The discomfort and pain is making me a bit apprehensive about resuming work at my new job tomorrow. It’s tolerable now…but I’m just wondering what I would do if the pain escalates cause I’m had some really bad periods…
I work full time and have no fallback in the form of sick compensation. Luckily I can work flexible hours, which means I can work full time fine, as long as I can work from home when I am really blah. If I am not feeling good, I work in short slots of 2 hrs, then take a one hour break in between each. I have had TN for 15 years and every day of the last 5 (apart for last year before my Carbamazepine tolerance was below max dosage).
A big part of it is that my job (research) means I work independently from others. Later, when time comes to teach etc (permanent job territory), I will have to be honest with my employer and talk about the flexibility, but by then I have of course dazzled them with my brains!
I have always studied and worked full time. I am one of those bite my teeth people who would go crazy if I did not do something meaningful out of the house. That means more to me than this condition. But it would be hard for me to work in service, or anywhere where you cannot hide in a semi dark office without a/c and keep the door closed. For instance, open offices with phones ringing, buzzing lamps, talking people and meetings all the time on top of pain is not for me. You should make sure your job accommodates you so you can in fact work full time. If your current job does not, think about how you can fix that (talk to your manager or HR), or consider closely what you need as a minimum to be able to keep working even if in pain. You will most likely be. Remember that they already invested in you and want you there if they just hired you!
I also encourage you to explore your limits. You can do this at home, for instance doing something that needs doing even if you are in pain. What do you need to keep going? Can you take a 10 minute breather and feel better? Does it have to be done perfectly, or is “good enough” good enough? Etc.
You can do it, but do it mindfully. You know yourself and what you can take of pain. We are the toughest guys of the chronic pain sufferers, and I think we have a lot of resilience that we do not necessarily take advantage of. And don’t you feel more normal, less “ill” when you work, than at home? I know I do, and I know I want that more than anything, and won’t have it any other way than work full time.
I homeschool my kids and am an executive director for a nonprofit. This TN thing has completely slowed my life down.
I go in to the clinic or where ever to get a toradol shot and that gives me six hours of good work I can do. I run home and get as much done with the kids as possible and make all calls necessary. That has been all. I had to put a stop on the nonprofit until my MRI on Friday.
I just started a full time job. I’m a lawyer. So far I’ve not had any major crisis and I am praying it remains that way. Want to get as much as I can off this job before I branch out on my own…for now I don’t have flexible hours and cannot work from home.
I’m a teacher. That sounds like an okay job, until you realise it involves a lot of talking (my TN pain is in the bottom two branches, making talking difficult) and noisy kids. My work have been fantastic, allowing me to work partial days, and letting me use the sick bay beds to lie down and rest when I don’t have a class scheduled.
It’s led to me being more creative in my teaching, giving the students more self-directed tasks and having them teach the class in certain areas. I’ve also told the kids a little about what I’m going through, and if I’m having a bad day, I’ll go in and tell them, and they’ve been really cooperative too.
I don’t think any of us, sick or well, know what we’re capable of until we try. So, if you’re going to look at a retail job, go and walk around a shopping centre. See how long you can do it before you need a break. If you can handle it for longer than a shift’s length, I don’t feel you need to tell an employer.