My job is wearing me out and I don't know what to do about it!

[Shashi]

First, let me say that I love my job. I teach medical coding and billing and health information management at a private college. I've been there for two years, though I've been a college instructor at various schools since 1994.

This semester, due to budget cuts, they let one of our instructors go, which means our department head and I are the only two instructors in our program. Normally, I'm used to teaching the night classes, which meant five hours a night for four nights and then I could do other work (grading, course prep, getting our online classes prepared for approval, etc.) at home. I know it was a cushy schedule for being full-time, and I loved it because it was perfect for me. It kept me from overdoing it and wearing myself out.

However, this semester, I'm having to teach classes (7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.) four days a week and two night classes (5 to 10 p.m.) two nights a week. On the two long days, which are back to back, I'm at work for 14+ hours. I do much better if I can go home in the time in between the morning and evening classes, (which I do when I can) but the department head always lines up conferences for us to go to or there are staff/faculty meetings to attend, or something usually comes up that I have to stay for (projects, book reps, etc.) And today, she was wanting me to go to an all day conference. (I'm always off on Fridays and never go anywhere because I'm trying to recuperate from working those two long days in a row.) Luckily for me, we didn't get to register in time for that conference, so I didn't have to go. Oh, and plus, I still have work that I have to do from home (grading, class prep, etc.) on top of all this.

I'm just about exhausted from those two 14-hour days on Wednesdays and Thursdays. When I was younger, I would have had no problem with them, and actually used to work even longer hours, but I'll be 50 next year, and with this neurological problem (MS, whatever), I just get so tired. I slept from midnight last night until noon today, and I wouldn't have gotten up then, but my cats were jumping up and down on me, wanting to be fed.

I'm not sure what to do. As I said, I love my job and I desperately need my job, but it's wearing me out. I've caught a cold and also a stomach virus both in the last couple of weeks, and I usually never get sick. I know it's because I'm so tired and worn down. But I'm afraid to say anything about needing to go home and rest between classes and I'm afraid to refuse to go to extra conferences on my day off because I don't want to look like I can't handle the schedule. I'm afraid I'll be replaced.

I originally was scheduled for a VEP test today, and when I told my boss that I couldn't go to the conference because of that, she remarked, "Would you stop going to the doctor all the time! I need you to attend these conferences." I rescheduled the appointment for Oct. 28, and then ended up not getting to go to the conference anyway. I also have a brain MRI next Friday. Fridays are really the only day I can schedule these appointments, and now I can't really even do that.

I'm not sure what to do. I've even tried doubling up on my ALA/ALC dosages, but it didn't really help much.

(Sorry this is so long. I'm surprised it is. I'm almost too tired to type right now.)

[BLUZ]

Shashi I am sorry I do not have any words of wisdom or directions for help all I can add is 'you are not alone'. My boss used to be supportive, but lately not so much. My fatigue is so bad on days that I have no choice but to go to one of the unoccupied offices and sleep. My boss can not tell me I am not permitted to take time out, but he does make life difficult. I hope you find a routine that is beneficial to your health before your body gives out.

[sengelhardt]

My first reaction (as an HR professional) is have you gone through the steps to be put on FMLA? I don't personally know your situation and I have only been on the message boards a short while. With you being there two years prior, you should meet the hours required to qualify. You then have a certain amount of 'protection' if you will from being 'replaced'. FMLA gives you up to 12 weeks leave for sickness of yourself or family members per year. That would at least be one less thing for you to worry about.

Your bosses comment about your Dr appointments was uncalled for. I also don't know what state you live in, but I would check on the department of labor laws in relation to how many hours you are putting in a week/and or day. Not to mention the ADA requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for individuals with health problems to even include part time schedules if possible. I would talk with your HR department.

I know you try to schedule your appt's around your schedule, so you might not even use your FMLA, but it would be there if you needed it.

[valeriem2220]

I was actually just thinking this myself this morning.

I work 12 hour night shifts in a very busy and fast paced factory. I am on my feet and moving, sometimes very quickly, the majority of the 12 hours.
Last night while at work I actually dozed off, I was even dozing standing up if I wasn't moving. I have never felt that way at work.

I also have noticed that after a 12 hour night when I get home from work I have a very difficult time getting out of my SUV. My body does not want to move. My legs are exceptionally stiff and I have to force myself to get out. My body is also in so much pain I can hardly stand it. I hurt all the time now.

My boss has been understanding to a point through this. She has many family members that have MS so she has seen it, BUT she also believes the ones that are wheelchair bound or in a nursing home, just "Gave Up" and she has told me to not give up like these people did. I didn't try to argue with her or educate her. Sure some people maybe do give up, but wheelchairs and nursing homes are known far too often by people with MS and I am sure the majority of these people did NOT just give up.

This job has always been tiring, but has gotten far far worse recently. I am scared when I think of how long I am going to be able to handle it. It is a good paying job with great health benefits, and I am not able to lose either right now.

[jumpinjiminy]

Shashi, that is a brutal schedule, and to be piling extra requirements on top of it? Ugh. Why did they decide to get rid of the part-time faculty? Do they plan to add anymore?

Honestly, I think that schedule would wear out the healthiest of people. Unfortunately, I think they can skirt around labor laws by splitting shifts like that. It's awful. Being sick on top of it makes it that much harder.

I don't have any answers, but hope you're able to find a solution.

Hugs. Be well.

[billiejeane]

First, let me say that I love my job. I teach medical coding and billing and health information management at a private college. I've been there for two years, though I've been a college instructor at various schools since 1994.

This semester, due to budget cuts, they let one of our instructors go, which means our department head and I are the only two instructors in our program. Normally, I'm used to teaching the night classes, which meant five hours a night for four nights and then I could do other work (grading, course prep, getting our online classes prepared for approval, etc.) at home. I know it was a cushy schedule for being full-time, and I loved it because it was perfect for me. It kept me from overdoing it and wearing myself out.

However, this semester, I'm having to teach classes (7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.) four days a week and two night classes (5 to 10 p.m.) two nights a week. On the two long days, which are back to back, I'm at work for 14+ hours. I do much better if I can go home in the time in between the morning and evening classes, (which I do when I can) but the department head always lines up conferences for us to go to or there are staff/faculty meetings to attend, or something usually comes up that I have to stay for (projects, book reps, etc.) And today, she was wanting me to go to an all day conference. (I'm always off on Fridays and never go anywhere because I'm trying to recuperate from working those two long days in a row.) Luckily for me, we didn't get to register in time for that conference, so I didn't have to go. Oh, and plus, I still have work that I have to do from home (grading, class prep, etc.) on top of all this.

I'm just about exhausted from those two 14-hour days on Wednesdays and Thursdays. When I was younger, I would have had no problem with them, and actually used to work even longer hours, but I'll be 50 next year, and with this neurological problem (MS, whatever), I just get so tired. I slept from midnight last night until noon today, and I wouldn't have gotten up then, but my cats were jumping up and down on me, wanting to be fed.

I'm not sure what to do. As I said, I love my job and I desperately need my job, but it's wearing me out. I've caught a cold and also a stomach virus both in the last couple of weeks, and I usually never get sick. I know it's because I'm so tired and worn down. But I'm afraid to say anything about needing to go home and rest between classes and I'm afraid to refuse to go to extra conferences on my day off because I don't want to look like I can't handle the schedule. I'm afraid I'll be replaced.

I originally was scheduled for a VEP test today, and when I told my boss that I couldn't go to the conference because of that, she remarked, "Would you stop going to the doctor all the time! I need you to attend these conferences." I rescheduled the appointment for Oct. 28, and then ended up not getting to go to the conference anyway. I also have a brain MRI next Friday. Fridays are really the only day I can schedule these appointments, and now I can't really even do that.

I'm not sure what to do. I've even tried doubling up on my ALA/ALC dosages, but it didn't really help much.

(Sorry this is so long. I'm surprised it is. I'm almost too tired to type right now.)

Wow. Those are long hours? Do you have to work such long hours? I don't know if anyone is familiar with the book "The underachiever's manifesto" It is a brilliant little book and meant to be taken seriously. everytime I feel like a wimp,I pull it out and realize,life is not all about work. As I asked,do you have to work such long hours? Thats way to much when you dont feel good,in fact,it's probably making you worse?

[BigA]

Shashi,

I think Jimmy is correct. That would be insane for someone without the disease. Working for a company in financial difficulties is one of the most stressfull situations you can have (I know). We begin to feel personally responsible for making sure the company has not made a mistake paying us.

I just went to a job counceler yesterday and he reiterated how attractive you are to an employer when you have a job. If you can, start looking. Maybe it won't be teaching, but you may have options.

Have you seen indeed.com? Put in medical coding and your zipcode and see what turns up. You can begin applying and planning your exit.

Good luck and good on you for keeping working. But watch the stress.

BigA

[mjan]

WOW how brutal.. and I do feel your pain!! Brings back memories of working all day full time AND then going to night classes to get my Masters.

It just about KILLED Me!! Exacerbated all my diseases.

You can check into an "intermittent" FMLA where they cannot fire you if you need to seek treatment, rest etc. Now that may be hard on your colleagues and all. What do you think? I never abused mine. BUT by Friday I could not make it through all day. I used to literally HOLD up my head with my arm..then lay on my desk..then could barely walk around my work place.

Needless to say.. I am now on disability. I did take 3 weeks off medical leave..that helped a lot to hold onto work until last year.

Work and rest.. work and rest.. repeat.

Hugs my friend~ Jan

[fleetgirl]

Sashi- I don't know how you have managed to do it. I do admire you for it tho' !! I hope that something happens so you can have your cake and eat it too ( to coin a phrase). I know its not easy when your hurting to keep on going, but you have shown some amazing strength so far.

I wish you many more days at the job you love. I have to bid mine good-bye. I'm putting in my 2 weeks notice on Monday and its hurting more than the current round of nerve pain. Good luck with whatever the upcoming days bring for you.

[empirerecs]

Hi Sashi -

I'm sorry about this. First, does your boss/employer know you have MS? If not, I think you have ADA "protection." I don't know this for sure because I failed to look into it and I was fired because of MS cognitive sx's. I used the EEOC once fired.

FMLA only works if there are over 50 employees - that was the rule in Florida.

You are an instructor, would you consider getting a job doing the coding/billing from home? I was going to do that, took classes but was unable to finish. I knew someone who made very good money and had medical benefits while working from home raising kids. She could do it when she had time.

My suggestion to you based on my experience is look into your options before your medical needs "get in the way" and you are terminated. At the time of my termination I was having to go to doc appointments and needing physical therapy. My bosses (attorneys) would not let me go after work because I was the only single person and they required me to work overtime if they needed it. I even had to provide a prescription from the doctor stating I needed the physical therapy, the tests and going to the neuro. It was insane. They were stupid too, they actually put in writing why the terminated me, that's why I was able to go to the EEOC and get my medical benefits paid for a year. Had I not needed the medical I would have taken further and had them invesigated - they would have lost. I was the 3rd person they fired for medical reasons. It was a very small office, the turnaround for secretaries was unbelievable, nasty people.

Anyway, I hope it works out but you need to take care of you! I "know" you from your posts - you are strong, you know this crazy schedule is going to wear you out.

You would be an amazing billing/coder! you could make really great money on your own.

hugs~

[Shashi]

Thanks everyone. Sorry I didn't get back to answer sooner. After sleeping from midnight to noon yesterday, I also took a nap from 4 to 7:30 p.m. I guess I was just exhausted!

Our school is still rather small (private college), so there are only 47 employees at the moment. You have to have 50 under the FMLA. (Maybe they'll hire three more soon!) The ADA might apply though. I'll have to check that out. (I teach medical law and ethics, so have access to all of that info.)

I think I'm going to have to just tell my department head that I need to go home between the day and night classes. Either that or they're going to have to put a hammock in the break room for me. And maybe I can compromise with her on the conference thing and attend online conferences and webinars. (It's amazing how much clearer I can think to find a solution when I'm not exhausted!)

If that doesn't work, I'll look into other jobs, though I'd hate to give up teaching. Not only do I love it, but I make really good money for this area, plus I have good benefits and medical insurance.

Again, thanks everyone for your great suggestions and your support. I appreciate you all.

Hugs,

Lisa

[empirerecs]

So glad you are feeling better. It's amazing what some good sleep can do for you! I hope it all works out. It will be interesting to find out what the ADA might be able to do for you.

Take care and keep smiling!!!

[sengelhardt]

Totally off topic, but I just noticed you are in Knoxville! I live in Knoxville too, but I claim Oak Ridge b/c I am in the Solway area and work in Oak Ridge, and therefore do most of my business here in OR as well. Nice to meet another 'local'!

[tommylee]

I'm not sure what to do. I've even tried doubling up on my ALA/ALC dosages, but it didn't really help much.

Have you considered arson yet?
If you burned the building to the ground it would probably buy you about six months off?

(if this ever gets past the moderators please know I am just kidding)

[Sequoia]

Have you considered arson yet?
If you burned the building to the ground it would probably buy you about six months off?

(if this ever gets past the moderators please know I am just kidding)

The moderators can take a joke.