Stuck in an "ill" & difficult health situation. 26 February 2015 at 10:37PM edited 30 November -1 at 1:00AM in Disability Money Matters 9 replies 2K views

DeafLeopard

Pardon me if this is in the wrong thread,not sure where to post this topic to be honest.

Basically I have a new(ish) job, I've been there since November,
however my health have recently took and unexpected turn and I'm now missing work since I am off due to a "viral infection".

I've got a super bad ear ache and I cannot hear anything in my left ear,it's causing pain down my neck and also I cannot breathe at all through my nose.I'm also tired every day though I do try to get some sleep I often can't because of the difficulties with breathing and the pain in my ear.

I've gone back to the doctors about this many time over the past few weeks and all i've got was "take paracetamol & pain killers" it duls the pain but doesn't make anything else go away.

And Whilst I am waiting for an operation on my left ear and to take the adenoids out (again) I fear that I am too deaf to carry on with work. Its so hard at home to hear things even with my right hearing aid turned up.

I'm a nursery nurse and so hearing is one of the most (if not the) most important thing to have within that type of job.

Ontop of this,
I'm also under going a lot of tests to rule out ovarian cancer & to see if i have Polycystic(?) Ovary syndrome so I have to keep having different appointments regarding this.

I've taken too much time out of work to go to doctors appointments & have missed so much work that I have a lot of hours to pay back in time owing which I fear that I will never be able to make up because of this.I earn a decent amount (£1,000+ a month but I've only just got paid this month and well, the way this illness carries on, I'll miss a ton of work & thus miss a ton of money)

Thank you for you time.


I was wondering if there's any help I could get and if my health & hearing gets worse, I don't think i'd be able to keep my job.

i'm looking for some advice on what to do and how to help myself financially and just what to do?

[Deleted User]

have you seen the same dr each time?could you see another at the same practice?

DeafLeopard

I've seen 2 different doctors who both said it was a viral infection,
I'm going to open surgery tomorrow for the second time this week.
I'm worried about work i don't know whether to go in monday if i still can't hear / in a lot of pain

Savvy_Sue

How long's this been going on?

I did once have a problem with one ear, felt as if it was full of cotton wool, and the GP said 'virus, it will take 3 weeks to clear', and it did. But those three weeks were not fun because that was my 'good' ear.

DeafLeopard

It's been going on a few months because of glue ear but it's never been this painful. I have constant loud thumping and feels blocked. It often makes the left side of my neck painful to move / stiff

JaneDoeJohnDoe

Try inhaling vic's in a steam bath. As Gp if Sudafed (decongestants) may help

DeafLeopard

i've tried all that for the past two weeks.
it was geting better now it's just got worse so i'm back to sqaure 1 again

tomtontom

There's no doubting how debilitating ear problems can be, but from the GP's perspective you have only been unwell for a short time, well within the time frame for a virus. If you're very concerned you could see an ENT specialist privately.

In terms of financial support your employer should be paying you SSP if you've been off for more than three days.

savykate

I had something similar a couple of years ago, 3 different GPs all said it was something different until one finally said they could see something white and referred me to Ear Nose and Throat (ENT). I was in so much pain and had constant vertigo and pain. I'm a youth worker so like you, you need to be able to listen in the job! Thankfully ENT know what they're doing and spent ages with a vacuum thing sucking infection out. Apparently it was a really horrific infection that was probably caused by shoving cotton buds in. It took several vacuum things to be done until it was over but I got my hearing back properly and it stopped feeling like it was full of cotton wool. If you haven't been to ENT, insist on a referral.

DeafLeopard

i'm waiting for an operation from the ENT department.
i'm completely fine now...in quiet envrionments.
in loud envrionments...its a no go.

It's got better however, I can only hear properly in quiet environments such as sunday lunch in a pub or even shopping/walking down a street.
In busy environments It's really difficult to hear, even the person next to me or sometimes it's difficult for me to hear at all.
like today, i could hear voices and make out what they were trying to say but it was really blurred/muffled and muted, as well as hearing the background music which was too loud over these voices making it hard to engage in conversation.

I said to my manager that I won't be in tomorrow since i'm sicknoted off until tuesday...then it lead to a conversation that basically said that because of the above issue that work probably isn't suitable for me to work in because of all the noise, how difficult and uncomfortable it makes me when i'm trying to do my job & i can't because my hearing is a hindrance.

So bascially,
it's leading me to leave the job since it'll worsen my deafness and my other health issues (such as being stressed, depressed because i feel like i'm not doing my job properly etc...) and also, because as the time goes on it'll make every body elses job harder since we rely so much on communication with each other. Also my manager just doesn't want me to push myself in a job where it's actually making me even more ill just because i love it.