First day back to work

[OllieR]

So I am a college kid and had the summer off school and also decided not to work to try to figure out IC. I thought I was doing pretty good. I was really excited to get back to work and school and have a routine and all again. So first day of work... I woke up with urinary retention and was in a lot of pain. I had to drive so I couldn't take a pain pill, plus the pain was making me naseous already. I ended up throwing up on the side of the road (so classy right?), getting lost, and finally taking 15 minutes to pee before being late!

Anyways, just another experience to add to my little life I suppose. IC and all the crazy things that come with it are constantly humbling me! To some people this may not seem like such a disastor, but I'm sooo private I still cannot believe I actually threw up for everyone (on a busy street at rush hour) to see! Ugh!

[leelee88]

(((Hugs))))

Those people you will never see.. So do not worry yourself about it..

[little E]

Hi, I can definitely relate. I'm only 21 as well and being in a work environment is hard at times with ic. Hang in there:)

[OllieR]

Thanks Leelee, it's so nice to get a virtual hug lol! Sometimes I like to get advice here, sometimes it's really nice just to know there's other people out there that know what it's like! It has been hard to start back into life because I never did respond super well to treatments yet, but I know if I can get over the hurdle of getting other people (like my boss who seems super nice and understanding and my profs) to understand and accept my IC my quality of life could go back to how it was before. Anyways, I won't leave it at bad news. I'll post later too and let anyone who reads this know the outcome of surviving work goes. It is a good environment; though I think I'll have to explain I have IC because I can't quite do everything there, and that seems scary to me, I really know already that my boss cares about his work and the people working there so it will be an interesting experience :)

[OllieR]

Do any of you ever have to share your IC in this kind of situation today? I told him today that I had a very painful chronic bladder condition and could not do some tasks that involved leaving the workplace where there may not be a restroom. Which of course was fine because they were not absolutely necessary things for me to do. However, I found that afterward I was very emotionally distraught after having to share my disease with a "stranger." Only my close friends knew until now. I feel like I was forced to share a very personal thing when I was not ready to, but if I did not speak up I would have never survived work. I wonder how I can do this many more times with my professors.

[kadi]

Hi Ollie,
I totally understand about being uncomfortable with talking about IC to colleagues, etc. I'm glad you took care of yourself at work & didn't force yourself to do something that might have set off a flare.

Public universities in the US usually have disabled student services offices. IC is a recognized disability and you are entitled to reasonable accomodations to be able to finish your degree. That office should be able to help you with your professors.
I know it's uncomfortable, but they are used to helping students with all types of health concerns. I'd definitely check in with them on how you should go about discussing it with your profs. Hopefully your professors will be sympathetic & will help you without hassle, but if you encounter a jerk, the disabled student services office can help you with him/her.

Wishing you the best this Fall term!

[OllieR]

Well, my big week of work is over and now that I "learned the ropes" my hours are cut back for during school. He made me do the things I said I didn't want to do anyways so he's kind of an *insert bad word here.* I ended up being fine but it made me soooo mad that I had to share that and then it didn't even matter. Plus I got to deflect a lot of questions about my weird eating habits. Anyways, glad that's over. I have an appointment with the office of disability next week. I'm looking forward to sinking back into my little hole where I am the only one that knows about my IC... *sigh*.

[Briza]

Ollie
I'm sorry about how things turned out at work....tho at least you will be on reduced hours now that school has started, right? That should help!

I'm glad you are following up on suggestions Kadi gave about how to handle your disability at school....and have high hopes that all will go well for you at school. She is right...teachers/professors/schools handle so many students with disabilites of all kinds...and some that require accomodations that are much bigger than just allowing you to go to RR as needed or to drs appts... and they must and they will allow you your accomodations.

It brings to mind a man who lives in my town who is blind...he went to the same U as I did, and the U contacted me personally to see if I would be willing to give him a ride to school on the days that I had classes...without asking for gas money. Of course I said yes, esp since the U is 45 min drive and I was used to carpooling with others whether I was the driver or the other student was...and we never asked for gas money from eachother, b/c we never knew when any of us would be without wheels (or gas money) and would need the favor returned to us! And yes this man graduated with honors...and accomodations for him being blind I am sure were much more arduous than those that an IC patient would need. So it is good that you are speaking up for your needs, and please be confident that they will be met.

Work is another situation altogether...I think the jury is out on whether it is best to let our IC/disabilty be known. In my case, at my former job, it turned out to not be in my best interest..no matter that my employer by law was required to give me very simple accomodations! At my new job I am not letting my IC, diet restrictions, etc., be known. I was burned the last time so I am just more comfortable now keeping it to myself at work. That is how I have chosen to handle it this time around with this job...but others in different work scenarios may choose to handle things differently, of course.

Good luck with your studies and your new job...I hope both go well!:)

[OllieR]

Well Briza, your post was very nice! I love the story about the blind student you drove to school. I feel like since I have IC I notice these things a lot more. Currently some of my strongest friendships are with the people who I have already helped through a hard part in their life, and now they are doing the same for me. And yes, it's hard to decide to share or not (I notice I do end up telling a lot of people because it strengthens my relationship with them so when I blow them off or can't hang out all the time they just know). I thought I had to in this situation but by the grace of God I felt pretty good the day I was worried about and everything was OK. Plus even though telling didn't help, it didn't hurt either. And yes, now my hours are cut back and I do not anticipate running into any more problems. Thanks again for the helpful post! Having an illness makes your realize just how kind people are when you need them to be, which overshadows the few that aren't so nice! :)

[OllieR]

Woa! Thanks for the advice about going to the office of disabilities! She already knew what IC was (very first time I met somebody who wasn't a doctor who knew what it was) and helped me out soooo much. I am not aloud extra absences but I can talk to each prof. about it and perhaps some will be understanding now that I am registered. But basically it explains that I may have to get up during class and I even have extra time to take tests so I can get up to use the restroom without feeling like I'm losing valuable time on it! So thanks for the advice everybody. Things are going very well at work and school now. :)