Stop the foot dragging and let's move forward! and an update.

Since my last update on April 3rd not a whole lot has happened as far as my battle with my employer goes. Seems to me like the Union is dragging their feet, took my almost 3 weeks to get through to our Nat'l representative who is handling my case.

In my opinion it seeps like she is looking for ways NOT to take this case on instead of looking at the facts and ways to proceed with a case to take to arbitration. I'm not sure why or what that is about, but like I said, I feel in my opinion they could be doing more and working more diligently on this case. Nothing more than the filing of the grievance at step 1 has taken place to date.*

By now if they were following the time limits set forth in the collective agreement we should have been at step 2 with a meeting held between the parties to have taken place this past Monday. That has not happened, and when I questioned the time limits, I was told not to worry about that, and that should we proceed everything would be fine as far as the time limits go. I'm worried!

I informed the rep. that if she is not interested in pursuing this case then to give me a letter in writing stating such so I can proceed with seeking legal action. She was to do some kind of research with regard to the insurance contract my LTD was covered by, and then get back to me. That has not happened yet, and I've left messages.

This is all so frustrating, especially when I truly believe that there has bee wrong doing with regard to cutting my benefits. I just want to move forward and find out where I stand legally, one way or another. I'm sure this stress is not good for my health.

Moving on to my health,  since my last update I have seen Dr. Giddings at the Cancer Centre and he has changed up my medications a bit with regards to my CIPN, (Chemotherapy-induced peripheral Neuropathy).
He has change my pain medication from a 4mg dose to a 12mg dose that will be taken every 12 hrs, and this change is meant to have the medication work over the entire 12 hr period rather than going up and down every 4hrs like the previous medication and dose did.

He had also put me on a 30mg dose of  Cymbalta once per day for the first week, then I increased to a 60 mg dose after the first week. After being on the 60mg dose for a week I developed some urination issues, not sure if it's related to the stronger dose of the new meds or not, so I called him and informed him of what was going on. It was decided to cut my dose of Cymbalta back to 30mg for a week and then re-evaluate to see if the problem persists. So far after a couple days it is still persisting, so it may be just a coincidence that this started happening at that time.

The new meds are taking time to get used to but so far I feel they are helping just a little more than my previous meds. Still too early to tell what is going to happen with them, especially since we've had to cut back the Cymbalta dose, which may or may not change back to 60mg.

So that's about it for now, just trying to figure out my next move with regard to the employer/union issues, trying to be patient and let things take their course with the union, but like I said earlier, it's very frustrating waiting for things to happen longer than I should have to, especially with written time limits!!

So if needed, I will seek legal advice, and may even try to take this story to the media, just to show people how badly you can be treated by your employer when your dealing with a life threatening illness. Also to show the public how the Government expects you to live on a disability pension that won't even cover the cost of an average rent payment. Sad really, when you look at all the "red tape" and waiting it takes to try to get your pension bumped up to help make ends meet. I may be put in the position of having to do some kind of benefit to raise funds to help us get by until Brenda can secure some form of employment which is difficult in this city right at the moment.

I also ask for your thoughts and prayers for a family member who is hospitalized in ICU right now.

Thank you,
Tim.

*Side note: I got a phone call just as I was finishing up this post from my union chairman stating that a meeting will be held between the company and the union on April 25th to discuss my case.