Hey there Pattipanda: Well it sure sounds like you've got your head screwed on right and are headed in the right direction. I'm sorry about your job loss. Exactly the same thing happened to me twice. I was in a fairly high profile, fairly well paid job and I kept missing days. One knows the ending there. Then I got myself back into a dreat job, but was too ill to accept many shifts so when promotion time rolled around, this fellow who was junior to me (I had more experience), got promoted because although I had been there longer, he accumulated more hours. I'm afraid I just couldn't go on after that. I was mad, sad and heartbroken, and gave up. I began working way below my level of training and experience (housekeeping) because one didn't feel so bad when they lost one of those. I was very good at it, had many clients, but could only book myself every other day, because I would need a day between gigs to heal, and rest. We surely do get the short end of the stick, practically every time.
As far as my meds, my PCP has his special little prescription out for my visit at the end of every two months. He gives me enough pain meds to carry me through two months at a time cause I live so far away. He will not even consider upping my dosage or changing meds, he say's ÿou have no pain tolerance, whatsoever. I felt like saying "änd you've never given birth so what do you know?"but I did not. In this predicament we offer only the info that is asked for, no more. I manage fairly well. WE're having a real slippery patch right now, cause my Dad is in hospital, but not so long ago, he was here with me, 24/7/365, for two years and I had to tippy toe around my own house. So, I guess it's all good or bad, only thinking makes it so.