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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 10/27/2012 4:59 AM (GMT 0)
Mine is making jewelry and pottery. I also have a business degree, a teaching certificate and a real estate license. Art and travel are my passions.
Posted 10/27/2012 5:02 AM (GMT 0)
Office worker. Wishing I was self employed so I could take off on my bad days. My current manager gives me a hard time about my UC.
Posted 10/27/2012 9:48 AM (GMT 0)
I was a teacher and a counselor for 27 years. I now drive a school bus and have my own business. Next, I want to start raising Alpacas.
Posted 10/27/2012 10:09 AM (GMT 0)
I am a grad student. Put my PhD on ice for last 2 years due to serious parental obligations and uncontrollable migraines (which were result of boss stress).
Posted 10/27/2012 12:08 PM (GMT 0)
I'm a retired police officer.  Thank God my body waited until after I retired.  I could not imagine having UC when I was on duty.

Greg

Posted 10/27/2012 12:58 PM (GMT 0)
I don't work but I used to be a payroll accountant but we get by on my hubby's work (he works at one of the big 3 auto manufacturers).
Posted 10/27/2012 1:43 PM (GMT 0)
I am a part-time lawyer who works out of my home...my husband does the heavy legal lifting as I'm pretty busy with our 3 children, dog, house and LOTS of volunteer work at school and Church.
Posted 10/27/2012 5:20 PM (GMT 0)
I'm retired for the past four years, but I was a registered nurse. I worked in a community program, which was fortunate because I don't think I'd have been able to do hospital work after I got UC. Now I volunteer and take care of two puppies.
Posted 10/27/2012 5:33 PM (GMT 0)
Office work in a non-profit healthcare setting- love healthcare, cause all the providers are sympathetic to someone with "stomach" issues!
Posted 10/27/2012 5:48 PM (GMT 0)
federal public servant. My studies concentrated in Information Management but I landed a permanent job in shipping and receiving. I love what I do there, and like my co-workers. Good benefits, stress free environment.

I rather be at work then be at home, that's how much I like it.
Posted 10/27/2012 5:54 PM (GMT 0)
I envy you guys!! I can imagine how tough it would be to work with this horrid disease...you guys are better than me, that's for sure...getting sick in my early 20's and being a new mom at the time I never really had a chance to find *my thing* in life so I've felt like a loser for that. I never ended up developing any interest in anything career-wise besides trying to be a good mom/housewife because the rest of me was consumed with being sick. I was never good in school and that didn't help either...it was like I was meant to be sickly cuz I was never goal oriented when I was younger.
Posted 10/27/2012 6:38 PM (GMT 0)
     Like Greg, I was fortunate enough to be retired before the disease struck.  I used to be a lab tech.
Posted 10/27/2012 6:43 PM (GMT 0)
Licenced Massage Therapist, work in a Gym/wellness center. Love my job!
Posted 10/27/2012 8:38 PM (GMT 0)
Mobile hairdresser since 1975 with a very comfortable amount of clients at this point. Did cosmetics retail in the early '80s.
I was a sign language interpreter in the education field from 1996 - 2000. Loved it! But, too many politics involved while consistently having to advocate.


q
Posted 10/27/2012 9:31 PM (GMT 0)

I need help said...
I'm a retired police officer. Thank God my body waited until after I retired. I could not imagine having UC when I was on duty.
Greg

I see your point !

"Hey bank robbers - timeout" LOL

I used to teach flying and fly night freight around Chicagoland as a Commercial Pilot / CFI / CFII / MEI.

Nobody was moving forward towards the airlines due to the stagnant economy so I stopped flying freight all night in ice / freezing rain / super cooled water droplets and went back to computers which got better with PC's and the internet, mainframes were a drag - I hated it. No way I could have done the flying gig with UC either !

For the last dozen years I have been working as an Oracle Database Expert for startup companies that heavily rely on fast/enormous databases for their core product offering. I was consulting while I was paying extreme alimony but this year I decided to become an employee for a startup I was consulting at last year.

Computers and the internet are pretty fun these days and I like sleeping in my own bed at night instead of hotels. Good fit for a guy with UC.
Posted 10/27/2012 10:02 PM (GMT 0)
Attorney, corporate government relations. But I was laid off about six months ago, when the main office I worked out of was closed.
Posted 10/27/2012 10:57 PM (GMT 0)
I don't work out of the home. I figure I do enough with being a Mom to 2 boys ages 17 and 20 and my almost 5 year old daughter. My husband always says I'm the glue that keeps the family together and things running smoothly. Before I got UC I was a Manager of a dog boarding kennel. Loved the work, hated my boss. I still worked for two years after diagnosis but decided the stress (my boss) wasn't worth the aggravation to my gut. I do some volunteer work with a dog rescue by helping transport dogs to their foster or forever homes and one day hope to try fostering but I know I will "fail" at it and keep the dog myself. :)
Posted 10/27/2012 11:04 PM (GMT 0)
I'm an attorney, and I do civil litigation, mostly representing big corporations in real estate/business/construction litigation. This is my 6th year and I'm a little on the burnt out side, so I'm looking for something else that will help me keep paying down my monster student loans.

The dumb thing? My husband is a commercial electrician (self employed) and if I didn't have student loans, I wouldn't have to work. How's that for a rat race?

Depositions and trials are going to be really fun with UC.
Posted 10/27/2012 11:58 PM (GMT 0)
Sounds like a cool job aguywithuc! past and current

UC hit while doing my undergrad, but i opted for grad school anyway. I'm so happy I did. Working on my MFA in Sound Design, I'd love to design music for video games, film, television and produce my own electronic music.

I've always been questioning the music behind television/film for years, and to think I could be doing this soon! :)
Posted 10/28/2012 12:07 AM (GMT 0)
Legal assistant to a sole practitioner attorney who had j pouch surgery due to Chrons so she is very sympathetic! As a matter of fact she convinced me to kick my first GI to the curb and MADE me go see the one she used. So very glad I did! I love my job!
Posted 10/28/2012 12:56 AM (GMT 0)
I'm a 911 dispatcher and have been since 1998. I work 12 hour shifts, so it get kinda rough when I'm having a flare. It's also quite difficult to use the bathroom as frequently as I need to because it strikes when you don't expect it. I also can't just get up all willy nilly, I have to ask for relief from my dispatch channel, and people tend to get pissed off when you leave for more than a few minutes a few times a day.
Posted 10/28/2012 1:19 AM (GMT 0)
Montessori preschool teacher... luckily I get an assistant in the class with me. So I can stop running after little ones, to run to the washroom if need be. But it is hard to have the right energy when flaring!
Posted 10/28/2012 2:13 AM (GMT 0)
Interesting topic interesting lives.
I am my husband's personal care attendant.

Now, now just wait! He had a horrific workplace accident when he was 31, I was 24. We had three little kids; 1,3 & 5. His life was touch and go for the first six months and a few times after that. He was in the hospital for 2 1/2 years before we could get him home. Complications during the hospital stay left him unable to speak and a quadriplegic. He requires 24/7 care and he get nurses here too, who do quite a lot of his heavy work. These last 5 years, have been a lot harder since he is having debilitating seizures and I'm pretty sure this looonnnnggg stretch of stress (22 years now) was the trigger for my UC.

pB4. You're too hard on yourself. A good mom and housewife is fabulous! You still have your head and feet on this side of the earth, you're helping people here and I bet, when you get a bit of a break from this disease, you're not going to waste it. This awesome internet tool is absolutely made for someone with UC...you can go to school on it. We seldom appreciate what we have when we have it, especially when we're young. The big thing is to learn and move on. I do agree with you that we, who get to stay home, have it much easier with this dis-ease.
Posted 10/28/2012 5:32 AM (GMT 0)
I just love the interesting stories of the lives on here. It gives a positive side to the crosses we bear!

  Being a mom and wife was the most important thing to me, PB4, and I think you do a great thing to sacrifice your time, experience, and goodness for those you love! What could be more important?  Pat yourself on the back and know that the time with those you love passes all to quickly! Enjoy and know your job is VERY important!

  When  my youngest of 4 began kindergarten, I began college at 33. Earned teaching masters, counseling masters, library media specialist, and almost a doctrate in Education with all those hours. LOVED, loved, loved what I do, or did. Felt compelled to resign this past May (used all my sick leave due to UC and missed 34 days!!!!), which was the last time I taught and had loved teaching for 17 years. Kids deserved consistency; I could not stay out of the BR and had no aide to help, so I resigned.

Currently, hoping to heal and be able to return to teaching when I feel better; loving the FALL days at home and not having to experience what SOMEDUDE described the other day. That is pure torture driving, thinking "should I stop, gotta go!!!" and "maybe I can make it" only to then poop one's pants! Driving back home and missing work. YUKKKKKK!!

 Anyway, I digress. Now, I am still hoping to go back to work when someone retires around Christmas. I had hoped this would give me time to figure out how to get into remission. Our political leaders are encouraging (in my state) us 50+ teachers to retire to save the education system money by replacing experienced teachers with younger teachers. Saving millions but what about those of us who still LOVE what we do? Thus, for now I am back to being a housewife and enjoying a few days with the granddaughter! NO money and no insurance sucks, though! Counting the blessings. .  . could be much worse. Just don't feel that I need to be put out to pasture, just yet. LOL

Posted 10/28/2012 11:39 AM (GMT 0)
Alternative high school teacher... Pretty hard job to keep up with UC when it is illegal to leave the room. Luckily I never crapped my pants or anything since my symptoms were always mildest midday... But I have had students tell me to go home sick when they saw me doubled over with cramps.
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