Anyone with a job or disability?

[violetopia]

Loopy Lou, I am impressed with your commitment to working. And yours, Nicholas & Court, and lots of folks who posted earlier.

I would very much like to be a productive, earning member of society too. Since that isn't possible for me right now, I want to think about leading a purposeful life in less conventional ways--maybe volunteering, like you have said, but also focusing on myself (what?! can I DO that? tee hee) for a while so that I can improve my well-being. Maybe then I'll be able to work eventually, but even that's kind of beside the point. I want to find ways to live more in harmony with this condition. I don't mean giving in to it--more like acknowledging it and choosing to approach my life with gentleness and peace as much as possible. It's very difficult.

This forum is great, by the way. Thanks for listening, everyone.

[nicholasscott21]

Violetopia, true words spoken. It too would be impossible for me to work at present but unfortunately we do get pressure which is unfair. see how things go and not to heed to the pressure

[CQ:)]

I'm currently unemployed, looking for part time work but I applied for the disability pension twice -
1st time was 7 years ago & at that time I got knocked back & I was told I could still work. I only applied for it as I had someone suggest to me to try for the pension.

2nd time was last year,at the time I was on 3 meds which weren't controlling my partial seizures & I had just seen an epitiologist to discuss possibly having the surgery for my epilepsy. When I applied for the disability I got knocked back again & was told that my epilepsy couldn't be classed as treated until after I had the surgery. This bugged me a little because in my eyes I had been getting treated for epilepsy for 8 years by my neurologist & had no luck with the meds which is why surgery was suggested.

After I had my video EEG & was accepted for surgery in November I got a medical certificate so I didn't have to look for work. I had the surgery in March & stayed on medical certificate until end of June (just after my 3 month checkup).

I hate sitting at home so to keep myself busy I volunteer at 2 different places which I love doing .

[C0urt]

I do volunteer work when i get bored to, it helps. Actually, helped another woman when she had a seizure while making soup once after she hit her head on a steel counter. was an odd day.

[foul ball]

I've worked full time all my life. I've had tonic clonic's at work, but that's under control. Once in a while I will have a simple partial siezure (aura-deja vu), but can work through it without anyone noticing. My biggest problem is the memory. Just remembering names has become a chore. I am in design and sales so my company has me doing mostly design work and leaves the sales to others. I've been with the same company all my adult life and nearing the finish line - retirement. I guess I'm lucky, but it's been no walk in the park.

[Loopy Lou]

I currently have no hours at work this week even though I have a contract with the company. It's making me feel anxious. They were supposed to be shipping me out to a different house but they can't find the hours for me and neither can the current house I work at.

I know that due to the contract that they have to give me at least 16 hours a week but its worrying that they can't place me anywhere. They'll have to come up with something in the next couple of days or admit that they can't accommodate me any more and fire me.

Eeeek!

[nicholasscott21]

I hope they find some hours for you loopy loo!

[Loopy Lou]

I just hate not knowing what's happening Nicholas. I don't know how this will turn out. Normally we have our rotas for a month, two months in advance. Everyone else has theirs and mine is just a blank as of tomorrow.

They've got until Wednesday at the latest to tell me what's going on

[Brent]

I've gone from having generalized seizures about once a day, down to one every few weeks, with partial seizures about once or twice a day. I work full time, am trying to launch a startup company, and am working on my Ph.D. I haven't considered going on disability.

However, I have a couple of major things working for me. First, I do information technology consulting (for lack of a better description), which means that, for the most part, I work from wherever I am. As long as I have a laptop and internet connection, I'm good to go. Working full time in an office would be inconvenient, but not impossible. I've had seizures at work (when I did work in an office) and at clients' offices, and I've had them during classes. It sucks, but life goes on.

The other thing I've got going for me is I have a seizure alert dog. So, I don't get many surprises. In the 3 years she's been working for me, she's never missed a generalized seizure, and she normally gives me at least 30 seconds warning (sometimes several minutes or more). So, this makes me a bit braver than I would be otherwise.

The only real issue I would say that I have is that when we travel on business (me and the dog), I cannot drive myself around when we get there. So, I either have to take cabs (which I hate), rely on business associates to drive me around, or take public transportation in an unfamiliar city.

[LMReggcellent]

I was on disability about seven years ago, but just short of a year before I got married and received a full time job. I've since been released from five jobs because my seizures impacted the work, and my last employer let me go with a pile of information about SS Disabililty, including a letter from her saying why I need it. I've had no choice but to be grateful and accept the money now for about a year. But in the meantime I'm trying to earn money myself by selling my art from my website. I wish anybody trying to get benefits much luck.