Think Before You Press Send

Why is it that there are some things that are acceptable if done to an IFer, but, if a similar sort of thing was done to someone suffering from a more well-known disease, the person committing the offense would be condemned?

This morning I got to work and opened my email to find a "funny" email from one of my work colleagues.

I will pause here to state that our problems conceiving and the health issues I've gone through over the past couple of years have been no secret to this person. She shares an office with me and knows very well what struggles and disappointments the last two years have held. That's why I was so surprised this email came from her.

The email was - supposedly - a "Thesis on Women" and included several bits of "Medical Information Women Should Know". What is this information, you ask? Well, it consisted of several jokes about pregnancy. One of my favourites (and, yes, that word should be read loaded with sarcasm)? Q: Is there anything I should avoid while recovering from childbirth? A: Yes, pregnancy

Now, I understand this is supposed to be funny. But when you're sending this to someone who can't get pregnant or someone who has struggled to get pregnant or someone who has experienced loss or, heaven forbid, recurrent loss, it's just not funny.

The next bit of the email was titled "10 Ways to Know If You Have Estrogen Issues". A couple of the witticism included in this lot? Everyone around you has an attitude problem and You're sure that everyone around you is scheming to drive you crazy. Now, while this may be true and actually describe the feelings of a woman with estrogen problems, I feel it's highly inappropriate to send this to a woman who is actually suffering from severe estrogen problems.

They want to know the real ways to tell you have estrogen problems? You have to have bloodwork every month to determine what your estrogen level is. You have to take medication that plays with your emotions and makes your monthly period incredibly painful and removes any desire you have for a sexual relationship with your partner. You have to have an endometrial biopsy every 6 months to confirm you don't have hyperplasia. You have to have a D&C when you do have hyperplasia.

Yeah. Not so funny when you know the true side of it. I honestly can't imagine anyone sending out an email with jokes about cancer in it and particularly not to a cancer patient. It would just be inhumanly cruel. So, why is it okay to send this to infertiles or to PCOSers? Why is it okay to poke fun at the real, devestating diseases that afflict us? Why are we accused of over-reacting when we mention that an email like this is not appreciated and that it actually hurts to read?

Will people ever treat those suffering from reproductive conditions as they would someone suffering another, more recognized disease? With the more time that passes, the more I become convinced this will never happen.

One of Those Days

You know those days where nothing goes right and you spend most of the day wishing you'd stayed home in bed? Yeah. I've had one of those days today.

The day started off pretty promising. I got up and had my shower without a lot of trouble, but that was the extent of my good fortune for today. When I started getting dressed, I discovered that the scrub pants I intended to wear to work today had the drawstring in them torn out in the washing machine. They're too big without the drawstring, so I had to find another pair of pants. This had me running late.

The Hubs was off work today and I really wanted to stay home with him, so this contributed more time to my running late. I headed outside and discovered there was ice on my windshield. I had to scrap that off (yup, in Georgia) before I could head into work. By the time I got there, it was 7:22. I'm supposed to be at work at 7am.

The next hour seemed okay. Nothing too crazy or irksome happened. But then the calm passed. Without going into confidential details, I spent the next 2 hours trying to sort something out for a very rude patient who didn't want to do what she needed to do. She came very close to cursing me out and had me really upset. I actually had to wind up turning this over to someone else to take care of because I didn't have the authority to do what the patient wanted done.

Next, I was called into my boss' office. This was not a bad visit, but I always feel stressed around my boss. Basically, the trajectory of the day had been set already and I felt it wouldn't be turning around.

Lunchtime next, so I came home and had lunch with The Hubs. I was late leaving for lunch and had an afternoon meeting, so my lunch was cut short. And I still couldn't come home and spend the afternoon with The Hubs. Back to work I went, in time to have about 15 minutes before my meeting.

The meeting itself was only supposed to last about half an hour. Two hours after it began, we were finally getting out. I usually get off work at 3:30, but the meeting didn't end until 4pm. Then I had to discuss something with another colleague, so I didn't leave work until nearly 5pm.

I came home, did some cleaning around the house, found myself too tired to cook and sweettalked The Hubs into having a pizza for dinner. It had been such a bad day, that I even got myself a blizzard to go with my pizza.

I'm now preparing to put this long, dreadful day to rest and head myself to bed. Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday!I need this weekend.!

Wordless Wednesday - Where I'd Rather Be On A Cold Wednesday Morning

The Meme That Aunt Becky Made

So, I was browsing through some blog posts this morning when I happened onto this hilarious meme over at Kristin's blog. I followed the link on over to Aunt Becky's page and.....here you go! My take on the meme.

1) What does Meme mean?

Its the more common name for that black hole of nothingness that sucks you into it and you find yourself compelled to participate in despite knowing no one really wants to read it but that entertains you to complete.

2) 2011 – Was it all you’d hoped it would be?

2011 was a complex year. There were parts of it that were just freakin' awesome (going to Vegas, starting the adoption process, moving into a new house) and there were other parts that sucked big-time (my dad dying, my best friend moving away). I can't really say it was all I hoped for, but I can say it was a year that helped me to grow.

3) Did you watch the Royal Wedding?

Sadly, no. I was at work. I watched bits of it on the Internet and on the news, but did not get to watch the whole thing. This was sad for me, being married to a Brit and all, but....I got over it.

4) Where are your pants?

Um...they're on my bottom. Unless, of course, you're referring to the ones at home. They're in a drawer. Or hanging in my closet. Or, just possibly, in the dirty clothes hamper. What a peculiar question.

5) Is Justin Bieber human or some sort of robot?

Justin Bieber is a blight on mankind. End of story.

6) If you had only one thing to wish for this coming year, what would it be?

That our adoption proceeds quickly and smoothly and that our child is with us very soon.

7) Would you call yourself a “social media maven?”

Nada. I use social media, but I'm not consistent with it and I don't really like them. Apart from blogging (which I don't really consider social media, despite it obviously being that), they kind of make me feel like I'm lacking something.

8 ) If you had to take three things to a desert island (let’s assume you have ample food and water), what would they be?

I'm going to assume (for my own purposes) that The Hubs and The Pog are allowed to come and bring their own three things (which, for The Pog, I'm assuming would be her blanket, her favourite chew toy and her leash - these seem to be her favourite things), so that means I don't have to use them as part of my allotted items. Hmmm...I guess my Kindle, my laptop (with built-in Internet that does not require a signal to be near-by...I'm talking state-of-the-art military stuff here) and my craft box.

9) If you had the ability to banish certain offenses to an island where they would be rehabilitated into being okay again, what would those offenses be?

Wow....um...I don't think Blogger will allow me enough publishing room to list all of them, so I'll have to narrow it down. Okay...

Disagreeing with me (I know, I know. I'll be the first to admit I'm not reasonable)
Talking to me like I'm an idiot
Mispronouncing words
Speaking in textspeak (borrowing this from Kristin because it's so true!)
Playing favourites
And (rant to follow) it aggravates the absolute HELL out of me for my employees to ignore and fail to do something I have specifically told them to do!!!!!

10) How do YOU think the air conditioner works?

Well...I flip the button to turn it on and tiny little elves rush over to feed the system, kind of like on a steamship. That's how I like to think of it anyway.

11) Do you ACTUALLY think you can make money blogging?

ROFLMAO! Sure! If your name is Midas! But then, anything you touched would turn to gold, no?

12) There’s a lot of talk in the blog world about microblogging (The Tumblr, The Twitter, The Facebook) taking over traditional blogs. Do you think that’s the case?

Nope. As long as there are those of us willing to pour our heart and souls (or wit and sarcasm) into blogs, they'll be around.

13) If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?

Don't bother with contraceptives! They aren't necessary!

14) If you could’ve told yourself this time last year one thing, what would it be?

Enjoy every second you have with the ones you love because you never know when the next second won't come.

15) If you could have one Super Power, what would it be?

Oh, definitely mind-reading. I can't stand not knowing exactly what people are thinking. It drives me crazy!

16) If you could do one thing you can’t currently do, and do it well, what would it be?

Make babies. I mean, is there really any question here?

17) What surprises you about yourself?

That I get so easily irritated with people. That there are so few people in my daily life that I can actually tolerate being around. Other people, I love them! I generally count myself a people person! But, the people I work with drive me crazy!

18) What was your favorite blog post/tweet of the past year?

This is my favourite blog post, not because of the subject of it (which was absolutely the most heart-breaking thing I've ever gone through), but because I poured my heart into it: Time is Fleeting. Carpe Diem.

19) Do you REALLY think “Purple Should Be A Flavor?”

Definitely! I love the color purple (it's my favourite!) and I'm sure if it were a flavour it would be awesome!

20) If you could make one outlandish wish for 2012, what would it be?

Hahaha...I have to condense it to one?!?! Okay. I wish for a major lotter win! That way, I can get all the small things I wish for. Like a big new house. And a new car. And a worry-free adoption. And all our bills paid.