Working Or Not, What Type of Work?

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I work in Security. My jobs are mainly clerical so that helps as far as the fibromyalgia goes. However, sometimes I still have trouble making it to work.

Maybe working from home might be a future solution if it comes to it.
 
I think that working can be helpful, because it can sometimes take your mind off the pain instead of making it worse, but it depends on what you are doing. Some people make money by making a business out of a hobby (writing, perfumes, jewelry)...
 
I worked for the first 5 years of my diagnosis as a technical trainer - that was better than I knew. Then I took a desk top IT job. Only made it through 3 years before I was terminated for not performing. Tried to file suit because of disability - got 3 months pay severance for that. Then I took a part time job in Retail - and it was a miracle to be on my feet and walking all day. The secret was being in a large, upscale department store. I got raises because I never stayed in one place.... and moving is the very best thing for me. Except .... I had several (4 to be exact) surgeries on m inner ear in one year, and my balance never did recover. Lost the job in Retail. Took a desk job, but by then I had aggravated everything to the point that I could not (and still cannot) stay awake in a sitting position. So. Now I'm old enough for Social Security retirement, and filing for disability. to be honest, this whole Fibro thing sux
 
I have been a homemaker for over 20 years, but now that my husband left me for another woman I will need to get a job to support my daughter and I. Not looking forward to it as with cleaning my house I have to take breaks to recharge or I will flare. Plus too much driving in a week will have me so fatigued I need to sleep for a day.

I am hoping to start training as a doula ( a birthing coach) but I do not know how I will do at that. Can I push on a woman's back for hours on end to relief her back pain? I have no idea. The only good thing about this is that if I can take time off between patients to recharge, but births are not something that you usually schedule so I could have just done one birth and be totally wiped out and a client can call and say they are in labor.

I pray this will work for me. Just have no idea what I will do if it doesn't.
 
I have been unable to work since prior to my diagnosis with MS in 2007. I used to be a pediatric nurse. I quit working in October 2006, initially due to pain, but then because of waling difficulty, weakness on my right side, then I was having memory issues. I qualified for SSI disability in June of 2008, backdated to October 2006. I have been on disability since then. Now that I am in a wheelchair, I will probably not ever go back to work as a nurse. I even let my license expire. I have just recently started teaching a monthly sewing class on making bags at a local quilting store. I can teach what I want and at my own pace and it's something I can do even on days that I hurt. I love the place where I teach and know most of the people I am teaching, so it really gives me a great social outlet too. It doesn't feel like work at all.

I am also a stay at home mom of 3 kids. My oldest is a Jr in college but still lives at home. My other 2 are 15 and 11. I homeschool them, but they do mostly independent study type programs and I just have to act as their guide and help them with some things. I have to work with the 11 year old the most. There are tons of things I have to do around the house. In addition to school work with the boys, I love to sew bags and make quilts. I do some embroidery also on my machine-it's a sewing/embroidery machine.
 
I also homeschool my daughter, Poppymom. I had to when she started being sexually harassed and bullied at jr high. She wants to homeschool one more year ( 8th grade) and then we will see. So that is another reason I am worried about working, as I need to be home for her. But homeschooling can happen at any time during the day, so that is great.
 
I am sorry your daughter had to go through that experience, DBacher. It's awful. Maybe you could work from home for another year while your daughter needs more attention and then consider another job. I hope everything works out for the best.
 
I work full time as a CNA and it is getting very difficult. Sometimes the job wants you to stay over into the next shift and I can't do it. I have a doctors note for this, but my job is now telling me that I am no longer meeting my job description. I had not been working for a while a couple of years ago and discovered that not working was worse than working. So I am hoping that I can keep my job. Trying to fight being fired because I have had my 26 yrs. I had tried to relocate to VA but came back home to my original job.
 
For the last 2 years I've been working on building my own business that I can do from home. (And no, I don't sell ways to make money on the Internet. ;-) The two hardest parts of working for me were getting up and commuting, and trying to keep my illness from affecting anyone else. My computers, bless their hearts, do not seem to notices the tight lines on my face and my tenseness when I am in pain. They don't hear an edge in my voice and read some other emotion into it. They don't react if I suddenly have to sit or lie down, or if I'm constantly squirming and can't sit still. They don't even care if it's noon or midnight. They also don't follow me around and constantly ask me what's wrong or if I'm OK. If I can tune the pain out, they won't keep reminding me. If I'm doing repetitive work, I can turn on the TV and give my brain something else to do besides think about pain. I work really long hours, but I can do it in almost any condition, and that relieves so much stress in my life. I've had this for 30 years. I'm used to it. Other people aren't and it upsets them. Everyone wants to "fix" me. I appreciate the sentiment, but it's very draining, and I struggle to appear polite and positive when I really want to say, "Enough already! Let's talk about something else." I really hope I can make this work long term.
 
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