[Chris]

I am a CNM with MS, and have been diagnosed for 10 years or so. Last night I was on call and was delivering a patient of mine who just happened to mention that her sister was an RN and also has MS. I've met so many nurses with MS it seems odd to me.

I was just wondering if there are any other nurses on here who have been diagnosed or are in the middle of being diagnosed with MS.

Thanks you lot.

[bafriend]

Chris, Yep, there are a lot of us nurses on the boards. I was an active nurse until last year. Finally after 39 yrs of nursing was forced to retire on disability. I've done it all from med surg, critical care, and finally case management for an insurance company. The stresses of MS and working were just finally just too much.

Somehow when I was young I never imagined that my MS would get so bad that I just couldn't work anymore.

Luckily I had all of the right disability insurances and so life without work hasn't been too bad. My advice to everyone with MS is get all of the disability insurance you can afford as quickly as you can. It's a rare person with MS that makes it to 65 without needing to retire due to their MS symptoms.

Hope you can continue to enjoy many more years of active working. Betty

[Chris]

Lovely to meet you Betty,
Unfortuntely for me, I was diagnosed before I started working in this country.
I work in a large OB practice and was turned down for disability because of the diagnosis. I have been contributing to our 401K fund, in hopes that it will help in the future should the need to retire earlier than expected arise.

We're hoping to start a family in another year or so, and I'd like to go part time if they'll allow it. Things here are quite different than they are in the UK where I am from initially. The system here seems to cater to the healthy and the wealthy from what I can see. But, I still am able to perform my duties without many problems, and the day after the nights on call, we are all given the next day off to recover.

I'm terribly sorry that you had to retire early. I must say, I love what I do, and I'd hate to give it up. But I do realize that it is a possibility in my future.

Thank you for your advice.

Chris

[doydie]

Here's another one. I was in nursing for almost 30 years. I worked 2 years after dx and my neuro said I probably had it about 5 years before dx. I was lucky to have worked at a large hospital that had disability insurance which I was able to draw for 2 years before I was put on SSD. I am much healthier since quiting work.

[elle]

I am a nursing student- and in limboland. Currently, I work in veterinary medicine. I love what I do, just don't get paid enough for the patients I work with! My shifts are 12 hour overnight emergency shifts so they are pretty active and pretty physical. Just hoping I can keep this pace up until I get out of school and have more options.

[Harry Z]

My wife, who has had MS for over 35 years, is an RN. She had her first attack just after she finished nursing school in 1971.

For the next 20 years, she lead a very active, sports-filled life and took nothing for her MS...there wasn't anything to take! Then in 1991, the symptoms gradually started to appear and she became SPMS in 1996. That's when she had to quit her job as a Manager in Critical Care....that was the hardest thing she ever had to do because nursing was her life.

Harry

[lady_express_44]

I have noticed that there does seem to be an awful lot of nurses, and teachers, that have MS. Tranditionally, these two tend to be 'female' career choices, so that may be the reason alone (largest % of MS'er are female).

A thought that has come to mind is that perhaps these two groups are exposed to more viruses/bacteria then others generally are.

If it were nurses/doctors with an apparent higher incidence, I'd be tempted to consider testing procedures, like radiology (xrays) etc. as a possible trigger.

Cherie

[Cherie]

I put out a query like yours a couple of years ago on the BT forum, MS World, Nursing Spectrum, and a couple of other forums and in two weeks had 43 RN reply. We went to a space that IOMSN provided for message space to communicate with each other then they became concerned when we started discussing individual therapies.

MSWorld then provided us with a password protected site where not only RN's but any health care professional could go to communicate out of the public eye. That is closing on 10/31/06 because folks have fallen away from that forum. There is a Nursing Forum at Brain Talk and some of the nurses have MS.

I personally keep in touch regularly with 4 physicians, 27 RNs 3 LPNs 2 PTs and several social workers with MS and am wondering if it is worth looking for forum space where we could communicate out of the public eye. is this something you are interested in? If so, PM your email so I can notify you when we have space.

[Chris]

Yes. That would be lovely, Cherie. I will send you my personal email. Thank you for your interest and information.

Chris

[AGR_UK]

I wonder how many neuros have/end up with MS...