working
 

I have not been diagnosed yet. I do have all of the symptoms. I was wondering who all on here works and how is that going. I am not working right now because my job required lifting and I can not do it. I am in school. I have two quarters till I finish. I am having problems with it but determined to finish. I will be working as a teacher or teacher asst to young children if I feel that I can not be lead teacher because of medical issues. I was wondering what your experience is if you still working, had to quit working or had to change jobs because of mg.

I am techincally still a mystery as far as diagnosis goes, but LEMS is high on the list of diagnosis.. I am on the go in my job as well, and in the 6 months leading to my crash, I got to the point where I coudln't work.. I was unable to even hold my arms up to the keyboard due to shoulder weakness, I couldn't stand up for more than a few seconds, walking was difficult and talking (slurry speech) and breathlessness while talking made my job impossible.. it wasnt' until I totally crashed and ended up in the hospital getting IVIG that things turned around.. after the 2nd round of IVIG and a few weeks rest I was back at work full time again.. If I go too long without IVIG i can't function at work.. It keeps me alive!

I understand how you feel I ended up with same symptoms that you described on Christmas afternoon. I do not have a diagnosis yet.

I am still working after only 2 months of MG. I drive a company vehicle as part of my job and the 1st month until the right dosage of mestinol was driving one eyed. The most I drove in one day was 250 miles and I really felt that for a couple of days. But I feel like I will be able to continue working now. My muscles really ache in the evening but at least I have a paycheck coming in.

That is great and I know everyone is different but it gives me hope that I will continue to work also.

Double Vision
 

I can really identify with this. I drive a taxicab on the means streets of San Jose, California. Months before I was diagnosed, I would have bouts of double vision, usually towards the end of a 12-hours shift, and usually towards the end of a 5-day work week. I was terrified that this would prevent me from working. I too would have to cover one eye. I even though about getting an eye patch.

I can tell you from personal experience, that driving a taxicab one-handed, while covering an eye with the other, did not instill a lot of confidence in my passengers. One guy asked me why I keep touching my face. I told him that if he had a face that looked as good as mine, he would touch his too. :)

-Mark-

I teach in a college. I have been able to keep working, but I do have some issues.

The biggest one is that my voice gives out. I have learned to pace myself at work. I give the students frequent breaks. I also have started sitting on a stool to lecture rather than standing. I have not shared why I have issues with my students and they do not question me. It is possible that they already know because it is a small school and my dean and colleagues know. Rumors fly.

Either way, I just keep on keeping on. If I quit, my financial situation will be dismal and I have people counting on my income.

I was diagnosed 2 years ago, and I am still hanging in there.

Teaching
 

Hi Celeste,

It's amazing how timely your comment is. I have been thinking about this exact issue for the last few weeks. I started college later in life that usual, going first to a West Valley College, then to San Jose State University, and ending up in graduate school at the University of California, Davis in a Masters program. This was a 12-year odyssey. I went part-time in the beginning, as I was paying the freight by driving a taxicab. In 1993 I graduated from UC Davis with a Masters in US History, Post-Reconstruction with a concentration in Cold War studies, at the age of 39. My dream was to tech history at the community college level.

I was fortunate and got part-time positions at West Valley College, Mission College, and San Jose State University teaching survey courses in US History. In total I was teaching more that a full load between the three schools. You could not teach a full load at any one specific school because they would have been required to higher you full time and even pay benefits. They called us part time instructors "Freeway Flyers." Once I had only 30 minutes between classes, one at West Valley College and the other at Mission College, a 20-minute drive. Fortunately it was the same course, so having just given the same lecture, I did not need any prep-time before class. That was my opinion; I believe some of my students may have thought otherwise. :)

Community college teaching jobs are very attractive positions. I applied for over 150 positions in the three years that I was teaching part time. I understand that each of these position would receive hundreds of applications, so the odds are quite long. Even with top grades, current teaching experience, and excellent evaluations, I could not secure a full time position. I didn't even get one interview. I moved into another direction. I became a Web developer and hosted Web sites in the early Internet days. Did quite well too, until the dot com bust. I still build and host Web sites, having kept some of early, long-time clients, but it is only a fraction of what it was.

The thing I have been thinking about lately is that, if I had secured a full time teaching position, I could no longer do it. I'd be out of work. Although I do not have enough history with MG to know how it will progress for me going forward, for the last thee months I can not speak for more 5 or 6 minutes before my voice become so labored that people cannot understand me. After resting awhile, it comes back slowly. So right now I conserve my voice for hurling insults and curses at my fellow motorists and threats at my taxicab passengers. :) "Stop playing with the automatic window button, or you will be walking!"

This has not caused me any great problem to date, but on occasion a cab drivers needs to be loud and aggressive to defuse a potentially violent situation. If some people sense weakness, they go right for the throat, sometimes literally. There are a lot of angry people out there. Last Sunday after the 49er game, for example, there were many drunk, angry and abusive people out and about. Had the 49ers won, they would have been drunk, happy, and abusive, much easier to deal with. In retrospect, given that I drive in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, perhaps it was the wrong night for me to wear my Seattle Seahawks jersey. :)

With the drugs, my speech has improved greatly. But if I am talking, that only lasts 5 or 10 minutes before it is gone. I hear some people describe this as "slurred speech." For me that misses the mark. For me the words stick in my throat; they are there but won't come out. Very frustrating! I sound like a stroke patient trying to get out the words. One of my passengers though I was having a stroke, fearful that we were going to die in a fiery crash. My dad used to say that someday I would "choke on my words." Dammed if he wasn't right. :)

I hope your speech situation improves. BTW, what is your field?

-Mark-

I teach anatomy and physiology and microbiology. I was very lucky to get the full time position. They much prefer to hire part timers so that they don't have to pay benefits. I was just in the right place at the right time.

We too were used to balance a budget. It got so lopsided in the mid 1990s that the district was placing its accreditation at risk. Too many part-timers and not enough full-time tenure track instructors. I don't know what it is like know.

Take care,

-Mark-