New manager at work possibly making things easier!

[Loopy Lou]

We just got a new manager at work, and for once they're trying to make things easier for me!

The previous manager had thought of me pretty much as someone who could "go off" at any time and gave me all the rubbish shifts that no-one else wanted, so that i could always be working on a day when none of the clients were going out. I never got two days off in a row, and certainly never had a weekend off. Considering i only do 20 hours a week now, i was getting pretty fed up. I now work in a house which supports 4 people with learning disabilities. There's 3 young girls and one fella. They're very self sufficient and only really need help with finances or cooking, and one girl needs help with washing her hair and bathing. This means that for the last few months all i've done at work is cook, clean and bath this one person. And a lot of sitting around whilst the other staff complain that "louise isn't allowed to do that, so we have to"

This new manager has also said that having worked with me and heard me talk about my epilepsy and seizure control etc, he doesn't see a reason why i'm seen as such a big risk and is talking about reviewing my risk assessment because i haven't had a tonic clonic in the day time for about 8 months now. One of the girls i support has down's syndrome and she wants to know if i'll be able to support her to go out shopping and to her classes and stuff. She said it's not fair that she has a keyworker (me) and i can't actually help her go out and do things like everyone else's keyworker does.

Yeah so this post was probably a long winded way of saying that i might actually get my job back nearly the way it was before my diagnosis, wooot! I'm just glad that there's finally someone who's listening to me!

[Nakamova]

That's terrific Lou! What a great way to start off the New Year!

[Endless]

What great news!!! I'm so happy for you. Now that things are better, are you thinking about staying at your job and not finding a new one? Think they may increase your hours?

[BuckeyeFan]

Sure hopes this works out for you Loopy!

[Loopy Lou]

Things haven't changed just yet... he's working on the rota which should be ready by the 10th Jan, and he still needs to have a word with the area manager about me being able to work on my own, but i have good hopes.

With any luck i won't need to look for a new job after all, or at least i'll have somewhere comfortable to wait while i'm looking

[Minkels]

That's great news! I sure hope that the new manager follows through on helping you regain the job you had before you had the tonic-clonics...this would definitely be a good start for the new year for you. Keep us updated on how it works out for you!

[CathyAnn31]

Most excellent!

[Loopy Lou]

Well, the new manager has made a good start by allowing me to have some weekends off. My first weekend off in about two years is next week, apart from when i have been off on annual leave or sick leave. Also, he's made it so that all the staff have their rota worked out fairly. There's been some complaints from the people who were "in" with the previous manager and usually get everything they want.

I also often have say... 3 or 4 days of working in a row and then 3 or 4 days off which gives me time to have a proper break from work, especially since it's so stressful at the moment.

He's also arranging a meeting where i can talk with him and the area manager and one of the people i support as to whether we can change my risk assessments so i'll be able to go out with this person. She has down's syndrome but is very capable. She knows what my partials look like and they don't faze her at all, but we want to make completely sure she's comfortable with me taking her out.

Things could be looking up for me here!