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I HAVE A DREAM...

You know, I always wanted to have my own business. If nothing else, I wanted to make extra money to keep from always living check to check.
I looked over several businesses.
The real challenge was finding a legitimate company that I could actually sell for and make a little money.
You don't realize how many SCAMS are out there until you get to looking for one that isn't.
If you want to give your money away on some get-rich-quick scheme or some company that takes your money and runs, you can find plenty of them online.
As you read the following story, you will see what led me to starting my candle biz and why it has become so important to me, my sanity and my life.

Living my dream.......

I spent several years working as a police officer. I was a Criminal Investigator. I loved my job and I was really good at it.
Helping people has always been a passion for me. As a police officer, I was able to fulfill that dream.
I was probably one of the few officers that could arrest people without becoming their target or automatic enemy. Criminals respected me because I treated them fairly and honestly. No matter how many times I may have arrested them, that next time, to them, they had a clean slate.
To make myself an even better police officer, I continuously sought more training and education. I carry many certificates and police academy degree levels. I also decided to cross train. I received my certification as an EMT, Emergency Medical Technician, and as a Volunteer Firefighter.
To me, NO ONE was going to suffer or die because of my lack of knowledge and training.
I ended up leaving law enforcement to relocate and could not find an open position. I took a job with a pharmaceutical warehouse until I could find another law enforcement job.

Little did I know.....

Taking the pharmaceutical job, I thought, was a good idea. I actually liked the job and the people I worked with. The pay, benefits and bonuses were really nice.
Then, February, 2008, I go in as I always did and began my shift.
Something snapped, literally. At the time, I thought I was having a "Charlie Horse" or cramp of some kind. I was wrong.
That night was the beginning of a long road full of doctors, test, surgery, medications, and, the best part, the whole time DEALING WITH WORKERS' COMP.
It took doctors 6 months to diagnose my injury. Lucky me, it was a very rare injury. A labral tear in the right hip joint. WHAT? The tear was to the labrum which, in English, is the "stuff that connects the hip joint to the femur". Even rarer were the amount of doctors that could diagnose, treat and perform the surgery for the injury. That stands at, maybe, a couple dozen doctors in the United States.
I was so relieved that, after 6 months, someone finally knew what was wrong with me.
After undergoing surgery to fix the tear, I was sent to physical therapy.

Now what......

I started physical therapy, EXCITED. Finally, after months of pain and little to no mobility, I was in the final stretch.
As physical therapy started, within a matter of a few days, I started experiencing increased pain.
Doctor puts lots of restrictions in place, in addition to, the one's from my surgery.
Still the pain intensified. It began traveling from the hip, down the leg, into my foot. It then took on a life of its own as it moved into my back and "tail bone".

OH, NO!.....

My doctor stopped physical therapy to try to pinpoint the cause of my pain.
That was October, 2008.
Here I am, many doctors and tests later, and no idea what is wrong with me. They continue feeding me pain medications that don't work. I hurt BAD and all the time. It never stops and nothing relieves it. My mobility has gotten to the point where it is barely existent. Depression is beyond belief.
The Workers Comp insurace carrier, of course, has been a thorn in my side from day one. Always dragging their feet. Taking weeks, a month or more...just to approve tests and procedures.
I ended up hiring an attorney in March, 2009 because of their "antics".
Workers Comp insurance carrier has decided to force me to file suit.
As I type this, they have stopped sending my checks, stopped medical treatment and, basically, have said "SUE ME".
I am awaiting a decision from the workers comp commission to see if I will be allowed a one-time change of physicians, which will enable me to still get medical attention and medication, without going through the workers comp insurance carrier. No money, though.
I never would have dreamed that I would be faced with the possibility of being DISABLED. Even more so, to be allowed to suffer at the hands of an insurance company that just doesn't want to pay anymore.
But, even beyond that, I am faced with the reality that I will lose all I have because of this.
My life, as I knew it, is gone. Nothing will ever be the same.

This is REALITY.

This was not MY DREAM.