Are you managing to work....

[Christopher]

This subject hits very close to home for me. I was the sole provider for my family for 5 years before I got PN. I worked in the IT industry as a programmer. Programmers spend their days sitting in front of a monitor, and all those long hours of sitting helped contribute to my PN. I was fortunate to have an understanding boss, and he let me work from home for about two years. During that time I had surgery w/ Dr. Ansell in Houston and that cured many of my symptoms. But not all of them. I still have extreme rectal pain. One thing that the surgery did help me be able to do, however, is to sit in a recliner. I talked my boss into letting me have a recliner in a double cube at work, and I started going back to the office.

My problem was this: programming is mentally challenging. I used to have a near photographic memory and could hold entire programs in my head. Now I can barely remember what a variable is called without splitting the screen. The amount of meds I'm on is very debilitating cognitively.

My performance, obviously, suffered drastically. I used to be able to code rings around most people I worked with. Now I'm lucky to be able to finish my assignments.

But I can't tell anyone WHY, because I'm afraid I will lose my job. So I have to suffer the humiliation in silence.

This condition just SUCKS.

[Emily B]

I can't work. I have fibromyalgia and PN. I suffer both severe pain and exhaustion.

Some people daydream about winning a million dollars and buying lots of stuff. Some people daydream about going on vacation. I daydream about being healthy enough to have a job. In my mind, I have a career and do great things and help a lot of people.

It's VERY hard thing to accept not being able to work. I'm on social security disability. My husband supports us and I have good health insurance through his work.

Emily B.