Posts by Roger Palmer2

Last year, a woman started working for me, someone who claims to be a cancer survivor—which I think will make sense later on. She is incredibly subtle and quiet, and even when things go sideways, she maintains this composed demeanor. I’m quite different from her; I tend to express everything I experience, though perhaps she just processes things in her own way, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It all began when she started coming in twice a week as extra help, but eventually, the dynamic shifted so that the rest of us were constantly stepping in because she simply couldn't manage. She claims she can't work two days in a row because she catches a cold or feels unwell, so she ended up working something like Mondays and Thursdays, leaving huge gaps in between. When you ask her to fill in, she's unavailable. About twenty years ago, she battled cancer that had metastasized to her back and lungs, but through chemotherapy, she supposedly resolved it all; however, she claims she achieved this through fasting, prayer, and practicing "the silence of light," and she still insists she hasn't fully healed. I should mention that she had her son at twenty, having been diagnosed at fifteen, and since they didn't remove half an ovary during her treatment, there was significant concern about recurrence when she became pregnant. Regardless, with only half an ovary, she knows exactly when her cycle will hit, and she uses those days as an excuse to skip work because she isn't feeling well—which isn't my problem, but it's a pattern. When we try to coordinate vacation time, she insists on taking the longest stretches because her doctor told her she needs to live by the ocean. She also claims she can't send a text message in neat, legible handwriting because her joints ache so much that she just makes a mess of it; yet, when she went to the coast with a colleague, she supposedly couldn't cook lunch or wash dishes, but somehow found the energy to play badminton with her son. Essentially, whenever anything goes wrong and she is at fault, she retreats into the excuse that she isn't feeling well or is in pain. She demands seven consecutive days off whenever she's feeling under the weather, expects to be thirty minutes late, and acts as though her heavy chemotherapy from decades ago dictates her current lifestyle. I honestly can't listen to it anymore; it’s becoming incredibly grating. I have no desire to accuse her of lying, but many parts of her story just don't add up to me. I am not a medical expert, so I don't know what the long-term side effects of chemo are twenty years later, nor do I know if it's medically plausible to have half an ovary left after such an aggressive diagnosis, especially since she hasn't seen a doctor in the last ten days. To top it off, a friend of mine was recently diagnosed with cancer, and when I asked this colleague to reach out with a kind word, she never sent a single message and never once asked how my friend was doing.

Am I being crazy or just unkind?

I went through those same agonizing pains myself, but now that I know there’s relief on the horizon, things have changed; once the cramps start hitting, I just take some Ketorolac and the discomfort simply vanishes. Honestly, my monthly cycles aren't nearly as brutal as they used to be, though I can't quite tell if that’s thanks to the medication or if it's because I've started walking my dog for two or three hours every single day.

A close friend of mine was actually vomiting and felt like she was in a coma, but she took some Ketorolac and she's doing fine now.

Since we are already discussing lumps, I wanted to mention that my breasts tend to feel heavy and tender right before my period starts. During this last cycle, I noticed what felt like a significant lump that was incredibly painful to the touch—it had that specific, sharp ache you get when you're expecting your period to arrive. Once my period finally started, the general soreness subsided, but this particular lump hasn't fully disappeared; it's still there, just smaller than before. I can't help but wonder if this is simply a swollen sebaceous gland or if it's something that warrants more serious concern. Have any of you dealt with similar issues?