For those of you that cant perform the jobs you used to do, whatas and how have you re entered the job pool? I have done construction, but my body wont let me anymore. I want to work just dont know where to start....
i empathize. my present job is very physical like yours but i cant handle it much longer. once i get some stuff covered by insurance taken care of, i will be looking for less strenuous work. but then does that just lower the threshold at which the symptoms manifest themselves??? will doing that just cause us to get eeaker??
I already reinvented myself once due to disability in my 20's after I had back surgery. I went from research on farms and heavy work, to teaching. I reinvented myself as a stay at home mom prior to being diagnosed, so I am still a stay and work at home mom. My youngest will be in school full day next year, so I will be looking at picking up some hours tutoring or doing home-bound instruction, but am not looking at full time work. I don't have the energy or pain tolerance for full time.
My goal was to be a cardiac surgeon. This thing with my back sorta stopped that. I moved into reasearch and ultimatley teaching. Life takes a lot of turns. I still spend a lot of time with residents, ended up doing ststistics (study protocols) for a cardiac research studies I thank god every day life took the turns it did. I pit the surgeons. not one of my class is still in practice. I look forward to every day.
When you figure it out you will have to let me know what you decide to do! I left my job this week. It wasn’t a very physical job, but it was very stressful. I don’t know how to find a job in my field that won’t be stressful. (Discovered that stress was very very bad for my symptoms) I have considered going back to school to either become a teacher or a patient advocate. I need to see if there are any programs available to aid in tuition for disabled people. I would love to go back to school, and I think I’d be a great nursing instructor. I don’t know if I can handle the emotional commitment to be a patient advocate, even though I know I could be passionate and have a positive impact.
It sure is tough to figure it all out again, especially after you already did It once! If you need someone to brainstorm with, it seems that I have a lot of free time on my hands now. 
teaching is stressful too. i would become an accountant or technician or something.
GrumpyCat said:
When you figure it out you will have to let me know what you decide to do! I left my job this week. It wasn't a very physical job, but it was very stressful. I don't know how to find a job in my field that won't be stressful. (Discovered that stress was very very bad for my symptoms) I have considered going back to school to either become a teacher or a patient advocate. I need to see if there are any programs available to aid in tuition for disabled people. I would love to go back to school, and I think I'd be a great nursing instructor. I don't know if I can handle the emotional commitment to be a patient advocate, even though I know I could be passionate and have a positive impact.
It sure is tough to figure it all out again, especially after you already did It once! If you need someone to brainstorm with, it seems that I have a lot of free time on my hands now. :-)
He speaks the truth. Contact voc-rehab. It varies by state, but they do have programs........
Numbers and technical things make me loose my mind. Those are more stressful to me than most human encounters.
james harrison said:
teaching is stressful too. i would become an accountant or technician or something.
GrumpyCat said:When you figure it out you will have to let me know what you decide to do! I left my job this week. It wasn’t a very physical job, but it was very stressful. I don’t know how to find a job in my field that won’t be stressful. (Discovered that stress was very very bad for my symptoms) I have considered going back to school to either become a teacher or a patient advocate. I need to see if there are any programs available to aid in tuition for disabled people. I would love to go back to school, and I think I’d be a great nursing instructor. I don’t know if I can handle the emotional commitment to be a patient advocate, even though I know I could be passionate and have a positive impact.
It sure is tough to figure it all out again, especially after you already did It once! If you need someone to brainstorm with, it seems that I have a lot of free time on my hands now.
I’m in Retail Management. Just took a step down from big store manager to little store merchandiser. Had to keep full time for insurance but this is much more physical even though less hours. Went from salaried and 60+ hours per week to 40 and hourly. I feel I can’t do this either. Totally freaking!
Im sorry Sharon to hear of your situation. My wife is also in retail management, if not for her we would be in a world of hurt...I appreciate all the folks on this site
I just went back to work after being off for 3 years on a Worker's Comp injury. I never had this pain before I went back, even tho I had been diagnosed with RA. My company made a position for me that follows the W/C restrictions, but I now am in more pain than before because of the Psa. I can barely move my hands in the morning. Guess it all depends on what you are willing to do and how much pain you want to endure. Unfortunately I don't think there is any job that doesn't involve some amount of stress. If there was, I would be the 1st in line for an interview! :) The reason I have this disease is because of the stress of going back to work.
Good luck to you in your search!
Just left open heart bedside nursing after 33 years. Now case manager. I call it cub nursing
I worked as the manager of a Liquor Store, this was heavy work for any woman lifting cartons of beer. This was one of the many jobs that I have done in my working life.
I re-trained to obtain a Diploma in Relationship Counselling. Seemed like a good idea at the time. This new qualification was not high enough as every where I applied they wanted a Degree. The jobs weren't there. Private practice was not an option from home as it is too risky. I could not afford to rent a suitable premises to start myself off. I also obtained certificates in Administration as my original secretarial course no longer good enough.
So do be careful with your choices and if they money you pay out will be worth it and secure you a job in this field.
These skills did give me an edge and helped me add to my other skills and land me a job with my old Youth Worker qualifications and years of experience. This was after doing some voluntary work in that field so that my skills were not viewed as being out of date. I became the coordinator of a large Youth Service in a regional area. Mainly administration work and developing youth activity programs, family liaison, court support and I became involved in youth justice. I did not have participate in anything physical.
Adding some updated and new skills to what I had, getting some current work experience by volunteering got me work into a slightly different branch of what I had done in the past.
I'm having a lot of trouble at work. I'm pretty sure my work is causing a lot of my new pains lately. It seems like every day something new hurts.
I'm still looking for another job that will have less impact on my PsA. I'm pretty sure the gripping and lifting of odd shaped, sometimes heavy items doesn't help.
Did you find your work caused flare ups ?
every doc ive ever went to has advised me to find a new job. I wish i hsd listened.
Ok folks, I may not be EF Hutton with everyone trying to listen in, but I do have a great system/job that I do. I started it before I was diagnosed, and am very grateful I was far down this course when PSA started smacking me around. It even laughed at me at times, especially as I was paying back karmic debt and had trouble with basic functioning before I was diagnosed and just after as the meds were kicking in.
The secret you ask? Well…it boils down to e-commerce.
I sell jewelry and gift items online through my own websites and electronic marketplaces. I can sleep in late, work late, take naps when necessary, spread the work out and can very much control how much work I will be doing by controlling sales. Sales are off this year, though recovering now as I was not on biologics or meth for many months because of side effects. I took it a bit easy so I did not overdue it. Now that I am feeling better–2 infusions of remicade so far–I am feeling better and doing more…ebb and flow. I do not overdue it, crept at Xmas, so I do think that helps controlling the disease without giving into it. I make a decent living at it, could do more if more able, but I am also primary care giver for 80 yo mother with memory issues. It all takes time, but you can get into rhythm that will help you take control. Lower priority things get put to the side, but that is ok; they get done when they can. U learn to juggle what you need to do and when, not some hyper a+ personality type of a boss. I do more physical things when I can, or get help, desk work to moderate heavier things and rest when needed. The money can be good to great depending what u are doing, how you are doing it and how you structure it. Fr instance, I take remicade infusions and methotrexate on Wednesdays ( remicade goal to every 8 weeks), but I schedule Wednesday evenings and Thursday mornings as slow time…it works great. I work out of house so n commute, no weather to worry about, just me and what I can/need to get done. By working at home, can take care of 80 yo mother…a twofer! It is not all peaches and cream, but it does work out very well. The best? Taking time to rest during the day. If I had to go back to high tech marketing, it would. 60-70+ hours a week…just cannot do that anymore, especially with the necessary hard deadlines. I know this is long winded, but working for yourself if you can puts you in the driver seat for a much more manageable and happy life. If u have questions, let me know and will do my best to answer them for you.
I only work part time 3 days but don’t know how much longer I can keep doing it for. The pain I am used to but the fatigue is getting me down I can’t concentrate because I M so tired I spend all day splashing cold water on my face trying to keep myself awake I can feel my eyes rolling And my head nodding trying to fight it
I've got a couple new jobs on the horizon. I really hope one of them works out. I don't think my body can take much more.
I will be doing a Health Care Coordinator role at a great Assisted living. I’m pretty excited about it. The staff is so…NiCE! I hope that the new role works better for me. Good luck in your new position!
julittle said:
Just left open heart bedside nursing after 33 years. Now case manager. I call it cub nursing
I didn't know at the time I started this plan it was PsA but im leaving the networking field of IT because physically my body cannot handle the heavy lifting, and all the back and fourth to handle new cat5e cable pulls. Not to mention the pain and pressure involved in terminating the cable into a network rack or outlet jack. Unhappy fingers with a twisted body in sometimes a tight small network closet.
Around 8 months ago I decided I needed to get into a desk job so I started my bachelor degree geared towards software/programming. At least in the future, physically my body won't feel like its a smashed, bruised pile of flesh at the end of a work day.