Afraid I'm Going To Lose My Job

[kmichaelson]

Hello all,

I just joined this forum last week, and it's been amazing to read all of the posts from people who are going through stuff so similar to what I've been experiencing. I'm sorry this is a long post, but this is my first time starting a topic, and it's been a long journey to this point! After more than two years of extreme dizziness, fatigue, digestive problems, and a myriad of odd little symptoms, I was finally diagnosed with POTS officially a couple of weeks ago. (On my tilt table test my blood pressure went down to 42/25 and I passed out.)

Even though POTS is hardly something to be happy about, I was relieved to have a name for everything I'd been suffering, and I was excited that I could possibly know how to treat my symptoms. (I'd been seeing a neurologist before this who had me on a diuretic to prevent what she thought were vestibular migraines. Of course the diuretic was making things even worse I figured out eventually!) I'm not feeling any better yet, but I've been on florinef for a week and a half now, so I have hope it will help soon.

Unfortunately because I've been sick and it's taken me so long to figure out what my problem is, I've used up my FMLA for the year already. I was just unable to get around every day. It was so difficult to even get myself out of bed, and when I did, I was so dizzy, weak, tired, and had stomach problems. It was all I could do to get through the day, let alone put in 8 hours.

Anyway, I eventually went back to work and my direct supervisor has been good to let me come back gradually. I've recently been working 5 hours a day and was hopeful that I could keep gradually upping my hours until I got back to full time. Sadly, the human resources department at my work doesn't seem to like this. They've called a meeting to go over my hours, and have sent me a copy of the college's policy on FMLA and told me to prepare any calendars and documentation I have. I've turned in all the paperwork and documentation that they've ever requested, so I'm skeptical that we're all just going to sit down and review it. I'm very afraid I'm going to be fired.

Of course, this is NOT helping my health right now. I feel dizzier, weaker, and more nauseous/crampy than ever right now, plus my heart feels like it's going to explode! I'm so depressed that after trying to get better for so long and starting to get back to work, that I'm going to lose my job now.

Maybe I'm overreacting. I've asked my direct supervisor if he can tell me what the meeting is going to be about, but I haven't heard back from him yet. Sorry again for the super-long post. I'm just feeling so sad right now and needed to share with people who might understand.

[Katybug]

HI dizzyblonde,

Sorry that this is another worry on your plate.

I was an Ops Mgr before I got sick and worked on these issues all the time. The FMLA law protects your job for 12 weeks of absence (one block or intermittently) in a rolling 12 month period. So, if you have kept documentation on each day/partial day you missed, you should put it together and make sure that you have exceeded the 12 weeks for sure. The rolling twelve month period usually gives a little cushion that people don't realize. Also, if you have it in writing that your direct supervisor agreed to bring you back gradually, you should take anything like that to the meeting as well.

In my experience, I can tell you that most HR folks are pretty reasonable and usually want to come to a mutually agreable solution. I do think you should be prepared to express what you are and are not capable of at this point and also be ready to offer alternatives and/or a sample schedule of when you plan on increasing your hrs. (I know your trying to get back to work because I get your issues, but, looking to them like you are doing everything you can and that you have a plan is what's really important.)

I hope everything goes ok. I know it's easier said than done, but don't assume the worst...they may just need to understand what's happening to make sure your benefits are administrated properly or that you and your supervisor are doing the right things.

[janiedelite]

Are you already signed up for long-term disability insurance through your employer? My LTD was so helpful in getting us by since I've had to leave my nursing job.

[kmichaelson]

Thanks to both of you for your responses! I appreciate the solid advice. I guess I'm at the point of trying to convince HR that I want to come back as long as I'm able, but it's just hard to predict how I'm going to feel day to day, and I know they want to see a solid schedule.

I actually don't have any longterm disability. I wonder if it's too late to get it now that I'm already diagnosed? I'll have to ask HR about that as well. I just feel like whenever I talk to the HR rep, she thinks that I'm faking my illness or that I'm a hypochondriac and just trying to get out of work, so I'm very self-conscious (not quite the right word) talking to her.

[janiedelite]

I'd go ahead and apply anyway. What can they do... deny you? You never know!

[Dizzysillyak]

Sorry to hear that you're going thru this.

Fwiw. I've been out on total disability since 1992, and somewhere I heard that I should get letters from co-worker and my bosses about my work prior to becoming ill and afterwards. What they wrote was both heartwarming and disturbing. I'd become useless .. But, I'm sure this made the whole process easier for me.

About your stomach problems, many of us have food intolerances and feel better if we avoid these. Gluten, dairy, soy, corn and chemicals are common. I personally haven't met anyone who said that their dysautonomia was cured by avoiding certain foods, but I've met some celiacs that noticed less dizziness,etc when gf.

Tc ..d

[GingerA]

I am so sorry you are going through this. I went through something similar with my job back in June. I was also at a college that promised to work with me. Once I was diagnosed, however, my supervisor under orders from above put increasing pressure on me to quit until finally I was told to resign or be fired because I could "no longer physically fulfill my job description." I know that it is not fair (or even legal) but people are cruel. I hope that your situation turns out better than mine.

[kmichaelson]

Thanks to everyone for the good suggestions and the understanding! Ginger, I'm so sorry to hear what happened with your work! I guess I feel like that's the situation I'm coming to. You're right that people--or at least the regulations they have to follow--can be really inhumane. Also, pretty much no one has a clue what it's like to feel this way unless they've been through it. I feel like my HR rep thinks I'm a complete nut job.

My meeting with HR has been postponed, but I spoke with my boss and he was reassuring, so I don't think he is trying to get rid of me. I think it's just a matter of making HR understand the situation and maybe I can give them a plan for my return like someone suggested. It's just hard to plan anything at this point when I don't know how I'll feel the next hour!

I was really upset and stressed when this first happened, but now I feel like I can only control so much. I'll present the situation to them and any documentation I have, and if the worst happens and I have to resign/be fired, then at least I won't have to exhaust myself every day trying to get in to work when I feel like crap! I'm just telling myself everything happens for a reason.

Thanks again to everyone for listening!

[Katybug]

That's the spirit!!

I was also thinking about this...I don't know what you do for your employer, but, is there any chance of being able to do some of your work from home? Like computer based items that you can do laying flat on your back on the couch! If this is a possibility, maybe you can talk to your direct supervisor before the meeting (don't want to blind side the guy that's already on your side) and then suggest it at the HR mtg.