cervical spondtlosis

Hi Juniper

well what can i say i'm feeling a little sorry for myself at mo, still in constent pain , just been put on sick for another 4 weeks thought i would be feeling better :cry: by now phiso have signed me back to my docs as they said i needed more investigaion :roll: before they can do anything else

i feel like i'm trying everything and nothing is helping 'going back to doc again to try different pain killer .think i need to get loan out to pay for all the meds

any other ideas to help with the pain as i still don'y seem to have found one thaat works for me :?

sorry it's not more positive think if i chop my arm off that might help :roll:

hi agiain :lol: :magic:

just wanted to say :sorry: for my last post just feeling a little sorry for myself

thank you :wink: for your comments i found them all really helpful :lol: :magic: i've managed to find myself a chiroprator :rainbow: going to check with the :doctor: doc first before i see him due to what the phisco said

i hope everyone had a good new year :magic: and not to painful

can anyone tell me is this illness classed as a disability :roll:

catch up with you all later :run: :ok:

thanks agin :lol:

:magic: :lol: ams :lol: :magic:

Buy a NHS pre payment certificate, its about £25 for three months of prescriptions. Unfortunately its not a free prescription illness :? Tell your Doc you wanna try Tramadol (waits for gasps :P ) and Paracetamol for the pain :D God I sound like a pusher :oops: , some folks can have a bad time on it but its brill for me

hi :doctor: spock

thanks for that,sorted out paying for the med today :lol:

seeing doc wednesday will ask about other meds

pain bad today if that was'nt enough my work called me and said they are referring me to occupational health as the job i do ,[working with kids ]is to physical and no other jobs/task are available at PRESENT for me to do.i mean going back to work was the only thing keeping me going :yuk:

can't believe they are doing this i work there for five years :? :cross: and only had a few days off during that time CAN THEY DO THIS :?:

not only am i in pain but now i'm stressed

any advice :roll: on this latest disaster

do you work? if so how do you manage, what was the longest time you had off did work give you a hard time

:magic: ams :magic:

hi ams

yeh your employers are within they rights if there is no other work suitable for you. have a look at your contract, or ask your manager they policies on sickness.gail

Hi Ams

Welcome to the I am being kicked out of my job club!!

Cervical Spondylosis is a very serious long term condition that affects your daily life and as such is covered by the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act. You need to remind your employers that they obligations and should be looking to make reasonable adjustments to allow you to return to work. You should mention this phrase every time that you speak to your work and then they will know that you know what you are talking about. Also you could mention Case Law Archibald versus Fife. If you have time look this up on the Internet as well. How big is the organisation - there may be admin jobs that you can do attached to the care that you give the children. Also you could continue to care for them and the other staff will have to help you with the duties that you cannot do - even in children's wards in hospitals they have play leaders who do not need to handle the children as such.

I feel for you because like the rest of us not only are you battling with a very difficult condition, you start to learn about the prejudice against disability that exists in the work place. Truth is you probably have a lot to contribute to any organisation and you should not allow yourself to be pushed around. You will find plenty of help on the Internet and the ACAS helpline is very good. If you are in a Union you need to contact them.

Be aware that your management will want you to resign - but stay and fight if you can.

I managed to get a Disability Badge as I have problems with walking - pain after more than 50 yards. It may help if you could apply for this.

I hope that this advice helps a little towards keeping your spirits up and realising that you are going to get your life back even if it is not the same life as before.

Christine

Hi Christine

Thanks for the advice it has really helped me :lol: and boosted my confidence a little, i work for a school- think the budget a little tight they are having to pay someone else to do my job as it's one to one with special needs child

had bad day yesterday like we all do, not managed to check acas out yet

I got my hubby to fill in my part of the form, and only one day later phone call from occ/he for an appiontment tomorrow am think i'm a little scaredi thought they needed to see my medical records before appiontment was made, i don't want to lose my job but i can't do it at the moment .the doc has double the new meds she gave me to 2 remedeine 4 times a day it doesn't seem to be working at the mo maybe i neeed to give it a little longer

thanks again

oh are you working now or signed off sick long term

i'll keep you posted wish me luck not good with new people :oops: probably start crying :?

thanks again

ams :magic:

Youll be alright its not like you are a malingerer, youve got a very genuine and painful condition you could even argue it was caused by the job. I dont claim anything its not worth the hassle

hi there

:sorry: haven't posted anything lately had couple of really bad days i went do occp/h on thursday morning, he said that i've not to go back to work until i have another MRI scan to find out whats going on as there may be more damage to my neck because of the child jumping on me. Also he would get incontact with my doc & the head teacher and exlpain everything to them. He'll see me again after that and discuss if i'm fit to go back needless to say my head t is a little :x ,as am i thought i would be better by now and i need to work to keep me from going crazy, not to mention the cost .question can they sack me because i am now not capable to do my job

hope everyone feeling well speak 2 u soon

ams/Annmarie :magic:

Hi Ams

Sorry to hear that you are feeling so negative about the visit to Occupational Health. The short answer to your question about being sacked is that it is most unlikely- especially if it was as the result of a child jumping on you.

The truth is that your employer is probably much more nervous about the situation than you are. Did you fill in an accident form when the incident with the child happened. If you did not it may be a good idea to try and complete the form retrospectively.

You are probably too sick to return to work at present but I presume that you are on full pay. After some time this might reduce to half pay but you will receive Incapacity Benefit. This should bring you up to the amount of your monthly wage for at least some months because you will not be paying much tax or insurance.I had also been in my job for five years and I received five months full pay and five months half pay with Incapacity Benefit.

Meanwhile you may find some medication or treatment that will help the situation and even if you cannot return to your old job your employer should be looking around for something that you can do. You have done nothing wrong so they would have no reason to sack you. Resigning can affect your benefits so is best avoided. Who knows with time they might find you a great new job that you enjoy even more than the one you had.

I am still fighting my corner so I cannot comment too much at the moment - suffice it to say that I have never resigned and have no intention of doing so. Lots of people with Cervical Spondylosis find jobs that they can do albeit with reasonable adjustments - retraining for a different job, changing location or working from home. My Occupational Health Department refused medical retirement and quite frankly it is better for me to be on Incapacity Benefit as I have a very tiny pension pot.

I have had MRIs, brain scans, bone scans, injection therapies etc. and have provided medical information to Occupational Health. That is just normal procedure so try not too worry too much.

I hope with time you will be able to relax a little. I took up swimming to keep up the upper body strength and I now have friends at the pool that I see everyday. I understand that Pilates is very good for this condition so when you are a little better you may be able to do that - if you have the money. Meanwhile keep positive - thinking of you. Hope this helps.

Christine

Hope this helps some of you out there I have been suffering from this for 3 + years now and did not recognise it at first because stress was a mager factor so all my back musceles where knotted along with CS which at the time was not diagnosed at first I tried relaxing massages to no avail

Then the doctor sent me to the physio 16 weeks of physio and acupunture and this big strapping south african girl ackwnoledged defeat.

I then went back to my own sports therapist a 200 mile round journey and things did improve that was the muscular cost and the time to travel soon put an end to that. Then I got what the doctor thought was cancer of the thyroid so under the ENT specialist and MRI scans I then found out I had CS this is 2 years on exploratory surgery and the removal of a bile duct proved negative still have to have needle asparations done yearly.

PAIn I dont think I need to describe this to you but that along with my job caused a nervous breakdown drinking increased as away to sleep and releave the pain did not realise this was limited space will contine asap

Hi ams

Sorry, I am afraid that I cannot comment on work related situations. I was working as a contractor when I was diagnosed with CS. I was originally told to take 2 months off. There is no way they would keep a contract open for two months. However, I gave up my contract to move to Aberdeen due to my husband's work, and I intended to do contract work there, after the problem had been resolved.I still have not gone back to work and it is six years later.

I would be wary of looking to incapacity benefit to address any loss of income. They have changed the rules. The intention now is to get people back to work asap. Everybody who applies for IB whether they are an existing or new climant has to go for an assessment.

I have to go and do this, and I have been receiving IB for about five years. The assessment centre is hardly local. (We are talking two trains, and I have no idea where the assessment centre is). It seems to me that I have to go and prove, yet again, that this can be a disabling condition.

Sorry to sound like a doom and gloom merchant.

Hope you are well.

Juniper

Hi everyone

Thanks for all the response s it has been really helping just been back to the docs and she is trying a different type of pain killer, she is a little limited as i 'm already on other med for something else- long story .next will have to be morphine , not sure i want to go down that round sounds a little scarry :shock: , but then again if it works will prob give it a go

Feel like i do nothing but moan when i'm on line but i can't help it as i can't remember the last time i had a good day

Hope everyone these is bearing up only two weeks to go before i go to the pain clinic. My back/shoulder has started to go numb :cry: has anyone else experienced this before

speak soon

take care all and here's to a pain free day soon

AMS /Anne marie

:wink: :magic:

Hi Ams

I hope that the new meds work. As you say anything to get rid of the pain and then you will be able to think straight. That is what I found. I just could not believe that anyone would have to suffer that much pain. The last time was having my children by natural birth when the stage 2 contractions started kicking in. The difference is that it is only for a few hours not days on end.

I have a feeling that if the pain was controlled better at the beginning of this condition it may reduce the amount of chronic pain at the later stage.

It is, of course, just an opinion.

I never took morphine but I understand morphine pumps are widely used in the USA. I think that everyone is afraid of becoming addicted but I think that you can safely take it years if properly supervised. Maybe someone else has tried it. The thing is the inflammation could die down and the pain reduce at a later stage.

Thinking of you

Christine

From Co-dydramol to Morphine, thats a big leap :shock: But hey its all good it should certainly hit the pain spot :D