What careers did we all. Do before becoming sick?

[ilivewithcfs]

I viewed most of my life as a remarkable adventure. The way I am today is nothing like who I was before all this, whatever it is, happened.

Yep, all of this is way too familiar.
Hopefully, we will recover and write all the novels we want. I've been stuck with this thing for 8 years, but I refuse to give up just yet.

 

[Murph]

I got mecfs when i was a student but managed enough mildness remissions to have a career or two.

First I was an economist with the Australian govenrment.
Then i became a financial journalist. I still do that, freelance.

you can find my work all over the place, e,g. : https://www.yahoo.com/author/jason-murphy/

 

[Mimicry]

I did battles, ongoing. I was always in a position of advocating for wildlife. For fifty years at least. You find yourself often, VERY Unpopular. Fortunately, I was really good at it.

It's also a win some lose some situation. So I try to focus on my successes.

I'm retired and the ME pretty much precludes me doing basic things like: Identify this Plant. Executive Functions got very very tired.

I can imagine! During my studies I was hoping I'd someday get a job as an environmental auditor (not sure if it's the right term in English) in our government agency that gives permits and supervises that building sites, factories etc respect the laws and don't pollute the ground and water. You know, taking water and soil samples, writing permits, yelling at people, the usual. One of my geoengineering teachers had done that job and I absolutely admired her, she was so witty, fun and knowledgeable!

 

[Mimicry]

uh oh, oh NO.

I fully intended to write about 10 novels/memoirs/exposes and New Yorker articles....when I retired. And I had any number of agendas worked up.

Then everything burned up kaboom.

so then I got worse. Creativity has tanked. I crash if I paint. Crash if I draw. I don't write paragraphs any more. Let alone a story. In fact all this could be observed here in PR, as I would tell stories, back a number of years ago, and now I just write a sentence.

Ha, I used to love writing and started writing a fantasy novel when I was 25 I think. I haven't touched it in years. But I have got new ideas! I've been able to read books again and read one by Stephen King a month ago or so. I've always loved horror books and movies and got an awesome idea for a horror book where the protagonist has ME and a portal to a strange realm opens up in her closet and monsters and creepy creatures come out every once in a while. And she hears voices. She can't go inspect it because she's stuck in bed.

 

[Mimicry]

for me, biology was easy. Walk in the park. I have a theory on why that was.

Physics and chemistry and the math were horrible.

I was more referring to the emotional part of the work - the frustration, anger and sadness. I've always been good at learning things and I loved biology and STEM (not to brag but... Oh well, why not brag, it's good for the soul in these trying times) so the academic part doesn't sound hard. Before tech university I was also debating on whether I should apply to veterinary school but quickly realized I wouldn't be able to deal with suffering and dying animals and neglectful owners on a regular basis. 😓

 

[ilivewithcfs]

Ha, I used to love writing and started writing a fantasy novel when I was 25 I think. I haven't touched it in years. But I have got new ideas! I've been able to read books again and read one by Stephen King a month ago or so. I've always loved horror books and movies and got an awesome idea for a horror book where the protagonist has ME and a portal to a strange realm opens up in her closet and monsters and creepy creatures come out every once in a while. And she hears voices. She can't go inspect it because she's stuck in bed.

It's cool, that you can still read books with ME! I can't. I can see the words and I understand what they mean, but I can neither enjoy nor appreciate artistic merit of the book. It's so weird. I took so many things for granted when I was healthy.

 

[Rufous McKinney]

I'd someday get a job as an environmental auditor

maybe we'd call that a Compliance Monitor (assuming some permit got issues, they are supposed to follow the permit conditions, etc.).

Or if your the city or county who approved some building project, its Code Enforcement

But mostly us biologists had to also do the monitoring, so thats part of how very little monitoring happens,.

 

[Rufous McKinney]

I was also debating on whether I should apply to veterinary school but quickly realized I wouldn't be able to deal with suffering and dying animals and neglectful owners on a regular basis. 😓

I cannot handle blood and gore. I want to help animals but that part, I was not cut out for,
My daughter worked At The Vet for ten years. Her best friend did Vet School and now works constantly and makes large sums of $$.

My daughter can reach into the back of a car and pull out the injured animal. I cannot even look into the car.

got an awesome idea for a horror

what a great idea. I guess we should all encourage each other to just takes a stab at trying a bit harder?

I recently started reading a book. Because the power was off for four days. But my eyes don't really focus well enough, until at least ten pm. And I"m pretty sure I was crashy from this reading. So only on night one did I read all that. And then the next day could not muster it. Nor the next nor the next.

 

[Rufous McKinney]

to a strange realm opens up in her closet

Thinking about your plot, I"d suggest brainstorming on some. other form of Where does the Strange Realm emerge from.

I can think of several books and movies, where the closet is what harbors mystery or entrance into some other world, etc.

For fun, I was thinking, well, how else might horror, enter into the bedroom or lounge area of the ME victim?

Perhaps it's the shower. We don't like showers. Maybe it's under the bed. Under the floor boards. Behind the light switches.

There was this movie I got really into it for a while, when I was considering moving to this other place. Which now I have done.

In that film, there are simply menacing drops of water. The drops of water are sliding down the wall. From the ceiling. The drops of water are not of this world. Etc Etc it was really scary.


And imagine what you could work up in terms of how the ME victim, is in fact heroic. Or clever or overcomes something, despite their limitations.

 

[Rufous McKinney]

I wouldn't be able to deal with suffering and dying animals and neglectful owners on a regular basis. 😓

I recall my daughter telling me about when an extended family of about 25 Asians, showed up at the vet, to put down their chihuahua. She was in the middle of this entire massive event that is so real, so gritty and so intimate.

 

[Rufous McKinney]

My day job was hairstyling.

I am calling my hairdresser friend, real soon. For hair advice. I cannot see her, she's too far away but perhaps she can clue me in on what to do with this mop of hair.

 

[Rebeccare]

It's fascinating to see what all of you studied in school and did for work!

I also got sick while in college. While I somehow managed to graduate with a bachelor's degree in special education and an initial teacher's license in severe disabilities, I never was able to work full time (student teaching during my final semester just about did me in!).

Before my son was born I taught 5-8 hours a week and spent another 12-15 hours in bed creating materials and developing curriculum for a local nonprofit working with kids who have disabilities. Now I'm working 5-10 hours a week total, all from home. Thankfully the organization I work for has been flexible and understanding.

 

[Rufous McKinney]

creating materials and developing curriculum for a local nonprofit working with kids who have disabilities.

that sounds really fulfilling and important work...

 

[Mimicry]

It's cool, that you can still read books with ME! I can't. I can see the words and I understand what they mean, but I can neither enjoy nor appreciate artistic merit of the book. It's so weird. I took so many things for granted when I was healthy.

It really is! I had a five year period where I wasn't really able to read books. At best, it was painfully slow and I couldn't comprehend half of what I was reading, at worst it was impossible. Then my chronic migraines started and it hurt so much to move my eyeballs. But now I can read again, I noticed two months ago that I can actually focus on the plot and read relatively fast! So don't give up hope, you may yet get to a point where you can read again ♥️

 

[Rebeccare]

that sounds really fulfilling and important work...

It's creative and marvelously fulfilling when my brain and body are working well enough. But sometimes I wish I got into a profession that required a little less brain power, and (when I was spending time in a classroom) a LOT less exertion.

 

[Rufous McKinney]

that required a little less brain power

jobs can be HARD.

Wish I"d played piano, not a flute. Cannot blow, now.

How in the world did I do all that work, I ask myself and I have no answer. I was not this sick, is the basic answer and I kept faking it.

What enabled me to manage the last 20 was not having to report to an office. This conserved vast amounts of energy. And then when they prevented us from traveling due to budget cuts, then I was even more just keeping all these plates spinning in my Home Office.

All that stress was there, 24/7 and all the time so that part of the Home Office is a bit of a downside.

 

[Artemisia]

Wish I"d played piano, not a flute. Cannot blow, now.

I played clarinet in the school band age 12 to 14. I remember I decided to quit band despite enjoying it because I felt I didn't have "enough air" to blow in the instrument. Like it just winded me. I had no idea why. I think it must've been early signs of ME.

 

[Treeman]

I played clarinet in the school band age 12 to 14. I remember I decided to quit band despite enjoying it because I felt I didn't have "enough air" to blow in the instrument. Like it just winded me. I had no idea why. I think it must've been early signs of ME.

I had a similar thing. Every time I attempted to read for a period of time I would struggle to stay awake. I know now I didn't have enough energy 😞

 

[godlovesatrier]

Pre ME I was a film producer and I was working as a kind of technical engineer in IT after that.

Then after ME I managed to get into a software development role which I am still in but it's become increasingly hard as the job has become more senior. Covid has recently fucked up my cognition so whether I will be able to continue working is another thing! Even a mild impairment in my current line of work will make work very difficult, but when I crash at the moment I'm unable to really do anything for several days. Which would still make work impossible. So we will see! My PEM threshold has been reduced dramatically which is the main issue.

I used to get tired all the time, but way more than normal kids as a teenager and I could never stay up late which almost all teenagers seemed to be able to do?! My drs would test me for diabetes etc quite regularly and I used to get heart palps as well so they'd test my heart sometimes. Of course these showed no issues whatsoever. Only after getting PVFS twice and having a much harder crash did I get diagnosed with ME - thankfully we had family drs back then so it was easy for a good dr to spot things. At the time of diagnosis my ESR was 2 but I was ebv negative and white blood cells looked pretty healthy. Nobody sees a family dr anymore so the likelyhood of a dr joining the dots is extremeley unlikely.

 

[Rufous McKinney]

I used to get tired all the time, but way more than normal kids as a teenager and I could never stay up late which almost all teenagers seemed to be able to do?

My Dad had a heck of a time waking me up as child. Over and Over and Over he'd show up, wakeup!

As an adult (with presumably some mild version of ME) I always needed far more sleep than anybody else and we'd be at my friends house, sleeping in the living room and everybody steps over me.