An Open Letter to Walmart Store #272

Dear Walmart Store #272,

I started working for you on December 27, 2017 as a pharmacy sales associate. I stocked all the over the counter pharmacy items including but not limited to vitamins, protein shakes, protein powders, protein bars, first aid, vaporizers, diabetes section, laxatives, ant-acid medications, and cough & cold medications. 

I loved my job. I loved who I worked with, I loved learning about new OTC pharmacy items, I loved helping customers find what they were looking for and seeing that look on their face when I was able to find exactly what they were looking for. I loved working in the pharmacy and had hopes to move up as a pharmacy tech one day. 

I have a medical condition that affects my skin and other things as well, such as my immune system. I am immunocompromised. When I get sick- cold, flu, etc.- I get really sick and it takes me longer to get better than most people. 

On Wednesday, February 7, 2018- my day off from work- I was taken to the hospital by an ambulance. I was unable to walk and was extremely dizzy and couldn't keep my eyes open. By the time I got to the hospital, I was unable to respond to anyone talking to me or asking me questions and my blood pressure dropped really low. They came to the conclusion that I was severely dehydrated, started me on IV fluids and ran a bunch of tests on me including testing me for the flu. The flu test came back positive. Along with the positive flu test, my iron level was at 17 (normal range starts at 50), my hemoglobin was 7.7 (normal range 12-16), and my albumin (nutrition level) was extremely low. I stayed overnight in the hospital and they gave me fluids and two blood transfusion. In January, I had also received two blood transfusions but they did not work because my hemoglobin level was still super low. They don't know why that all the sudden these blood levels are dropping but when they get low it causes extreme fatigue, weakness, shortness of breath, and light-headedness. 

Let me rewind to the past two nights before this Wednesday. I ran a 102.4 fever on Monday night and a 101.7 fever on Tuesday night, and I still went to work both those days. I didn't think anything of having the flu, sometimes I get fevers if my body is trying to fight off something that has to do with my skin condition. I'm the person that will push myself and go to work even when I don't feel well and/or my body says I shouldn't. I never call out unless I really have to.

I was discharged from the hospital late Thursday night on February 8, 2018. Of course, the one thing I made sure to ask before I left was "When can I go back to work?." The doctors told me  definitely DO NOT return to work the next week. They sent me home on Tamaflu and nutritional feedings, and told me to not return to work until my flu was completely gone and I was feeling better. I wasn't cleared to go back to work until Monday, February 26, 2018. 

I had been in touch with my assistant manager and let them know I wouldn't be at work. On Thursday, February 15, 2018, I received a call from a personnel manager telling me that I had to call this 1-800 number everyday I don't come in, because I have been showing up as a no call, no show in their system. I was unaware I had to do that even if I was letting the assistant manger know what was going on. I was also told by the personnel manager that if I was going to be out much longer, I should file a leave of absence and was given the number to file it. On Monday, February 19, 2018, I filed for a leave of absence starting on Thursday, February 8, 2018 and told them I would be returning to work Monday, February 26, 2018. I had let my assistant manager know I filed for a medical leave of absence and let them know I would be returning to work Monday, February 26, 2018. I also called the 1-800 number everyday I was scheduled since I was informed to do so. I did everything they told me to do.

On Monday, February 26, 2018 at 10:00 am, I return to work. I went to scan my badge and it said invalid. I walked into the personnel office to find out I've been terminated last friday, she said. The personnel manager in the office told me I had 24 absences and that I am only allowed 4. I had a medical emergency!!! I had no idea I was going to get that sick. Also, she was wrong, I had 17 absences and 4 of those were in January when I got my first two blood transfusions. The transfusions made me sick so I had to call out the day I got each one and the day after. She also stated that she called Sedgwick (who I filed my leave through) and that they told her I never called them and that I did not file a leave. Then she also stated that she never received and email from them either, showing that I filed for a leave. So they terminated me. I was very upset and I asked if there was anything I could do and she said no. I cried the whole way to my car and the whole way home. I just started this job, I got sick, it was not my fault and out of my control. I loved my job and now it's gone.

I have an email from Sedgwick proving that I filed for a leave. I received that email the day after I called them and I showed her this email. She shrugged and went on to say that she never got the email, I missed too many days, have been showing up as a no call, no show even tho I explained that I have been calling that 1-800 number after I was informed to do so, and that I haven't even been there long enough to even file a leave. BUT thats what I was told to do and I did it! 

On Monday, February 26, 2018 at 11:32 am, I received another email from Sedgwick stating that they have been informed that my employment at Walmart was terminated on February 24, 2018 and that my leave of absence case is now closed.

HEY WALMART, YOU DIDN'T EVEN GIVE MY LEAVE OF ABSENCE A CHANCE TO BE APPROVED OR DENIED. YOU TERMINATED ME BEFORE THEY COULD EVEN MAKE A DECISION.

YOU WRONGFULLY TERMINATED ME.

You suck.

Sincerely,

Your Ex-Proud Walmart Employee

i'm not ok. is that okay?

well here's to the first post of 2017.

i don't even know where to start, so much has happened since the last time i've blogged. i'm so bad at this.
well i'm 22 now. i've been in tennessee for 5 years 10 months and 11 days,  so that's cool i guess.  seems like a long time right? yeah i know. funny thing is, people think i'm joking when i tell them i literally have not one friend around my age here  to hang out with/ go out with/ do stuff with. no i don't want you to feel bad for me or hit me up after you read this, i actually like doing stuff by myself but it'd be nice to have someone to do stuff with now and then. yeah i have friends, but they all live in different states. which is fun to go visit them and stuff but sucks when you wanna hang out with them and you can't. i mean moving here my junior year of high school really fucked everything up, but i guess it's still my own fault, i don't really go out and try to meet new people. i haven't started college and with my jobs, i basically work alone.

im surrounded by people in a way but you know that feeling when you're surrounded by people but you feel so alone? yeah that's how i've been feeling.
 literally all i do is eat, sleep, work, medical stuff, netflix and repeat. but all i want to do lately is sleep. i feel so tired and stuck. like everyone else around me is moving forward in their lives, and here i am just stuck. i feel lost, like i don't know what i'm supposed to do with my life or where i'm supposed to be. i'm so broken i can feel it. i mean physically feel it. this is so much more than just being sad now. this is affecting my whole body. i need to change something in my life because what i'm doing now is not working. i hide my feelings well i think, you'll never know how i'm really feeling. i try to stay positive for the most part and make jokes because let's be real i'm funny af and my life's a joke atm. but it'll get better, right? yeah that's what they all say.

my parents are still using me as their middle man for my brother and sister because my dad refuses to talk to my mom about anything regarding my younger siblings, and i'm sooo done with it. i don't even live with them anymore. please grow up, be a parent, and deal with your own stuff. god forbid something bad happens with one of my siblings and they still won't communicate. it's sooo annoying and stupid.
part of me wants to leave TN and leave everyone and everything behind.

i got in a relationship last summer. looking back at it now. it was a bad relationship and i knew it going in to it but i didn't wanna see it. he treated me like crap and i don't know how i couldnt see it until now. i learned a lot from it tho. he showed me what kind of person i don't want to be with ever again. it did brake my heart tho, when things ended, because i did really like him for some unknown stupid reason. i remember sitting in my car feeling like i couldn't breath and now i can't tell you one thing that i liked about him or why i even did like him.  he tried to hit me up a couple months after we broke up, i knew he would, but he had his chance the first time and he fucked it up.
ive been on some dating apps for a while but i'm about sooo over them. i've met a lot of guys off there and 99% of the guys on there are assholes who can't get over their ex and wanna get to know you just enough to make you think they're interested or care and then leave after they realize they're not gunna have any fun with you because you're actually looking for something real, and then someone else comes along and they wander why you have such a hard time opening up to people. hmm i have no fucking idea. maybe cuz all the people i've opened up to in the past had bad intentions, lied to me, left me for someone else, or screwed me over.
i started seeing someone else after that ended but he moved away a couple months ago. he was never mine but he made me feel loved and losing him broke me. but i basically broke my own heart that time, i knew what we had was only temporary.

anyway, i wrote some new songs. i wrote them mostly for me and i'm really self conscious about them because they're personal but i hope one day i can actually put them out there and do something with them.

oh and i'm about to take 2 road trips within the next two weeks. i love discovering new music so if you guys would be so awesome and leave a comment with your favorite song or a bunch of your favorite songs, that would be so great. i need some new music to listen to. i like all kinds so don't hold back :)



xoxo  love,
sam

RIDE

Remember when I gave you a teaser to a song a wrote? Well, here is the full version!

So the way I did not write this song is, I did not sit down and write it all in one piece. I had little parts written and voice memos saved and pieced them together and then sat down and wrote the rest. The pieces I had written, I wrote about 2-3 years ago. I just recently finished this song in June 2015. I had no idea what his song was going to be called until it was completely finished. "So take my heart for ride" was the very last line I wrote. And this song is called "Ride." 


A huge thank you to Gary Talley for helping me with the music and JD Shuff for letting me record it in his studio and producing it.


Let me know what you think!

(link below)



love,
Sam





>>>
http://noisetrade.com/samanthasheridan/ride

California Beautiful

Hey guys!
I have to stop going forever without writing.
It's not that I don't have anything to say, because I actually have a lot to say. lol.

Soooo..  I figured now that I have some free time, it would be a good time to write something.



So, over the weekend of November 14th, I was so blessed to have been able to attend the Rock 4 EB event supporting EBMRF in Malibu. I have been wanting to attend one of their events for a while and am so glad I finally had the chance to go. Thank you to Silvia and Andrea who made it possible.

I decided since I was coming all the way to LA for the first time by myself that I should check out a few places that I've been wanting to see while I was there. I flew into LA on Saturday, November 14. I checked into my hotel around 12:30p pacific time. Around 2pm I took an Uber to the Griffith Observatory which was about 1hr from my hotel. It was well worth it tho! The view from the observatory was breathtaking. You could see downtown LA, the ocean, and the hollywood sign. I'm also extremely fascinated with space and enjoyed the museum too much. I stayed there until about 5pm to watch the sunset and then took an uber back. I lost cell service while I was up at the observatory and couldn't connect with uber to get a ride back. I was kind of starting to get nervous, even though I wouldn't have minded getting stuck up there because it was so beautiful. haha. But luckily, just as I was walking toward the parking lot to try and regain service, an uber driver was dropping someone off and I asked him if he could give me a ride back to my hotel and he did. (I never regained service until we got to the bottom) So glad I made it back.
While I was walking around outside the observatory, this guy approached me and just simply said hi. I said hi back. He goes on to tell me he saw a story on ESPN about this boy and it really touched him and he just wanted to tell me to stay strong, never give up, and to have faith in God. I asked what story he saw and he looked it up on his phone and showed me. It was Jonathan Pitre's story. I said yes I have the same skin condition as him. He goes on to tell me "I just wanted to tell you don't listen to the negative things people have to say. Stay positive and never give up. People take so much for granted, like people that are healthy turn to bad things like alcohol, you know, and just waste their life away. They take so much for granted." He said, "The God I serve is my Lord Jesus Christ and he is an amazing God. Just look around, he created this. If He can create this, He can do anything. Anything is possible with God. I believe that He will heal you and others like you. My family was going through a bad time, my parents were always fighting, my sister was doing bad things and when we turned to God everything got better..." We talked for a while and exchanged contact info. I messaged him later that night and said "I'm glad you stopped to say hi. I enjoyed meeting you. Keep spreading positivity, kindness, and your faith." He messaged back and said, "Yeah I don't know why I did it actually God just spoke to me and I listened. Im glad I got the opportunity to meet you. And of course we are the light in this world and we have to reflect that. And yes as long as God gives me life I will spread positivity. And remember you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you."
I'd have to say God definitely put us both there at the exact same time and place so I could hear that.
I have a pretty strong faith and do believe that anything is possible with God but I have my days where I struggle and I just needed to hear that on that day. It's funny how God works.
Philippians 4:13 is my favorite bible verse.

The next morning, Sunday, November 15, I woke up around 6:50 am and went down to the hotel lobby for breakfast. I came back up to my room, which was on floor 7 btw, [in case you don't know, I have this thing with the numbers 7 and 13]. I got dressed and ready for the Rock 4 EB event just incase I didn't make it back to my hotel in time to get ready after my next adventure. Around 11am I took an uber to El Matador state beach. I got there around 12:15 and stayed for about 30 mins because it started raining. It was so beautiful and so worth the many flights of stairs to get down to the beach. My uber driver ended up staying with me so he could drive me back to LA and i'm glad he did because there were no other uber drivers around. haha. He was so nice. He walked all the way down to the beach with me. He used to be a butler for Arnold Schwarzenegger.
I got back to my hotel around 2pm.
I got picked up around 3pm to head to the Rock 4 EB event.

The event was awesome! It was held at David Spade's manager's house. I met some new friends and saw some old ones. It was so nice to see and meet everyone!!
I also got to meet Randy Jackson, David Spade, Ed Sheeran (and Kev), and this really cool guy that works at NASA. They were all super nice! Ed Sheeran gave David Spade a chocolate chip cookie and David Spade gave it to me; I said I was never eating it but I gave in and it was the best chocolate chip cookie I've ever eaten.
I never got the chance to meet them but Kaley Couco, Courtney Cox, Cindy Crawford and family, Ian Ziering, Steven Levitan, Ed O'Neill, and Nina Dobrev were also there.
Ed Sheehan performed for about 2 hours and he was incredible as always. He's so incredibly talented.
About $600,000 was raised that night for EB research.
Thank you to everyone who attended/donated/volunteered and to Ed for playing a show for us! It was an amazing night!

I got back to my hotel late (I don't remember the time lol) and walked to McDonalds which was right next to my hotel. Came back to my room, ate, packed, and got ready for my 5 am flight back to Nashville the next morning. I only slept an hour that night lol. I had a layover in Denver and then I got back to Nashville around 2pm central time and crashed in my bed. My feet made me pay for about 2 weeks for all the walking I made them do. I think it's safe to say they are now fully recovered.

Oh and I forgot to mention, I strongly dislike flying United. They are so rude.

[PICTURES: I did take lots of pictures, If you'd like to see them, they are on my Instagram (link above) and I will post more on my FB and put a public link here >>>    <<<< very soon!!]

http://www.popsugar.com/celebrity/Celebrities-Rock4EB-Charity-Event-2015-Pictures-39105566?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=d&utm_source=popsugar#photo-39105566


Thanks for reading:)

Love
xoxoxox,
Sam

View of Dwtn LA from the Griffith Observatory

El Matador State Beach

So, that happened!!

HEY GUYS! 

(this is the first post of the year! so sorry it's been so long.)







I have some pretty exciting news.





So a couple months ago…






I got the opportunity to bring one of the songs I have written to life. I am so thankful for everyone that made it happen.
It was an amazing experience and loved every second of it. 
Heres a sneak peak! Let me know what y'all think!

Full version coming soon to an audio player near you:)

I Go Back to December All The Time

Hey! Its been too long. I need to stop going months without blogging. Not cool Sam, not cool…haha

A lot has happened since the last time I wrote on here.Well, skin wise I am doing very well. I've been doing better than I have this past year and 1/2. Thank you Jesus for that. Its been a tough year and 1/2 being in and out of the hospital.I did have the esophageal dilation done on August 27, 2014. It went very well! And I can eat.. EVERYTHING!! I have not yet had my hand surgery. Hopefully I will have it soon!I can't believe its almost Christmas, let alone December. How does time go by so fast?? I just don't understand.


So in the past four months, I've lost a really good friend to e.b., gone through another move, got my photo tweeted by Taylor Swift, met Bethany Mota, met Megan and liz, saw Hunter Hayes in Harris Teeter, saw Charles Esten in Target, and got to work on set of Nashville with the cast and the crew. I'd say there were a lot of ups and really low downs.

November 13, 2014 was one of the worst days of my life. I still am in complete shock. One of my best friends left me, her family, and this world behind.






July 7, 2013 we lost her twin Catherine. I love and miss you both terribly.

Sammie and Cat made some pretty awesome YouTube videos that you all should go check out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZPXuIjwBkQ

Saying goodbye is so hard, but I am sooooo thankful for the memories with them.


We've lost so many this year to eb and it needs to stop. We need to #stopEB and help each other spread #EBAwareness.

If anyone is interested in helping to raise money to find a cure and join the fight please visit

http://ebresearch.org and click 'Take Action.' They are so close to their goal of $5M and so close to a cure. We need a cure so bad. This has to stop.

So I am currently am not working but am looking for a part time job. My dream job would be to do something in the music industry, with kids, or animals but not sure what yet. I did apply for a receptionist position at Big Machine Label group but never heard back :( I also have been in contact with Mars Petcare for a position as a pet food analysts. Don't know exactly what I'd be doing but I'm definitely not going to be tasting pet food!! haha. In the meantime, I have been working on set of the ABC show Nashville as an extra. Its so much fun! I love it!! I love watching how its all put together. All the behind the scenes stuff is so cool to watch!! You can actually see the back of me in Episode 6 Season 3 with Maisy Stella. I got to meet her and she's the sweetest thing!! So nice! The whole cast and crew is!! Its so crazy though because I remember watching Lennon and Maisy's first youtube video back in 2011 and now I get to work as an extra on set with them. So crazy! They're so talented!
You see the back of me in a beige sweeter at 0:09.

I am also looking for an apartment. Anything that I can find within 40 mins and in my price range is unavailable. So frustrating!! I found an apartment complex I really liked in Fairview but there isn't any available and there is 30 people ahead of me on the wait list. I would really love to be in downtown Franklin though. And pets being allowed is a must. I'm still looking. Its all in His timing. I absolutely cannot wait to get out on my own though. Life at home is just too much sometimes.

Its crazy how much things/people can change in one year. Friends fade. People come and go. I feel like I've been losing all my good friends. So thankful for their memories though. And Im so thankful for Meghan- we've been best friends since kindergarden and she is basically the best. Wish she lived in Nashville. I probably should get out more and find some more friends within a 25 mile radius haha. Im such a loser :P

And lastly, If you all want to keep up with me more often and see what I'm up too follow me on Instagram @samantha.sheridan

Until next time

•Love•
xoxo
    Sam

Goodbye Summer

Well, hello lovely earthly people!
It's been about three months since i last "blogged."; sorry for that.

So in the last three months a lot has happened. I went to Chicago for family vacation, the PCC came to Nashville, and crossed a few things off the bucket list. I can't believe summer is already over! (Oh, and theres a brief, but important update at the end of this post.)

CHICAGO was so much fun! I went for about a week with my dad, sister, and brother. We all had a great time. We went to a Cubs game, and yes of course they won! We went by my dad's old house. Visited the Ferrara Pan Candy Co. And your probably wandering.. did you get pizza or a Chicago dog or a Chicago beef while you were there, they have the best food? Well, no because thanks to my stricture in my esophagus (narrowness in my throat), I could not eat.. anything! Ugh, I was soooo mad. But hey, I am so glad I got to go! While we were there, we also got to see our cousins that we haven't seen in about 5 years. That was awesome! We missed them soooo much! We also visited the Field Museum. Bellow are some pictures:

The PCC stands for Patient Care Conference. It is held every two years for people with EB and their families to come and learn about new stuff from doctors and to meet each other and make new friends and hang around people who understand. It is held different places every time. This year it was held at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville, TN. I didn't have to go too far ;)
Anyway, it was a blast! I loved getting to meet people that I talked with over Facebook, in person, and making new friends and seeing old friends. And I got to say hello to Dr. Tolar (BMT doctor). I loved hanging with my girls and Hunter. Especially when we hung outside Karly's hotel room with her at like 1am, and before that when Hunter pretended to be room service and when we hung out on the lobby couch till 3 am and when my brother made friends with all the wait staff at dinner and also when he found his new love of honey and when my sister took all the lemon juice packets from Starbuck's and when we went shopping and got matching shirts that said… well i can't say.. haha. and when we went swimming and when we got complementary cd's from this guy playing at Jack Daniel's. Yeah we had fun!

Anton and his mommy and me

my girls

me, Jan Chadwick, my mom

&

I finalllyyyy got to go horse riding on this beautiful boy. His name's Biscuit.

And lastly a brief update:

I was scheduled to have hand surgery to open up my right hand and an esophageal dilation done at the same time this Wednesday, August 20, 2014. BUT because I am fighting two active skin infections, my hand surgeon will not operate. Soooooo, I may still be able to have the esophageal dilation and have to reschedule the hand surgery for another date. Please pray that I can get the dilation done and everything goes well because food is my best friend. I will keep y'all posted! 

Love,

Sam