Darrell, I can relate to what you have experienced when you lost your job. I would get extremely tired and stressed worrying that someone would discover my secret. I had been told at a training seminar that if I worked at their hospital I would be fired immediately.
As it turned out, everyone I worked with knew all about my condition and the management people never pressured me to quit work.
It was on a Friday and the work kept piling up and I suddenly realized I couldn't get it done.
The supervisor had the impression I was going to resign immediately, which wasn't true. Because I was a salaried employee, I had 30 day of sick time which I could benefit from it only by taking off sick.Of course I rarely used the sick time and I assumed I would lose it. The hospital managemet let me use all of the sick time plus all of the vacation time I had accumulated. I was also given the choice of what day I wanted to quit.
Like you, it was very traumatic at the time, but like it usually goes all of the worrying was a waste of time. I am now free of all thst stress and I became elgible for SS disability the first try.
With the disability, my investments, and retirement income I can now live an almost care-free life.
I can relate to your attitude as of today, because, like I posted in the past, I too feel grateful for all the good things I have and it takes a lot for me to worry about anything. I always remind myself their are many other people in the world that are in worse shape then I am. Maybe we should all count our blessings.
I am glad you are coping so well. Have a good one. Bruce