when did you know?

[sunshine008]

hi,

I hope it's ok i post this topic on here, I figured might be because it's about the emotional piece with filing for disability and not the logistics of the nightmare

so, for those who are on it...how did you know it was time to cut the working and apply and focus on your health?

It's funny because it's alot bigger of a decision than i thought it would be, at least for me.

so figured i'd ask to see how everyone else knew it was time

[ajmarsh]

not ready for disability

I am not quite to that point yet but thinking about it for the future. It is a BIG decision. I just got a temporary handicapped parking rearview mirror placard. Even that was a BIG deal to me. Gladly, I don't need to use it much yet.
Maybe you should check out another area in MS World, such as the social security question/answer place. Looks like a professional volunteers to provide answers.
I hope you get the answers you need. This is hard, I know.
Good luck,
A.M.

[HappilyUnhappy]

Good question ...when did you know?

Not offering an answer, but that same question has crossed my mind - when do you know (and I agree, it is a big decision).

Everyone at my workplace knows I have a disability (my walking and energy levels aren't great), and work is becoming difficult ... I am just not sure when to try the disability route.

Not sure it matters but I am in Canada.

[kelm10]

Thoughts

I was in your position, I had some conversations with co-workers.

I had no energy to do things in the evening with my kids, let alone for myself. The weekends were the same.

One day when I was walking into work, I realized that I was dragging my bottom just coming into work. I still had a whole day of work a head of me. I stayed until a little after lunch and went home. I even left my husband there, we rode together and worked at the same place.

I don't regret it at all, it is so nice taking care of my health rather then beating it up. It did make a hit to my depression for awhile.

[SnowReader]

I'm only 2 months away from 23 and this is a thought that has been burrowing itself into my head, especially over the past week.
I barely had enough energy for my part time work this summer, and now, in the first weeks of fall semester, I've been forced to pull back in school. I was scheduled to graduate in the spring but now that has been postponed as well due to missing 3 credits. Its making me nervous about how I'm going to support myself, or work full time is I do manage to find a job..

[lstrl]

My situation is a little different, as I'm still fighting to get approved for SSDI, but unfortunately for me, my decision was made for me. I was forced to resign because I couldn't do my job anymore.

I did look for desk jobs after that, but nobody would give me the time of day since I'm a nurse. After a year of not working, I went to work for my dad. I am so miserable, I can barely function. The fatigue has gotten so bad, I don't know how I make it through each day, and sometimes I really have no idea how I drive myself home at night. I do still go to work every day, unless it's so bad that I can't even walk straight (which happens more often than I feel like it should), but work is all I can do, and it's such a struggle. It certainly wouldn't be hard for me to quit doing it so that I can give my body the rest it needs. Counting down the hours until you can get home and go to sleep isn't exactly a wonderful way to live.

[pennstater]

For me, I went thru a rough period using STD and FMLA leave over an 18 month period. My employer worked with me and provided accommodations, but even with them, I could not get thru full time work weeks for any extended period. My absences were impacting coworkers, projects late, and my boss had to do some if my tasks that he should not have. My husband said Enough, and I agreed.

I reviewed with neuro and agreed time to leave the workforce. It has been a rough adjustment, as I liked my work and coworkers and miss the interaction. But with time, it has been easier. I just never envisioned retiring at 50.

I was denied both SSDI and LTD, both of which are in appeal. Even with this aggravation, I feel much better now and can rest when needed.

Good luck with your decision.

[Thinkimjob]

It's not that hard to get the DSP in Australia, aside from the paperwork. And that wheelie-walker tends tipo sway the vote in your favour. Lord knows there are countless thousands (hundreds of thousands) happily accepting it., most of whom are probably a lot fitter than me.

My problem is I just really, really want to keep working as long as it is possible.
I don't even particularly like my job, but it gets me out of the house and it's useful. And like Miss America contestants always say, "I like meeting new people". (They also say 'travel' and 'helping the less fortunate', so where are you when I need you, Miss California?)

Health-smealth. It's not like stopping work will miraculously fix my MS. Yes, many more days will be available to go to the physical therapist, the masseuse, the acupuncturist, the podiatrist, the psychologist. And the doctor. And the neurologist. And the MS specialist. Did I forget the pharmacist? See an awful lot of him. Quite sexy in a bald bespectacled sort of way.

But I'll still wind up wherever I was going to land, and my world, as I think Hamlet said, will have shrunk to the size of an acorn.

I like to think my valiant pig-headed struggle is worth something.

[tspaulding]

I worked at the same mental health agency for 12 yrs, then one day I would barely walk and realized this is not good.

So, that week I had an appointment w/ neuro and asked for a note so I could take time off of work. I left on STD, then LTD, then applied for SSDI.

It took me almost 2 yrs and 3 denials before I was approved, I was 35 at the time. Luckily I had 15 yr work history as that was required for me.

GL and I would speak to your neuro if you are looking for time off of work or accomodations.

[hdwhit753]

Not to be facetious

hi,

I hope it's ok i post this topic on here, I figured might be because it's about the emotional piece with filing for disability and not the logistics of the nightmare

so, for those who are on it...how did you know it was time to cut the working and apply and focus on your health?

It's funny because it's alot bigger of a decision than i thought it would be, at least for me.

so figured i'd ask to see how everyone else knew it was time

I think the answer to your question is to listen to your own body and let it tell you when you need to go.

When your lets won't work to get out of the car in the parking garage, when you talk on the phone and nobody can understand you, when you can't read an invoice even with glasses, when you fall asleep at your desk (falling asleep in staff meetings is your boss' fault, not the MS), then it's time to start thinking about your future after work.

In the meantime, since you can foresee you may have to stop working and go on disability, I suggest you go on the Social Security website, get an estimate of the amount you would receive each month and start living on it. You may find, as I did, that with your current expenses, living on disability means your dinner choices are going to be between Nine Lives and Fancy Feast and that can be a powerful motivator to find a way to stay at work.

When it first manifested, my MS (Relapsing-Remitting) came on very quickly. In just months, I had significant disability in eight functional areas. Resolving to stay at work as long as I could, I started exercising, overhauled my diet, added some common vitamins and supplements and eliminated most of my outside activities other than work and church. Over the 7+ years that followed, I managed to continue working full-time with some minor accommodations (i.e. flexibility in my use of accumulated leave) while reducing my EDSS score to a 2.5.

I keep a can of Nine Lives and a can of Fancy Feast in my pantry as a reminder of what life could be like and it helps keep me going.