The past 2 1/2 years have been a rough, long, and unfortunate journey for me. We moved from Idaho to North Dakota 2 1/2 years ago, because my husband was offered a great job and we had a very affordable place to move in to here. The move was extremely stressful on me - I never had so much anxiety in my life! I needed several months to relax and recover before I found a job and started working. I was exhausted from working 50 hrs a week between two hard jobs in Idaho, and the move took every ounce of energy I had left. When I finally took a job, it was an oddly relaxing job. I worked as a church secretary for 30 hours a week. Back then I knew I didn't have it in me to work full time, so the lighter hours appealed to me. The job was not stressful in the least. I enjoyed creating the weekly bulletins, registering new members into the church, working with all the Faith Formation students, creating posters... it was not a draining job by any means. I liked it, and I loved that I was working for the church. Despite this, my health steadily became worse and worse while working there. At first I was just tired all the time, making all sorts of stupid mistakes and stumbling over my words. Then both of my hands, one after the other, swelled up and became unusable. Then I started to get the general feeling of being "unwell," and shortly after that I started to feel unwell every day, all the time. Eventually, I could hardly stay awake in the mornings at my job. My brain fog was so extreme that I couldn't remember the names of regular visitors. I couldn't look people in the eye when talking to them because I was too tired to keep focus. I kept working, even though I kept growing worse. I had been seeing all sorts of doctors in town, racking up some absurdly expensive medical bills (and received no help from them.) After flying out to see my naturopathic doctor for the first time and finally gaining answers and hope, I came home and quit my job. The regime he put me on needed full-time dedication, and I needed a lot of rest too. It's been a year, almost to the day, since I quit. I've been willingly unemployed every since, allowing my body to heal.
I'm doing a lot better now, but I'm not healthy. I have a ways to go. I'm better enough that I feel I can manage working 10-15 hours a week, for now, to help bring in income to pay our bills. And so, I'm currently in the process of looking for ways to make money. This is a challenging process. I have no lack of jobs to choose from here in ND - there are way more jobs than workers! I could have any job I wanted if I were healthy. My health is the challenge.
At first, I thought I should take my old job back at the natural foods department in the local grocery store. I worked there for 2 years about 7 years ago, so the learning curve would be minimal and the work would be simple enough. I figured it would be a good fit for me. My only concern was MCS reactions, because the store isn't that clean. I thought that a dirty environment would be a lot safer than a clean environment where toxic chemicals are regularly sprayed. Well, that plan got shot down, quickly. I waited a week too long to offer myself to the job. They hired a full time person the week before, which is what they really wanted anyway. Dang!!
So what was next? My husband is a piano teacher, and he told me his student's mom was asking for help at her store. One thing led to another, and I decided to attempt working in her store. It was a bridal store, which intrigued me. I should not have accepted the job at the interview, though. I was feeling a bit sick just being in the store for that hour. She had Air Wick fragrances plugged into many outlets around the store, which caused me to react the moment I walked in, like a brick wall. I didn't understand how sever my sensitivity was, though. I thought that if that was the worst I'd react, maybe I could tolerate the job for 15 hours a week. The job was appealing because of the relaxed, slow atmosphere, and I thought it would be worth minor reactions if it meant the job would otherwise work well for me based on my other medical issues. After 4 hours of my first day of work, I had to quit. I was in serious pain. I had no idea I would react that harshly. At first my heart was palpating, then I had burning eyes and throat, then I felt a bit nauseous, then the fatigue was taking over, and then I lost all focus. Brain fog. After I got home, I started to feel the old fibromyalgia type pain: muscle cramping, electrical-like pain flowing through my muscles, dull aching, and tenderness. This was a week and two days ago. I'm still recovering.
I now know that I have to be very picky about where I work. There is one store in town that I think would work from an MCS point of view, but I have the feeling it may not work for other reasons. The idea of applying there is simmering on the back burner. It may be my back-up plan. So I've been monitoring job postings this week, keeping my eyes open for something that may work well for me.
Yesterday I applied for a job that sounds perfect for me in every way except from an MCS viewpoint. I thought, however, that it would be easy to make reasonable accommodations for me. The job would be administering tests on computers. I'd check test-takers in, answer their questions, and make sure they don't cheat. I would also do the basic cleaning as no janitors are hired. That, to me, sounded perfect. If I can have a say in the types of cleaners used, then I could use non-toxic products that would be safe for me! Perfect fit, right? Besides, the pay and the hours are great. Definitely very interested. I just had a phone interview for the job, and I was very open and honest about my MCS trouble. I thought I sold myself very well, because I have quality experience in administering tests and I can be very quite for hours with ease, but the the interviewer kept saying, "I don't think this will work for you." She explained that the company cannot change out the types of cleaners they use. The company buys cleaners in bulk, then distributes them to all the branches around the country. They will make no change for one employee. I even offered to bring in my own cleaners, but she said they may not be approved. She did, however, promise to ask around and see if it's possible for me to use my own cleaners, and she will call call me back later this week with an answer. I have hope that they're willing to work with me - afterall, Bismarck is lacking workers, right?
This was a great learning experience for me, even if I don't get offered the job. I now have a better idea of how hard it may be for a company to make reasonable accommodations for me. In some situations, yes, employers legally have to make reasonable accommodations for employees. I need to be an employee first.
I should probably try to make money online. I have a few ideas for how, and I'm pretty sure they would do well. The first problem is that making online income requires a ton of work. More work than I have the energy for. The other problem is that it always takes a long time before making any money from any online business. It could take months, or longer! If I could find the right job in town, it would not only be easier, but I could potentially make more money more quickly.
So where do I go from here? Maybe I should go apply at that one place that's simmering on the back burner. It might be worth being in an MCS trigger-free environment, even if the other aspects of the job could be slightly troublesome.
I'm open to suggestions or tips! If I do find a job that works well for me, I'll be sure to report it in hope that I help others with MCS who need to make money.
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