I’ve been struggling with a relapse for the last two weeks and have still gone to work everyday. Thankfully I already had a review appointment with the neurolgist today. He said that the only way I’m going to recover from this is to take some time off work. He said to take two weeks off and then to work half time for the next four weeks. This is the first time I’ve taken sick leave since being diagnosed.
I work full time as a deputy practice manager in a gp surgery. I rang my manager when I left the hospital. I told him what the consultant said about taking time off. He said ‘That’s going to make things very difficult’. He said ‘I suppose you will have to do what the doctors tell you but see how you feel over the weekend’. I’ve already had an application for leave over Christmas denied and told it would be awkward if I took time off at the end of the financial year.
If I could afford to I would tell him to poke his job but unfortunately, like most of us, that’s not possible unless Mr Lotto smiles on me. I’m so frustrated and cross right now!! I don’t want to take time off but I’m so exhusted at the moment I’m pretty useless when I’m at work anyway.
Hi Lynne, makes it doubly hard when bosses tell you you cant be sick! Thing is if you dont heed the advice of the neuro, you`re likley to crumble in front of your unsympathetic manager.
I faced a similar reaction when I went sick. I thought my manager was a good friend…nah, not when push comes to shove!
Get yerself a sick note and look after number 1, yeh?
Dear, dear, dear me. Is your boss normally OK and you just caught him at a bad moment, or is he always a snivelling inadequate?
A saintly employer will instantly say all the right, supportive, sympathetic things to a sick employee, and mean them. A normal, human employer will say all the right, supportive, sympathetic things and mean them, but will simultaneously be silently cursing his luck. A total plonker of an employer will react the way yours has! Bottom of the class for him.
What to do? Ignore his nonsense about ‘see how you feel over the weekend.’ You need the time off: doctor’s orders, and that’s that.
MS is a bloody boring nuisance, no two ways about it - for us, for our nearest and dearest, for employers, for everyone who is affected by us going faulty on them. It’s tough luck that your sickness absence leaves your manager with a problem to solve, but solving problems is his job, and he is going to have to be a big boy and deal with it. If he manages to get over himself and learn to act like a decent human being, even if he doesn’t feel like it, that will be a bonus.
Your job at the moment is to concentrate on getting well. Try not to let this depress your spirits or prey on your mind. Getting well is the priority.
you HAVE to put your health first,you need time off to get better. dont carry on and try and work through it, thats no good, it will make you more ill, for even longer, i found out the hard way,you are the ONLY one who knows how bad you feel,dont let others make you feel guilty for being ill, go on the sick for as long as it takes,and s*d them all.
I think my manager is just worried because it means he’ll have to do some work for once! I’ve just phoned my gp and he’s given me a sick note for two weeks and I’ll take it from there. I feel guilty for taking time off as I normally take very little time off.
But my health comes first. My neurologist said that the fatigue is the most common reason why people have to cut down their hours or leave work. He said I have to take time off to get over this relapse. Also it’s very rare that people who are using Avonex are still working full time. So the boss will have to lump it! Most of the time he’s ok but he’s ex-army (retired lieutenant colonel) and can be totally insensative at times! One of my nurse colleagues has just been diagnosed with a rare type of eye cancer and he’s hoping she might be back at work soon, honestly!!
So I’m going to take it easy for the next two weeks and hope for the best.