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    #16
    its a very individual situation, we all know there is antidiscrimination legislation but that does not mean someone may not try to cause problems. i have had very mixed experiences with employers ans supervisors.

    I had been an acute care nurse all my working life but i had an accident that over time caused major problems with my leg culminating in a very long list of surgery culminating in amputation and complex regional pain syndrome- at its worst i was unable to work for a couple of years and i was wheelchair dependant and requiring morphine via a spinal pump- i thought my nursing days were done. i eventually bumped into a former collegue who now was the director of our major community nursing organisation who felt my personal experience of chronic health issues and disability, could only be an assett as it was similar to many of the services clients. She helped me work out the legal side of things with the nurses board and i started working in the call centre giving phone support to clients. all went well until a new person was employed incharge of my department- she made no bones that she saw me as a risk for sick leave etc but that she could not do anything about it

    however, i was then diagnosed with MS, i had not decided to tell the employer as at that stage it did not affect my abilit to do my job and did not require any special accomodations that were not already in place. i had come into to see the super to do my yearly appraisal and it was great! but that same afternoon a well meaning collegue had made mention on how tough things must be as not only had my father just be dx with terminal cancer but i had just been dx with MS- the super heard this and all of a sudden that brand new glowing appraisal was forgotten and she went to HR saying that i had a degenerative neurological condition that was so severe that it had been affecting my practice for months and had prevented me from being aware of my deficits!

    she then proceeded to document any typo, any situation where calls were not answered within 3 rings on my shift etc as proof of my problems without also adding that those shifts were often short staffed - we were meant to have 4 RNS allocated and regularly only had 1 or 2 at one point, but this would be left out of the reports to HR. Eventually i had support from the MS societies employment arm to help deal with this but it was stressfull and it took a while

    so i learnt that even with legislation and a good employer, one or 2 individuals in that company can still cause problems. I decided from that, that the safest option is not to declare unless it was necessary to apply for some workplace accomodations because of the disability. My last employer for example was great, blind freddy could see the electric wheechair and it was discussed at interview about needs such as height adjustable desk but they did not ask for diagnosis. it is still sad that overall my experience has been postive but that one person was able to cause a very serious problem that almost cost me my job , legislation or not there will always be those problem individuals

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      #17
      Originally posted by Special Kay View Post
      I have not told anyone at work, except two close friends who have kept it confidential (and don't work in my department anyway).

      I do mostly mental or intellectual work, so I don't want anyone assuming I'm not fully able to do it. And my boss is one of those over-mothering types who would make a big deal about how I felt every day and I just don't want that. She would mean well, but she would always be thinking about whether I was ill that day or not. I've seen her do this to others.

      At some point I may have to tell, but until then, I won't. I have never had to call in sick for my MS, and I schedule my doctor's appointments carefully so as not to be disruptive (for instance the place where I get MRIs is open until 8:00 at night, or I'll take a day of annual leave and just get a whole lot out of the way in one day).

      If I fell or had an episode at work I would not tell anyone, or would make some reasonable-sounding excuse (just clumsy, sore from working out, etc.) if anyone witnessed it.

      I know a lot of people disagree with this, and prefer to live more openly, but I have never yet regretted NOT telling certain people about my MS. While I have definitely regretted telling some people.
      Great post. Like you I have never regretted not telling someone but I have regretting telling a few people that I have MS.

      Hang in there and I hope we are both able to continue working for as long as we want.
      He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion.
      Anonymous

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