just to get out of bed… minus the urgent crying and begging of my bladder. There’s a few other issues I have that I may get into the details in a little bit, if I remember.

Let’s talk about Vitamin D, because many people know about Vitamin C, or even Vitamin A, but Vitamin D, otherwise known as the Sunshine Vitamin, is naturally harvested from exposure to sunlight. Ha! In the modern era of office workers, very few people actually get the appropriate amount of sun exposure. Compound that with the ever looming threat of Skin Cancer and worse things those dark splotches that form on your skin from too much time on the beach. (Sorry, I’m really not trying to sound sarcastic or snarky here. I’m in a mood.) Anyway, something that I recently discovered while chatting with AI as I’m waiting for this Rheumatology doctor to approve my visit to see them, is the function of the kidneys. Yes, they filter the bad shit out of your system and turn it into urine and probably feces or something. I’m not exactly sure, I just know that there’s little delicate filters called nephrons inside there and low and behold, Ibuprofen is a moral enemy to them! This toxic substance that’s been approved and regulated by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) destroys the filter within your kidneys. Granted, most people aren’t consuming upwards of 4,000 mg of Ibuprofen in a single day for more than a few days, let alone months— years? But a critical function of your kidneys is to metabolize Vitamin D2 into Vitamin D3 (the stuff your body needs. Your kidneys are also responsible for the production of erythropoietin, (a hormone) which tells your bone marrow to produce more red blood cells.

My tolerable Coping Mechanism…

So, with that history out of the way, I hope you see the dilemma I face. My job is causing my foot injury (or maybe I’ve had this for a long time?), which requires me to consume Ibuprofen so that I can function at said job, but that’s actually very slowly killing me. I already mentioned the foot pains. Let me tell you what the kidney mess is adding on top of this dog pile. Dizziness. Like bad vertigo. Sometimes it feels like the world is spinning, and I’ve got nothing but air to hold on to. This could also partially explain why I’m so clumsy— or the fact that my left leg is a quarter-inch shorter than my right leg, and I’ve got a lazy eye too. But I digress. In addition to the extreme exhaustion— I did mention that right? Like falling asleep on the subway AND bus on the way TO and FROM work, both directions, morning and night time. This is totally not normal, especially after a good breakfast AND coffee. (And yes, I am drinking my gallon of water every day too.) It appears that I may be borderline hypoglycemic too. But I need another doctor’s examination to determine that. One mess at a time please? But it’s not just sitting idly that I’ll fall asleep. I’m constantly exhausted, barely able to stay alert enough to function. Despite having a full seven or eight hours of sleep. I also have a problem concentrating. Like, I really enjoy writing fiction. You’ll notice that I haven’t posted anything along that venue in quite some time. First it was depression, now it’s this. I’m working on it. But anyway, I’ll write like three paragraphs and I’ll doze off. Now this could also be a simple matter of being distracted, and having chores that must be accomplished RIGHT THE FUCK NOW!, or maybe this is related to my kidney issue. Speaking of depression, guess what? Low Vitamin D levels also make depression and anxiety issues worse. Like, ever hear of the Seasonal Blues? Winter time depression? I knew I had that. Now I know way, and what may be causing it. There’s less sunlight during the winter months, hence, more depression. And I’m affected by it. This could also explain why very recently, I’ve gotten my Creative Spark back. Yes! I’m working on a fictional story. Building the characters, albeit VERY slowly. Because I get distracted or I’m falling asleep. Wah.

Anyway, I had to make a hard decision today. I can’t take any more Ibuprofen. Zero. The dizziness was too severe. I thought I was going to fall over several times, like a crazy spinner top that’s gone out of control. I can’t have that. Not in a warehouse environment where people can get hurt. And since I can’t cope with the pain by taking Ibuprofen anymore, that means that I’m going to be in severe pain tomorrow, with no remedy. In fact, the only thing that brings me relief is sitting down, barefoot.

So. I need a different job.

Preferably one where I can sit down at a desk. Tasks that involve writing, customer service, even troubleshooting and problem solving. (I’m cheap too! I only need a minimum of $40K a year, although with $50K, I can start repaying my delinquent debts that I haven’t been able to touch.) And speaking of problems, there’s a giant one in the United States of America (actually, there’s a lot, but…) That is the Job Market is in shambles. I’ve been applying for roles since 2023, and I’m not seeing any progress. I think I can count on one hand how many interviews I’ve gotten. Maybe it’s because I’m 50. I’m untouchable now? Is that it? Too experienced for my own good? Or maybe I’m not exploitable enough for most employers? Maybe it’s because I’ve seen too much shit. Yes, shit. The dark side of life. The side that forged who I am today by the flames of agony, of utter rejection, of the realization that I was actually a piece of shit of a human being. Glad I changed for the better (at least I think I did?) Hopefully?

But where can I go to find a new job quickly, urgently? Who can I beg for help? Because I’m about at my rope’s end here. The pain is nearly intolerable WITH the Ibuprofen, I can’t imagine how painful I’ll feel tomorrow evening. And I’ve still got two days after tomorrow to work. Anyway, maybe you can help me? Do you know anybody who needs a talented, mostly responsible adult who knows how to communicate fairly decently? Not to toot my own horn, but I’m really feeling desperate now. Indeed isn’t performing very well. Linked-In feels like a circle-jerk. I’m flirting with Monster now, but that’s not looking all that impressive either. Anyway, I’ll take any leads for anything that’s a legal means of generating income— just no sales. I truly suck at Sales. Like I’m the girl that can’t manage to sell a dehydrated person in the desert a glass of water— because the water’s either too warm or too clear, or I don’t know. Please help!