Recently I posted in one of my blogs, that I was fortunate as I have an understanding employer. Let me rephrase that: I thought I had an understanding employer, with had being the operative word. I also mentioned you should discuss your Fibromyalgia with your Human Resources Department. That is difficult to do when your job covers being the HR representative.
It seems every change of season; I have painful fibro days that restrict me. This is normal for me and has been for several years. When I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, I took in a pamphlet and some articles off of the internet so that my employer could better understand what I was dealing with and how we could work around it. I asked that we just reduce my hours somewhat when I needed to. There would be weeks or months that I would be fine. After a year or so my Fibromyalgia migrated to another part of my body. Now I suffer from FMS mostly in the upper part of my body. (We won’t mention the OA or Spinal Stenosis in my lower back.) Since the migration, I have found repetitive tasks almost unbearable at times. Lifting heavy or awkward objects aggravate the shoulders and arms. There are times I feel useless, especially when my job entails not only HR, but customer service, managing a stain glass department and at times working in the flat glass division as well. (Let me just say, plated glass is heavier than you think and working in a cold warehouse doesn’t help either.) I trudge along as best I can and try to do the best I can.
A couple of years ago my employer suggested I work afternoons only. I explained that there may be days when I could not work at all as that when I had breakthrough pain, I was in too much pain as no medication helped, and I would make mistakes when in pain. In a business where you have to pay out of pocket for errors you make, I could not afford to be making mistakes in my work. There would just be some days I would have to take off. My pain didn’t have a schedule, it just happened.
Every fall and winter we go through this scenario, when the weather pattern changes, it seems to affect my Fibromyalgia. It’s not so bad when it is a high pressure system, but for some reason a lower pressure system that brings rain with it seems to take its toll. So I was a little surprised when I was met with some resistance today. My employer wanted information from my doctor saying I had Fibromyalgia and how it affects me. (Ummmm….Hello….I supplied you with that information a few years ago and I even brought in a pamphlet and printed information so that you would understand this….(heavy sigh). I called my doctor’s office and their reply was for my employer to look it up online. (This is not the first time they have dealt with my employer. I think I heard a heavy sigh from the person on the other end of the phone as well.) Ah, here we go again. It seems to have become a yearly ritual. Why do I forget this? Oh, it must be the fibro fog! Maybe my employer has fibro fog as well. Oh well….So we go through this never ending process of explaining everything (again).
The lesson learned? Repetition for emphasis. Evidently you must continue to explain to others just what Fibromyalgia does to your body. Do not get exasperated, the stress doesn’t help your body. Be patient with others and hope that maybe, just maybe someday they will understand Fibromyalgia as well as you do.
