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I need some help or advice!!! I worked for 3 years in a hospital as a Unit Secretary until October 2006 when I was missing so much work it was either quit or be fired.

I took Medical Transcription classes and got a work from home job in January of this year. The company that hired me was disorganized. I was basically making 70 cents per hour, had no benefits and they had no work half of the time. They would give me three weeks of work at a time before I would ever get feedback on how I was doing. Then I had many different editors who gave conflicting feedback. The Chief Operating Officer, who had never taken a medical terminology course in her life, would call and scream at me because I made the same mistake consistently before getting any feedback. It's hard to not make a mistake if you have no idea that you are making one!

I was hired as a unit secretary working parttime 40 hours per pay period this past month. I spent alot of money and time traveling back and forth going to interviews, shadowing for a day, getting my parking badges..ect. I went to orientation this past Monday and barely made it through the day. I have been sick as a dog ever since. The Unit Manager was horrible and pretty much told me that she resented that I wasted her time and that obviously if I couldn't make it through orientation that it was not the job for me. I asked if she could let me do orientation later in the day since my shift was 3p-11:30p and she refused! I feel like my body is shutting down one system at a time. I am nauseated and feel dizzy and clammy all the time, I get horrible cramps because my waste just sits in my intestines for days and then suddenly starts moving again. I filed for disability in October 2006 and was denied. I can't get medical insurance of any kind because the state of Ohio says that I can work.

What can I do? I desperately need some sort of income. I can't stand for long periods of time. I need a parttime job with hours that are later in the day. I don't think I could make it any longer than 4 hours at a time. I also need some sort of health insurance. I haven't been able to see my POTS specialist in 6 months because I am still paying off my last appointment and I just can't afford it!

I am totally open to suggestions. This lifestyle is not working for me anymore. I just can't keep trying to work and having my body scream NOOOO! I think I cried for 3 hours the day I had to quit my most recent job. I thought it was the answer to my prayers.

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Hi...I know you said that you applied for disability and were denied, but have you thought about going back and re-applying again? You may want to try again and if you are denied again then you should get a lawyer to help you fight for it. Other then trying that, I'm not sure what else to tell you. Sorry, I am not from Ohio and I don't know what other agancies may be able to help you. I'm sure there are probably others on here that will be able to give you more help. I can tell you that it took me three attempts and a lawyer before I got my disability approved. Unfortunately, it is not easy for the truly disabled to get it, you really have to fight for it, but it is worth it if you can hang in there.

Joline

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I'm so sorry you've been having such a rough time. I can truly empathize as I tried to work after my diagnosis with POTS and was miserable and unable to keep up. It was devastating for me as I had trained my whole life for the job I was doing, yet I could barely get there in the morning, much less perform any tasks that required brain power.

As someone who is almost done with a medical transcription course, I highly recommend trying some other companies before giving up altogether on the work-at-home idea. You obviously put a lot of time and effort into the training, and I know there are a number of companies out there that have great organization and feedback. Many of these companies offer flexible independent contractor positions which stay-at-home moms LOVE due to the flexibility it gives in scheduling and taking on only the work you can handle.

Here is a great general link to look for jobs:

http://www.mtjobs.com/

I have heard good things about sten-tel, medquist, accuscribe, princeton, and ascend from the forum posts I've read, but there are many more good companies out there. It's not a field where you have to accept ridiculously low pay and poor treatment. That is the exception, not the norm. Doing your research pays off, so if you have a company you want to apply to, please feel free to send me the name, and I can look it up on my course forum to see if there are any posts to give you inside info.

If you definitely feel that working at home is out of the question, then I agree that retrying for disability is a good option. From what I have heard and read here, most people are denied the first time in Ohio and it is a very long process to get approved.

Also, if you need immediate help with your flare of symptoms, maybe you could call your specialist and speak about some of your more urgent concerns on the phone.

I hope this helps a little to know you're not alone in your frustrations and experience. Hang in there! :ph34r:

Kristen

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I probably will look into finding another work from home transcription type job. The only downfall to that is that it is extremely hard to get hired in the first place especially with no experience most companies don't want to hire you to work from home. When they do, it's independent contractor status so I will still have no insurance. The pay is minimal as well.

I guess worse case scenerio, I reapply for disability and if it gets denied again I get a lawyer and appeal within the allotted time frame. Thanks :huh:

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I hear where you are coming from about no insurance and starting out with little experience in transcription. That is definitely tough. I'm not sure if this would make a difference or not, but have you thought of calling doctors in your area to see if they are looking for transcription help? Do you have friends in the medical profession you could ask to network for you? You might make more money transcribing that way than going through a company that also has to profit from your work.

An additional idea-- there are companies that do straight transcription (not medical) that might be an additional source of income on top of an independent contractor or part time position as an MT. I'm thinking straight transcription companies might be more likely to hire someone with less experience. My impression is that you get insurance usually through full time positions. Is full-time work from home something you can swing with your health limitations?

I know these are all imperfect solutions, but the comforting thing is that if you do find a decent company, your earnings will increase over time-- both as you get faster at it, and as you are promoted for increased experience.

I hope I didn't sound like you could solve all your problems by getting another MT job. Though I'm not in your shoes, I do know how complicated these situations are and also how hard emotionally and financially it can be to not be able to hold down a job outside of the house.

Kristen

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Do you live in Utah? (Jet Blue home reservations)

If I were you, I would try medical transcription again. Although, if you can't tolerate 4 hours a day- I think that disability is your best shot. You could go to school (online) and possibly live off of the low cost student med insurance and free student clinics. Financial aid and grants would pay your rent and groceries. If you live close to a school, they sometimes offer student jobs for supplemental income.

Have you thought about doing research online (pubmed, etc) for legal firms? Sometimes they need someone to pull up relevant literature and research on medical conditions. I don't know of any companies, but a lawyer once mentioned to me that he was always trying to get his assistants to do it, but they didn't know how to wade through the content. If you have some medical background- you could probably start with a $30 business license, a pub-med license (free at colleges and Universities, even some hospital education rooms), and a pack of business cards. We should probably all start up this business together!!!!

If I think of anything else, I'll post.

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