itp and work

can anyone tell me whether or not your itp affects your work life?

I still go to work every day, but I had to cut down from 5 days to 4 so I could have blood tests, treatments and doctors appointments on my days off. Also I might have to arrange a day off if I can't get an appointment on my day off and sometimes there is a need to leave work early if I am having symptoms, but all in all I don't have major issues being at work. My bosses are very understanding if I need to take time off.

No, it didn't. Luckily, I am only 15 minutes away from my doctors office, so I'd just get labs on my lunch hour and leave 1/2 hour early for doctor appointments.

Nobody at my job knows what's going on with me except one person who I am very close to and that person is keeping the secret.
I also go for labs either after work or during lunch - luckily my job involves a lot of field work so I am not missed when I am not in the office.

I just called in sick when I got the Rituxan infusions and sometimes when the counts are really low, it's challenging to get through a work day - I've gone home a few times for lunch so I could take a short nap.

I would rather my job not know about this, if possible.

I HAD to tell my job what was wrong b/c I got the nosebleed at the school I teach at. So, when I was rushed to the emergency room, it was kind of hard to conceal that! So, my principals know about it and my teacher friends. This is ok w/me b/c they are all so compassionate. But I have gotten to the point where I hate explaining ITP to my friends, family, co workers, general population, etc, etc, ETC! I have just come to the realization that they either think I'm "sickly and awww poor natalie, she isn't healthy" (which isn't TRUE!) or they think "Oh quit being a baby and shutup." So, I don't explain unless I am directly asked. But, I'm glad I have friends here on the PDSA board who truly understand! Love you guys!

Natalie

People at my work know about me having ITP because I was in the hospital for over a week for monitoring and IVIg when I was first diagnosed. I can't say that it has affected me at work other than having to go to doctor's appointments and constantly answering the question "how are you?". Don't get me wrong, I am very grateful that people are so concerned with my health but as Natalie said below, it gets to be a lot with people at work. Everyone always has an opinion!

Discussing ITP at work is a personal decision. I tell my close friends at work more detailed updates but with others, I just say that my counts are good and I leave it there.

Due to the nature of having ITP and the fact that it is impredictable and there is a lot of check ups, I was put on FMLA. I'm very lucky because my bosses are very understanding and just want for me to be healthy!

Hope this helps!

Just to add as well, I haven't told many people at my work. My team leader and centre manager are fully aware of my situation and a few other people in my team know as well, but i don't make it public knowledge to everyone because work is where i get away from all my medical problems and i am just like everyone else working to pay their bills.

Most people in my dept at work know - thing is that there's only so much that I can explain that they'll understand. So they know that it fluctuates and that when I come down with a cold that it knocks me out for 2 days and I'll recover quicker if I take 2 days off and get it out of my system than if I drag myself in all week and sit at my desk not achieving much as i feel so awful.

I also had to declare it on my medical before they'd give me the job. They're very understanding about it and accept that I do have to go for check ups and that this will continue for the rest of my life. There's a guy in my office who developed non-hodgkins lymphoma while working there - he took loads of time off sick for treatment, chemo, radio etc and over a period of months he went from working 1 day a week to working 5 days a week - but they were very supportive about it and it was never suggested that he leave so they could find someone else to take his job.

It's hard for me to hide it entirely from my coworkers. I work at the same Cancer Center where my hematologist practices and where I get my treatments. But it's really easy to get a quick blood draw or to track her down :laugh: I'm pretty fortunate to get my platelet counts paged to me.

So, many people here do not wear a medical bracelet when there counts are low? I'm considering getting a bracelet and wearing it when my counts or when I suspect they are. But I've been concerned about wearing one to work. No one knows about it there and I don't want to attract any attention, but I'm a waitress -- and things can happen. People fall at work and I don't want to be caught off guard. Any thoughts?

Everyone at my work knows about my ITP, only because I took a leave of absence. Lorna, I am also a waitress, though we call ourselves servers. I don't wear a bracelet, only because I haven't gone out and gotten one! Not sure I would anyway. I dunno.

lorna I really would suggest telling someone at work, or getting a medical bracelet. in an emergency, paramedics NEED to know about your ITP. if you were unconscious, how are they going to know before they get to the hospital, assuming that they get you to your hospital where you're seen by a haematologist?

Emergencies aside, does your ITP affect your ability to do your job? If not, then there are various laws to protect you, which essentially mean that an employer cannot just dismiss you over a medical condition. they would have to prove that your condition prevents you from doing your job or that they would have to make unreasonable changes to your tasks or the workplace in order for you to continue working there.

I work for a smaller company that is a very tight group. Many people notice when you're under the weather and not feeling right. Since I'm one that shows being sick/drained/exhausted too well, I ended up telling all...granted management encouraged me to do this. I'm all right with that since I can't hide things well. My closest friends can tell when I'm having a rough day and offer support. My biggest problem with work is staying focused, having energy and staying awake. Yes, I do sleep at least 8 hours a day. It's just that I'm most awake after 5 or 6 pm. Funny how that happens. But this cycle could be from prenisone killing off my adrenal gland....I will find that one out once I see the hematologist in 6 weeks. The Doc and I have limited my work week to no more than 40 hours. Even that is too much many times. Since I am single and don't have any other income, I suck it up and hope I don't get tired.

Good Luck! You're not the only one worried about the work thing.

I couldn't hide my illness from my coworkers. I'm a teacher and I got sick the week before I got back to school for January semester. My coworkers were very supportive and had pitched in to lessen my work load last semester, which was really nice. I was in the ICU for my into to ITP in January and it took me a while to recover from the bleed out. I was away from work for 11 weeks this year. fortunately after i got back from sick leave I didn't have to take anymore and now I'm on summer vacation. Hopefully, I wont have to take that much time off this semester.

I have had ITP nearly all of my working life and I hid it for years as one boss tried to demote me when he found out even though it did not affect my work and I did not take a lot of time off work, used to get blood tests done in my lunch hour. Now that I am in my 50s I only want to work part time and I am very open with any employers and tell them about it at interviews. It does now affect my work as I am a travel agent and cannot travel overseas especially to the US without appropriate travel insurance so it limits me for educational trips, I just had to miss one to Hawaii, good thing I have been before. My current boss is very understanding. Part time is ideal as I don't get too tired and I do wear a medical alert bracelet and my co worker knows what my platelet count is in case of an emergency.