I'm sorry Nancy. What do you do?

Sounds like your shingles was brought on by stress at work.

Hi Marti!
I am a social worker. The kind who does psychotherapy. I went to nursing homes and provided mental health counseling and monitoring of psychiatric symptoms and other medical problems to residents with severe mental illness, garden-variety depression, anxiety, behavioral issues, end-of-life issues.... I worked for the county as a contractor. I never got hired in, so I worked for 7 years without any benefits, no paid vacations or holidays, no retirement. On top of that, I took 17% in pay cuts in the last two years. It would be one thing if everybody was treated this way, but I worked side-by-side with people who had all of those benefits. I ended up with an attitude problem!

Yeah, I would have an attitude problem too. Have they tried to talk you into coming back yet?

No, I think there is a sense of relief that I will not have to be fired! My boss told me today, "you know I have always liked you." and I told her that I did know that. Other than a few personality quirks that we are all entitled to have, she was a great boss. It is the department administration that are clueless about what we do. They jacked up the paperwork load, told us that if we don't write our progress note when the person is in the room with us, we have to then write a second progress note saying "I took this 15 minutes to write a progress note for my visit with Fred yesterday." Writing a progress note that you wrote a progress note was truly bureaucracy at its finest!

" I ended up with an attitude problem!"

yeah, it sounds like with good reason! gee, those agencies can drive one nuts. I've worked for a number of state, county and city agencies. My last job - that I loved - went downhill fast after the admin changed. the head guy retired and his assistant took over. What a mess. People were quitting left and right. I held on for a number of yrs but my health suffered for it. I was planning to take early retirement in early Nov of '01 when I got so sick in Sept that I couldn't make it til then.

Working in a bad environment can do you a ton of damage.

I hope it all works out for you. Get a bunch of rest and soak in NOT being in that place and then hopefully you can find a part time position somewhere else.

Well, the good thing is that there are more part time jobs out there than full time jobs these days. So hopefully you'll find just what you want as soon as you are rested and ready.

Well, as I was sitting at my desk, getting my cases in shape so that my successor can take over and not be overwhelmed, my phone rang. It was the Team Leader for my dream job, which I applied for a month and a half ago. He wants to interview me on Monday! My last day for the old job is Friday, the 28th. I really, really want to get this new job. But I wanted a few weeks off first. A few months would be better, so I can get my legs treated and be all accustomed to my new appliances I will be wearing the rest of my life. But first I have to go through two to three months of bandaging the legs every day in several layers of padding and compression bandages. That will get my legs down to just ME, not the gallons of water I carry with me everywhere now. It is a lot easier to do this treatment between jobs than it is to do it while working full time. Unfortunately, my dream job is full time. But it pays 20% more than I get now, gives me full benefits and VACATION and sick days and all those other perks that I have not had for 14 years.

Here is a link that might be useful: What I need to to be wearing

OH Nancy. That looks like a device of torture. I can see how it would be easier to do if not working. I hope it helps.

I totally understand the job stress. Dealing with the same myself The stress for me brought on the worst flair of psoriasis I have ever had. Still suffering from it. Better though now. Been over a year and a half I can barely walk.

Like you low pay no befits and yet a couple councilmembers want to own me. Well it is not going to happen. I work approx 6 % or less of the year for my job and the other 94% is my own. They are NOT taking that away from me. Already talked to my boss about it and he said keep facts and figures close at hand as this will be challenged at the next meeting when I finally get the FIRST raise I have had in 4 years. I do not plan to resign because if they fire me I will get unemployment. They have no excuse to fire me. I have done nothing wrong.

One councilperson even wants to control my PERSONAL home answering machine. Says the message is not acceptable for a person of my position. Well HELLO this is MY phone. In fact my message is this. You have reached the home of Me and hubby. Since I am the one that pays this phone bill I choose who I allow to annoy me. Leave a message and you will be lucky if I call you back.

Now is that so bad?? Yes it is but I have had city phone calls at home starting at 6:50AM up to as lats as 10:30 at night. What makes a person think I want to talk to them about their water bill in my living room. I do have an office. Since I have had this message my phone calls have been reduced to about 90%. PHEW and my health is improving. I no longer answer the phone at home unless I hear who it is and want to talk to them. I refuse to pay for caller ID and then have to grab phone book and try to figure who it is calling. Since I took charge of my own feelings and voiced my opinion to several people my health is improving.

Nancy do what you want to do. I hope you heal. I know that Lymphedema is nasty stuff. Stress is nasty stuff. We need to avoid it as best as possible. One little thing I have been doing is taking Holy Basil. It is a great calming herb. No prescription needed. Just be sure to check with your doctor about it first.

Sorry I did not come over this side sooner. I forget about this side. How did the interview go??

HI Chris, I remember you mentioning the psoriasis before. I did not know it was still flaring for you, though. If having a semi-sarcastic answering machine message has cut down on your stress, then great! Why the town members think they can call you at home instead of at the town office is beyond me. I imagine your office hours are pretty short if they only get 6% of your time, but if the town wants to have a person available to talk to citizens when you are not in the office, then they need to pay you extra for that time. Then they can put a phone line into your home and record any outgoing message they want.

Unfortunately, my job was a very high paying job. That is what made it so hard to leave. The VA job would pay more, if I get it. Other than that, I will never find a job that comes close. Unfortunately, if I get the VA job, I may not be able to take it. It may come too soon and I may not have time to get my legs treated first. Also unfortunate was my performance at the interview. It turns out that it was a "structured interview." There were 12 questions. There were three people who listened to my answers and took notes. I got all flustered and babbled on at least two questions.

I have has a very busy first three days off work. I started working out in the pool, took the dog to the vet, made a few appointments, completed a Medicaid application for my friend, and today I got a foam rubber topper for the bed, hoping to hurt less. I also got wedges, so the entire bed has a raised head now. I am hoping DH likes it, too. I have been using 7 pillows. Hoping to be down to 2 or 3. Off I go to try the new bed out!

It works well, and I am down to four pillows! Tiny one under my head supporting my bigger latex head pillow, the body pillow to hug and to throw my leg over for side-sleeping, and one pillow at knee level to keep me from hyper-extending my knees. I don't hurt from sleeping a full night! DH says he likes it much better, too. I highly recommend a real latex foam rubber mattress pad. No fumes, no allergens, and good support.

Nancy- Sorry, I had no idea what was going on...my husband got sick August 2012 and I have been really busy visiting him. He was in the hospital for months and then a nursing home. Good news is...he came home in June and is doing so much better! He had some strange form of neuropathy, but seems to be recovering and is walking with a walker...no more wheelchair!

We worked with people, who do something similar (I believe) to your old job. They were lifesavers...and helped so much with all the paperwork and everything else that comes with long hospital/care stays. Just wanted to say that I hope you found something great for work and I hope that you're feeling better! We need great people in this type of work and I know you are being missed! Take care and I hope things are getting better :)