Interviewing for a job . . .

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Permalink Reply by noelv on July 2, 2009 at 11:29pm

You are lucky to be able to work. What kind of work do you do? Do you work with your hands? Do you work with customers? Is your Dystonia degenerating? What type of Dystonia(s) do you have? I have multifocal dystonia which results in a lot of pain. Any activity requires fighting through the spasms and it drains me. Stress amplifies my dystonia and my neuro recommended going on disability as my work as an IT consultant was extremely high stress and the correlation between high stress and rapid generalization is pretty high. You have to be open about your Dystonia as it may affect your ability to do things or focus on tasks because of the pain. You can't hide it nor should you. We are what we are, Dystonia sufferers and accepting that will relieve a lot of the stress you're feeling. If the Dystonia will not affect your job performance then you are protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act where they cannot discriminate simply because you have a chronic disease that doesn't affect your ability to work. Unfortunately, my Dystonia does not like me working and rewards me with high pain levels if I try. I drop things constantly. I can't raise my right rm bove my shoulders. I lose mental focus due to pain. I lose my balance when my head tilts back or sideways. If Dystonia affects your ability to work, you should probably consider disability and live longer. I dissolved a lucrative business because the income was not worth the intense pain and possibly much shorter life.

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Permalink Reply by lissamel on July 4, 2009 at 3:00pm

Thank you for your response it is greatly appreciated.

My Dystonia affects mostly my face, neck and hands on good days making typing and talking hard, and when the bad days come it races down my torso and into my hips and legs. I have had it for may years though it was only labeled January of this year. Two months ago they had to stop my Trilipital to start the Benztropine for a week to ensure I did not have any adverse affects to the new medication and I had to miss work because the spams in my whole body came back into full force, made me realize how much Trilipital was actually working despite the continued spams in my face, hands and left foot turning.

I have been in the medical billing world for about 13 years and I sit at a desk typing and writing. These past few months as my hands have grown worse my productivity had slid down drastically. My supervisor has even changed my job around so I do not have to work with the phone as much as a lot of my contact with our sites across the US is now done through email.

Family and co-workers continue to ask why I do not go on disability as I pay with every paycheck for short term and long term disability - but I find myself balking at the idea. Not just because pay is reduced to 60% and that would severely hurt our income, but to go on disability frightens me. So many patients I worked with in the past went downhill fast once they were placed onto disability and I do not want that for myself or my family.

I feel that I am at a crossroads and not short where to go at this point.

Mellissa

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Permalink Reply by beka on July 13, 2009 at 1:58pm

Hi Melissa -
What job are you doing now ?
How many hours ?
Do you have drive far from the location of your current job ?
Do you enjoy it ?
What are you looking for ?
Do you fear the employer making a big issue of the dystonia ?
How does dystonia affect your job performance now ?
How you happy with your curent job ? Or looking for something new ?

Let's all help problem solve here- do we tell our future employers about dystonia or keep SILENT until we have been hired ???

Beka

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Permalink Reply by beka on July 15, 2009 at 12:51pm

Hi Michelle - Havent heard anything about your new ventures ??

If you think the Botox is not working - either new muscles need to be injected , or you need to be checked for botox antibodies...

beka

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Permalink Reply by lissamel on July 15, 2009 at 11:16pm

Beka,

Thanks for thinking about my current quest :-)

I have been in the medical billing field for a tad over thirteen years, billing for lab\pathology, physician billing for Internal Medicine then Orthopedics, with my last venture for six years working with Medicaid billing for Hospice and our company is nationwide (aye - that is a lot of Medicaid plans!).

I work full-time, sitting at my desk. My hands and wrist like to get into some funky positions and part of my solution was to get the gel wrist pads for the keyboard and mouse. This has helped to key when I press my wrist down as this seems to help straighten my fingers. Though when my right arm (yep - right handed I am) shakes like yesterday for about three hours - I cannot do anything. When this happens I try to find something else to do like the dreaded filing.

I work about 45-60 minutes away, and though the train is available to use I do not like getting on it let alone the long walk to and from the car as my right leg has started turning in. So I drive most times (unless short of gas and have to take the train!). Then I end up driving on my toes most times, hooking \ molding my left hand on the wheel. I like having my umbrella beside me for when I press my right hand on the handle it does not hurt as bad :-) I have a hard time turning my head while driving so I use my mirrors religiously. Thankfully I have excellent peripheral vision. That is, along has my eyes do not shut on me! Just got insurance approval for botox on my eyes and upper cheeks so hopefully this will alleviate that issue. Just have to figure out how to pay for my 30% :-P My productivity has decreased at least by 30% if not more as I have days (extreme - once every two weeks, partial body - once a week at least) when my body just will not work for a few hours and I just sit , or lean, to the side while I am stiff or moving about.

I love the collection aspect of medical billing, which is why I am in school part time and have almost completed my Associates in Accounting. Would love to stay in this type of field though it does not have to be in healthcare. We also just had a meeting about probable layoffs coming October because of the reimbursement rates being cut so drastically by congress for hospice\medicare. Have a strong suspicion it will be us for cost of billing personal can be cut by almost half by outsourcing these days.

My fear is during an interview my face, neck, hands or body in general will act up since anxiety is one of my triggers. So if my body is silent - do I say something? If my body acts up - what should I say? Sure, this type of disclosure is not "suppose" to make a difference in the hiring process. But come on - if someone was interviewing a person who looked "strange" to them, what do you honestly think they would do? Put your resume at the bottom of the list - just a part of human nature.

I do not want to consider disability, be it pride or fear of the dystonia becoming worse by being home. I have seen patients in the past go on disability and they always lost faith in themselves and became worse instead of fighting to be better or have a decent life.

Kinda at a lost at this point while looking around at different job website seeing what is available ~

Mellissa

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Permalink Reply by beka on July 16, 2009 at 11:18am

Well, I will tell you about my experiences with dystonia in nursing interviews..I have had only 3 jobs ever in Nursing but quite a few interviews...Some have been good , others not so good. For examply one recruiter could not stop staring at the way I was sitting or at the way I was twisting my neck, although I did use sensory tricks like holding the chin to look thoughtful.. Like heck - did that help- NO WAY.. Never got the job...
Never did tell her about dystonia.. figured that would be best to talk about directly to colleagues, some of whom got it, others didnt..
Have found phone interviews to be the best.. as no one sees you !!

How far away are you from the accounting degree ? Can you hang until you have the degree ?
FIGHT !

beka

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Permalink Reply by Thorns on July 30, 2009 at 1:45am

Melissa, Is there anyway you could do this job from home, if it's billing and computer work I can't see what the difference would be, they can see if your work load suffered at home by comparing how much you do now, if that would be their concern, maybe it would be worth asking if this would be possible. I don't know if you know medical terminology but if you do there are companies that hire people to do transcript's for doctor's from home. Some of these company's hire outside contractor's and it's your own business and you get to claim part of your home expenses because of it.
Food for thought Thorns

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Permalink Reply by Jodes on July 31, 2009 at 1:59pm

I found it interesting when I brought this topic up to my neurologist. He said to definitely NOT tell future employers about your/my dystonia, unless it comes up as something that prevents you from doing your job...and NOT until after you get the job. He said people are afraid or uneasy about what they don't understand...which I think answers your question below about why employers have a stigma against those who look different. I think we've all experienced that while checking out in the grocery line! :) He went on to say that any time a disablity is brought up to an employer, they start thinking about disability pay, time off due to illness, worry that others will have to compensate if you can't contribute to the workload, etc. I find it very discouraging not to be able to be up front about my condition...totally shoots promoting awareness right in the foot! But I think that 'being allowed' to function as a member of society means keeping my condition as private as possible.

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Permalink Reply by CrookedCris on July 30, 2009 at 11:55am

I don't tell my contract companies about the CD until it's time - I've found there's still a huge stigma from being 'broke' (in the average peeps eyes). I do however work from home as much as humanly possible and that helps keep me and the CD separate in the minds of my co-workers.

Mellissa, I like Thorns encourage you to look on Dice or other networking sites (LinkedIN) for strict work from home opportunities. It's not like it was in the late 90's - the technology and mindsets are changing for the better all the time. So long as you can still get the job done (on your terms; beauty of working 'out of the way') the remote options are getting more and more plentiful.

If your current employer seems either very happy w/you (you're indispensable) or you don't really care that much, give the work from home transition a shot - you never know. Otherwise, use your contacts to try and land something as a remote worker. It's more than possible in the current technology climate.

Good luck and let us know how you need help - asking never ever hurts.
CR

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Permalink Reply by beka on July 30, 2009 at 5:31pm

Dont understand why employees have this stigma against people looking different ??

beka

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Permalink Reply by lissamel on July 30, 2009 at 10:37pm

I understand - I no longer go into the break room during the time people go on break or lunch . I feel like I am on show, especially when you can tell people are trying not to stare but are anyways. Some of my co-workers have known me for five to seven years but do not have the cajones to approach me and ask why I am walking crooked, bent to the side or arms and hands in weird places.

Aye, aye, aye - what we have to learn to live with and try to accept and adapt for we are who we are and to hell with everyone else!!!!

Guess I am in a fighting spirit tonight :0)
Mellissa :-)

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Permalink Reply by lissamel on July 30, 2009 at 10:28pm

I have not heard of Dice, though I am hooked into LinkedIn. Never actually opened my mind to billing\transcription from home as my mind was always stuck in the "marketing" aspect of gaining contracts and I am so not the type of person who can go and sell herself, even before Dystonia :-)

I'll take a look at Dice along with another look into various groups in LinkedIn.

I actually have some good news, if things work out with one of our site locations in Greenville TX. I was meeting with the office manager about some problems she was having with understanding her Medicaid accounts and she asked me out of the blue if I would come work for her once she has approval for the position I could fill (has to bring her aging down first though - that is the tricky part).

I thought she was joking but we had lunch together and I explained to her about what was going on with me, then joked saying "now you don't want me because of the issues I have at times!" It was a wonderful feeling inside when she just looked at me and stated "Why? I do not want you for your hands but the knowledge that is in your head." She made my day with that statement and we are hoping for this position to open up in October (and pray we do not have any layoff's). Would be a completely different environment, less stress, farther away but against the flow of traffic, and if my kids are sick they can come with me to to the office!

Thanks for yours and Thorns guidance as I am going to look into it for a person cannot place all their hope in one basket.

Mellissa

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