Hi-

I am a second grade teacher. I was diagnosed with TN about a year ago. Needles to say it's been an awful year at work. This week some fellow teachers went into the principal's office and told him that they were concerned because I have been acting weird. The principal called me in to discuss. I told him about TN but I just know that he thinks I'm either deranged or lying. He actually said something to me like ..."Mike, ya know were all like a giant link chain, and any one who is a week link can damage the whole chain." Could you imagine him saying that to someone with a broken neck ? I think maybe the worst thing about TN is the invisibility of it.

After the meeting with him I was pretty upset. As I was driving away, I couldn't really focus. That's when the white pick up truck t-boned me at 40 miles per hour. It took out the back of my car completely. If it had been one second earlier I probably wouldn't have walked away from the accident. After the car stopped spinning around and I had realized what happened, the very first thing I said was..."I'm done."

I filled for a three month leave from work. I run out of sick days in December and I don't know how I will support my family. The irony of all this is that after the accident which was about two weeks ago, I've been very lite on pain. I am very, very grateful for that.

Thanks.
Mike

So sorry to hear this! I would think there would be some laws about their not being able to fire you because of illness.

Hi mike , I think we have talked a few times before but it has been a while.
You say that for now since the accident 2 weeks ago the pain seems lite ? did you have any injury? maybe new pain might distract mind/ brain from the pain you already have been carrying around .
I dont like the " were all like a giant link chain, and any one who is a week link can damage the whole chain."
He should have said were all like a giant link chain, and any one who is a week the rest of the links will help support "
I am sorry he was so inconsiderate and can only say he has no clue. Your right on it being hard because of it being invisible.
There are laws about being fired for illness and each state is different so maybe check into your state employment laws .
Can I ask if it is just your hunch youll be fired or did someone at your work tell you that? I know the worry of supporting your family and paying the bills and so many etcs are weighing on you and spinning around the mind. try to relax and take it easy on yourself. maybe print out some info on T.N. to share at work. too maybe come up with a back up plan look into your state laws and remember we are here . sending you positive thoughts good energy and wish for good ending to job worries.
PEACE
BMW

I didn't think they could let you go from work because of illness. If you are still doing a good job teaching, then they can't do that. I so hope that does not happen to you. Jobs are precious these days. Sorry about your accidient. I am glad you were not seriously injured. Do they not have compassion for you at that school? If anything they should be supporting you. You can teach better when you know others are with you, and supporting you though a tuff time. ginnie

Hello Mike. I know exactly how you feel. I was diagnosed with TN in July 2010. I managed to work until Jan 2011. Wow what a struggle that was! I had been with the same employer for 14 years. My problem was that 99% of the doctors that I saw had no idea how severe the pain is with TN. I actually saw some ER doctors that had no idea what TN was. Most doctors think that you can work while having TN. I tried to get on my disability insurance through my employer but the only way they would approve that is if I went to see "their doctor" to get assessed. Guess what? He had no idea what Tn was and I was denied. I finally resigned due to "medical reasons". I ended up having MVD surgery in June 2011 and my TN is gone. Basically having TN changed my whole life. I have started working again in a different career and am making a lot less money. With you being a teacher, I would say do what it takes to get well and then try to find another teaching job. I know it will be rough but you never know, you might like your new job better than the old one. I do....

Hi Mike,
I am so sorry to hear about the struggle you have been having - lack of support from your boss and co-workers in dealing with an illness can feel devastating, while you are in it. The year leading up to getting a diagnosis and getting scheduled for my MVD was really bad, and other people on my project team were pretty merciless, and thought that I was an idiot becuase they didn't know me before it started, and I was highly medicated. Some people out there seem to smell blood and attack you at the first sign of weakness. That doesn't say very much about humankind.
I am wondering, as a teacher, does your job come with a 'cafeteria plan' of different types of coverage and insurance, including disability? You should check into this immediately - it helps establish a paper trail that you are sick, and will provide you with short-term, and then possibly long-term coverage.
You should also be covered by FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) - once your PTO runs out, you may use this to take sporadic or consecutive work days off, without pay. You could begin to use it immediately if you so choose, to lengthen your sick leave, for example. I think it's a national government plan. Also begin the paperwork for this - the application for it should also create a paper trail, even if you don't need it immediately. Get on these things, because once you start showing (through paperwork) that you have a verifiable illness, you would have a very decent leg to stand on in court if they were to try to terminate you for some other trumped up reason. Also, I beleive that they would then have to keep your job open for a year before they can terminate you.
I am going to PM you with my email, because I don't come onto this site very often, and usually can only type a bit before needing to get off the computer.
I am now on both private (from my work's disability coverage) long-term disability, and gov't long term disability as well. If you have any questions about this process, (it is a long and difficult one, but because of it we are able to keep our house and still live ok financially). But you can always write to me and ask how it's all done.
Wishing you the best,
Lily

Hi Mike,
I just tried to PM you with my email address, but I think you don't have enough posts yet to be able to receive them
Since I don't get on here much, once you have done enough posts, then PM Burntmarshmalow and she can give it to you.
Sorry Tina, I know you have enough work already! You are the Patron Saint of Pained Souls
Lily

Mike so sorry to hear of your illness. Our daughter was a teacher when she was diagnosed with TN. She was denied disability at first, but appealed the decision of the Insurance Company. It required letters from her Neurologist, Neurosurgeon and Pain management doctors. She recently had a motor cortex stimulator procedure after two MVd's did not work.