Hi Shars,
Welcome to Neurotalk.
I went through short term / long term disability and am just now getting back to work. My return to work has been a 4 week 4 hour per day, going onto 4 weeks of 6 hour days now and then I'll be onto 8's. I was out for a full year before starting this and for a month before returning at all I was doing physio to rebuild stamina.
If you are still having great difficulty with weakness after only 2-3 hours out, you should talk to your doctor. It could very well be too early for you to return to work. Take advantage of your healthplan; pace yourself and look after yourself... it is much better to put off return to work for a little while than to land in hospital.
I hope all works out for you.
Cheers,
Brian.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SharS
Hi - I'm new and so happy to finally have found this website. Just reading the posts this past weekend has been so encouraging and affirming. Those of you struggling to get diagnosed, please hang in there and know that many of us went through the same struggles, including myself.
I am in my early 50's and was diagnosed with MG in 2005. Currently, I take 60mg Mestinon 3-4xday, plus 180mg sustained release at night, CellCept 2xday and IVIG once every 2 weeks. I have been working full-time since 2003 as the director of development and PR for a children's museum. I have worked hard to keep going with my job but finally crashed the first of April (breathing, walking, no voice, etc). I'm out on short term disability and resting, etc but can't seem to get my strength back.
After 2 months of trying to recover, I can be out for 2 or 3 hours, then I go down again and can barely talk, walk, etc. I can't seem to get any stronger than this. Right now, I am supposed to go back to work part-time mid-July and full-time mid-September.
My question is - am I expecting too much? Can a majority of people with MG work demanding full-time jobs? A minority? It has always been a struggle to keep going with my work even when I was at my strongest with MG, but I wonder if I have not been realistic with my expectations of how life should be managed with MG. I also have a wonderful husband, 4 grown children and 2 grandchildren that need my time and attention, too.
Thanks for any insight you can share about working and managing MG.
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