Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group Has anyone else experienced similar?

Hi all

I was just wondering whether anyone else has experienced what I am currently....

I have been off work (8 consecutive working days) due to pain, extreme fatigue, lameness in the neck and shoulders and just overall AS stuff. The problem is that noone thinks this to be anything serious and when you call in sick, oh the mockery in the voice!! It really hurts!

My best friend hasn't even called 'cause she thinks its nothing much and I am sure everyone else feels the same way. I just wish they could feel for 1 minute what I have to endure.

Now, when anyone asks "How are you?" my response is "Fine, thank you!" even though my body feels hellish.

Thanks all for listening - I am kinda grumpy right now!

:-(

Amina

Yep, it's the way it is. Maybe that's why I keep coming here to KickAS, no one has told me to bug off or that I'm lazy or any other such garbage. Hang in there, you've still got us.

Hugs,

Cindy

Thank you Cindy. I regard the people here as my friends as they understand and empathise. I thank my lucky stars everyday for finding this place.

Yeah.. I know how you feel. At a previous job I was hauled before the personnel manager and got a rollicking for having too many days off sick! I currently work for a company that understands my illness.
I hate being off sick, and will always try to get to work. Which is a bit pointless, when you are sitting at your desk with your back killing you and your head buzzing from the pain killers.
When AS finally floors me, I ring work at 9:00am to say I can't come in and then I spend the rest of the day worrying about what they may think or do.
When I sense people are doubting me, I give them a lecture on AS and how it effects me. I don't care if I bore them, I just want them to understand that I am not work shy or lazy.


Phil

The fatigue part was the worst for me and eventually it would catch up with me, and it took me 3 days to recover every time. I don't believe many employers understand. I got the same treatment when I called in sick. You could tell they didn't believe you.
I was so run down one time, then I got a sinus infection with bronchitis. I had to go to work to finish some stuff up. (I almost fell asleep behind the wheel) Anyway, I called into my boss's office from my office, and told him that I needed to go home, and he said "What for!!", and I could barely talk. He knew I had been sick for 2 weeks at that point. And he was not happy when I went home.
I quit working 2 months after that. It's so hard working among normal people. I was tired of making excuses for myself. It hurt my pride.





Susie

Boy do I know what your saying. I don't know what is worse knowing what is causing all the sick days or not knowing. I have either had employers that could care less if I died in their office while they were writting me up or ones that are too concerned that maybe what is wrong with me is work related. Employment is the hardest challenge for me I'm not sure what I can do or how long I can do it. One of the things I HATE about AS is the being unsure of myself. It is complete hell to know people mark you off as being "conveniently" off work. AS sucks the only good that has come from it is this group of people right here..

Frankie

Phil's suggestion of educating your employers is good advice. I took this approach over 35 years ago and spent the rest of my working carreer with the same company.

Once my boss and all the managers in our company understood what I was going through, I started to receive much more support than I knew what to do with. Rather than me having to leave when the pain got too bad, it was usually the other way around. One of them would look at me and suggest that maybe I should go home for a couple of days but I would only follow their suggestions once in a while just to show that I wanted to get the job done.

There is really no reason why all employers couldn't have the same level of support for their people.

George

Breb Assyl

Diffrent work laws apply to companies depending on the number of employees a company has. If they have over 30 ( I think that is the number) they mabe on shakey ground if they harrase you about being off because of illness.

Hi Phil,

Welcome to our KickAS family. Lots of great people here from all parts of the world.

Hope to talk with you more in the days to come.

Little surprise for you if you click on the attachment.

Lhiats

Breb Assyl

I have had many part-time jobs while in school. This summer I was working at a business office at my university.

My uveitis was very severe at this time, before I began Methotrexate, and I was having sharp shooting pains almost constantly, incredible light sensitivity and was on enough steroids to make a horse crazy. Everyone where I worked knew all about my uveitis and were very supportive. I took a week off to stay in the dark and try to rest my body so that hopefully my flare would decrease.

Wouldn't you know it - I was 'laid off'. They gave me some lame excuses that I knew were BS. I knew they were firing me for being sick (let me mention that it's not like the work piled up while I was gone - it was a part-time student job!). They asked me to stay for 3 weeks until they found my replacement. I got my reference letter and told them I felt I was discriminated against, and they should feel lucky that I was not pursuing them legally. I did not come back to work after that day. My supervisor acted like I had somehow screwed HER over. I went home and cried and was miserable. I have not had a job since - what's the point?!

In retrospect, I don't know what I could have done differently. I don't know if this is helpful to anyone.

Kristin

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Kristin