I am not going to whine a long time here but I am so frustrated. By noon today, I got my flu like symptoms back. I have been napping and with sore throat all afternoon. Got the aches. I am suppose to return to work Sept. 1. It is amazing how quickly my health has gone downhill. It seems to be getting worse than better. I think I am going to get Humira soon and I hope that is my miracle. I cannot imagine how I can work with the amount of "bad days" I have. I know my rd wants me to return to work but I am afraid my performance and attendance is going to be challenging. Karen emailed me about the same thing. I am just amazed that so many of you work 40 hours. I have quit one job since ra dx and my job with the insurance has me worried. Ra sure can be scary and depressing!!!!!I couldn't work and had to quit. Back in 1993 I used to work at ToysRUs
as cashier and stock...then I started getting sick with RA, so
they moved me to money counter...had to quit because of RA. It was the
only time in 25 years of marriage I had to work and I couldn't.
Luckily I've had it easy and haven't had to have a job...I've always
wondered how people with diseases like this can hold a job. It has to
be very hard and trying.
ROXY, HOW QUICKLY CAN YOU TAKE THE HUMIRA? WISH YOU HAD SOME TIME ON THAT BEFORE YOU TRY TO RETURN TO WORK. OVER THE LAST YEAR HAD TO REDUCE MY HOURS TO 6 A DAY. WHEN I WENT TO WORK AT THIS NEW COMPANY 2 YRS AGO, DID NOT REALIZE I HAD NO SHORT TERM DISABILITY BENEFITS. I AM A COMMISION'D SALES PERSON AND YOUR STD WITH PRESENT CO. IS BASED ON YOUR PRIOR YEARS PRODUCTION; SINCE I WAS NOT WITH THEM, IT WAS ZERO, EVEN THOUGH I WAS THE TOP PRODUCER AT MY PRIOR CO!! I'M TOTALLY S__________d. AS THE DISEASE PROGRESSES, THERE IS NOW A QUESTION ABOUT L.T. DISABILITY. HAVE HAD TWO PERIODS OF STD I WAS OUT; ONE FOR 2 1/2 MO, ONE FOR 5 WEEKS. THIS WHOLE SITUATION IS DESTROYING MY FINANCES AND I'M STILL RAISING A CHILD AGE 9. IT IS VERY SCAREY. I'M GOING TO TRY AND FIND A EMPLOYEE BENEFITS ATTORNEY TO ASK SOME QUESTIONS. I'M ALSO LOCKED INTO A 5 YR CONTRACT WITH THIS EMPLOYER.
It is weird, I do not have to work, but I want to. I want to be able to help pay the bills that I help accumulate. But I know I cannot work. I might be able to do a desk job. I can still type pretty fast with stiff fingers and wrists. I do it all the time...lol. Today was a crappy day for me as well, I think it had something to do with all them darn Twinkies I ate!!
When I was 17 I had a hard time working as a bus-girl. I done my job working thru my pain and got really good at clearing and setting tables during the rush. But by the time I got home my feet and knees hurt and swelled so bad, and just think I was in "remission". I loved working, it gave me something to do and helped me to get over being dumped by my boyfriend. I liked meeting and getting know the customers, it was great! But I know I would never been able to do that kind of work again. I have not worked since I was 19. That bus-girl job was my first and only job...lol. Now, I am a mommy of 2 and that is just about as hard and strenous job as being a bus-girl. Most of the time I cannot tend to my kids like I need to, but I do try and suceed in time, but not in a mannerly time. Let me put it this way I would get fired if I was hired to tend to the kids...lol. I do not do any kind of house work. I try to just focus on tending to my kids...why run myself down with house work when I need to save myself to tend to my kids? Oh wait sorry I am babbling...funny how 2:30am makes ya babble....lol. Oh well, sorry it does not really help ya with what you wanted to know...lol...but I spent to much time typing this I am still going to hit "Post Reply"....lol. All this week I have noticed I babble on and on and then not even relate to what the post was about...lol...and then I would spend all that time typing it and decide it was not related to the post, so I would delete it...lol. But NOT TONIGHT. This one is getting sent! So, watch out for babbling posts from me...lol. I like your babbling. Always fascinating. Better than recent books I've read. So, plzzz babble on and on and .....................
and everyone else here, too Roxy, I know with our illness and pain most of us that are working ,would love not to ,but can't .My husband would like to take me off the road ,to stay home,but there is no way I am going to give in to this disease,My motto is either use those joints or lose them.I park the truck always far away from the building to require me to walk.There are plenty of times I'd rather be wheeled in a wheel chair,but we could be worst off,and really require that,and that would not be fun.We are in our truck 3 weeks at a time,working around the clock to get the product to the stores,I intend to work 4 more yrs of this till our rig is paid in full,then hang up the driving,hubby will drive solo.My RD doesn't like my profession at all,says it is to much stress on hands,shoulders,wrist,knees,and ankles,with holding the steering wheel,and shifting(which requires double shifting with a rig)not easy.RD hates it ,but told him you'll have to do your best with treating joints for 4 more yrs. (if possible)We just have to look at it we could be worst off,I don't know what the children do with this disease.Wish you felt better,but i have learned you have to go through a process,till the get the right drugs mixed and the right drugs that agree with the body,RD is still working on mine.Sherry
and Joonie Girl, Your ramblings keep us all entertained
When I developed my cardiomyopathy I got so sick so fast that I was totally disabled within weeks. I was substitute teaching June 20th, and considering a heart transplant Aug 3. My heart has stabilized, but now my RA is so bad I couldn't work in a classroom even as a half day sub. I stay home with my 3 year old granddaughter, and do a little computer work for a friend which averages about 2 hours a day, at my own pace. I am so hoping the Humira works well enough that I can think about returning to teaching at least as a half day sub. Rox~Keep in mind Sweetie that your RA is not under control yet and once it is life is going to get so much easier for you. I know we all keep telling you that; but it's true. I work anywhere between 40-50 hours a week; for the most part at a desk job. I love it and it keeps my mind busy. When I'm home I just dwell on my problems too much. When I'm here there's time when I feel normal and almost forget I have limitations. Have you read any of the book I recommended you get? I know you are in pain. There's no doubt in anyones mind here that you are worse off than alot of us at the present time; but I also think you need to re-program your mind. I'll be the first to tell people to shut the hell up if they try to say this is all in our heads...but I'll also be the first to stand up and say that our minds control alot of what goes on in our body as well. It's hard I know; but try to focus on something else for a while. I think it's consuming far too much of you. I love you Rox. Please don't be offended by anything I say; I've just learned a lot through my own experiences. Hang in there. I can promise you that we all went through a period of adjustment just as you are doing now. My motto is use it or lose it too. But getting the right kinds of meds is key. I work 40-50 hours a week too. I'm a software eng so I'm sitting at a desk. I do however take public transportation to work a few times a week and that wipes me out. Lots of walking and stairs. A good portion of the "T" here in Boston isn't disability friendly. I don't know how they get away with it but they do. So it's not my job that poops me out - it's getting there. I have had JRA since I was a baby so I have known nothing else. I have always been stubborned and pushed myself through the pain and stiffness. Not that it hasn't been hard, it's just the way it was. My aunt however has developed RA in her 40's and is having a terrible time adjusting. I think it's harder on those who have led an active lifestyle where their bodies did what they wanted it to, to now having to cater to what the body is capable of doing. I imagine that's a difficult thing to adjust to.
Barb
The pain is horrid but the fatigue really has croaked me. Over the years I had to give up jobs I loved because of it. I've gotter a lot of help with it by taking provigil. I'm able to do things now that I haven't been able to do for years. -- like getting organized and more housework.
Copyright ArthritisInsight.com