Makin' the bacon while local tanker yankin'

Well, my boy had his first birthday today. The hospital pulled out all the stops for an outstanding birthday party for him complete with live music, bubbles, presents, cake and lots of smiles. It was an outstanding departure from the typical hospital life we've been living for a while.

My son also received a priceless birthday present this week after his recent MRI scan. His body is responding exceptionally well to the chemotherapy treatment... the first three words in the MRI report: significant disease reduction. Every bit of cancer in his brain and spine has seen significant reduction and in many places destruction of the cancer entirely. It's been a blessing to know that the oncology team has him dialed in to a chemo regiment that's working well. He still has many months of treatment ahead of him, but he's making some awesome strides in the right direction.

 

That’s great! So happy for you and your family and especially the birthday boy!!!!

 

That's absolutely great news! Thanks for the update. Happy Birthday McUzi Jr! Prayers for many many more! Keep up the good work!

 

Cheers, brother! Praying for y’all.

 

Fantastic!!!!!!!! Happy Birthday to the little man & the prayers continue brother.

 

That's only when doing bobtail work, which OP stated he has previously done.

When pulling a transport, the wasp nests are usually underneath/behind the rotary gauge.

 

I don't think I mentioned it here aside from a few DMs with some select posters here, but with the onslaught of my son's cancer diagnosis, I left the tank carrier I went to after being in the hospital for over a month straight with my son. The tank carrier was more than gracious to guarantee my job for me even though they didn't have to, but I also felt that with things going on, that it wouldn't be fair to place my burden upon them with the future availability nightmares that I would carry with me. I also know, that with the warm weather approaching, my propane transport work would dry up and I would transition to gasoline hauling. Knowing what I know of this company, I'd be expected to be running out a 14 hour clock every day of my work week.

As fate would have it, the former cryo manufacturer I worked for had reached out to me during this time frame, unaware of my situation but they were in a bind on filling an open position. These people, while a global company; at the regional and local level always treated me as family and I had a great relationship with them while I worked there. I explained to them that returning to them would place significant logistical complexities to them as there are times where I may be suddenly unavailable to work, sometimes with less than a few hours notice. At that point, my only contact with the company was my former district manager who had sent me a funny text message out of the blue of "Mr. McUzi, your ######## has gone on long enough, and it's about time to consider returning home with us". After describing what my family and I were going through, the DM expressed genuine concern for my family and told me that if I wanted to return to the company, that he would offer his full support to give me flexibility to take care of my family.

This full support, was extended immediately through HR during my hiring process. HR mentioned to me that given the circumstances and that I had been gone less than a year, would be able to reinstate my benefits and health insurance immediately on day one. Even though I don't qualify for FMLA benefits at this point with the company, they have committed to protecting my position during this time.

Knowing the DM to be a straight shooter and a genuine guy living in the town next to me, I decided to take him up on his offer. It also helped that the terminal manager I worked for was an equally awesome guy who was always about doing the right thing, even if it wasn't necessarily good for the company.

So, while being out of work for over a month I returned to a previous employer for the first time in my life. About 2 weeks into being back to work, the WuFlu struck me. I came home from the hospital after spending a Saturday evening with my wife and son and didn't feel so hot. That Sunday morning, I went and took a COVID test, mainly because I can't take any chances with my son's suppressed immune system. Lo and behold, my test returned to me as positive that Tuesday. I was feeling better by Wednesday morning, so I was fortunate to have a very mild case of it. But, the cryo company's policies required me to be out of work for 2 weeks for isolation. To my surprise, they paid me for two full weeks off. Then, my oldest son tested positive and corporate put me out of service for another week, but it wasn't solely decided because of his test, it was because HR went to bat to the regional president knowing my situation and received the approval to keep me out of the office and pay me for another week so that I didn't experience a stress overload.

I return to work on Monday. I also return to work with a deeper respect for outfits that you wouldn't expect such treatment from. It's one thing for a carrier to preach about safety, but these people have truly put their money where their mouth is.

My son's battle with cancer has also presented a pivotal change in my mentality. Up to 2021, I was the person that thrived on burning a 70hr clock, to the point of picking up part time jobs and maximizing my time to afford my family extra income. I'd pick up extra Saturday runs at Saia or FedEx Freight or run gasoline on Sundays. An old timer at FedEx Freight always told me "work to live, don't live to work", and while he always was somewhat of a mentor to me, this one piece of wisdom never rang true. Fast forward to now, I've come to place benefits and work life balance far above the ability to rake in as much overtime as possible.

Long story short, for those relatively fresh to this industry (like myself, even with 3 years in I still consider myself a rookie): don't overlook the local level relationships you have with the office.

 

I haven't been posting here or even lurking here much with everything going on with my son. Life continues to level off to a sense of normalcy as time goes on. He's had two subsequent brain surgeries for a couple of underlying side effects from his initial cancer/tumor diagnosis. Thanksgiving weekend was the first weekend since leaving the hospital network in September that he hadn't been admitted to the hospital for some type of emergency procedure. We continue to plug on. He's been outfitted with hearing aids as his extreme chemo regiment subjected him to severe hearing loss levels, but he has adapted to them well. He's regained his hair, and is becoming a normal toddler more and more as the days go on (translation: getting into mischief).

A major point that this ordeal over 2021 has taught me, is that while you might be at an outfit that doesn't pay the salary to afford an S-Class Mercedes; the corporate might that they have to offer to support you and your family during turbulent times is likely priceless by comparison.

 

He looks like a champ. Glad he is doing good.

 

Always great to hear good news! Hope you and the family have a Merry Christmas!