Hey People! Today is Wednesday, May 27th, and…drum roll.. it is raining YET AGAIN in Charlotte, North Carolina. Looking at the forecast, it appears it’s going to be a wet 3-4 days. Good grief. The rain does keep things a bit cooler, so that’s nice for us “MS” folks, but it limits outside time for a house full of people. That’s not so good. 🙂
So, my last post was a bit of doom and gloom as the week was rough with some vertigo spells and dizziness. Fortunately, it basically all cleared up by Saturday, which was really nice as we spent the day with friends at the lake. It was definitely hot, but the water was cool, so it was easy to jump in and cool off. Didn’t put on quite enough sun screen, so along with my fill of Vitamin D, I got a bit sunburned. My wife would say it wasn’t bad, but how can she know how much that sunburn was hurting me? Just because she doesn’t care about sunburn, doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t wreck my day and have me on the verge of tears for three days… right? I mean.. seriously… right? I have such a hard time getting a break around this place (We’ll see if she reads this because a comment would be sure follow). 🙂
I am not 100% sure that I’ve mentioned this on other posts, but in an effort to be transparent… let me share with you that I am considered “Disabled” and am no longer working. Boy.. what a word that one is. So much disbelief/bias/sympathy/empathy/anger/disgust/apathy associated with that label. If we’re being honest with ourselves… how do we really feel when someone who looks “Normal” tells you they are aren’t working, or are working part-time, because of a health condition? I can tell you, based on different work experiences (etc.), at one time I was more in the apathy/disbelief boat than I should have been.
Why was I a non-believer? Well, I used to manage large teams in call centers and other operation environments and there always seemed to be people using Short-Term Disability, FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) or even Long-Term Disability as a way to avoid work. We would hear things like, “My doctor says I need to be out because I am stressed” or “I have a bad headache so I need to leave work early” and things like that. Hearing those words from someone, but knowing there was a “Party” at “Jane Associates House” and that the person was likely going there vs really needing to be out of work… tends to negatively impact perceptions. 🙁
So, has my personal experience changed my perception of those instances just a bit? For sure… and I feel bad for maybe being a bit too pessimistic at times when it came to believing people. I am sure that even some of my close friends feel the same way about me at times. It’s a sad state of affairs and one that can only be rectified (I hope) through honest relationships and communication.
Disabled… really not a word I like very much, but one I need to dedicate an entire post to. I want to help folks understand why leaving work on disability became the best option for my family and I. Hopefully, putting things down in writing will help me rationalize it a bit as well as I struggle with this decision almost daily.
As always… good times.
Take care and talk to you soon!
