Al

[Guest guest]

Hi Al!

Thanks for the kind words! I hope your breathing is getting better and that

you pass all your tests!

Well I’m going for less Whine, more action this week!

First I’m dealing with the main issue causing my stress right now (an

unbelievably difficult colleague who shares the management of the department

with me). I had a very frank talk to our boss and am hoping for a solution

& positive outcome, we have a joint meeting about it today (I’m nervous but

hopeful!) I live in Mauritius (an island in the Indian Ocean) so

unfortunately don’t have recourse to the same advantages for illness at work

etc. available in the US. My company doesn’t know about my RA, I haven’t

hidden it, just never brought it up. I’ve managed up till now to cope and

haven’t missed a single day of work due to illness since I started almost a

year ago. I’m also going to try work less hectic hours, I’m trying to fall

pregnant now and if it works that will bring up another issue – the hours

will be impossible – I’ll try to manage till then and then try change to

part time or look for something else. It’s really silly but I feel that I

have to do this job for a while, at least then one day I can say “been there

done that, got the T-shirt!”. Pretty Doff hey!

It must be even more stressful for you work wise being the breadwinner of

your family, at least for me if worst comes to worst I can always fall back

on my husband, buy a few “cooking on a budget” cookbooks and learn to cook

properly! LOL! I hope you can carry on doing what you like for many more

years!

Take care,

Heidi

P.S. I’ll bring some of our “Green Island” Sugar Cane Rum to that party!

It’ll give 10 kicks to the Ouzo! Yikes – Drain cleaner!

Al Wrote:

Subject: Re: Hi Everyone

Hi Heidi,

I am sorry to hear you are going through this. More whine is

sometimes a good thing though. Especially if you're stressed out.

I guess the question is whether there are any less stressful

alternatives or ways to limit the amount of stress you have without

having to leave your job.

I can relate to your stress to a certain extent. I was a practicing

attorney, and now work in new product development for a company that

produces workflow tools for securities attorneys and compliance

officers. The one thing I can say is even your dream job can become

hellish if you're ill. I know it's a hard thing to deal with. I'm 39

and still worry about having to leave my job. If you work for a good

company they will hopefully try and accomodate you. Under the ADA

they should, but it's nice when they do it because your a valued

employee.

Best of luck to you.

Al in IL

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