My first MS symptoms came with a blast in 2002. After utitlizing all of my FMLA time, I lost one job as I recovered, first, from stroke-like symptoms, then, from a second flare with serious memory, cognitive and manic symptoms.

Eight months later, after recovery time, I opened a licensed day care home in my own home. Did that job for approx. 16 months; then had another MS flare. By the time recovery had occurred, parents had found other care, and I did not wish to begin over from scratch. Lost job #2.

Got a job as a para-educator with the school district. Worked there for 4 years. Each year, I had a flare, usually in the spring, and had to utilize FMLA time. Continued employment in this position was determined on an annual basis for their employees. During the third year, HR instituted an assessment process to determine whether I was "fit to work". Employment was continued, but school placement was moved, apparently to reduce my stress.

During the fourth year of employment, I had two flares. One occurred mostly over Christmas vacation, and did not require much time off. The other one began at the end of April. On May 8, I received a letter from HR at the school district indicating that my employment would not extend to the 2008-2009 school year.

As I look at searching for a new job, I wonder, now, how employable I am. I have lost 3 jobs in 5 years. If I am unable to work a full year without running out of paid time off, or, if I can work a job, but cannot "adjust" or hold a job, does that consitutute disability?

I read SSDI's definition of disability online:

"Disability" under Social Security is based on your inability to work. We consider you disabled under Social Security rules if:
You cannot do work that you did before;
We decide that you cannot adjust to other work because of your medical condition(s); and
Your disability has lasted or is expected to last for at least one year or to result in death.

Does this meet their definition?

~ Faith

Hmmm.......that's a good question....and one that I do not know the answer to.

You could try calling your local SS office to inquire.

I wonder if it would help if your doctor documented (if he thinks it might be true) that trying to work has caused the frequency of your flares, so he restricts you to no work

Thanks for your comment.

But, I don't think that trying to work has caused the frequency of my flares. I wouldn't feel OK asking my doctor to document this. My MS has caused the fx of my flares.

~ Faith

May I say that even though the SSA has that in writing in their own documents for establishing your disability, they do not follow it when making decisions. If they did, none of us would still be waiting or filing appeals.

I do not want to discourage you but wanted to let you know that it won't be that cut and dried when you file.

Should you file?? It certainly would not hurt. You may want to talk to a attorney that handles only SSDI cases first. They will usually do a free consultation. That way you could address the issue of jobs and losing them. I would be curious myself what they tell you about that.

It never hurts to ask and it would not hurt or cost anything to have the consult. Just be sure to go to a reputable attorney.

My best to you.

Sorry, didn't mean to imply to ask your doctor to fib for you, but it has been proven that added stress (like getting a new job) can increase MS relapses or flares. I copied this for you:

Stress may trigger multiple sclerosis flare-ups in women
Avoiding stressful life events and learning effective coping skills may help avert flare-ups of multiple sclerosis (MS) in women with the disease, new findings suggest.
Researchers recruited 23 women with MS from the Multiple Sclerosis Clinic at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and followed them for a year. Each week, the women completed questionnaires asking about MS symptoms and life events, such as starting a new job, finding out that a child is doing poorly in school, having a motor vehicle accident, and being physically assaulted.

Every four weeks, the women were interviewed about the nature and timing of life events they had experienced, and the life events data were later analyzed with the MS exacerbation data.

"A controversial issue in multiple sclerosis research concerns the extent to which psychological stress contributes to the development and progression of the disorder," writes researcher Kurt D. Ackerman, M.D., Ph.D., and co-investigators in the Departments of Psychiatry, Neurology, Pathology and Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh.

"This study contributes to a growing body of evidence that stressful life events are potent triggers of disease activity in women with relapsing-remitting MS," they add. "MS exacerbations may be delayed or avoided by limiting the individual or cumulative effects of stressful life events."

Their results are published in the November-December issue of Psychosomatic Medicine.

During the study year, the women experienced an average of 2.6 MS exacerbations that lasted an average of 29 days. Eighty-five percent of the MS exacerbations were associated with at least one stressful life event in the prior six weeks.

The results also showed that stressors from different sources and of different levels of severity were equally associated with exacerbations. In addition, the researchers found that stress led quickly to MS exacerbations, with an average of 14 days from the stressful event to the flare-up.

The researchers further suggest that preventive strategies, such as coping skills training and early interventions for symptoms of anxiety and depression, could help women avoid stress-induced MS flare-ups.

MS is a life-long neurological disease that is usually diagnosed in young adults. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, as many as 350,000 people in the United States have been diagnosed with MS, and approximately 200 new cases are diagnosed each week. In general, women are affected by MS at almost twice the rate of men.

The research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health.




This is from the SS website:

How much can I earn and still receive Disability benefits?

Question
I am receiving Social Security disability benefits. Will my benefits be affected if I work and earn money?


Answer
We have special rules called "work incentives" that help you keep your cash benefits and Medicare while you test your ability to work. For example, there is a trial work period during which you can receive full benefits regardless of how much you earn, as long as you report your work activity and continue to have a disabling impairment.

The trial work period continues until you accumulate nine months (not necessarily consecutive) in which you perform what we call "services" within a rolling 60-month period. We consider your work to be "services" if you earn more than $670 a month in 2008. For 2007, this amount was $640.

After the trial work period ends, your benefits will stop for months your earnings are at a level we consider "substantial," currently $940 in 2008. For 2007, this amount was $900. Different amounts apply to people who are disabled because of blindness. The monthly substantial amount for statutorily blind individuals for 2008 is $1,570; for 2007 this amount was $1,500.

For an additional 36 months after completing the trial work period, we can start your benefits again if your earnings fall below the "substantial" level and you continue to have a disabling impairment. For more information about work incentives, we recommend that you read the leaflet, Working While

Thanks for the stress article. Interesting. I think that the bigger stress, for me, will be adjusting to not working, and to being "disabled". I plan to look for some meaningful volunteeer jobs, and to come up with a routine at home, as well, and make those my "new" work, if I pursue the disability route.

~ Faith

Faith, I had to redefine who I was when I could no longer maintain the schedule necessary to work outside the home. In fact, I have had to be gentle with myself when I can't get much done around the house when I am flaring. My disabling condition is Crohn's and complications in my altered digestive system (I have no colon, and I also suffer some fecal incontinence. . . not pretty or simple to work around!)

When it became apparent that I would not be bouncing back into my highly-stressful cubicle world, my mother reminded me that I had always dreamed of the day that I could be a full-time artist. Well, I am hardly that, but I did turn back to my first love, and picked up the drawing pad and set it in the easel at her urging. What is difficult for me now is that during a flare or a particularly difficult pain period it is hard for me to be creative. But I am surrounded by art I have done over the past 5 years, and my easel stands always ready right out in the living room. And I can now respond "I am an artist" instead of "I am disabled" when someone asks me what I do. . . .

So I understand the stress of not working. I find that any time I feel good for more than 3-5 days in a row, I begin to dream of the day when that becomes 30 days, and then 60, and them maybe I will be able to think about returning to a full time job, the feeling that I am productive again, and the ability to save for the future instead of worry about it! For now I will have to be content to mess around with my pastels and watercolors . . . and take a workshop now and then to stretch myself a little.

Thanks for that. Many people seem to think that working is stressful, but, often, for me, working can be life-giving. I will also have to redefine myslef/invent a new me as I navigate the possibility of qualifying for disability.

I'm glad that you've found an outlet in returning to your art. For me, I will need to find ways to continue to get out of the house. I will need to look for volunteer opportunities to keep me in touch with people. Shelving books in a library, or stuffing envelopes for some organization aren't going to cut it.

~ Faith

Faith,

I also have this on my mind frequently. I work four days a week and I can barely stay awake at the office. We have a small company and I don't know how long we'll continue on as that. We may go off in different directions and do our own things.

I don't know that I could manage in another company. I work very slowly at my job, though I know it very well. I don't know if another organization would be able to tolerate my fatigue issues and other effects of my MS. I haven't been hospitalized in a few years, but I know how that can make things difficult at work when I get behind with everything and others have to cover for me.

I can't handle working with "difficult people" anymore. I know this is triggered by MS, but I have to accept that as an indicator that my career might be shortened because of it. I would also volunteer if I had to go the route of SSDI. I have a feeling you would have a full schedule even if you start with SSDI. I know I'd be the same. I hope things work out well for you in this.

As Blue Eyes once said: Most disabled people work full time dealing with the disease that disabled them. They are always employed.