Crazy For Wanting To Work? Be Honest.

[TOBEY32]

Like to hear your experiences.
Waiting to hear from SSDS. Regardless of what I MAY want to do I may HAVED to go back to work. Starting off P/T, but may look into F/T later due to benies being better/less expensive.
Could it be too much and I have to pursue SSDS again? Could it cause stress which might trigger illness? Land me in the hospital? Yes, to all, and yet I wasn't finished working when Weg's came on the seen.

[delorisdoe]

I have continued to work from prediagnosis through treatment and after remission. I do not believe that stress brought on any of my flares but I suppose that could be the case. I would be stressed from not working though so either way...

You will not know if it is too much until you try I would think.

[Psyborg]

I've worked through my journey (for the most part) as well. But work did have to be flexible with me a bit while I was on CTX...it really wiped me out. Anyway I'm pretty sure stress was at least part of my issue, but I've since gone through some stressful stuff at work and had no flares. I think this is one of those things were everyone is different. Some folks are more sick than others. And of course everyone has differing levels of pain tolerance as well. I think that if you feel you can work, you should try to, but if you feel to sick to work you absolutely should not. Only you can really tell that part...JMO though

[pberggren1]

I would love to work agian, but it will most likely never happen.

[Tom]

I am on a disability but due to a broken back in 2000. I have always been active so going to work on one day and with in 3 hours your on disability for all intents and purposes was a hard pill to swallow. Now with all the other things that have happened to me since 2000 I still try to stay busy. but the wegs is my greatest foe so far and Ive dealt with cancer and dibeties. I was a railroader so my job was a job that required a good back. The railroad retirement board determined that I could work 4 hours a day out of the national economy, provided the employer could meet my restrictions. That meant that is McDonalds wanted to hire me and allow me to sit and lie down when I needed to with in that 4 hr window I could work, even if it was minimum wage. Having that said, I was 43 when I was taken out of commission, Im now 55. This is how it was put to me at the time I made the decision to retire on disability, Can you live on a fixed income? Are you willing to work for less than you were making and possibly no benefits. In my case, tried to apply for jobs but there were no benefits and maybe just a little more than minimum wage. I was set to get more on disability. So, is the employer you are with now willing to work with you? I beleive that there is a trial period where you can try to work after you are approved for SSDI. I know the railroad retirement board has a clause that says if you feel your condition has improved you can do a trial period with out hurting your status, I would check with the SS office.

[HopeinTN]

I have to muster thru it. I couldn't possibly go without a paycheck and like Leigh said, the stress of not working would kill me. To me, work is theraputic, and keeps me from being idle and worrying about my disease and the "What If's". I say, work while you can as there could possibly be a day where you can't. I worked from the hospital during every stay and it's what got me thru the long days.

I feel for those that don't have the option or can't work due to this disease, and hope that with each day comes better health.

[HopeinTN]

Oh, and I will say, this disease has made me dig deep to find strength that I didn't know I had (everyone around me knew, just not me).

[Al]

I've said this before: We are all different. But many of us want to work, and need to work, either for psychological reasons or just to stay alive. As a free lancer, I have no choice, except to give existing clients full attention at the expense of finding new ones. I agree that there can be more stress in not working than in doing a good job. On the other hand, the fact is that the idea of working eight or ten hours straight outside the house seems an impossibility (and, if not technically impossible, then extraordinarily stupid) for me, and, I am guessing, for many weggies. Bureaucratic policies and politics are not known for passionate rationality, but it still blows my pred-soaked mind that Disability does not allow for part time employment. Would not society, as a whole, benefit from the services of all its members, including those whose abilities are only attenuated, not incapacitated?

Al

[HopeinTN]

Nicely put Al.

[Tom]

Tobey, I still work in my wood shop and do what I can around the house. I agree it can be a source of pride or being a workaholic likie myself. I used to spend all nighters and all day in my shop because I wanted that feeling of being relavent. One thing I have found to help is that when I cant get the mojo to get to work, I find a little things to do and call it an accomplishment. That might be as simple as putting the dishes in the dish washer and turning it on and putting them away when they are done or something like getting a project done in the shop I call them accomplishments and I feel better about myself. But FWIW, we dont have to prove anything to anyone else, we are dealing with an accomplishment everyday.