Work advice please.

[forest1]

I am a 40 yr old nurse diagnosed 5 years. Still working and still ok - just! Any one got experiences/ advice with early retirement from the NHS? changes made for you at work? What do nurses with PD get redeployed to? Worry of losing money etc

[honeycombe3]

Perhaps the person best placed to answer your question is your Parkinsons nurse?

[jupiterjane]

Hi forest,

I am not a nurse but I did work in the health care field, the mental health care field, as a psych aide for 6 years. It was the only job I ever really loved. I was diagnosed in 2008 with P.D. and later that same year I was also diagnosed with a rare neuromuscular disease. I was upfront with my employee, which just happen to be the State I lived in, and they did all they could to accommodate my needs. Unfortunately since my job was working with the clients and it was becoming more and more difficult to help with unruly and dangerous client I was forced to take long term disability and eventually became permanently disable and now try to live on a very limited income. I don't know how physically or emotionally draining your job, because those 2 thing plus P.D. do not mix well, but if you feel you can do your job safely I say keep working for as long as you can.

I hope everything works out for you.

Take care,

Jane

[MyownPOV]

I was eventuallly let go for committing 3 infractions in 6 months. I wont name my employer, but tolerance of the disabled is their business. I tried fighting them for awhile, but the answer was always "sorry." I live modestly with my children's help. What I long for is female companionship. Truthfully, id like a woman with PD, who knows me and loves me, and i'll give that love and care right back. Easy to say. Tough to find. im fully functionable. I drive. I shop, I make SS and a pension, so living while not lavish (Im not up to lavish anyway)

I love and make love. Im also a screenwriter , so i live with hope that one day.... so, if any of you females were as unfortunate as i was to get this dreaded, i hate saying the word sometimes, Parkinsons, and would like to try taking care of each othe, I'd like to give it a try. I live in a nice 1 bedroom apt in Howell, NJ, so we can live here - or anyplace in this big wide world. write me at [e-mail]. what have we got to lose? Parkinsons is taking it all away anyway.

Gary

[ccobroussard]

I worked in a small demanding office for a woman boss for 10 years and was told I had pd 8 years ago and she let me go in nov of 2012. She was very demanding about sales numbers and the worse I got the harder it was to produce BIG numbers. But there is very little understanding for the disabled in the work force especially when you work for a small business. I filed for ssdi in nov and was approved in march but didn't get my first ssdi check until june. you have to be able to live 7 months at least with no ssdi and no you don't get that money back. It ate up ALL of our savings. Be prepared. work as long as you can

[scubanurse]

I'm a RN diagnosed for 14 months, told I am stage 1 with mild symptoms. I work in a very fast paced endoscopy center and get pretty stressed out at times. I found out that PD is covered by the American Disability Act. Check out the Job Accomadation Network, askjan.org. It's good information. I'm not ready for disability benefits yet but do require a job modification.