I am looking for a career that will accommodate my lupus. I’m not that old but it seems like everything I wanted to do before the Lupus is not really an option mostly do to stress. So basically I want a job that won’t set off a flare.
Should you find one, please let me know about it as well. I feel the same way you do.
The hardest part is that you will have flares with or without stress Best to look for a job that will accommodate your physical difficulties and where people are professional and courteous with each other Best jobs- look for a place that has very little employee turn over- they are generally a more harmonious workplace.
Well they are not allowed to ask but if you need accommodations in order to perform your job you should tell them upfront. However requesting a job be less stress will not get you employed as much of stress is in how YOU handle things
I know exactly what you mean. I finished my degree in June last year and just got hired to work as a Special Needs Coordinator. I was actually told by my doctor that I shouldn’t do the job. It’s a very physically demanding, “stressful” job. I couldn’t tell you how long I cried. I eventually came to the realization that if I wanted to get better and live a better life I’d need to learn to make sacrifices. So instead I’m now going back to school to start a new path (accounting). I’m hoping that this path works.
Remember not to let Lupus rule your life! BUT, do listen to your body... if you feel something is too stressful then stop and be sure to let the people around you know. I work in Human Resources, I sit at a desk all day. Yes it's mainly sitting but it can still be exhausting. But on the other hand, I refuse to not work due to having Lupus. The only way I will not work is if I physically could not get myself out of bed to get to work.
I actually just got my Bachelor's degree in HR, about a year ago too. It was difficult to work full time and go to school on Saturday mornings or at night. But my point is that you can do anything you set your mind to. Just do it in the pace that is comfortable for YOUR body... and always remember, people will have comments, but you need to learn to ignore them. I'm the type of person to show the world that yes I have this "struggle" but I don't let it define me. I actually have Lupus Nephritis which affects my kidneys and 11 years ago I was almost to the point where I would need dialysis for the rest of my life, but long story short I'm doing great now! Thankfully my medications have been doing their job! (knock on wood!)
It’s ironic this is the topic stress I’m a substance abuse counselor I just returned to work 6 months ago after being diagnosed with lupus kidney cancer they removed one I also had a complete hysterectomy and developed adhesions on my small bowel and had another major operation all within 4 months of 2013. I have decided to give up the job I love because it is too stressful and I have to realize and a just to my limitations oh but it’s a struggle. I’m going to ask my boss if I can work part time and facilitate groups wish me luck
I had to give up a teaching career and feel like I don't have a lot to offer anymore. I help tutor family and friends children, more for me than for them actually.
If I were going to look for a place to work, I would look for someplace where you feel comfortable. A library, a bookstore, an animal shelter...someplace that is peaceful to you.
I wish you luck. So many of us want that feeling of usefulness. But remember, you do matter.
Big hugs,
DeAnne
Good luck to you. I'm a substance abuse counselor as well. I hope that you'll able to facilitate some groups. Maybe do some assessments. (I don't know your state has intoxicated driver assessments, but in Wisconsin we do and that's a great gig for when your not able to make long term commitments to clients.)
Sara
fearful said:
It's ironic this is the topic stress I'm a substance abuse counselor I just returned to work 6 months ago after being diagnosed with lupus kidney cancer they removed one I also had a complete hysterectomy and developed adhesions on my small bowel and had another major operation all within 4 months of 2013. I have decided to give up the job I love because it is too stressful and I have to realize and a just to my limitations oh but it's a struggle. I'm going to ask my boss if I can work part time and facilitate groups wish me luck
As Ann says, there is a difference between a career and a job.
However, I am going to have to politely disagree that a career means that you must continue with college and continuing education for it to be considered a career.
I suppose that because my teaching career focused on working with students with disabilities and transitioning from high school into the job market.
As I tried to continue my own continuing education my Lupus flared and I was unable to continue not only my education, but my career.
I was devastated at first (without my career, who was I?). Now, as I said I have gone back to my art that I stopped doing when I became a full-time career woman and mother. I was lucky in that my Lupus didn't flare until I was in my 30's, meaning I did have a chance to go to college. I cannot imagine being diagnosed earlier and trying to carry a college load and work as I did.
I am still passionate about teaching, so if not English or the other subjects I taught, I still feel I can contribute. This is why I tutor my nieces and nephews and friends children. Not for pay, but because I still feel valued and I think that's what many of us look for with this disease. It's why I agreed to be a moderator on this site because education about this disease is vital.
I was a English major therefore a bookstore, or editing or something like that, even though it is just a "job" would still be a blessing for me.
Both of my puppies are rescues and I think that would be a wonderful place to help and be a contribution.
Guess what I am saying is that whatever makes someone happy and gives them a sense of purpose can be their career, although most people will change "careers" 2-3 times before they are 35.
I hope that everyone can find their peace, whatever it may be.
Hugs to all,
DeAnne
Ann,
Please, I meant no offense whatsoever in my post. I think we are both saying the same thing, just in our own unique way. I am sorry if I offended you in any way, it was not my intent.
I think we can agree (or I hope we can) that if you do what you love, you don't have to "work" a day in your life. I never considered my career work or a job because of my love for it.
I did, in fact read your post all the way through, and was only attempting to clarify some things.
Thank you so much for the links to those sites, I hope many of our members take the time to check them out.
As always, hugs,
DeAnne
Ann,
Again I am sorry that you took what I said in a manner which was not intended. I worked JOBS from the age of 14 1/2 as well, including fast food, airplane restoration, a sewing factory, leasing agent, etc. This was to get me to my goal which was working with troubled teens. I, in no way intended to minimize the work and sacrifices you have made to get where you are...especially with lupus.
Most people have to work a JOB to get to that place where they can have that career that some would "do for free" as I would in education.
I have apologized and I am sorry if it's not accepted.
It's the young people diagnosed with Lupus that I feel need to know that Lupus is not a disease that means they cannot follow their passion and if not able to do what would be their dream job there may very well be a job within that field that would be a fit.
However, I feel we have gotten off topic. You obviously took what I said in a manner that it was no way intended. I am happy that you found your PROFESSIONAL CAREER, as I did, however for many of our younger members it may be a very frightening time, not knowing what the limitations physically may be.
Again, I am sorry that you refuse to accept my apology and on this I do suppose we will simply have to agree to disagree.
Best Always,
DeAnne
Ann A. said:
Dear DeAnne,
I take great pleasure in saying that I would never be so arrogant as to disagree with YOUR viewpoint of YOUR career, YOUR work, and YOUR job.
However, your viewpoint is not totally applicable to my life. I have WORKED JOBs for many days of my life. I know when I am WORKING A JOB. Please allow me to share with you my long history of WORKING JOBS.
I got my first JOB when I was 14 years old WORKING in a Newberry's in a small town located on the border between the US and Mexico. This was in the early 1960s before cash registers were computers. We did not even have calculators. I calculated totals and taxes in my head (and sometimes on a scratch pad) as well as the the exchange between pesos and dollars. Every afternoon that I spent in that store I worked a job for the sole purpose of earning money. While in high school, I also worked as the school reporter for the local newspaper. In addition to keeping the paper filled in on what was going on at the high school, I attended and reported on school board meetings. If I had not been WORKING a JOB I would never have lasted through those dull meetings.
I got my first fulltime job at 17. I worked at what was then known as Sears and Roebuck. I worked in the original Sears Tower on Homan Ave. in Chicago, When the phones were ringing, I answered them, "Good Morning, Sears Telephone Sales." When the phones were not ringing, I placed calls. My drawer contained names that started with the letters Dv, "Good Morning Mrs. Dvorak. This is Ann calling from Sears and Roebuck. How are you today?" It was a JOB. I WORKED to earn Money.
From Sears, I went to Illinois Bell Telephone Company, Toll Traffic Office 1. Or what civilians would call long distance. We handled calls coming from the Chicago Board of Trade. Calls placed by men hustling to make money and in the days before the Internet angry because they they were already an hour behind the NYSE. From there I went into data entry and processing. My first job was in patient accounts at the University of Chicago Hospitals and Clinics. In Los Angeles I worked in data processing for - The Superintendent of Schools Office, Division of Certification and Retirement, O'Keefe and Merritt a Divison of the Tappan Company, TransAmerica, and Bank America. Back in Chicago I worked for the Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company before returning to the University of Chicago Hospitals and Clinics. These were all JOBS that I WORKED for PAY. Millions of people WORK for PAY everyday. Millions of people WORK everyday for no satisfaction other than their PAYCHECK.They need a paycheck to put food on the table, a roof over the head, and clothes on the back.
In addition to the JOBS listed above, I have also at WORKED JOBS at TG&Y in Alabama, Marshall Fields (in the Young Chicago Shop where I was the 5'8" size seven that very wealthy people used to decide what size their daughters wore), and as a clerk in a cleaners. I once worked for two hours at the Stouffer's Restaurant in downtown Chicago. They hired me after breakfast and fired me before lunch. It was the only job from which I was every fired. Most of my friend's worked in factories where they made more money than I did. But I could not get a job in a factory because I could not pass the manual dexterity test.
I WORKED JOBS while I was in graduate school. I had been awarded a fellowship to pay my tuition, buy my books, and provide a small stipend and I was not allowed to work during the first year. The second year I started to work as a teaching assistant. I attended a large university and I worked for the professor who taught the most popular course on campus. The class enrolled 800 students per quarter and required 12 teaching assistants. I started out as the newest and lowest ranked. Several years later I was the head TA with responsibilities for supervising the other 11 and keeping 800 students and a professor happy. I do not want to even think about the amount of work involved in grading their tests before the computer system improved. I did thank God for my background in data processing. But I was a single Mom and I needed more money. So on the days that I did not come to the university, I got on the train and rode with maids and other dayworkers out to Lake Forest, Illinois. The home of the Walgreen family and Lake Forest College where the Bears trained. But my job was teaching very rich girls at Barat College. That was one of the hardest JOBS that ever WORKED, While Barat was no longer a religious school it was still where nuns who belonged to the order were sent to retire. It is very difficult to teach sociology with an ancient nun standing outside of the door. I had nightmares in which they all turned into my second grade teacher, Sister Marie Victor.
Now my PROFESSIONAL CAREER started when I had completed all of the requirements for my PhD except the dissertation. I WORKED A JOB. My job was in a Comprehensive Community Mental Health Center. Everyday that I spent there, I WORKED. I will always remember the last day. An important part of my job was evaluation. I observed and took notes as one of the intake workers interviewed a potential client. My ears perked up when the client informed the worker that he was being spied on. That his phone lines were tapped. I was still attentive when the worker asked him for a phone number and he said that he did not have a phone. One huge big sigh. As I followed them down the hallway, I had to jump over a man having a Thorazine reaction on the floor outside of the physician's office. I ducked when a young girl that two burly Chicago policeman were trying to get into an elevator kicked at me. I waited patiently for a woman to finish washing her breast in the water fountain before I took a drink. What I did at that mental health center was work for money.
By the time I accepted the JOB at the university, I also had a career. But the University PAID me to WORK a JOB. For the 30 years the University PAID me to WORK A JOB. There were parts of the JOB that meet some of the higher order needs as defined by Maslow, but it does not make sense for anyone to think that I was not WORKING a JOB. The job at the university paid much better than any other job that I had ever had. But I was still an EMPLOYEE. I WORKED A JOB.There were parts of it I loved. There were parts of it I hated. I DID THE PARTS THAT I HATED BECAUSE IT WAS A JOB and I GOT PAID. I have worked almost every day of my life since I was 14 years old. And even as a professional, This woman WORKED HARD FOR HER MONEY. If I wasn't working, why would becoming more ill force me to stop?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0fhHLliKJI
So, no. I am not talking about some mythical land where people love what they are doing so much that they think they are not working. I am talking about finding WORK that PAYS that suits one.
http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2014/01/do_what...
Ann,
For whatever reason the last part of my message was cut off. However, I do believe that it is okay to disagree, if done politely with someone else's viewpoint. This should be a place for open discussion without fear of name calling. You have, in fact disagreed with me on several occasions however I take no offense. Your opinions are valid and they are your right.
I believe that it's important to see all sides to a topic and on occasion this may mean members disagree.
I grew up in foster care and was emancipated at 15 1/2 so I am very aware of having to work to eat. This is probably what made me choose the career that I did.
whathappensinvegas said:
Ann,
Again I am sorry that you took what I said in a manner which was not intended. I worked JOBS from the age of 14 1/2 as well, including fast food, airplane restoration, a sewing factory, leasing agent, etc. This was to get me to my goal which was working with troubled teens. I, in no way intended to minimize the work and sacrifices you have made to get where you are...especially with lupus.
Most people have to work a JOB to get to that place where they can have that career that some would "do for free" as I would in education.
I have apologized and I am sorry if it's not accepted.
It's the young people diagnosed with Lupus that I feel need to know that Lupus is not a disease that means they cannot follow their passion and if not able to do what would be their dream job there may very well be a job within that field that would be a fit.
However, I feel we have gotten off topic. You obviously took what I said in a manner that it was no way intended. I am happy that you found your PROFESSIONAL CAREER, as I did, however for many of our younger members it may be a very frightening time, not knowing what the limitations physically may be.
Again, I am sorry that you refuse to accept my apology and on this I do suppose we will simply have to agree to disagree.
Best Always,
DeAnne
Ann A. said:Dear DeAnne,
I take great pleasure in saying that I would never be so arrogant as to disagree with YOUR viewpoint of YOUR career, YOUR work, and YOUR job.
However, your viewpoint is not totally applicable to my life. I have WORKED JOBs for many days of my life. I know when I am WORKING A JOB. Please allow me to share with you my long history of WORKING JOBS.
I got my first JOB when I was 14 years old WORKING in a Newberry's in a small town located on the border between the US and Mexico. This was in the early 1960s before cash registers were computers. We did not even have calculators. I calculated totals and taxes in my head (and sometimes on a scratch pad) as well as the the exchange between pesos and dollars. Every afternoon that I spent in that store I worked a job for the sole purpose of earning money. While in high school, I also worked as the school reporter for the local newspaper. In addition to keeping the paper filled in on what was going on at the high school, I attended and reported on school board meetings. If I had not been WORKING a JOB I would never have lasted through those dull meetings.
I got my first fulltime job at 17. I worked at what was then known as Sears and Roebuck. I worked in the original Sears Tower on Homan Ave. in Chicago, When the phones were ringing, I answered them, "Good Morning, Sears Telephone Sales." When the phones were not ringing, I placed calls. My drawer contained names that started with the letters Dv, "Good Morning Mrs. Dvorak. This is Ann calling from Sears and Roebuck. How are you today?" It was a JOB. I WORKED to earn Money.
From Sears, I went to Illinois Bell Telephone Company, Toll Traffic Office 1. Or what civilians would call long distance. We handled calls coming from the Chicago Board of Trade. Calls placed by men hustling to make money and in the days before the Internet angry because they they were already an hour behind the NYSE. From there I went into data entry and processing. My first job was in patient accounts at the University of Chicago Hospitals and Clinics. In Los Angeles I worked in data processing for - The Superintendent of Schools Office, Division of Certification and Retirement, O'Keefe and Merritt a Divison of the Tappan Company, TransAmerica, and Bank America. Back in Chicago I worked for the Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company before returning to the University of Chicago Hospitals and Clinics. These were all JOBS that I WORKED for PAY. Millions of people WORK for PAY everyday. Millions of people WORK everyday for no satisfaction other than their PAYCHECK.They need a paycheck to put food on the table, a roof over the head, and clothes on the back.
In addition to the JOBS listed above, I have also at WORKED JOBS at TG&Y in Alabama, Marshall Fields (in the Young Chicago Shop where I was the 5'8" size seven that very wealthy people used to decide what size their daughters wore), and as a clerk in a cleaners. I once worked for two hours at the Stouffer's Restaurant in downtown Chicago. They hired me after breakfast and fired me before lunch. It was the only job from which I was every fired. Most of my friend's worked in factories where they made more money than I did. But I could not get a job in a factory because I could not pass the manual dexterity test.
I WORKED JOBS while I was in graduate school. I had been awarded a fellowship to pay my tuition, buy my books, and provide a small stipend and I was not allowed to work during the first year. The second year I started to work as a teaching assistant. I attended a large university and I worked for the professor who taught the most popular course on campus. The class enrolled 800 students per quarter and required 12 teaching assistants. I started out as the newest and lowest ranked. Several years later I was the head TA with responsibilities for supervising the other 11 and keeping 800 students and a professor happy. I do not want to even think about the amount of work involved in grading their tests before the computer system improved. I did thank God for my background in data processing. But I was a single Mom and I needed more money. So on the days that I did not come to the university, I got on the train and rode with maids and other dayworkers out to Lake Forest, Illinois. The home of the Walgreen family and Lake Forest College where the Bears trained. But my job was teaching very rich girls at Barat College. That was one of the hardest JOBS that ever WORKED, While Barat was no longer a religious school it was still where nuns who belonged to the order were sent to retire. It is very difficult to teach sociology with an ancient nun standing outside of the door. I had nightmares in which they all turned into my second grade teacher, Sister Marie Victor.
Now my PROFESSIONAL CAREER started when I had completed all of the requirements for my PhD except the dissertation. I WORKED A JOB. My job was in a Comprehensive Community Mental Health Center. Everyday that I spent there, I WORKED. I will always remember the last day. An important part of my job was evaluation. I observed and took notes as one of the intake workers interviewed a potential client. My ears perked up when the client informed the worker that he was being spied on. That his phone lines were tapped. I was still attentive when the worker asked him for a phone number and he said that he did not have a phone. One huge big sigh. As I followed them down the hallway, I had to jump over a man having a Thorazine reaction on the floor outside of the physician's office. I ducked when a young girl that two burly Chicago policeman were trying to get into an elevator kicked at me. I waited patiently for a woman to finish washing her breast in the water fountain before I took a drink. What I did at that mental health center was work for money.
By the time I accepted the JOB at the university, I also had a career. But the University PAID me to WORK a JOB. For the 30 years the University PAID me to WORK A JOB. There were parts of the JOB that meet some of the higher order needs as defined by Maslow, but it does not make sense for anyone to think that I was not WORKING a JOB. The job at the university paid much better than any other job that I had ever had. But I was still an EMPLOYEE. I WORKED A JOB.There were parts of it I loved. There were parts of it I hated. I DID THE PARTS THAT I HATED BECAUSE IT WAS A JOB and I GOT PAID. I have worked almost every day of my life since I was 14 years old. And even as a professional, This woman WORKED HARD FOR HER MONEY. If I wasn't working, why would becoming more ill force me to stop?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0fhHLliKJI
So, no. I am not talking about some mythical land where people love what they are doing so much that they think they are not working. I am talking about finding WORK that PAYS that suits one.
http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2014/01/do_what...
As you said you are a big girl, and I feel no need to "straighten you out" ;). I find your story compelling and inspiring, but sometimes writing on the website can just be confusing to the reader.
I read over and over how terrified people are when beginning school, college or graduate and in some cases, mine for example as I had a stroke, that I just wanted to clarify that there are areas within fields of interest that can also be fulfilling.
That was all I was trying to say. As I said, I think we were saying the same thing, just in our own unique ways.
No harm, no foul. Again, no offense taken and I believe that you are an inspiration to many on here.
I always value your opinion.
Best,
DeAnne
Again, I have apologized, repeatedly, however I cannot continue to do so. No harm or insult was meant nor intended.
However, it appears that no matter what I say (type) is going to rub you the wrong way. Having both been in education I think we just simply have different ways of communicating as do most educators.
Therefore, I think this conversation has reached it's conclusion and at this point the "horse has been beaten to death"
Good luck with your seminar I an glad that you are still able to work in your chosen profession.
As always, Best,
DeAnne
I don't have Lupus, but I do have RA and up until 7 mos. ago was on disability. I am now back to work fulltime as a phlebotomist. The class was very affordable and I get lots of exercise, which is the biggest benefit from having this job, outside of being part of someone's solution, which is huge, in relation to feeling like I fit in somewhere in the world.