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I am a biology teacher by day but a crazy triathlete and runner at all other times.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Sabbatical denied, back to the financial drawing board

My original plan for the next year of cancer treatments was to get a sabbatical from my school which would give me some money while I was at home doing research on cancer, increasing my scientific knowledge, and writing a book on my experiences so that I could maintain somewhat of our standard of living while still having work to do and having time to do it. Honestly, it would have allowed us to pay our bills and that is about it. I had planned on applying for a sabbatical at some point in the next few years but the situation I am in prompted me to apply earlier than I had planned. I was denied my sabbatical. So, now I'm back to square one and extremely stressed about this. I am not independently wealthy and although people are raising money in my name, I don't know if it will be enough. I need to make some money next year but due to my treatment plan I am unsure that I will be able to do my job. So, I am applying for social security disability which will most likely be denied because my cancer isn't advanced enough (crazy isn't it). But while I wait on SSDI, I am currently in the market for a part time job in the Schenectady area - I don't want to have to travel far and spend gas money to get to a part time position. I am also very interested in a work from home option. I would prefer not to work in teaching if I was to change jobs for a year because teaching is extremely stressful and developing new curriculum is really difficult - the first year of teaching or the first year of teaching in a new school district is always the hardest for a reason. After the last few weeks of complications and healing, I know I am limited in what I am capable of doing. The sabbatical situation would have been perfect. I could plan to have my treatments every Tuesday and then be able to schedule my scans and my follow-up appointments for the times I needed. Plus, I could have done work, take a nap which would help with healing, and then go for a walk (hopefully short runs, bike, or swim) when I felt up to it. Well, cancer sucks and the stresses associated with it are horrible as well. I am trying to stay positive and continue healing so I need to breath and have hope that all will work out.

1 comment:

Jackie said...

This may not be something you're interested in but my sister in law sells Scentsy & it brings in a little extra cash for her every month. The cool thing is you can do it exclusively through a website or emails so if you get your friends & family to help spread the word you might be able to do something with that. Just a thought & I'll keep thinking though!