Need help with co-workers!

[Guest guest]

Hello everyone,

This is a very long post! Please bear with me! I was diagnosed with rheumatoid

arthritis almost 9 years ago. I also have an inherited heart condition called

hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Managing both conditions is quite a challenge for

me. I continue to work full-time. I work as an administrator in an academic

unit at a university. I have a very demanding job. I have worked at this

university for almost 25 years, and I have accrued a lot of sick days. I am on

intermittent FLMA, and I use my sick time if I need to stay home due to flares,

and also to go to doctor's appointments and go for testing.

The Chair of the Department (my supervisor) and the personnel in the Dean's

Office are very supportive. Most of my coworkers are also supportive and

understanding. When I am not in the office, my work simply does not get done –

it sits there and waits for me to come back to work. So my co-workers are not

really burdened with extra work. When I am home with a flare, I can usually

manage to answer emails and phone calls. I usually work a few hours every

weekend from home, and also when I am on vacation. I am very dedicated to my

job.

However, I have been told there is one group of co-workers who believe that I am

playing the system, that I am not really sick, that I am taking advantage, and

that I am not doing my job. This of course is very hurtful to me and upsetting.

They will not tell me this directly, it is all behind my back.

What makes matters worse is that our department is growing, and my job duties

are growing. I have been saying that I have too much work to do and I have been

looking for solutions. One such solution is that I have been revamping the

administrative areas of our department. And of course there is resistance to my

changes. The same group of people who are talking behind my back are also the

ones who are resisting the changes. However, some of the people in this group

are very influential and it is hard for me just to ignore them. And their

argument is this: it's not true that there is too much work for me to do, that

is not the problem; the problem is that I am not there to do the work.

So how do I handle these negative, prejudiced co-workers? And more importantly,

how do I manage my emotions? The situation makes me feel by turn, angry,

depressed, demoralized and anxious, plus it is eroding my self-confidence. Any

help will be most welcome. Thank you.