Who do you tell? When and Why? - Part 2 The Middle Realm

Hi Lisa---

I like coming to this site.

I had such a long journey getting diagnosed that when the words were finalized (after 7 years of symptoms and "probable MS"), my family and friends--- and myself included--- were just relieved to have a definite diagnosis.  No big surprises.  Work-wise, I was doing part-time stuff at a library, and I told everyone right away because there was no getting out of double vision!  My parents and husband were driving me to and from work.  I would be more mortified having them think I had a DWI and lost my license!  So disclosure was better and everyone was very supportive.  But I was doing a part-time, low-paying, low-pressure job.  I can't imagine what the case would have been if I was working full-time in the medical field at that point.

It's a little hard now with new people.  I hate saying why I am not currently working, and I want to wait until I have more steady work before I say I am a freelance writer and library volunteer who happens to have MS. Hopefully in the near future.

I'm working on getting the widgets for this site and for the Carnival of Bloggers.  My goal is to get as many relevant articles, blogs, tips, and so on into the search engines so that people will find me, the Carnival (very helpful), and also this site (helpful as well for MS folks.) I recently had an interview for New Mobility magazine--- it's for wheel chair users as well as MSers with varying degrees of mobility.  The woman who edits the MS section asked me about my disability case and did a profile on me for the Oct issue.  So I think a plug will be included for my blog, which in turn will plug this site and the Carnival.  I think it's so important for MS internet users and print media readers to be aware of this blogging network and how it helps MSers get connected to one another (I know, I'm a big idealist!) But I think that is the big picture, and if widgets bring more folks in, all the better.

That's all for now.  I always write too much!

Sincerely,

Jen@MSfriend

Feel better, Lisa. Saw your post at Brass and Ivory.  This, too, shall pass.

I am a stay at home mom and also work from home, so I can't even imagine what it must be like to have to tell an employer about this.  I suspect that there would be a full range of responses from compassion and accomodation to misunderstanding and frustration.  It would be interesting to hear from readers first hand how this type of situation has fared for them.