job or pesonality type what do we have in common

[Mark N]

I know talking to people that there doesn't seem to be anything doctors acan point to as the reason we got our condition that casues our CP. So What job did you have or still have [we don't need specifics if you don't want to give them out] and what causes you more pain when you work.

The second part of this topic is are you a Type A or type B personality and what part of your personality causes you themost pain.

I have had many jobs before finally becoming a teacher and coach. I know the job I had in the iron foundry caused me to put my spine under stress because of the heavy lifts I had to make. But it doesn't account for my other spinal issue. I had more pain teaching that I ever did as a football coach. The sitting and standing caused me a lot of pain and I could feel the stress of the job causing me pain. Grading test and papers were the most painful things I did. Coaching football actually reduced my pain or took my focus off of my pain. I know the release of being on the field and acting out with exuberance, physically having contact with players that was deemed appropriate and being able to vent my frustration at the moment helped take my pain away. I know that I felt pain during games and practices but it didn't get my attention the way it would while teaching or some other activity. I had wrap-around pains on the field so it isn't like my condition disappeared. But the biggest thing about coaching is I could be the person I was without much restriction. Every other position I was in as a teacher, husband or father required me to hold back part of what Iwas feeling.

Personality type is clearly an A personality for me. I have always been driven to do my best and to get others to do their best. I haven't been able to just accept things for the way they were until CP disabled me and I had no other choice. I could accept doing things differently than I wanted them done but I needed to try my best and to achieve the best. Even when winning the state championships I could see the shortcomings of our team along with the good aspects of our game. Is it the personality type that contributes to our pain or is it more how well we accept the life we have without struggling to change it.

What do you think? Are either one a factor or do we have to look in other areas to find out the common link is that brings us to developing CP.

[Kathi49]

Mark,

This is a good topic! :) I have often wondered how our professions may have attributed to CP. So, instead of addressing all of mine, I will just stick with the spinal issues.

For most if not all of my adult life my work was sedentary; secretarial, managerial and then into IT/Project Management. I believe the arthritis was already there based on an earlier childhood accident but I have also been told genetics. But by 40 it was screaming to be heard. I believe that in my case sedentary work worsened my condition as well as leaning into a PC for 8 hours a day. The building I worked in is second in size to the Pentagon. So, I got plenty of walking in which helped with the pain but in some ways worsened it when wearing heels LOL! There were also times, while doing LAN Administration, that I was crawling under desks, lifting PCs, printers, you name it. So, that didn't help matters.

Personality Type: A. I believe I was an A, tested and came out as an A and have been told an A. I was always "let's get the job done." Now how that factors into managing pain is probably why I don't get "down". I suppose I look at it like, what is this, research it, find the best doctor for it, seek treatment for it and take it from there. Maybe I am even a "quick fix" person when it comes to pain or at least I used to be I think. And that's not really a good take on it either. But being an "A" I DID want a quick fix and wanted it fixed yesterday. :eek: But after the two surgeries I had to slow way down. Now that life has calmed down (retirement), my daughter is grown, I can take time for myself. I do have a lot of appointments some weeks and there are days that can be extremely slow due to pain and such. So, I am probably more of B now if not lower. :) The reality is...it is what it is and with that came acceptance because I will never, ever be 100% again.

[A.K.]

My psychologist explained to me that I feel my pain very deeply because it is my personality to be compassionate toward others feelings. She gave me a literal explaination that I can't repeat (too clinical for me :o ) but I found that to be very interesting.

In my before CP life when I was still able to work, which was almost three years ago now, I was a manager/team leader in many different aspects of the mortgage lending industry. I have a high school education so I started out of high school working at a small hometown bank in Tennessee as a secretary for a loan officer and worked my way up. Eventually moved to Atlanta at 21 years old and that was in the early 80's. Atlanta was a boom town of growth and I just got all the right jobs at the right times. I never regretted not going to college for one minute. I had made it to Assistant Vice President of Retail Lending when I had the surgery that started all my problems. My career was very satisfying and I am proud of what I accomplished.

I am an A personality. On the DISC profile my main behavioral characteristic is Dominance which means my key to motivation is a challenge. Well how much more challenging can you get than CP? I am going to have to really have to think of this as motivational, thanks Mark!

That same DISC profile also taught me that I have a very strong entrepreneural and pioneering spirit. That has served me very, very well with my new life. It has allowed me to feel great about my past and to think about what my future will be and what I will be able to accomplish rather than continue to mourn that I can't go back to that AVP position I worked so hard for.

My faith has been my mainstay above all else though and that is re-shaping everything about my personality. I am learning that love, joy, peace, patience, humility, self-control, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and longsuffering are not only going to strengthen me to help see me through this illness for all the days of my life as a CP'er but they will just plain make me a better person should I get better one day too. Hey....that's a bonus! :)

Good topic Mark, thanks for using that A personality of yours to get us all involved in a positive project!

[Mark N]

work: sedentary 3
active 0

Type A 3
Type B 0

Okay we got this started so what you do say? Are we going to find a correlation or is it just the luck of the draw that puts us in this condition?

Thanks AK and Kathi for your input so far.

[Scar Tissue]

Class A CDL Truck Driver (And I and my labor loaded and unloaded the truck). Was delivering a 450lb/$250,000 piece of equipment. Had to lower it onto a flat truck to get it in the door. Had to lower with the weight coming downhill (The only way). Told dispatch before I left the job was too dangerous this way but they wouldn't listen and I had to make the delivery anyway. While lowering this equip. I had two at the back, two at the front, and I was safety man in front of the machine. The man on the front right slipped and his legs went under the machine. I caught the 450lbs in mid-air, and held it until the guys came from the back to help me. My L5 disc blew apart and the herniation crushed my S1 nerve root on the right side. After surgery, the scar tissue filled up the herniated site, traveled through the foranim, and totally encapsulates the S1 nerve root

Personality Type A- Anywhere I've worked I usually ended up in management, very compassionate for the people that worked with me, sometimes to a fault. I am very protective and very strong willed, and extremely protective of my family. I was very active, Hunting, Motorcycle Riding, Went on vacation every year, went to at least three hunting camps a year, and spent many years riding dirt bikes until I got too old to stay up with the pups so I went back to street riding. I rode a Vintage Suzuki Cavalcade loaded w/every option and my wife and I loved it. Met my wife when I was 15, am now 44 and we are still together. I hope that's not too much info, I could add More!! (LOL):eek:

[Mark N]

work: sedentary 3
active 1

Type A 4
Type B 0

Thanks scar. Like you my personality includes being compassionate for people and much of my stress teaching had to do with the students that wouldn't do the best they could do. I was always trying to figure out a way to reach my players or students that didn't do their best. I used to tell them that I shouldn't believe in them more than they believe in themselves. I have never stressed about myself or what others think about me but I have stressed caring about others.

[Kathi49]

Mark,

I see you are keeping score. I find this whole topic very interesting! :) Sedentary vs. Active is of particular interest to me since I think having sedentary jobs really contributed a lot to the spinal problems. For me anyway.

Also, AK had a good point; faith and ScarTissue mentions family. Two biggies in mind that I didn't think about when writing my post. I want to add now a sense of humor. Because that is also a big one for me. And maybe because I come from a crazy, silly family. But I have found if I can laugh in the face of this, I really feel a little better. Maybe it is the endorphins. :) That's not to say I haven't been laid out with severe pain and not laughing at all. All I mean is that if I can find a sense of humor in this whole mess, it usually helps. Oops, and distractions. I don't care what they are. But sometimes when engrossed in something it takes my mind off of what is going on.

[BrokenBladder]

Had only a GED but I went into the insurance business at age 18 and knew this was where I belonged. I love people and I love helping people. Insurance became a part of me until I worked myself up to owning my own agency. All of my work was sedentary. I'm a type A peronality, always strong willed and always there to get the job done. I had fun with my family, always taking my boys to baseball pratice or to the park.
I was married to the same man for 21 years and probably would've stayed there, but he couldn't handle me being sick.

[Mark N]

work: sedentary 4
active 1

Type A 5
Type B 0


Kathi, I still try to laugh at myself and find some fun shows to watch although most of it is news and history channel along with the discovery channel along with HGTV:D . What can I say, I like to learn.

Lisa, thanks for responding to the post. I am glad you were motivated to get a GED and started your own business. Too many of our spouses, including mine, can't handle our disease like it is our fault. We stick with them through their faults but they are unwilling to stay with us when we are down.

[Kathi49]

Mark,

You are not alone. I watch the History and Discovery Channel all the time. Now, yesterday, and my husband thinks I am nuts, he bought Happy Feet for me LOL! What can I say, it was cute and funny to watch those little penguins backsides. :)

[cindybear]

Hi all,
I was ( or still am but don't practice ) a nurse,,It's a very actice occupation..Kept you on your toes...I felt like I was at work for 15 minutes..It went so fast....But I enjoyed the fast pack..I have a brain aneurysm (which is inoperable) that they say is heredity born with it and artritis up and down my spine and both hips,,,I have to say I' m type A personallity,,I'm like If there is work ,, lets get her done....Have allways been in charge as in my nusing...But at the time of my aneurysm..I felt someone was telling me to slowdown...Waydown.....And I did !!! Darn It....Hugs, Cindy

[Mark N]

work: sedentary 4
active 2

Type A 6
Type B 0


Cindy, thanks for responding, if the trend continues it seems like our personality type has agreater correlation than our work. The problem with work is many of us work different jobs so although I was sedentary when I became disabled my jobs before then were very active.

Cindy, what caused you more stress; paperwork and keeping up with the records or the patients and their families?

[DiMarie]

Hi Mark,
I don;t know if I would say type B...because I feel like a type "Z"
I am laid back, relaxed, sit on the floor and play with grandson while dishes sit. I can go to bed any day with chores to do....

Will drop what I am doing to go take care of someone else, and then never finsh what I was doing. I have clutter from Umm, couldn't tell you.

Laundry gets done not becasue its laundry day, because we need socks...
Have not striped down the couches and vaccumed cushions in two years, finally did the bathrooms scoured instead of wiped as the holiday is coming.

I was top in my job though, dedicated, intuative, and dedicated...I was in law enforcement. I was promoted to Chief many years before I got injured, small department, three of us, recreational lake community.

I finished my college degree in Criminal Justice and Sociology, top 1% and now do a few hours work a week monitoring court ordered visitaions.
Dianne

[Mark N]

Dianne, would you say most of your job was sedentary or did it invlove too much physical activity to be classified that way?

[Mark N]

work: sedentary 4
active 3

Type A 6
Type B 1

Dianne, thanks for your response.

[curiousforever]

Used to do customer service - in an office on the phone. 150+ calls a day. That was before CP though. LOVED that job....

Worked part time at a Family Dollar (no where I"ve lived since has had a large company that needs customer service...stupid military!) just on weekends. MOre as a get out of the house thing - and extra money was great.

Here I've worked at the px. It was after my ulnar nerve surgeries - so I wasn't in pain. Did start having the gall bladder attacks when I worked there. They raised the day care rates so much that even as a supervisor there I would have only brought home $100 a month after daycare....working full time!

I haven't worked since the gall bladder thing - cause by the time I had surgery - it was summer - and I'd have huge daycare bills again.

Then of course when they went back to school - the nerve pain in my arms started.

I'm a type a trying to be a type b. But then I realized I"m not as anal about my house being clean as others. So maybe in some things I"m a type a. If something needs to be done - or we made a decision on something - I'm ready to move....get it done.

Therein lies the problem at times. Hubby is very laid back.

[cindybear]

Mark,
Thats funny, Theres so much unbelievable stress in nursing...Docters not calling back when you have a really sick patient..really erks me most but family members that think no one can do there job but them can be stressful often...But it's one of many things I learned to grin and smile and most people usually liked me and thought I was the best !! which in turn made my nursing days very rewarding...Hugs, Cindy

[Mark N]

work: sedentary 5
active 3

Type A 7
Type B 1

CF, thanks for responding and good luck with the transition to type B:) . I know my meds have mellowed me out a lot, can't say I like it much but it does make it easier to be stuck in the house.

[Mark N]

bumping up to see if we can get more info for the contributing factor that correlates best to our CP.


Talking about the impact of my type A personality, it has helped me achieve things that others thought couldn't be done. It gave me the drive and determination to keep pushing when others would have quit. I am thankful for those things but there is also a negative effect to a type A person. I wasn't always able to be satisified with my accomplishments and it made me miss out on the feeling of contentment. I never was able to relax but always seemed to be needing to do something. I know that my personality caused me to internalize a lot of the conflict I felt with the world around me and I could feel the tightness in my back that came from it. I know there have beensome indications that our stress can become real physical issues as our body responds to the stress.

how do you think your personality contributed to your pain?

[Kathi49]

Mark,

I know that many times I have been told women tend to carry their stress in their upper backs and shoulders. I know I did. But it probably came from the type of job I did too. And I know when I used to be in a hurry or anxious, even the "good stress" would cause the upper back to tighten. It would also hit my stomach too. But that's about it. :)

[DiMarie]

Dianne, would you say most of your job was sedentary or did it invlove too much physical activity to be classified that way?

Hi Mark, My Job was in Law enforcement, I was an officer and Chief for almost 20 years until I took a retirement.
I retrained , finished my BA in criminal justice and sociology to teach law enforcement. I now do the supervising of visitations which are sedentary except the room set up. Move tables, chairs from the meeting room. the toys are drug out. Some paper work, and the sitting for the hour is tough.We do have some real probmatic cases that we have removed the kids from the room, the men are often spouce abusers, felons, drug and alcohol issues.

Compared to the police work which was really physically demanding this is not.
Di

[Joey54]

I did normal things we did as Midwestern kids in the 60`s and 70`s.

We had PE daily, as part of the presidents physical fitness program, we worked up to sets of 100 daily, ran at least a mile then during school sports those who participated did almost a mirror image of PE plus the basketball or other sport and another mile or two.

Kids put up hay, 70 pounds was the target for the bailer, 10,000 bales was 3 days of hard work for 7 guys, we loaded bales around 8 feet high on a moving wagon where it was stacked then unloaded and stacked again in a barn, farming was much harder 40 years ago.

I washed dishes and mowed 12 yards, worked in a furniture store, busted up coal (small pieces cost more) and split logs, carried the ashes out and kept 2 pot belly stoves going until my 3rd grade when larger furnaces replaced them, a large old house could need at least 25 tons of coal a year, I kept 2 furnaces going until the 8th grade when natural gas came to town.

We got 1 penny for a night crawler, 3 cents for soda bottles and 1 penny for beer bottles, $1.00 a gallon for wild blackberries, during season I would usually get 5 a day, granddad kept my lawnmower going for squirrel, I stopped hunting my Jr year.

At I cleaned a plant after school, eggs were brought in, they were sold whole after being candled, some were separated into 5 gallon cans of whites, whole or yolk, we, made butter and processed chickens and turkeys, from the farm into a truck to stores, almost everyone for 3 generations worked there in HS.

The plant had to be cleaned nightly, Saturday someone got the barrels of guts to empty & wash but everyday someone had to clean a pit where most solid waste was filtered out of the water used in the plant, it was nice get wet then have to go into a -50 freezer to load frozen products.

Later in life, I repaired implements, trucks, bailers, combines, in the shop and in the field.

The last 10 years I cleaned carpet and furniture before I had to slow down and take easier jobs thru temporary agencies.

Nobody could say why I hurt today, we began basketball in the 3rd grade, walking after practice was painful then but got to be too much at 40, if pain = gain I should be rich.

I was doing 100 setups and other exercises until 98-99.

Joey54

[Mark N]

work: sedentary 6
active 3

Type A 8
Type B 1


Joey, it does seem like we were busier in our daily lives back when we were younger. It is a worry I have with my kids, although they are great kids I have wondered if they aren't missing out on some important things since we don't struggle the way my family did when I was growing up.

Kathi, yes men and women seem to tighten up in different areas. Men hold there stress in their lower backs and women are more in their necks and shoulders.

Thanks for the clarification Dimarie.

[Kathi49]

Joey,

Your whole post reads almost exactly how my husband described his younger years growing up in Missouri. I know he bailed hay, worked on the railroad and did all kinds of things similar to what you are speaking of. :) He really worked hard and I mean physical labor.

Now that he is 57 he wants to hire some kids to do the yard work. His back just can't take it anymore.

For me, I was very active. Maybe not sportswise too much. But I loved to water ski and was always outside doing something! Can't do that at all anymore! I do good just to get into a pool and move around. :) And, well, my dad had all of us kids working in the yard and all kinds of odd jobs. My job was to pull weeds...even at age 6 LOL! I just remember it because it seemed like every weekend I had to "police the yard" and pull weeds! AND then go inside and help with housework. It is just how it was. And I know my brothers got a little angry more than once LOL! Hey, we were kids and wanted to play. Who wanted to spend their weekends doing chores, chores and more chores?

[jimac]

Mark,
My job is sedentary desk PC and lab type work.
My personality (not sure if I really have one) is type A.
Jim

[curiousforever]

Interesting that most are type A.

[jena1225]

Assuming that "driven to do my best and to get others to do their best" would be considered "Type A", I used to be. Now it seems like I am a "B", but I being that I really do not know the exact definition, if someone would be so kind as to provide me with an example, I can be sure :D

[Mark N]

work: sedentary 7
active 3

Type A 9
Type B 1

Jim, some days I know what you mean about wondering if I still have a personality:D .

[jena1225]

work: sedentary 7
active 3

Type A 9
Type B 1

Jim, some days I know what you mean about wondering if I still have a personality:D .

Mark - I don't get it! :eek:

[Mark N]

Well Jena, it my OSS is right about stress bringing about physical changes in our bodies and spines it starts to make sense that our personality type influences our pain. Remember this is too small a group to draw any real conclusions and all Type A aren't alike but one charactersistic is we tend to push ourselves even when we aren't feeling well. How many of us did ourselves more harm by continuiing to work when we should have been getting treatment for our pain. One other possible reason is that just the effort to find a forum to seek answers and try to come up with a solution is a type A trait.

[jena1225]

Thanks Mark, I guess I am wondering how you describe a Type B...

[curiousforever]

Assuming that "driven to do my best and to get others to do their best" would be considered "Type A", I used to be. Now it seems like I am a "B", but I being that I really do not know the exact definition, if someone would be so kind as to provide me with an example, I can be sure :D

I think most of us old type a's are now type b's. Otherwise we'd be in pain AND crazier than we already are (me anyway :p )

[Mark N]

CF, I know I fit a type B more now as I am more laid back and can let someone else take the lead. I think it would be hard to not be a type B as our meds sqeeze all the drive out of us if you take a strong enough dose.

[A.K.]

My body may have been slowed, true, but I am still very much an "A". I still don't hesitate to speak to others in doctors waiting rooms or begin to think through ways to best accomplish a task, even if I won't physically participate.

I'm still an A all the way. I also acknowledge that compared to many of you I am a baby CP'er with three years. This could be a major factor. I must tell you there is enough "A" left in me that I will fight to keep my "A" because I really like who I am.

[curiousforever]

AK, I'm a baby cp'er kinda also.

I have 4 boys (7, 8, 9, and 16!) so I just don't have the leftover energy to be type a.

Luckily my husband is great about being the coach of the boys' teams, etc.

[Mark N]

AK, I was a type A the whole time I was dealing with CP until disability came. Either because of my meds or my pain I don't have the drive or the energy to still be a type A.