Working when in a flare up

[bostonlass]

I'm just curious, for those of you who have jobs, what you do when you're in a flare-up that is uber painful? Do you bite the bullet and muddle through the day or do you call in sick? If you do call in, how is your boss's reaction and are there laws to protect us?

When the pain that I'm in started I went to the ER, since I've never experienced this type of pain with the nauseau before. The next day the look on my boss's face was priceless. You'd have thought I went fishing that day and came in with a big tan!!!!! It's bad enough being sick and in pain and not knowing what's going on (I'm not diagnosed officially yet) but then to have to come in and face the wrath of Satan just kind of makes the pain worse, you know?

Any stories, suggestions?

 

[bostonlass]

And a few weeks later, when I had to call in due to Crohns his response was, "Shouldn't you be over that by now. You can't call in every time your PMSing."

That totally sounds like my boss! Before I went to the ER my boss knew that I had an appt with a GI specialist so the day after I come in from the ER I told her that I had to go in for pain and nauseau and the response was, "don't you have an appointment with a specialist for that????". That day sucked!!!!! She piled on the work that day too! If I were the manager I'd have gone lite on me knowing that I'm in pain but nooooooooo. The kicker is that she's had cancer 4 times and never missed a day of work while going through the chemo and radiation so anyone who has to call out for anything is a bad employee. Luckily I work for a large company where the HR dept is there for me and now that I know it's covered under the disabilities act I won't fret about her bitchiness anymore.

 

[fenway1971]

I tell my boss to go &$*%# himself. Actually, I don't have a boss but my coworkers are understanding. Bless them. I also educated those who wondered why I worked from home when I flared.

Sorry about your boss. Perhaps educating him or HR might help?

 

[katiesue1506]

I dunno your state laws... but Indiana is "at will" state meaning they can fire you for any reason at all (they don't have to give you a reason)... so I thought I could have the issue of being fired due to my disease with my previous employer. They could just say I wasn't performing up to standard and leave it at that... the only way I would be covered under the ADA is if I could prove they fired me due to my disease. So in short, if you are in at will state, keep track of your performance... also always perform above and beyond everyone else when you can. I would also strongly suggest putting your disease on record with your HR department in a formal manner.

Edited for stupidity/lapse in terminology

 

[forum contributor]

How do you find out if you live in one of those states?

 

[forum contributor]

Thanks, girl. Guess I live in a Forced-Unionism state.

 

[Jer's Girl]

I am dealing with this now! My current boss calls my time out sick my "vacations" as in, "didn't you just take a vacation? Do you really need another one again?" She says this in spite of the fact that I have told her exactly what I am going through.
I had a boss once that compared me to her sick dog saying that she knew all about Crohn's because her dog had Colitis and kept messing on the carpet. Then she explained to me that they eventually had to put that dog down "for her own good". Yeah. Not a nice woman. I was 18 and she said it in front of my co-workers. I was mortified.
Job stress and missing work is the absolute worst part of this disease for me. People tend to be understanding at first, but then you get the, "okay, but I'm bored of that now. Why can't you just get over it?"
I try to go in to work whenever I can, but sometimes its not really up to me. My body is in control. God forbid I ask for time off to see my Dr. I'm sorry you are going through this too.

 

[katiesue1506]

Sorry guys.. I used the wrong terminology... Indiana is an "at will" state


It can get a bit complicated... but read this to find out where your state lies... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At-will_employment

 

[bostonlass]

Well I do always try to do my best but sometimes my "fibro-fog" gets in the way and I forget things. Ever since the day I had to go to the ER though I'm putting everything in writing via email and cc'ing our administrative assistant. I'm documenting how I'm feeling, without getting into the nitty gritty details, and explaining who the doctor I'm seeing is and why I'm seeing him/her.

I don't have a formal IBD diagnosis yet so I'm holding off on visiting HR until they give me something definite to tell people.

I am grateful that I am able to work from home one day/week, though that's mainly for my kids' sake. It's been a lifesaver for me, really since I can take a nap during lunch and dress in much more looser clothing for the times that my stomach is all bloated from inflammation. Also getting my bathroom to myself is awesome!!!! I hate going to the bathroom at work and really really hate it when someone has taken the handicapped stall. We don't have any handicapped people on this floor and maybe I'm out of line here but I seriously think I qualify in terms of using that particular stall.