[Anonymous]

I have 3 Weeks and 1 Day until my FAR re-take – Oct 14. If I pass, I will be finished. If I fail, I will lose AUD and go back to being half way there. As I’ve mentioned on other threads, I am in the middle of another series of 4 iron infusions that wreck havoc on my body. It is extremely hard to focus, concentrate and retain info. I feel like I have a new bout of the flu after every session and it’s awful to put it mildly. I had the second in the series yesterday with the next two on 2/27 and 10/4. I am way behind in my preparation for FAR and I’m feeling a bit defeated.

I am considering calling the hematologist and telling him I won’t take the next two treatments or at least not the last one. This should give enough time for my body to adjust and the brain fog to clear and hopefully give me a fighting chance to study for FAR. We are trying to get my levels up enough to deal with surgery on Oct 16 so it is a chancy thing. I feel like if I do one more, my levels will be on solid ground but time is running out for FAR…

So, I have come to the dilemma of putting my health first or having a fighting chance for FAR and being done!

I know it should be easy to say health first…but I’m seriously tired of these exams…and the thought of re-taking AUD scares me a whole lot!

(PS: It’s not a life or death thing, at the very worst they would postpone my surgery for a few more months…but that causes a whole different set of issues. I won’t feel like a human again until after the surgery so I’m not super excited about postponing it either.)

Any words of wisdom from the NINJA voices of reason??

[Anonymous]

Jennifer: Yes, tea is an iron inhibitor. I grew up on sweet tea in the south and it has been hard…REAL hard…to give that up. Strangely, spinach is an iron inhibitor as well. You can eat tons of it but if you don't eat it correctly…it doesn't help at all.

When I finally got to a hematologist and he saw my 2 Ferritin, he was literally flabbergasted. I had been dealing with it for years and just thought this is just what being 40+ and overworked felt like. I literally forced myself to work and take care of my life but it was a constant struggle. I even hired a personal trainer and tried to work out thinking that I need to just get in shape. That freaked the doc out because low iron can cause heart palpitations and heart attack. The thing is your body gets used to dealing with a certain low level and you just chug along. It is when it goes from bad to worse that you really feel it and start looking for help. That happened to me at Thanksgiving 2011 when I literally could not get out of bed or stand up for more than 10 minutes at a time.

The funny thing is that I asked Doc Z. in a very serious voice, “Do you think this is why I am having trouble passing the CPA exams?” and he almost yelled.. “YOU are taking the CPA exam with a 2 FERRITIN?” I am pretty sure he wanted to also say “Are you CRAZY??” but professional restraint kept him from asking that. I felt like the Queen of the World when I got to say “Well…I passed one!” (It was BEC 75 after about 12 failing attempts at various exams. =)

I've been told that once you get your iron regulated you can't believe how good you feel. I've felt glimpses of that when my levels are high but I lose it so fast they don't last. I just keep thinking how amazing it will be IF I actually pass FAR on 10/14 BEFORE I'm totally healed. =)

By the way, they believe this started with blood transfusions during my lung surgery in 2008! That's how long I've been dealing with this…and I took my first exam in July 2009.

[Anonymous]

Jennifer: Yes, tea is an iron inhibitor. I grew up on sweet tea in the south and it has been hard…REAL hard…to give that up. Strangely, spinach is an iron inhibitor as well. You can eat tons of it but if you don't eat it correctly…it doesn't help at all.

When I finally got to a hematologist and he saw my 2 Ferritin, he was literally flabbergasted. I had been dealing with it for years and just thought this is just what being 40+ and overworked felt like. I literally forced myself to work and take care of my life but it was a constant struggle. I even hired a personal trainer and tried to work out thinking that I need to just get in shape. That freaked the doc out because low iron can cause heart palpitations and heart attack. The thing is your body gets used to dealing with a certain low level and you just chug along. It is when it goes from bad to worse that you really feel it and start looking for help. That happened to me at Thanksgiving 2011 when I literally could not get out of bed or stand up for more than 10 minutes at a time.

The funny thing is that I asked Doc Z. in a very serious voice, “Do you think this is why I am having trouble passing the CPA exams?” and he almost yelled.. “YOU are taking the CPA exam with a 2 FERRITIN?” I am pretty sure he wanted to also say “Are you CRAZY??” but professional restraint kept him from asking that. I felt like the Queen of the World when I got to say “Well…I passed one!” (It was BEC 75 after about 12 failing attempts at various exams. =)

I've been told that once you get your iron regulated you can't believe how good you feel. I've felt glimpses of that when my levels are high but I lose it so fast they don't last. I just keep thinking how amazing it will be IF I actually pass FAR on 10/14 BEFORE I'm totally healed. =)

By the way, they believe this started with blood transfusions during my lung surgery in 2008! That's how long I've been dealing with this…and I took my first exam in July 2009.

[Anonymous]

POCA is a Pi$$ed Off Coon A$$. Remember I'm in Louisiana. I can go from sweetheart to Ragin' Cajun pretty quick, but it takes something like this to send me straight to POCA!

[Anonymous]

POCA is a Pi$$ed Off Coon A$$. Remember I'm in Louisiana. I can go from sweetheart to Ragin' Cajun pretty quick, but it takes something like this to send me straight to POCA!

[Anonymous]

Kricket: That's funny…I have never heard that term before although I've met a few “ragin' cajuns” in my time! =)

I left work today at 4:45 with the BEST of intentions. I came home and had a quick dinner and walked my cat for about 30 minutes. (Yes, I take my cat Baxter out every afternoon on a lead and we play in the grass and little stream behind our house. It's our “thing”.) Immediately after I headed upstairs to study and conquer deferred taxes… and…you guessed…energy completely drained fell asleep until 11pm. Ugh…it's SO frustrating when your freakin' body doesn't WORK!!

I did manage to get in 30 MCQs on deferred taxes but man oh man…tick tock tick tock..

[Anonymous]

Kricket: That's funny…I have never heard that term before although I've met a few “ragin' cajuns” in my time! =)

I left work today at 4:45 with the BEST of intentions. I came home and had a quick dinner and walked my cat for about 30 minutes. (Yes, I take my cat Baxter out every afternoon on a lead and we play in the grass and little stream behind our house. It's our “thing”.) Immediately after I headed upstairs to study and conquer deferred taxes… and…you guessed…energy completely drained fell asleep until 11pm. Ugh…it's SO frustrating when your freakin' body doesn't WORK!!

I did manage to get in 30 MCQs on deferred taxes but man oh man…tick tock tick tock..

[nbad311]

Baxter, it's a really hard decision and I offer no concrete advice – just support!! 🙂

If I'm remembering correctly, you've had a couple expirations right? (I'm so lost without signatures!) With one test standing between you and being a CPA, it's hard to say quit your CPA fight. Conversely, it'd be really hard to enjoy being a CPA if your health is at stake. I think many people take their health for granted and don't realize how much of a blessing it is to wake up every day and feel good and be free of ailments. (I got slapped with a nasty bout of food poisoning a few months ago and was like, WOW THIS IS TERRIBLE!, and only as it started to go away did I realize how great it is to feel good and have energy.)

If anything, I like to follow your posts on here because it makes me think “If HE'S able to study and do this, what's my excuse?” So, thanks for the motivation!

P.S. – It is totally rad that you take your cat on walks

REG - 65, 70, 80!
BEC - 35, 62, 79!
AUD - 73, 75!
FAR - 65, 73, 70, 75! DONE.

[nbad311]

Baxter, it's a really hard decision and I offer no concrete advice – just support!! 🙂

If I'm remembering correctly, you've had a couple expirations right? (I'm so lost without signatures!) With one test standing between you and being a CPA, it's hard to say quit your CPA fight. Conversely, it'd be really hard to enjoy being a CPA if your health is at stake. I think many people take their health for granted and don't realize how much of a blessing it is to wake up every day and feel good and be free of ailments. (I got slapped with a nasty bout of food poisoning a few months ago and was like, WOW THIS IS TERRIBLE!, and only as it started to go away did I realize how great it is to feel good and have energy.)

If anything, I like to follow your posts on here because it makes me think “If HE'S able to study and do this, what's my excuse?” So, thanks for the motivation!

P.S. – It is totally rad that you take your cat on walks

REG - 65, 70, 80!
BEC - 35, 62, 79!
AUD - 73, 75!
FAR - 65, 73, 70, 75! DONE.

[Anonymous]

nbad311: Thanks for the support. I wouldn't say my health is “at stake”…it just sucks and is really awful right now. My surgery on Oct.16 will fix me up but unfortunately I lose AUD on October 18 (my birthday – what a cruel universe this CPA world has turned out to be!) so I have to give FAR one more good try BEFORE the surgery. To answer your question, yes, I lost BEC but I've re-passed that and now the only thing that stands in the way of me and being done is FAR..my nemesis. BEC is the only one that I've lost.

The thing that keeps me going is knowing that I could be done and have six entire weeks to lay around my house recovering in style with NO CPA books in the bedroom…or study…or even the house!!! Is it sad that I look at that as my Eutopia??

[Anonymous]

nbad311: Thanks for the support. I wouldn't say my health is “at stake”…it just sucks and is really awful right now. My surgery on Oct.16 will fix me up but unfortunately I lose AUD on October 18 (my birthday – what a cruel universe this CPA world has turned out to be!) so I have to give FAR one more good try BEFORE the surgery. To answer your question, yes, I lost BEC but I've re-passed that and now the only thing that stands in the way of me and being done is FAR..my nemesis. BEC is the only one that I've lost.

The thing that keeps me going is knowing that I could be done and have six entire weeks to lay around my house recovering in style with NO CPA books in the bedroom…or study…or even the house!!! Is it sad that I look at that as my Eutopia??

[nbad311]

Haha, you know, I was just thinking about what I would do with all my books/supplies/notebooks full of hardwork after I am DONE – a long time ago I saw on youtube where someone took a semi-automatic weapon (ok, crazy!) to their Becker materials once they passed and I thought “I am totally going to do that!” but now that I am older/wiser/slower I think I may just keep all my materials (in a box of strorage) and show my kids one day…. who will probably not be interested at all, haha! Strangely enough, I can't bear the thought of throwing away/trashing my stuff, especially my notebooks of worked MCQs and notes. So yeah, it does kind of sound like eutopia!

Give FAR the best shot you physically can. Like someone else said, with that close of a test score, it's almost just luck! (or lack thereof)

REG - 65, 70, 80!
BEC - 35, 62, 79!
AUD - 73, 75!
FAR - 65, 73, 70, 75! DONE.

[nbad311]

Haha, you know, I was just thinking about what I would do with all my books/supplies/notebooks full of hardwork after I am DONE – a long time ago I saw on youtube where someone took a semi-automatic weapon (ok, crazy!) to their Becker materials once they passed and I thought “I am totally going to do that!” but now that I am older/wiser/slower I think I may just keep all my materials (in a box of strorage) and show my kids one day…. who will probably not be interested at all, haha! Strangely enough, I can't bear the thought of throwing away/trashing my stuff, especially my notebooks of worked MCQs and notes. So yeah, it does kind of sound like eutopia!

Give FAR the best shot you physically can. Like someone else said, with that close of a test score, it's almost just luck! (or lack thereof)

REG - 65, 70, 80!
BEC - 35, 62, 79!
AUD - 73, 75!
FAR - 65, 73, 70, 75! DONE.

[Anonymous]

This gives me more prospective on my (thankfully) one-time Ferretin of 4 (I got really sick after donating blood in college – my iron was tested a week later and I was at a 4). Explains why the Dr was so adamant that I never donate again!!

I would almost have to lean towards getting the exam out of the way. I would hate to lose a part, and I see in your signature that you're close to that. However, health is always more important.

I realize that doesn't help at all, just wanted to say good luck with your health and exam!

[Anonymous]

This gives me more prospective on my (thankfully) one-time Ferretin of 4 (I got really sick after donating blood in college – my iron was tested a week later and I was at a 4). Explains why the Dr was so adamant that I never donate again!!

I would almost have to lean towards getting the exam out of the way. I would hate to lose a part, and I see in your signature that you're close to that. However, health is always more important.

I realize that doesn't help at all, just wanted to say good luck with your health and exam!

[jpowell31]

Unfortunately I understand your situation as well. I'm only 1/4 exams down with August of next year as my expiration for the first one but with busy season coming up at work and having failed 3 exams and it's disheartening for me so I can't imagine having your strength to continue as long as you have. Too bad our line of work isn't exactly soothing….I've been in and out of the hospital all year with a rare condition (on top of a few ongoing known health issues that aren't serious but aggravate each other, conveniently enough) that has called for me to take time off for testing and no definitive answers. I was told by doctor's to take more time off to relax since stress was an aggravating factor but I just cannot afford it. I have to travel to the US to sit exams and soon to visit with more experienced doctors (which is expensive!). My study materials are going to expire in December, which means more $$ to keep going. I also only get 3 study days per exam for the first two tries of each so I've used up all of my sick leave and vacation either studying, flying to take exams or getting tests done. It doesn't help that I'm a stranger to most people but my boyfriend these days and that's only because we share a bed (he gets to deal with a very grumpy girlfriend, bless his little heart). I miss my life and I hate the feeling of whether or not it's worth it, whether or not “I'll pass this one” and whether or not I'm making the right decision in regard to my health.

I'm at the age where I want to make life-changing decisions – marriage? buy a house?….what's NEXT is always on my mind. And I feel like I'm just stagnant wondering, “what if?” and “why bother?” I read where some people on here are pregnant with kids and a fulltime job and I wish I had that kind of determination (or brain power, perhaps).

I know this isn't very helpful but your story is very encouraging. I'm up for REG round 2 on Oct 12th. Just gotta keep pushing until I either get through it or realize I have to choose another path. It's hard for other people to tell you how much you can take but I would imagine with your history with the CPA you have got the fire needed to pass on Oct 14th! The light at the end of the tunnel is so near!

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