New member - JustMandy

[Macca]

Hi Mandy,

 

Sorry to hear about your work troubles.  Do you have a copy of the report from the OH worker?  If not, I'd press to get one!  What does it say? What does it not say?  What does it say, reading between the lines?

 

What conversation did HR have with the OH worker? Is there a record? Ask what makes her qualified to comment on SAH matters.  If I were you, I would keep a diary of all these events and I would engage the support of your union rep to ensure you are being treated fairly.

 

It is natural for you to have health setbacks from time to time and what your people at work, from what you say, are doing demonstrates a lack of understanding of SAH, effects and recovery times, on their part.

 

Everyone's recovery time is different.  They should be working with you and keeping you informed every step of the way so that you are not left worrying about 'what if.'  They should be talking to you about your performance every week, if necessary, if they have concerns.  They should be offering alternative answers/positions etc if they have concerns.

 

Try not to worry, but I think it would be wise to take the precautions I mention above, just in case, just to even up the odds.  Let's hope you don't need the ammunition, but be prepared.  Clearly from what you say, you are suspicious of their motives.

 

Maybe they are genuine and are trying to help you, maybe the reverse is true, but it's no use to sit there wondering, you need to know.

 

So, when you have your review, take action to ask them what is behind all this to set your mind at rest and to stop it running away with itself.  At least then you can do something about it.

 

Enjoy your break and then let us know how you get on. As Tina says, big hugs!

 

Macca

[ClareM]

So sorry to hear your news. Isn't it just typical that you hear it now when you are looking forward to your break. Try not to let it spoil it think positive as Tina says the blood pressure could be the result of this work stress.

Take care and good luck. Keep us posted

Clare xx

[Skippy]

Ditto to what Macca has said hun.  I'd request to see a copy of her report and definitely get in touch with your Union rep if you have one.  Do they have a deployment scheme where they can move you to a more "suitable" position if they're saying that they have concerns.

 

My blood pressure would be through the roof and my head would be banging if I'd been told what you have hun.

 

Try to put it to the back of your mind and enjoy your break, recharge your batteries and then go back and sort the issue with them - please don't let this ruin a well earned break xxx

[Mandy Wright]

Thanks everyone. I saw the doc this evening and now have a prescription for an ACE inhibitor, Ramipril, that should bring my BP down. It was 170/101 when the GP took it so it's definitely on the high side! Apparently the medication can cause headaches and dizziness, which is a shame as that the symptoms I'm having problems with!

 

I've ordered a BP monitor so I can keep an eye on things - it'll help keep the other half calm, hopefully. Will go back to the surgery to get my BP checked and blood tests for kidney function in two weeks as this medication can have side effects on kidneys. I'll take the first tablet tonight as apparently it can cause some issues initially and it's better to take it before bed rather than in the morning, initially, at least.

Regarding the OH report, I do indeed have a copy of it, and it states that if I don't make improvements on my working hours, then I may need to see the OH doctor. It seemed less of a threat in the report, and more of a last resort. I am not a member of a union although there is one active at my workplace.

 

I will keep notes and very much appreciate the words of advice. It does seem that the verbal conversation said more, or at least the context of it is different. It's possible that the HR manager, who I would call a friend, may have just been a little thoughtless in her wording and timing, I hope so.

Thank you!

Mx

[Macca]

Well done Mandy,

 

You've taken another calmer look at things.  It may be that your new treatment may help you to make progress and perhaps increase your hours after all.  perhaps you also may want to discuss the quality of your performance and ask if there is anything at fault with what you are currently doing, to see if there are any changes you can make.

 

Just a word of caution though.  Be aware of the differences between what is said and what is written and record them at the time whilst your memory is still fresh - hedge your bets, just in case!

 

But well done.  Enjoy your break, maybe it's not as bad as you first thought - glass rather half full than half empty!

 

Best wishes,

 

Macca

[Mandy Wright]

Thanks Macca, your sage advice is always useful.

Typically, I meant to have included the fact that the sciatica really scuppered any plans of increasing hours at work, and the original plan didn't include reference to this as I didn't have it before I returned to work. Fortunately that has eased off although not gone completely.

 

The OH advisor amended the original planned phased return a few weeks ago so that it didn't include the original relentless increases in hours at work, week after week, but was a series of steps, to be moved through as I felt able. I hadn't realised there were deadlines for the steps to be achieved.

I will make notes, and this diary will also be helpful.

Glass half full indeed.

Mx

[SarahLou]

Hi Mandy,

It was lovely to meet you on Saturday, I'm really pleased you were able to make it to the meeting.

I'm glad that you've seen your doctor and that steps are being taken to get your blood pressure under control.

We've a BP monitor at home, have had one for years, a wise investment!

I'm sorry to hear about the OH issues at work, very wise words from our Macca.

I know how you feel as I went through a simular thing when I was in my previous job.

I always took someone else into any meetings with me.

Enjoy your week off, take a step back and relax and try to put work to the back of your mind.

Take care,

SarahLou Xx

[subzero]

Hello Mandy-

 

Really feel for you at this time- so much happening and so much pressures with work and health when all you want is to be making good progress.

 

Your break next week is very timely- you so need the time out- and I hope you are able to get the rest and relaxation you need to strengthen you for the days ahead-

 

Contact with good OH personnel should never result in frustration and worries over what is to happen-   Win-win situations are in everyone`s best interests-

 

Both of you enjoy that time off-

[Daffodil]

So where an employee has an illness which leaves them with effects that are protected under the disability act then the employer needs to make reasonable adjustment taking into account. It sounds like they are trying to do the right thing by you here but equally employers have a right to have capability in their workplace so it's about meeting somewhere and agreeing a working pattern/ role that is mutually acceptable ideally.

Take notes but try not to worry to much, I suspect that it's illspoken comment not harsh intent.

[Winb143]

Mandy as you may have remembered me writing hubs got me a BP monitor and it was him that had a problem.

199 over ?  but high, the Doc told him when you take BP leave it a minute then take it again.

 

You then take count of the lower of the 2 readings.  Do not ask me why !! 

 

So try it Mandy it cant hurt and when back to work take it slow.  You wont but I thought I'd try and get you to relax lol xx

 

Calm does it Mandy,

 

Love

 

Win xx xx

[subzero]

Hi Mandy-

 

Hope you are doing OK ?

 

Relaxing weekend ahead for you?

[Mandy Wright]

Hi Sub,

Thanks for your interest and apologies for not replying sooner!

It's been a challenging couple of weeks with increased headaches, some visual disturbances and high blood pressure. But last week I worked four days for the first time since the SAH, with one day stretching to seven hours as I needed to finish something! It didn't kill me, although I have to say it was exhausting at times.

Blood pressure is still a bit on the high side and am going to review current medication for this later in the week with the GP. I've also been put on some medication that should help to clear the problem with sciatica. It used to be used as an antidepressant in much higher doses but has been found to be effective on nerve pain. Unfortunately it can take a couple of weeks to take effect. I have an option to double the dose if required but would only do that in consultation with the GP.

It's been an unsettling time with the headaches as, and others will understand this, ones first thoughts are that it could be another SAH! Darker thoughts about things I should be doing, in preparation for an imminent demise, come to the surface, usually as I'm trying to get to sleep!

I had a review meeting with the OH advisor his week and she's happy that I'm making progress, albeit slower than we all might have hoped. She's not keen on the idea that I might feel pressurised by my employer to speed up the progress until I'm ready. She agreed that I need to have the sciatica under control, and the high blood pressure, before trying to accelerate the return to work. She was keen, as was I, to hear the results of the MRI scan as she felt it might reduce some of the anxiety I had been feeling.

Yesterday I called Wessex Neuro about some of my issues and said that it would be useful to know the results if they were in. Apparently a letter is on its way to me! The lovely lady was able to let me know though that the results were all fine, no changes since the post-coiling MRI and they will do another MRI in a year! Whoop!! What a relief that was.

 

I can now view headaches and fatigue as warnings that I might have pushed myself a bit further, rather than thinking I might be about to die! Okay, so sometimes the optimism may slip a little, but I'm starting from a better place now.

So, later this week I have physio with accupuncture, then BP review, and then optician - that's all my boxes ticked ready to go to my ex-mother -in-law's 100th birthday lunch on Saturday! I'll be taking it easy apart from that as I overdid it slightly gardening last weekend and th muscles in my bottom and neck still ache from that.

Take care Sub, and anyone else who reads this.

Mx

[Karen]

Hi Mandy .... just remember that you're still healing, probably stretching yourself a little too much .... remember to be kind to yourself and judge your progress from the day that you left hospital, rather than how you were before the SAH. 

 

The headaches in the first year or so are always scary ... I ended up back in hospital about 12 months after my SAH in 2005 ... nothing found and it was all a mystery! It's awful and like yourself the panic set in and I thought that I was about to die too .... I can only say, that nearly 10 years on, I'm still here and that the anxiety/panic gets easier with time and I think that that it takes a good couple of years to mentally start that progress after such a huge shock. 

 

Glad all's okay with your MRI and that's fabulous news and so pleased for you.

 

Take care lovely and try not to overdo it! xx

[Mandy Wright]

Thanks Karen. It's amazing how we can know logically that we need to take things easier, and yet we still want to push a little harder sometimes, and then wonder why we feel the effects!

Mx

[Karen]

Nothing wrong with pushing Mandy, as you wouldn't know what you can achieve.... however, if it bites you on the bum, then you need to take heed and perhaps pull back a little. I'm still on a learning curving and stretch what I do .... you do start to know what you can and can't do .... but can only say, that even 10 years on, that I'm still pushing and achieving with the odd knock back.  xx

[Mandy Wright]

That's really encouraging, thank you so much Karen!

Mx

[Karen]

If anybody gives you the 3-6 months recovery rule then just go pfftt! ... I know that I've experienced good recovery throughout my years post SAH, might have been slow, but with determination I've got there .... plus I'm older and menopausal which doesn't help especially with the lack of sleep and short term memory (menopause can mirror some of the SAH fall out) ... but hey, I can do more than I could say at 12 months or 3 years post recovery and I'm nearly 10 years older.... and you may have to adapt to things a little and make choices, but life certainly doesn't stop with the SAH. 

 

Good luck. xx 

[subzero]

Thanks for the update Mandy-

 

Brave post when things haven`t always gone to Plan A.

 

Almost six months post SAH for you and already you have a wealth of experience of do`s and don`ts  for helping others-

 

Time will heal- and you will look back and smile when you re`read your journey-

 

Karen covers it well-

 

Keep strong-

 

Subs

[Macca]

Hi Mandy,

 

Old Sage here! (lol, that made me laugh!).  Slow progress is still progress and that's good.  I was reading at the weekend in a newspaper that in about a hundred years time they will have invented a machine that can replicate the brain's trillions of connections.

 

That means that it's complicated! So when it goes wrong, as it has in all our cases, it takes a while to diagnose and fix and sometimes it has to be left to its own devices to heal by itself.

 

With all those connections, is it really surprising that there is probably more they don't know than what they do know?  That's not a criticism, just and acknowledgement that the brain is incredibly complex?

 

Don't go too fast, too soon or it will set you back.  I wouldn't wish a SAH on anyone, but sometimes it is severely tempting to think about wishing it upon those who put us under pressure to return to work and increase workloads before they are ready (especially as they know nothing about SAH let alone have experience of one).

 

When those people, usually managers, are putting us under pressure to increase output they are not thinking about you, and don't let them kid you that they are,  they are thinking about themselves (statistics, targets and profits) and their own career progression.  

 

They are thinking about how they can go to their own boss in their appraisal and say that either they got you back to full capacity, or they dealt with a problem situation and got rid of you by re-deployment or dismissal, either by sacking or by getting you to resign. That is exactly what happened to me.

 

I could have carried on, but my situation was about a bad boss, not my condition. Six months post SAH for you is still very early days and you have already done remarkably well to get where you are - don't blow it now by burdening yourself with too much too fast!

 

Remember the tortoise and the hare story?  Be the tortoise!

 

Fortunately, I was then at an age where I could take an exit package, and with my head held high, I took it.  It was the best decision I ever made.  I am very happy now.

 

I know that it isn't an option for everyone, especially those younger than me.  If it hadn't been possible for me to leave, I would have found another job, even taken a pay cut to be happy.

 

I guess what I am trying to say is, go at your own pace and on your own terms - do what is right for you first, business second.

 

Macca