Ms and work

I work part time and can honestly say “hats off to you full time workers”… my concentration is so bad, part time is as much as I can manage at the mo and with 2 children as well. My work is quite intense with the government and have lost a lot of confidence in my work but try to do my best.

But again hats off to you full time workers !!! Oh yeah and to us part time workers xxxxxxxxx

Hi. Interesting thread. I’m still working full time as a primary school teacher. I love the job although my ‘invisible’ symptoms are creeping up on me in some embarrassing ways :-. Exhausting in term time. Couldn’t cope without the holidays to recuperate. I love the kids and the fact that I just don’t have time to dwell on medical problems. Would like to work part time due to fatigue but a lot of my colleagues would like that… I haven’t declared officially yet although my head and some of my colleagues know. I will when/if it affects my attendance/ability. I have fewer sickness absences than lots of my ‘well’ colleagues at the moment. I do worry if my symptoms got really noticeable how the parents would react. That crystal ball would be real useful…

I work full time 9am - 5pm and have an 80 mile round trip, although I do have one day a week from home which was agreed prior to my diagnosis (child care). I’m an insurance underwriter and manage a team of 8, so all office based, my employers are fantastic and if I am having an off day or don’t feel comfortable to drive they will automatically allow working from home. Again I have fewer days sick than the “well” employees but I think that’s primarily because I refuse to let it beat me!!

Same here on those last two comments on being at work more often than some of my ‘well’ colleagues! Are we showing that it will not defeat us full timers and that by changing the goal posts all things are acheivable?

One thing I would advise to anybody working and struggling, is get a union rep in place just in case you need them. They are priceless and have all the answers. Always take them along to sickness meetings with your employer. If you need to give up work, they will fight to get you a favourable financial outcome. It may not be much, but it all helps. When u gave up work last year, I had no choice as I could not do my job and have since received ill health retirement. However, I pushed it as far as I was prepared to go, my rep advised me I could remain employed and push it as far as a few more months, but I was on half pay and financially it made more sense than to string it out for another three months on half pay, to ask them to terminate my contract, which meant three months full pay in severance and all my accrued holidays. They wanted mr to hand in my notice, thereby only gaining 4 weeks pay, but she said categorically 'no" I know most people do no have a union rep, but I would highly recommend getting one. Sam xxx

I have only been diagnosed 2.5 yrs but had the worst experience last year whilst trying to be honest with my boss. I was working full-time, 7.30 - 4.15, getting up at 5.30 am each day. I asked if I could start and work later but got a straight ‘no’.The work was really sttressful, I had 2 months of constsant migraines and blurred vision (which I never got to the bottom of, but luckily improved after 2mnths - my ms nurse said ‘people with ms tend to suffer with migraines’, my doc prescribed some meds which we then discovered I couldnt take in case of interaction with my contraceptive pill, i got glasses, wore them for 3 wks before giving up as they made it worse, then after that things just seemed to improve - weird!). I told my boss I wasnt feeling well, we had a meeting, she seemed reassured i could do my job ok, then things went back to normal, until i had a review & she told me about loads of mistakes I had apparently made. 99% were not my fault, or werent even mistakes and i argued my side as much as i possibly could.they then said i was being made redundant but that they wouldnt put me forward for one of the new roles they had going as my poerformance wasnt good enough (even though i had 5 years of experience in the area of the new role, so was even more suited to that one!). I spent hours on the phone to acas and a great solicitor, threatened to take them to tribunal for disability discrimination and they agreed to a ‘settlement agreement’ to avoid tribunal. So, whilst I won, my self-confidence has been destroyed. I try not to let them make me think I am the incapable person they said, but I know that my grain is not what it used to be. I have now been referred to a neuropsychologist who has told me he can do some cognitive tests, see if there re any areas that could be improved and will then help me sort them out, which will be a huge weight of my mind, even if he discovers something, or nothing, just to know who I am. I used to be an intelligent, confident, capable human and now I dont even know who I am, what I am capable of, what hours I can do etc etc…I am currently unemployed (I had one job since, I loved it but it was too physically demanding & hafd a 1hr 40 public treansport commute, which when the shift began at 6.30am was NOT good, but it was at a vets and I always wanted to work with animals). I am now trying to be sensible and get some form of part-time desk based job but it would appear thats what everyone’s lookinhg for!! I’ve been unemployed since November and my job seekers contributions based benefit runs out in May so I am beginning to panic. I am impressed with the amount of people still working but mainly with the reaction of your employers, it is so refreshing to hear they’re not all f****** a*les like my wer employers. I am so happy to have not read a story like mine on here but there must be millions out there. Good luck to you all. and good for you full-timers and people with kids!! I cannot imagine kids as well as work ;0/.xxx

‘brain’ NOT ‘grain’!!! ha ha.

I have been diagnosed since 1995, almost certainly had ms since 1989, I work part time but this is due to having children not ms. It was the birth of my son in 2001 that made me ask for part time work. I do 20 hours a week, 5 hours a day over 4 days. My walking is very poor but my work are very accommodating and helpful. I have never had a day off due to my ms and only ever a handful of days off sick. Cheryl:-)