Crohns and working.

hey champangne, I do live in san diego, click my post name it will give details

There is a lot to take into consideration when you have something like crohn's. I know over the past year I had to take 82 hours of sick leave but I have very flexible hours or it would have been a lot more. I am sure after reading all the responses you can see that with each person there was a different situation. There were bad mornings when I couldn't leave the house b/c I couldn't stay off the toilet longer than 15 minutes without having to go back. I was also in a lot of pain. With that said, my disease was relatively mild and responded to therapy.

I think you have to find out what works best for you in your situation. It could be part time work or a job with flexible hours. There is always a lot of support here when you need it. I am not sure about how the disability route works but others here have had to do it and could tell you more if you think you have to go there. It took me the better part of a year to get better and it was a rough year physically and emotionally. There were honestly times I thought I would have to quit work but I hung in there. I had to make changes in my diet that helped me along with the medicine to get well like cutting out caffeine. I am also lucky to have the choice of health insurance, so we put me on my husbands' plan. I felt this was more secure b/c of his job. I hope your son can find out the right situation for him. Keep working with your doctor to get him well and in remission. This is a supportive forum and you get a lot of great information here. Good luck to you and your son and I hope he gets some relief soon.

WOW lots to read there! My goodness, it seems that we all are doing our best to keep our jobs and hang in there. Like it was said: gotta pay the bills! I am in a similiar boat: just got a new job, had to move to get it though, 1 year mat. leave temp office position. And yes every day i pray that my health stays in check and i don't miss any days! i do have health coverage [Canadian] and things are working well for me.
I am a bit of a workaholic. I don't usually miss days because I'm sick, I usually hide the pain well & suck it up!
I am very good at that, and I do it more often than I should. I am full time weekends off, I try and really relax on the weekends and catch up on some much needed sleep. I am also on Remi - once a mth. and i don't eat very much so I guess I am quite fortunate so far.
i find working theriputic in a way, it seems these days it is my only life line to the real world. its nice to feel needed.
i love my job so far, and I am willing to do whatever it takes to keep it for as long as I can even though its temp.
my last job i got laid off when I came out of the hospital, it sucked bad and I hate them for it. they said it was cause business was slow but i know in my heart that it was cause i was sick that they let me go, but i have no way of proving it.
So working and having CD is definetley a challenge - it just depends on what you've been thru or are going thru.

Well, I am 33 and was dx'd with Crohn's at 20.

Mine is solely in the colon and I have major perianal problems.

I have 3 fistulas, all have failed to heal despite Remi and Humira. In fact, I developed the third one while on Humira!

My gastro and colo-rectal surgeon both say I'm the most severe case theyve ever seen. Should I be proud or depressed?

I have been with the same employer since the age of 20, and since then I have been on employee paid disability more months than I've actually been active. Fortunately the rate is decent, and my employer pays for my pension contributions during these periods. Yay!

I'm off again right now.

One of my fistulas just kills me, and although I got a colostomy to curb the inflammation, unfortunately I still have to go the bathroom many times a day. (Its all pus and blood). I never thought this was a possibility :( I think Im flaring as now I even awaken from a dead sleep 4 or 5 per night to go.

 

hello, I have moderate to servere crohns. I work part-time as a waitress. I love it I get be in the working world even for just a while. For sometime i could not work and i got a little depressed. But I woke up and just decided not to waste a day. So working has been a god send to me. Also fishing or just being outside does a mind good. god bless you.

yea, i just had to miss to much work and my work let me go, kind of sucks but i hated that job bad, so now I'm on state disability ins. which now i don't have ins. another suck-o and my wife and daughter as well, I'm appling for total ssdi on this wed, so I have to get all my record and my inform my dr's what I'm doing so they will be on the same page,I've hired a law firm to deal with most of the hard to deal stuff but it can take anywhere  from 6months to 2 yr's to get, but i found i can't work in a daily situation because of side effect from med's and complications from all the surgeies I've had, I was a casino dealer, and all the anger from people and there negativity went right to my stomach so from 05 until 2010, i have gone down hill so bad it is rediculous and I'm 59 so I'm done with working for anybody plus bowel issues were a problem, my dr' said take this time and get healthydealer from 05=10, I have an art business at home and when there is business i can do it because it is so stress free and I'm home with easy access to bathroom, and if I don't feel that great i work for a hr then cool it, the no ins. is really a bummer,and cobra is a joke, when I get on ssdi i get free medicare. so i hope i don't have to wait 2 yr's