Employment and RA | Arthritis Information

Hey guys and gals,

I'm wondering how you guys handle work and being sick. I have missed a tremendous amount of work this past year, much of it from infections. I just missed Friday again, due to the stomach flu. I just started this job in January and I'm not eligible for Family Medical Act (or whatever it is that ensures your job and ensures you get off when needed). The problem is, I work where we get "occurrances" if we are sick for 3 hours or more. Well, I have a s&*t load of occurances. I feel like every time I turn around I'm calling off work for something. My boss knows about my situation, but in light of favoritism, she must follow the written policies set forth by the institution. I'm single and just bought a house and am really feeling the stress of being financially stable. Anyone go thru this? I'm sure that most everyone has, anyone have any tips?

Thanks,

Lori

Your post is what got me to register here! Started on Prednisone (and methotrexate) in September of '05, started feeling better, and then just started my new job in March of '06, and started getting sick all the time starting at the end of March of '06...

At my previous job (of 7 years) it was just my arthritis symptoms that were interfering with my work, but in the end they recognized my situation and seemed to realize I was trying really hard although I did get a foul look from time to time... The thing about this job was that the schedule was VERY flexable, plus I had a senior position so could come and go as I pleased pretty much.

At my new job though they didn't know me, and i've gotten the evil eye so much that I'm actually quitting this week. Unlike where you work, my place of employment doesn't have much in the way of official or formal regulations and I am treated very different than the longer-tenured employees when it comes to calling in. The odd thing is, I've missed less time than other employees, and while I even now still have some accrued sick days left, other employees have none and yet they are not chided as I am.

My advice is to keep options open - if your current job will work work you, stay there if you can, and yet keep an eye out for a job where flexability is a given, especially if your current job starts messing with you. For instance, I'm leaving the legal field and falling back on a real estate license I obtained several years ago. On the other hand though, my last job was a little more forgiving than the new job, and I may have made a mistake by switching jobs in the middle of dealing with arthritis - going from a company that seemed at least willing to work with me to one where I didn't know how they would react to an unseen health problem. But, I didn't know the prednisone was going to kick my butt!!!
leeloo6739033.8406018519

Leeloo67,

WELCOME!!! This is a great board with lots of wonderful people.

Thanks for your post. I have been stressed out all weekend. I just became a nurse, graduated in Dec '05, started my 1st nursing job in Jan '06. I have been sick for the past 2 years. But, while I was in school, I was able to work around it and just thought that I was stressed out about school, etc. Now, I know much better. you could say I was in a sad state of denial too. I was in denial because I had worked so hard to get to where I was and then to be faced with this.

As you can imagine, nursing is not flexible at all. It has flexibility as far as hours, but when your scheduled to be there, they need you there. Even if your body doesn't cooperate. So far, they have been great. But, they have policies and guidelines in place. I'm really frustrated because I don't feel like a good employee. In fact, I know I'm not. I wouldn't want to have an employee like me, one who is sick all the time and who calls into work at least once a month. I just don't know what to do about it.

Anyhoo, thanks for the post, good luck with your realtors license and Welcome. Stop in frequently, the people here are wonderful.

Lori

It is hard. Not only do I miss for sick days but also for Dr.'s appointments
and Remicade infusions. I try not to take off too often as it is almost just
as much work planning for a sub. I also tend to get behind in grading
when I feel bad. This weekend I was up last night until 1:00 and look to
be making a repeat performance(Yes--I am procrastinating right now!).

My principals know the situation and don't give me too much hassle. I
just feel guilty when I take off cause of the kids. They have assessment
tests to take and need routine to learn. Luckily they are old enough to
help me out. They love passing out papers and "running errands".

I am not sure what else we can do other than show up and do our best...
I am also single with a little boy and know that I have to work as long as
possible. Of course, once I remarry rich (any takers?) things will change:)

Becky

Hey Lori...I didnt know you were a nurse...I am too. And believe me, I know how hard it is to call in. It leaves everyone to pick up the slack, it is so hard to get a replacement. People begin to resent you for leaving the shift short staffed. But the other edge of the sword is going when you dont feel well and not being able to finish a shift. Good luck going home early! That is virtually impossible. I have been a nurse for 5 years. It really does suck. I have worked so hard to get to where I am and now I am basically having to let it all go. I have flexible schedualing, and my director is aware of my medical problems. But, even though they have overlooked alot of my call ins, it did finally become a problem. I had to go on medical leave because I couldnt risk anymore cancelations.

I am now in the process of applying for SSD and the possibility that I may never work as a nurse again is so scarey. It is like giving up my identity. But I cant do the job....and this past year, I know in my heart that I was not doing it as well as I used to. That is a hard thing to admit...but I have discovered that ever since my DX I have about a 6hr time limit on activity for each day. And pulling 12 hr shifts was torture, 8 hr shifts were okay...but I was in a fog half of the shift and just looking forward to seeing my relief walk through the door. 2 8s in a week and that was all I could handle. Then I slept the rest of the time.

One thing that I had done that could be an option for you is to work for an agency. I work for a hospital system that owns 11 facilties in the city. They have an in-house agency and I am employed by the agency. So I pick when I want to work. I was booking a month in advance because I primarily worked at one ER and just turned in my schedule to their staffer. That ended up getting me in trouble b/c of the cancelations. If I was to go back, I would just call the same day to check for availability. That way if I didnt feel well, I just wouldnt call. Anyways, that could be a good thing for you...most agencies require at least 1 year exp...so you are almost there. You work when you want, you can be off for holidays and weekends if you want to be, and you get paid alot more than full time staff. There is such a shortage of nurses that you dont have any problem getting hours.

Crunchy,
Thanks, you have made me feel so much better. I am also feeling the sting of being a new nurse, accomplishing my dreams and then to have this dx. I knew for awhile that something was terribly wrong with me, but couldn't put my finger on it. I'm thankful for the dx, because now I know I'm not crazy. I'm gonna have to do something, because my co-workers are mad, management is mad. I'm just having a hard time of it. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to my call ins either. I tried to find a pattern and fix it. (you know us nurses), but I can't.
Anyhow, thanks for your post. I was really upset and your post made me feel better.
I just became a foster parent too and have 2 little ones and am going to school part time. So, I'm guessing something is going to have to give. I've got too much going on right now.
Have a great day!
Lori
OK guys, I know more of you are dealing with this...give up the goods. Come'on, help a girl out here.
Lori
LoL I'm spoiled at work. I have my own stool, so I get to sit all day. Hehe. And I always always always kick my shoes off. I do call in from time to time, and no ones ever given me grief for it. I think I'm really lucky with this job. Truth is - I would love to work 1 - 2 hours a day but an eight hour day feels impossible. I loved my work. It is one of my biggest heart breaks. I am waiting to get on disabilty. Even a desk job I could not do, my memory is - my memory is................. I can't remember the word.

Lori

I am hyper vigilant about coming into contact with germs where ever I go. If someone is sick at work I keep disenfectant wipes at my desk and wipe everything down and wash my hands constantly, surprisingly, I don't get sick as often as my coworkers. I've picked up wipes in the grocery store if someone walks by my shopping cart coughing and wipe everything down. When my girls were little I caught everything they brought home from school and one year I taught my youngest daughter's preschool, even though I was only on MTX, I was sick 2 weeks out of every month, my Dr. finally said, you're in a germ cesspool being with kids that age, so I quit at the end of the year. Nurses must be exposed to all sorts of germs, expecially ones that most of us would never be exposed to. Now I'm on MTX, Remicade & Prednisone and would be totally paranoid in your kind of enviornment. My boss is really sensitive about my RA, she gave me a month & a half off when I had a terrible flare in Jan. None of this helps, but my heart does go out to you.
Deidre

I would like to know about the memory thing too....I dont know if its me and I am so self involved now in my pain and pitty parties, but I cant remember sh*t! LOL

I try my best not to get infections, but I work with 5 year olds all day so infections has always been part of the job description. I do have a secret though, and I swear it works. When one of those little ones coughs on me or near me, or sneezes, or anything...I grab my can of lysol spray and spray the heck out of the air around me. Its my super hero barrier against infections! I do think its working, I have only been sick once this year, and it was rather mild compared to other times. I do need to more cautious though in public (ie like the shopping carts mentioned in the previous post)!

I was getting sick about twice a month, with the illnesses lasting at least a week and thus were practically back to back. The last few months I've been off prednisone and am on 7 pills of mtx only, and I've been washing my hands every time I think of it and I quit biting my fingernails, etc... I've only been sick about once a month, and only calling in on one day. Oh lord dena - when I worked at the daycare I was sick EVERY WEEKEND. It was awful. But I LOVED working there. :) I got less sick once I was working with the infants. They don't get as sick as one year olds and two year olds. Plus, whenever I could get 3 out of the 4 of them asleep, I bleached every toy I could get my hands on. LoL thank you guys so much for the tips. Good handwashing is the key, sometimes you just get "lucky" and one of your kids or patients coughs in your face. Lori
There are desk jobs in nursing. There are also positions in clinics for people like my remicade nurse - surely that would be so much easier than trying to be a good ER nurse on a 12 hour shift with RA. I think that is not humanly possible. Hi Lori. I am also a nurse(RN) with RA. I have been working in this field
for 18 years on a med surg floor. I was diagnosed a year ago. I have a
positive RF. I knew something was wrong for quite a while before my
diagnoses. I was working 3-12's a week, went down to 2- 12's a week
thinking it would help, but it didn't so I went casual call and work when I
want. I don't work more than 8 hours anymore. I started Plaquinil about
2 months ago and may have started seeing an improvement in the past
few days, I'm not sure. My employers have been very good to me as far
as my RA goes. I don't talk about it but I know they know I have it and
am being treated for it. My RA is in both ankles in both feet, in my wrists,
middle R fingr, and left thumb right now. I also have chronic back and
neck pain. My doctor told me that when it starts to hurt, quit what you
are doing but this is not always possible in this profession. I'm sad that
some of you work for health care organizations and they are not willing to
accomodate this disease. If more men got it, things may be very
different. Please keep me posted. I do understand what you are going
through. Remember, you are protected by the ADA, please read about
them so that you know what your rights are at work.Thank you lorster, I didn't even think about the ADA, guess I need to read up on that.
I'm doing 5 8's right now. If I only had to work and nothing else, I think I would be fine. But, you add in all the other stuff on top of it, and I'm about at the end of my rope. But, I've tied a knot and am hanging on. (I got that from someones sig =))
It is really hard to stay on your feet when you are tired, exhausted. 8
hour shifts are definitely better on my feet but I also feel that I am there
all the time to get in enough hours to pay the bills. My employer would
not let me go to 8's so I quit my position, then at work last week, I found
out that another full time 12 hour employee was allowed to go back to
8's. She did not even have a medical condition. I emailed my boss
becasue I quit my job and lost my benefits because I could not handle the
hours. Now to find that a person without a health issue, can go to 8's has
me a bit upset. I put in a note to my boss and she has not returned my
call...it has been 4 days. I think they don't want to deal with ppl when
they get sick and if they make it hard enough, i'll just quit and they will
not have to worry about it anymore. If your doctor writes a letter, the
hospital has to accomodate those reccomendations of your doc.
Remember that. I was just ttrying to handle it before I had to pull in a
third party. I'm gonna go back to full time as soon as a medication starts
to work. I just hope it does not take forever to get results. Please keep
me posted on your job. Another note about employment and RA. It makes me wonder if we should
even bring this up to our employers. I spilled the beans and have not been
treated the same. I have been on the job for 18 years and all of a sudden, I
am treated different, almost like they are running me out. I'm not sure I
would tell my employer i had RA...in the future. Think about that.I told my employer when I was diagnosed and they have been really good to me. One thing you must take in consideration is, many forms of arthritis, is covered under the disability act and they can not discriminate against you. When I was fisrt diagnosed and all the different meds I was put on I was having a very difficult time, my mngr was very good about it, sometimes he was fustrated, but I told hin if I had the choice I would rather be at work then home sick. I am now in a different position at work where I am not having as much stress on the body has to on the mind. I am on my feet all shift long but I am use to it. meme I also respect those who keep trying because they must work and thank God that there are laws in place to proctect you from losing your jobs.

I worked for 30 yrs in payroll/bookkeeping and can no longer handle it as my hands are trashed. I am in my 2nd appeal with SSDI which is going before the ALJ. It makes me mad to pay FICA for 30 yrs and be turned down for my disability but will fight until I win.

I am now a SAHM, well lets just say that I stay at home but my wonderful son and hubby help with shopping and chores.

I am enjoying this board. Someone said to move to the RA board and it is a busy one! I have OA/RA/FMS and ?PA.

Take care,

Kathy,
Thank you for the kind words and recognition. It is difficult to handle it all. Some days I just want to cry and don't know how I handle it. I'm even stubborn and don't want to ask for much help because I don't want to "bother" anyone. I really need to get over that. BUT, I've noticed that most people who don't have RA, don't "GET" it. It's not something you can see on me (right now anyways, my swelling has gone down), so most people don't think it is a really big deal.
Lori
I know what you mean Lori, it is like having a headache, so
subjective...for a while. I don't want sympathy but it would be nice to
have patients around the nurses station to save on running so far. there
ae little things the employer can do to make it easier. They have not
budged for me. Some days I just want to throw in the towel and go on
disability. Has anyone tried this? Does it work?

If it does, let me know too. There are mornings that I just really don't want to get out of bed. It's hard to teach little kids and be cheery when you feel horrible.