Hypos happen at stupid times

[Mep]

I was in a group training session yesterday at work and the room was quite cold and I was struggling to stay awake (yep so **** tired all the time from all the symptoms I deal with). But they took a break for morning tea and I'm thinking man I feel disgusting and I think my sugar is dropping. Sure enough I'm 4.2 on the meter and so I couldn't go back to training on that number. So made sure I treated it and then back I go and spent the next hour so nauseated and struggling to stay awake again. I thought I'd better tell my boss as I walked back in the room as he was sitting there watching us all and I didn't want to be caught out and told I wasn't paying attention. To top things off the training was about work I've never had anything to do with so it was all new to me and I was the only one in the room that wasn't familiar with the work. You see at work I'm doing back office processing because I can't have any contact with customers because of my burping and my voice. So everyone else is doing this wide variety of work and they've since all learnt how to do a new part of the business, but they haven't bothered to train me for it at all. Since being sick and all I notice how I'm treated differently.... not my fault. But sometimes I think they expect a lot from me. I have to stand up for myself. But yeh yesterday was a hard day because that was my 2nd hypo yesterday and it made the rest of the day more difficult. And of course today my sugar is back to being high again... it just keeps swinging lately.

 

[ButtterflyLady]

I was in a group training session yesterday at work and the room was quite cold and I was struggling to stay awake (yep so **** tired all the time from all the symptoms I deal with). But they took a break for morning tea and I'm thinking man I feel disgusting and I think my sugar is dropping. Sure enough I'm 4.2 on the meter and so I couldn't go back to training on that number. So made sure I treated it and then back I go and spent the next hour so nauseated and struggling to stay awake again. I thought I'd better tell my boss as I walked back in the room as he was sitting there watching us all and I didn't want to be caught out and told I wasn't paying attention. To top things off the training was about work I've never had anything to do with so it was all new to me and I was the only one in the room that wasn't familiar with the work. You see at work I'm doing back office processing because I can't have any contact with customers because of my burping and my voice. So everyone else is doing this wide variety of work and they've since all learnt how to do a new part of the business, but they haven't bothered to train me for it at all. Since being sick and all I notice how I'm treated differently.... not my fault. But sometimes I think they expect a lot from me. I have to stand up for myself. But yeh yesterday was a hard day because that was my 2nd hypo yesterday and it made the rest of the day more difficult. And of course today my sugar is back to being high again... it just keeps swinging lately.

Hugs. I don't have any suggestions, but I have a lot of empathy.

The fact that you are able to work at all, with the health issues you have to face, is impressive.

 

[Mep]

Hugs. I don't have any suggestions, but I have a lot of empathy.

The fact that you are able to work at all, with the health issues you have to face, is impressive.

thanks Yeh I'm working part time because of health. But still sometimes it is a struggle.

 

[ickihun]

thanks Yeh I'm working part time because of health. But still sometimes it is a struggle.

Mep. Out of interest is there a union rep. in your office?
They can give you support. Goodluck

 

[Mep]

Mep. Out of interest is there a union rep. in your office?
They can give you support. Goodluck

No, I'm not in the union. There are union reps in the office though. Further to what happened as stated above, I had to leave work on Friday just gone because I wasn't well (not my diabetes). But I woke up feeling unwell and thought well possibly it is because of lack of sleep or something and if I can just get going and push through it I may snap out of the whacked out feeling and nausea. But I got to work and I was only working for half an hour and during that time I kept getting blurry vision and spacing out, plus yawning like crazy as well. I thought this is ridiculous, I'm going to have to go home as obviously need to be in bed. So I went to tell my boss I wasn't well and needed to leave. The first thing he asks me is if I was ok to drive, I said yeh if I leave now. Then he asked me if I should even have a licence because of my medications I take (they have some of that info on their books after all they've put me through already). I said my doctor gives me the clearance to drive regularly thank you. I thought that was the end of it... but he then tells me he doesn't understand how I can work at all with my health conditions and that he will be phoning my HR case manager to discuss about reducing my working hours further. I said excuse me I just need to go home today, this has nothing to do with needing to reduce my working hours permanently thank you. He then said well maybe you need to take some time off work.... he then brought up my leave on my file and said oh look you have heaps of leave here.... why don't you take 8 weeks off (I have long service leave I haven't used a lot of... been with this employer almost 23 years). I thought to myself is he joking? I just had 3 weeks off in September and he told me there was no leave available between 17 September through to the end of January 2016. He told me I had to be back to work on 17 September. I'm thinking this guy can't remember anything he says clearly (he's like this with work issues as well). I just looked at him at this point and said yeh well I'm seeing my doc and I don't wish to discuss leave at this point.... but I am going home right now if that's ok. Talk about cross the line with me! Why he thought it was appropriate to talk about reducing my work hours and telling me to take a long period of leave when I'm only needing a sick day is pathetic. If I get a call from my HR case manager because of him I will be telling her that he is making assumptions and will remind her she asked me recently about my working hours and I've already answered that I'm ok with my current hours. I really dislike people making assumptions about my health, especially when they're not doctors. I said to my boss, yes I may be having a rough patch but that doesn't mean I need any intervention unless I ask for it. I'm doing my work well and I exceed their expectations with that. They've already told me several times my output exceeds full time employees (I'm part time) and I do more work than they do as well with high accuracy. So it's not my work that is of any concern. I'm limited with what I can do at work because of my physical limitations. Perhaps they hate that. But they promote themselves as an equal opportunity employer who encourages people with disabilities and various diversities to work for them. So they can't have a go at me for being sick. I think it has a lot to do with the personal opinion of my boss and the fact he doesn't know how to handle health issues generally (I've heard stories from others about what he's been up to).

 

[ickihun]

No, I'm not in the union. There are union reps in the office though. Further to what happened as stated above, I had to leave work on Friday just gone because I wasn't well (not my diabetes). But I woke up feeling unwell and thought well possibly it is because of lack of sleep or something and if I can just get going and push through it I may snap out of the whacked out feeling and nausea. But I got to work and I was only working for half an hour and during that time I kept getting blurry vision and spacing out, plus yawning like crazy as well. I thought this is ridiculous, I'm going to have to go home as obviously need to be in bed. So I went to tell my boss I wasn't well and needed to leave. The first thing he asks me is if I was ok to drive, I said yeh if I leave now. Then he asked me if I should even have a licence because of my medications I take (they have some of that info on their books after all they've put me through already). I said my doctor gives me the clearance to drive regularly thank you. I thought that was the end of it... but he then tells me he doesn't understand how I can work at all with my health conditions and that he will be phoning my HR case manager to discuss about reducing my working hours further. I said excuse me I just need to go home today, this has nothing to do with needing to reduce my working hours permanently thank you. He then said well maybe you need to take some time off work.... he then brought up my leave on my file and said oh look you have heaps of leave here.... why don't you take 8 weeks off (I have long service leave I haven't used a lot of... been with this employer almost 23 years). I thought to myself is he joking? I just had 3 weeks off in September and he told me there was no leave available between 17 September through to the end of January 2016. He told me I had to be back to work on 17 September. I'm thinking this guy can't remember anything he says clearly (he's like this with work issues as well). I just looked at him at this point and said yeh well I'm seeing my doc and I don't wish to discuss leave at this point.... but I am going home right now if that's ok. Talk about cross the line with me! Why he thought it was appropriate to talk about reducing my work hours and telling me to take a long period of leave when I'm only needing a sick day is pathetic. If I get a call from my HR case manager because of him I will be telling her that he is making assumptions and will remind her she asked me recently about my working hours and I've already answered that I'm ok with my current hours. I really dislike people making assumptions about my health, especially when they're not doctors. I said to my boss, yes I may be having a rough patch but that doesn't mean I need any intervention unless I ask for it. I'm doing my work well and I exceed their expectations with that. They've already told me several times my output exceeds full time employees (I'm part time) and I do more work than they do as well with high accuracy. So it's not my work that is of any concern. I'm limited with what I can do at work because of my physical limitations. Perhaps they hate that. But they promote themselves as an equal opportunity employer who encourages people with disabilities and various diversities to work for them. So they can't have a go at me for being sick. I think it has a lot to do with the personal opinion of my boss and the fact he doesn't know how to handle health issues generally (I've heard stories from others about what he's been up to).

God you might not believe me but this sounds very familiar. My union rep. has always backed me up when I've been ill or having to fight for part-time hours so I could reduce my toddlers increased nursery costs.
They know your sometimes unwell but in my experience the team leader/manager feels under pressure from non-diabetic staff for fairness. Well jealousy sometimes. I like you would swop places with someone not diabetic any day. All they see as you getting treated differently. They'll never understand unless they suffered as well. Sad isn't it?

 

[eddie1968]

I generally don't get symptoms of hypoglycaemia until <3 mmol/l. It's your health at risk and management should be supporting you in this.

 

[Mep]

God you might not believe me but this sounds very familiar. My union rep. has always backed me up when I've been ill or having to fight for part-time hours so I could reduce my toddlers increased nursery costs.
They know your sometimes unwell but in my experience the team leader/manager feels under pressure from non-diabetic staff for fairness. Well jealousy sometimes. I like you would swop places with someone not diabetic any day. All they see as you getting treated differently. They'll never understand unless they suffered as well. Sad isn't it?

yes, sad. Although with me it's not my diabetes that is the reason I was forced to work part time hours. I have other illnesses that affects my ability to work. I chronically burp, can't talk too well, and go to the toilet a lot. My diabetes is the most controlled disease out of everything I have. I don't have that many hypo's at work. My boss just didn't know what to do or say when I mentioned it to him but I definitely didn't want to be told I looked like I wasn't paying attention or being told I had to go home (he's done that with other staff who cough too much or whatever).

 

[Mep]

I generally don't get symptoms of hypoglycaemia until <3 mmol/l. It's your health at risk and management should be supporting you in this.

I get symptoms anything below 4.5. But my endo explained it will also be due to how fast my BGL is dropping. I drop very fast when I'm 5 or less. He wants me to stay above 5 at all times.

 

[ickihun]

yes, sad. Although with me it's not my diabetes that is the reason I was forced to work part time hours. I have other illnesses that affects my ability to work. I chronically burp, can't talk too well, and go to the toilet a lot. My diabetes is the most controlled disease out of everything I have. I don't have that many hypo's at work. My boss just didn't know what to do or say when I mentioned it to him but I definitely didn't want to be told I looked like I wasn't paying attention or being told I had to go home (he's done that with other staff who cough too much or whatever).

Mep. What I did was obtained an info leaflet about my condition and gave it to my manager. I told him he could keep it as I already have a copy. I know we shouldn't have to educate them but I think some reactions are our of ignorance.
I hope you can get your relationship with your manager on a better knowledgeable level. ;-)

 

[Mep]

Mep. What I did was obtained an info leaflet about my condition and gave it to my manager. I told him he could keep it as I already have a copy. I know we shouldn't have to educate them but I think some reactions are our of ignorance.
I hope you can get your relationship with your manager on a better knowledgeable level. ;-)

thanks they have absolutely all the information they need about my health... it's all on record. They've been told numerous times that I can hypo and I'm usually fine at treating my hypos and recovering... they've been told that if I'm unconscious they're to call an ambulance, etc. At the same time I was told by HR and my boss at the time that I was responsible to let them know if I had a hypo at work because it impairs judgment and they have a duty of care to me and I also to them. So in this case it's just this particular boss is both arrogant and ignorant I think. He has his own ideas on everything before even doing his research. If he checked my file he will find all he needs to know... sometimes it sounds like he has read my file, and other times it doesn't. I think he over reacts. All I know is that in this instance I did what they'd asked me to do and just let him know I was unwell and why. I have to say it was a real struggle being in a training session when recovering from a hypo... my eyes kept closing on me and I felt like I was was going to vomit at any moment for a good hour. Terrible feeling. I don't always get the bad nausea with my hypos.... but sometimes I do.

 

[ButtterflyLady]

Sounds like you are extremely good at your job, and you are being treated unfairly. Some people find that working from home gives them the best of both worlds. You would probably need to change employer but if you could set something up that suited you, it could make things a lot easier.

But yes, stand your ground. Maybe tell the HR person that you went to tell him you had to go home as you were unwell, and he wanted to discuss longer term arrangements, without giving you any warning about that. It's a pretty poor management style.

 

[Jaylee]

No, I'm not in the union. There are union reps in the office though. Further to what happened as stated above, I had to leave work on Friday just gone because I wasn't well (not my diabetes). But I woke up feeling unwell and thought well possibly it is because of lack of sleep or something and if I can just get going and push through it I may snap out of the whacked out feeling and nausea. But I got to work and I was only working for half an hour and during that time I kept getting blurry vision and spacing out, plus yawning like crazy as well. I thought this is ridiculous, I'm going to have to go home as obviously need to be in bed. So I went to tell my boss I wasn't well and needed to leave. The first thing he asks me is if I was ok to drive, I said yeh if I leave now. Then he asked me if I should even have a licence because of my medications I take (they have some of that info on their books after all they've put me through already). I said my doctor gives me the clearance to drive regularly thank you. I thought that was the end of it... but he then tells me he doesn't understand how I can work at all with my health conditions and that he will be phoning my HR case manager to discuss about reducing my working hours further. I said excuse me I just need to go home today, this has nothing to do with needing to reduce my working hours permanently thank you. He then said well maybe you need to take some time off work.... he then brought up my leave on my file and said oh look you have heaps of leave here.... why don't you take 8 weeks off (I have long service leave I haven't used a lot of... been with this employer almost 23 years). I thought to myself is he joking? I just had 3 weeks off in September and he told me there was no leave available between 17 September through to the end of January 2016. He told me I had to be back to work on 17 September. I'm thinking this guy can't remember anything he says clearly (he's like this with work issues as well). I just looked at him at this point and said yeh well I'm seeing my doc and I don't wish to discuss leave at this point.... but I am going home right now if that's ok. Talk about cross the line with me! Why he thought it was appropriate to talk about reducing my work hours and telling me to take a long period of leave when I'm only needing a sick day is pathetic. If I get a call from my HR case manager because of him I will be telling her that he is making assumptions and will remind her she asked me recently about my working hours and I've already answered that I'm ok with my current hours. I really dislike people making assumptions about my health, especially when they're not doctors. I said to my boss, yes I may be having a rough patch but that doesn't mean I need any intervention unless I ask for it. I'm doing my work well and I exceed their expectations with that. They've already told me several times my output exceeds full time employees (I'm part time) and I do more work than they do as well with high accuracy. So it's not my work that is of any concern. I'm limited with what I can do at work because of my physical limitations. Perhaps they hate that. But they promote themselves as an equal opportunity employer who encourages people with disabilities and various diversities to work for them. So they can't have a go at me for being sick. I think it has a lot to do with the personal opinion of my boss and the fact he doesn't know how to handle health issues generally (I've heard stories from others about what he's been up to).

Hi Mep,

Sorry, but I am going to play "devils advocate" here regarding your gaffers "duty of care"? (Though to be fair to you the 20 question hold up that ensued was unwarranted.)
Again, I don't want to be a bore regarding the "bumf" you would have been given & the change in driving licence stuff as an insulin user..

But did you test "five to drive"??

 

[Mep]

Hi Mep,

Sorry, but I am going to play "devils advocate" here regarding your gaffers "duty of care"? (Though to be fair to you the 20 question hold up that ensued was unwarranted.)
Again, I don't want to be a bore regarding the "bumf" you would have been given & the change in driving licence stuff as an insulin user..

But did you test "five to drive"??

yeh I always test before I drive .... this sickness I had on Friday had nothing to do with my diabetes at all.... it wasn't a hypo I was dealing with. I had a hypo last Tuesday though at work (as mentioned above). I just get sick with other stuff I'm dealing with. But because I've a bit I'm dealing with, my boss seems to think I'm not coping any time I mention I may be unwell. When I think about it I've only told him about 3 times since August... hardly a problem considering what I'm dealing with. My colleague who works alongside me has had a lot more sick leave than I have this year and as she keeps telling me she only has a couple of diagnoses she is dealing with.... she keeps asking me why I work. This is something I actually find offensive from people... they're implying I shouldn't be working when they ask such a question. I was very annoyed when my boss mentioned it on Friday... do they expect a sick person to stay home and do nothing when they can do something? As long as I can do something, I will do so. I'm not sitting home unless I absolutely become incapacitated to the point I'm a danger to myself and everyone else if I leave home. I'm quite capable to still do things..... eg. I type very fast and get through a lot of work even though I struggle to talk.

 

[ButtterflyLady]

yeh I always test before I drive .... this sickness I had on Friday had nothing to do with my diabetes at all.... it wasn't a hypo I was dealing with. I had a hypo last Tuesday though at work (as mentioned above). I just get sick with other stuff I'm dealing with. But because I've a bit I'm dealing with, my boss seems to think I'm not coping any time I mention I may be unwell. When I think about it I've only told him about 3 times since August... hardly a problem considering what I'm dealing with. My colleague who works alongside me has had a lot more sick leave than I have this year and as she keeps telling me she only has a couple of diagnoses she is dealing with.... she keeps asking me why I work. This is something I actually find offensive from people... they're implying I shouldn't be working when they ask such a question. I was very annoyed when my boss mentioned it on Friday... do they expect a sick person to stay home and do nothing when they can do something? As long as I can do something, I will do so. I'm not sitting home unless I absolutely become incapacitated to the point I'm a danger to myself and everyone else if I leave home. I'm quite capable to still do things..... eg. I type very fast and get through a lot of work even though I struggle to talk.

Absolutely. This is why people have been fighting for years to change laws and policies so people with disabilities can be as independent as possible. I would be offended too, if people asked me why I work. How bl**** dare they. I would smile sweetly and answer "because I can", or something.

Enlightened employers assist people with hearing loss, vision loss, paralysis, etc, to work... it's hard when you have an invisible illness, though.