I still work full-time in a very demanding job. I was just up most of the night delivering a baby, and am now waiting for another woman to get ready to leave for the hospital. I will be off come 9 a.m. today but will be expected to put in a full day at the office seeing patients. I truly love what I do, but am wondering how much longer I can continue functioning on little sleep some nights. At the time I was hired, I was very open about the fact that I had MS, and at that time I was very asymptomatic.

Things have changed over the last year or so, and I find it more difficult to keep up at this pace. There are no part-time CNM's in our practice and I haven't thought of bringing it up for several reasons; one of them being the fact that we could use the extra income as we hope to start a family soon. I came over to the United States and immediately went to school to become a CNM, and have never done anything else in nursing over here. I'm not sure that I would qualify for disability simply because I have MS and a demanding schedule.

I am just pondering what made you decide to give up working. Was it physical symptoms or was it more fatigue related? I've not brought this up with anyone before, and I suppose it may just be the fact that I'm overtired and dreading the fact that I must put in a full day at the office tomorrow. I would appreciate any input you have about your situations. Thank you for your replies. It is much appreciated.

All the best,
Chris

Hi Chris:

I gave up work because I was fired twice in four years. I applied for disability and got it immediately thanks to the support of the doctor I had at the time who was great.

Giving up work is a huge loss. I was a funeral director and loved my job. The people I worked with had huge losses which made my struggles seem small.

In the end I realize I was deluding myself. I was put on disability because of depression (ack - a depressed funeral director ). Because of the way I was fired I did take the funeral home to the Human Right Commission and I did win my case.

It's a tough call for any of us. Good luck with your decision.

Chris,
CNM is abbrev for what?
Delivering babies must be such a joyfull
job!

Maybe you could cut back on the amount of
hrs? or switch your hrs around?

I stopped working PT yrs ago due to
raising 2 sons, being involved in their activities,
& fatigue from EVERYTHING not just MS. :

Let me take a stab at it, V....Certified Nurse Midwife?

My position of 24 years was 'eliminated' in July. It was a full time job, but frankly I don't think I could have kept it up. I was approved for short term disability but got a part time job teaching in September. I was approved for long term last week. They deduct 50% of my earnings from the disability check, but at least it gives me a way to buy health insurance.

Even part time is a struggle right now. Fatigue is the biggest factor. Hopefully things will get easier now that the holidaze are over.

Tough decisions. Good luck.
-Susan

I retired when my DH retired in 2000. I was an Accountant and took care of the books et al. It wasn't a tough job, so I didn't suffer from exhaustion, just burn out, mostly.

I don't see how you keep up the pace of your difficult Job, Chris. I can barely keep my house in order, much less work all day and deliver Babies all night. How do you do it? You must find a way to cut back, for sure.

Momma Says..

My position was eliminated in 1996. I went back to school and got an additional degree and then started my own business which I have since tapered to a slow crawl. When fatigue hits, my cognition slips....badly. I can't remember or articulate what I need to and I sound and look inebriated. Not good when you're in a position that requires professionalism.

Chris,
I don't know how you do it. It's been close to 25 years now since I could handle night shifts or do a double. Really messes with my sleep cycle and can set up weeks or months of insomnia with just a couple of nights of bad or no sleep.

I was a critical care RN when I had to quit. I had noticed that I was having a more difficult time remembering names of meds, doctors, etc. I remember looking at someones old chart and reading the depth of the charting I had done on the old chart and knowing what the lack of depth in my present charting. Then I had an exacerbation and the decision was taken out of my hands. After the exacerbation, I had such fatigue that I knew I couldn't go back to work.

It is a very difficult decision, one that you know affects your whole life. Your job is so emotional, I'm sure it puts more of a tole on you than a lot of our jobs. I wish you luck in making your decision. Cherie is a good one to read her job history. She found a niche in her life in nursing after her dx.

I left the work force mostly because I was unreliable and not very productive.

I couldn't handle noise, and was having a hard time commuting, so they set me up to work from home. This permitted me some flexibility and I worked random hours throughout the day.

Eventually I had difficulty conforming to deadlines, mostly because I was having back to back attacks. They were even kind enough to adapt my workload so that deadlines weren't so critical.

Then came the point where I was really very unproductive and was sleeping most of the day away. It really became to unfair continue to expect a paycheque for what I was actually accomplishing in a day. They STILL let me make this decision for myself though (what a great company, eh?!).

Managing my MS became a full-time job, and I was living only to work (and not doing a good job of that either). That is when I made my decision.

Cherie

Thank you all so much for your input. We're spending a very quiet and restful weekend, and I do feel somewhat rejuvenated. I do realize however that I will not be able to keep up this pace for much longer. We're hoping that by the end of the year I will either be pregnant myself or we shall look into adoption. In either case, I have a feeling "MOTHERHOOD" is more than a full-time job; yet one that I am so looking forward to.

Once again, thank you all for your thoughtful and heartfelt replies.

All the best,
Chris