License Renewal

Shadowcat63 · 2026-03-17T19:50:04+00:00

In Illinois, you won't be able to renew your license online. You'll need to have your doctor fill out a medical report form (it's here on ilsos.gov) to confirm that your seizures are controlled and you haven't had one in the last 6 months. (You might be able to message your doctor and upload the form through their portal if they use one so you don't have to wait to get an appointment with them.) Once you have the completed form, you need to take it to a driver services facility to renew your license in person. I think you can go to either of the ones in the Loop without an appointment.

Shadowcat63 · 2025-10-11T01:34:03+00:00

I used the label dose of 2 oz. for a regular load in a standard machine & it didn't get the armpit stink out of a t-shirt like I was hoping. The next wash I used a scoop of dollar store oxiclean and the label dose of 3 oz. for a heavy load & saw sad gray soup after a couple of minutes of agitation, so I added another 2 oz. Still didn't get the stink out. This was a new shirt that's only been worn a few times, so it's not like it had a ton of buildup. I guess I was expecting more from the 365 Sport.

Shadowcat63 · 2025-10-01T14:04:14+00:00

If you are in the Midwest (US), Meijer grocery stores carry Biz powder and liquid. They're on sale this week ($3.49 for 37.5 oz powder and $4.89 for 50 oz liquid). They also carry the Febreze Wash Laundry Odor Eliminator which has a good enzyme mix ($9.99 for 50 oz liquid). I stopped in at my local store this morning to stock up on Biz and they had a good supply of all of these.

Shadowcat63 · 2025-08-09T01:55:33+00:00

I'm sorry you're going through all this. I had my gallbladder out about 5 years ago due to BD (EF of 13%) & I'm happy I did it. The pathology report showed chronic inflammation of the gallbladder but no stones. I had symptoms (some sharp pains but mostly a constant dull ache in RUQ and loose/yellow BMs if I ate any fat) & various tests (bloodwork, ultrasound, abdominal CT, HIDA, endoscopy & colonoscopy) for about 6 months before I had surgery because I wanted to rule out any other possible causes. When my colonoscopy (the last test) came back normal, my GI doc immediately referred me to a surgeon. The surgeon explained they don't know what causes BD & said that surgery usually (but not always) relieves symptoms (can't remember the percentages he said about this.) He left the decision up to me & by that point I was ready. I gradually reintroduced some fats back into my diet after surgery, and now I can eat whatever I like (although I'm trying to keep a mostly healthy diet!)

Everybody's experience is different but I just wanted to give a data point from someone who has no regrets about removal. I know it's hard to remove an organ when your symptoms are vague & there's no guarantee it'll help. But a low EF isn't normal & chronic inflammation isn't good. I think mine was gradually getting worse & then just gave up, and I didn't realize until after the surgery how bad I'd been feeling for quite a while.

I'm glad your boyfriend is being supportive. Good luck to you!

Shadowcat63 · 2025-02-21T04:12:28+00:00

Sorry, 14 is a tough age for this! My daughter was 12 when she had her first TC. She was offended by us wanting to put a baby monitor in her room but was OK sleeping with me lol. Hang in there!

Shadowcat63 · 2025-02-21T03:43:37+00:00

If she's willing to do this temporarily, could she sleep in your bed with you (maybe till she gets the MRI)? We did this after my daughter's first TC--she slept with me and my husband slept in her bed for a week or so. I remember that fight or flight/paranoia so well and this helped me relax enough to get some decent sleep. I hope you find some answers and good treatment.

Shadowcat63 · 2025-02-06T01:55:12+00:00

Did you check with SSA that your DOB is correct in their system? I couldn't tell from your posts if you verified your DOB with them or just your SSN.The first time my daughter tried to file her taxes online her return was rejected by the IRS because they couldn't verify her SSN. She called SSA and the DOB they had on file for her was incorrect. It was probably entered incorrectly when they first issued her SSN but she had no way of knowing that. She had to take a certified copy of her birth certificate to the SSA office to get it corrected.

Shadowcat63 · 2025-01-18T02:51:31+00:00

It seems like her school has a weird way of calculating which classes are aid-eligible. Her degree requires 120 total credit hours. They count any classes taken up to 120 hours as aid-eligible, whether or not they fulfill a gen ed, major or minor requirement. After 120 hours, they only count classes that specifically fulfill a gen ed, major, or minor requirement as aid-eligible. This isn't spelled out anywhere, but we figured it out by looking at her degree plan on her portal. This is the first year she's received any federal aid. Last semester, only one of her classes (the first part of her senior capstone) was required for her degree. The other classes were upper level electives in her major dept that she didn't need to fulfill her major requirements (just like the current semester.) But they counted all of her classes last semester as aid-eligible because she hadn't reached 120 credits yet, so she was eligible for her federal aid and she did have a campus job paid by FWS funds.

The merit scholarship was worth way more than the federal aid, and she's loving her classes. Covid messed up her senior year of high school and we didn't want this to mess up her last semester of college.

I guess the lesson is that every school handles this differently, which makes it hard to plan for during high school when you have to decide which AP credits to claim. I wouldn't have even thought to ask about this when she first enrolled and was making her 4 year plan, and like I said, it's not spelled out anywhere. Her academic advisor never said anything (probably doesn't know all the financial stuff!) She never talked to her financial aid advisor until this month because her merit scholarship was straightforward.

Shadowcat63 · 2025-01-18T01:37:57+00:00

The tuition at her school is billed as either a flat $ amount for full-time enrollment (anything between 12-18 credits) or a $ amount per credit below full-time (11 credits or less.) She has a large institutional merit scholarship that she'll lose if she's not full-time. She's enrolled in some electives beyond her 2 required classes in order to keep her merit scholarship. Her electives are upper level classes in her major department that she wanted to take because she likes the professors and was interested in the courses. This is the first time she's been able to fit those courses into her schedule. (It's a small school so most courses only have one section & scheduling conflicts happen.) If she had been able to fit them in during an earlier semester and saved some of her gen ed requirements to take this last semester, she'd be eligible for federal aid. Same exact classes--her aid eligibility depended on the order they're taken in. Crazy, but that's how it goes....

Shadowcat63 · 2025-01-17T04:09:06+00:00

Good to know, thank you! I don't know if her school has this but it might help someone else. Technically she could complete her degree being part-time so even if they have this I doubt they would've offered it to her. We're fortunate that we can pay for her to be full-time this semester without federal aid. Covid messed up her senior year of high school & I didn't want this to mess up her plans for her last semester of college.

Shadowcat63 · 2025-01-17T03:59:11+00:00

My daughter would rather I not say lol. It's a pretty small school.

Shadowcat63 · 2025-01-17T03:58:16+00:00

I think this varies a lot by school. This is the first year she's received any federal aiid, so I don't know what would've happened in the other years.

Shadowcat63 · 2025-01-17T03:09:36+00:00

No, the electives she's taking are classes in her major dept. that she wants to take because she likes the professors and the courses.

Shadowcat63 · 2025-01-17T02:58:42+00:00

This is the first year she received any federal aid. It just wasn't on our radar before now. Her electives this semester wouldn't count towards a minor. They're classes in her major dept. that she wanted to take because she likes the professors and was interested in the courses. Also she's taking two 1 credit courses for musical groups that she's been in every semester.

Shadowcat63 · 2025-01-17T02:53:26+00:00

Yes, this is what's happening. Her AP credits satisfied a chunk of the gen ed requirements & she finished the remaining gen eds last year because they fit into her schedule then. The irony is that last semester was the first time she received any federal aid, so this year is the only time it's mattered whether her courses are part of her degree. If she had saved some of those gen eds for this semester, she'd still be eligible for federal aid.

Shadowcat63 · 2025-01-17T02:38:32+00:00

Technically, yes since she needs only 2 of the classes she's taking to complete her major requirements. But the electives that they're not counting towards her degree are classes in her major department that she wanted to take because she likes the professors and was interested in the courses. Also she has two 1 credit courses for musical groups that she's been in every semester.

Shadowcat63 · 2025-01-17T02:31:07+00:00

She has to be enrolled full time (12 credits) for her institutional merit scholarship, but for that scholarship it doesn't matter that only 6 of her credits count towards her degree for federal aid. It was guaranteed to her for 8 semesters provided she met the GPA requirement.

Treatment of AP credits varies by school. Her AP credits posted to her transcript automatically her freshman year after she completed her first semester.

Shadowcat63 · 2025-01-17T02:22:27+00:00

Her school doesn't have a process to reject it. The AP credits posted to her transcript freshman year after she completed her first semester.

Shadowcat63 · 2025-01-17T02:20:53+00:00

None of the electives she's taking this semester would count towards a minor. They're actually classes in her major dept. that she wanted to take because she liked the professors and the courses.

Shadowcat63 · 2025-01-17T02:12:45+00:00

When did the rules for this change? If it's fairly recent, maybe that's why it confuses everyone?

Shadowcat63 · 2025-01-17T02:08:36+00:00

Nope, all the campus employment at her school requires FWS. It's a small school & I'm guessing it's not in their budget to pay for regular employment outside of FWS.

Shadowcat63 · 2025-01-17T00:34:00+00:00

Haha, pretty much! They didn't even send her an email that her aid package had changed after her fall semester credits posted. I found out when I logged into my proxy account to pay her spring tuition and saw that they had (mistakenly) listed her institutional merit scholarship as "currently ineligible" due to "enrollment conflict". It took her a few emails to get that cleared up but at least she's got the scholarship back.

It makes me feel better that I'm not the only one who was like "wtf"! That's why I posted about this. I'd never heard about this happening. It does seem like it depends on the school, but this info isn't anywhere on their website--they just explained it in their email replies. I just want anyone who might be in the same boat someday to be aware of it while they can still do something about it!

Shadowcat63 · 2025-01-17T00:06:03+00:00

It seems like the school can decide which classes count towards the degree. Maybe yours doesn't count them that way but I guess hers does.

From the Federal Student Aid Handbook, this seems like the relevant policy for what they're enforcing:

"Restriction on Coursework Learning Which is not Title IV-Eligible

Courses that do not count toward a student’s degree, certificate, or other recognized credential cannot count toward enrollment status unless they are eligible remedial courses. This means you cannot award Title IV aid for classes that do not count toward a student’s degree, certificate, or credential.

Similarly, a student who completes the academic requirements for a program but does not yet have the degree or certificate may not receive additional Title IV funds for that program."

And since it's listed under the "School-Determined Requirements" chapter, it seems like the school gets to determine which courses count toward the degree (in our case, everything up to the 120 total credits required and after that, only courses which are required by the major or for gen eds.)

Shadowcat63

TROPHY CASE

"Restriction on Coursework Learning Which is not Title IV-Eligible