What is your career/job?

[snuffleupagus]

Just wondering what everyone does for a living and if that has changed because of rosacea.

I will be going to school in the fall to become a teacher. I'm hella nervous about it. I work part time in a school now and the things that always worry me are warm/cold classrooms, recess (lots of sun and hot humid summer outside or freezing windy winters) and that kind of stuff. I'm trying not to let it change what i will do with my life. But we'll see.

[mattdog323]

Im a foreman on construction site

Im always in the sun try not to worry,

People would rather see a red happy go getter person than a red person whos acting all funny,

Make sure u were sunscreen out side,laugh:

[mattamx]

First red faced pimp, ever. Just kidding.

I'm a research technician in a lab at the university of Arizona.

[chenoarae]

EK, have you considered moving to a warmer climate? I didn't see where you're at now, but if huge heat/cold differences are your main concern, it could really benefit you to move to a warmer place that doesn't see such large variances in temperature all the time (like from inside to outside, drastic season changes, etc).

It sounds like you're college age, so maybe this would be the time if you were to make any large changes like that?

As for me, I've been a personal trainer for coming on 4 years, (air conditioned gyms are not a bad thing), a hairstylist for 2 years (blowdryers and hot salon lights are not so great) and now I'm in nursing school to become an RN. Yeah, I'm confused, I know smile:
I think though that I'm finally onto something with the nursing thing. And rosacea has not influenced any of these decisions - I do notice that my skin looks best when I'm on my feet and moving around, however, and I'm confident nursing will allow for that yes:

[snuffleupagus]

nope im 24! blah.

[man_from_mars]

24!...can't imagine being that old and over the hill
Don't be surprised from all the AARP mail you will suddenly be receiving laugh:

[J-Mill]

24!...can't imagine being that old and over the hill
Don't be surprised from all the AARP mail you will suddenly be receiving laugh:

EK1 is Canadian eh, no AARP here.

You meant to say OAS (Old Age Security - everyone in Canada at a certain age gets money, socialism is running wild!!!!)

By the way, my job...pissing people off. hi:

[man_from_mars]

No matter what country - I'm confident EK1 will make a great teacher!grin:

[snuffleupagus]

lol. we shall see!
i'd love to work at the Board of Education, all the money there, no toubling-making kids and you're higher up. HAH. Teaching is fun...until you get a kid with severe behaviour problems lol

[man_from_mars]

Well I know when I was taught by those angelic nuns in Catholic School
they were able to "instill the fear"

I do feel sorry for today's teachers who have to worry about law suits!wink1:

[queta]

I was a high school teacher in a tough urban district. I changed careers partially due to my rosacea. If I was having a "bad face day" students I didn't know in the hall would make little comments that I could overhear. Teenage culture in general is pretty harsh and superficial; as a woman you are constantly objectified and evaluated on your appearance (unless you reach a certain age and the kids just see you as an "old lady.") If I had to do it again I'd have worked with elementary kids due to my skin condition. Nonetheless, my new career is a much better fit for me so in the end it worked out.
Queta

[boyandhisdog]

Yes but Queta, what do you do now that you are no longer a teacher? Now you've made me curious. What is the new career?

Jason, if your job is pissing people off, sounds more to me like a politician than what you actually are.

In answer to your specific original post question, I was an owner of a construction company. I let rosacea change how I do things, but not what I do. If a client wanted a meeting standing out in the middle of some bare lot in the sun, they were going to do without me. We could sit in a job site trailer, sit in my truck, or I would stand in the shade, but I'm not sweating bullets in the middle of the sun at 1PM. (A hard hat doesn't provide much coverage.) Fortunately, I was always successful enough and good enough at my job to get away with being difficult to deal with. For years, it seemed people mistook it to be part of my charm.laugh:

EK, I agree with MfM, you will be a good teacher so just make sure you do something you enjoy. Don't let fear stop you- that's the most important thing.

Rob

[boo2facialredness]

I'm a mom- it's been h&ll on my skin!! ;)

I was a teacher pre-kids, but my skin wasn't bad at that point. It never failed that I would walk into my classroom on back-to-school night or parent-teacher conferences, though, and flush. I tried my best to ignore it b/c thinking about it only made it worse and last longer. I think one year I even said, "Yes, I know I'm beet red, just give it a minute!" It would start to pass and then someone would ask a question or a parent would put me on the spot and it would creep up again. It was wonderful!! (I never had problems with the weather/temperature of the school.)

It wasn't until my 2nd child was born that I developed more/other skin issues, so I blame all my problems on my 2yo daughter...just kidding!

~J

[Alba]

I am an accounting manager/bookkeeper. I am blessed that I love what I do and most of all I love my office its small but the air conditioning is perfect. There are times when it gets too cold and I just turn on my space heater yes even when its 95 degrees outside (I live in Miami). I have been with the same company for 17 years. During that time I have been offered many times a much bigger office with a view and windows. I have had to turn it down every time because its very warm in that office because of the windows and the sun hitting it.

Honestly when I go to other buildings for appointments etc many feel warm and I think oh my God, God forbid I was to get fired or my company would close what office would I end up working at? My main worry not so much the salary or the boss my main concern is the office im going to be working it be cool enough for me. Seriously I would say the place I am the happiest at because my face is so happy and I can be on the computer without worrying that I will flush is where I work now and my wonderful office. I can enjoy my warm cup of coffee, hot lunch, talk on the phone work on the computer and not have to worry about flushing!

So yes up to a point my rosacea controls where or my career. I know that if I was left w/o a job I couldn’t just take any job it would have to agree with my face. When my rosacea flares up I get awful extreme painful headaches, like if my head was going to explode and along my right ear would fall off. Well if my head exploded then I wouldn’t have to worry about my red/purple ear :o)

I also could not live in a cold climate place. People always tell me when they see my flushing OH MY GOD you should move to Alaska, DUH I have to explain each time how the warm weather even at times super hot here in Miami is much better because every place is air conditioned pretty much year round. Here in Miami the weather when its not so hot summer is wonderful and I get you enjoy being outside. But when its cold for example Orlando the restaurants turn the air conditioner off and at times put the heating on and I can not enjoy my dinner I have to run out. Imagine living in such cold climates. I moved here to Miami about 20 years ago, I got rosacea about 10 years ago. I once went to new york to visit in December and at that time I have very mild rosacea and I had an awful time every where we went the heating was on and outside was way to cold I was so happy to be back in Miami and swore never to go anywhere where they have cold weather.

My daughter is looking for work she has mild rosacea and when she goes on an interview after she tells me how it went and the 1st thing i ask was it cold enough in the room? she thinks im crazy but to me that is the most important cause it affects my health and my overall well being.

i dont let the rosacea totally control me i go places even though they might be warm i take my water spray and deal with it till my head says no more. but when it comes to work i will be in that place at least 8 hours so i need to be able to control that.

[claudia]

I work in a library and enjoy it alot.

I used to be a mental health counselor and social services administrator but have retired from that work. It was pretty stressful and it affected my skin but I hung in there. I'm embarrased to admit this but when my skin was flaring I hung around in my office doing "paper work" to avoid people blush:

My current job is parttime and allows me lots of time to relax which is very important for me. I noticed a dramatic improvement in my skin and my ability to take care of it when I had the time to devote to understanding what was going on!!! The final straw for me was working fulltime, having no time to decompress and my skin was all red, inflamed and broken out. I thought geez, here I am almost 50 and so unhappy. That started my quest to change things and I am much much happier for it. I enjoyed being a counselor, etc. but it was time for a change.

I would say that anyone struggling with rosacea should think about finding work that is less stressful (...and that varies depending on the individual), flexible and that you can have control over versus it controlling you.

[queta]

[QUOTE=boyandhisdog;210374]Yes but Queta, what do you do now that you are no longer a teacher? Now you've made me curious. What is the new career?

I am a marriage and family therapist; which works out great because I have control over my little office (lighting, etc.) and people really get to know me as a person so it's different. Also, most of my clients are so absorbed by their own life issues that they don't care if I look attractive or not-they just want help with their problems. I always had in the back of my mind that I would like to do this work someday...even before the negative comments from students. I'm actually grateful to the students who would make mean comments-without that push I never would have left teaching. Also, my rosacea is now so much better since I started taking Quercetin/Bromelain and now added Celery Seed Extract. Life is good.
Queta

[bambi]

I do cartoon voices. Fortunately I work in dark sound studios so nobody can see my face very well. Lunch time is different of course, bu then I have the great good fortune of working with friends.

[phlika29]

oohhh interesting, cartoons that we would know?

[bambi]

You may have heard of Eliot Kid since you're in the UK (it was up for a bafta!) and Code Lyoko.

[phlika29]

No I haventblush: but I will search it out nowyes:

[Driven]

I have an online store, and I'm a freelance technical writer. I work in my own warehouse where I can control the climate. Most of the lighting is natural from a skylight, with no fluorescent lights and no LCD monitors.

[mattdog323]

dont ya just hate lcd monitors

[kypro]

I'm a (very junior) lawyer here in Auckland. We do mostly employment stuff but some maritime work so I get to work in French alot which I enjoy. At work I tend to switch off my fears about how I look and just lose myself in the work. My boss is lovely as are my colleagues and I don't think anyone cares how I look.

but that said social situations are far more difficult for me but at work I just don't care anymore!
John

[valby]

That's great to hear John!

Up until very recently I was a university lecturer. I actually quit my job 3 weeks ago shock:

It was hard to handle with the rosacea but I never really enjoyed the teaching aspect and had stuck with a discipline I didn't care about anymore.

I have now joined the business my partner runs. It is great to work in an environment I can completely control grin: I feel much happier already!!

[kypro]

That's good new valby! Life is too short to do something where your passion has waned! May I ask what discipline it was?

Not being answerable to someone else and having control over your work environment must be a plus as well as working for your own benefit as opposed to being a cog in a thankless machine like most jobs! I'm fortunate that the firm I work for is very small I hear working in the factory law firms makes the Nike factory look like a summer camp!

John

[Mistica]

I used to work for P&O Cruises on board cruise liners.
After a couple of years, I developed melasma and spent a considerable amount of time touching up my makeup during the day. Treatment for this set the foundation for rosacea, although I didn't know it at the time. I had never heard of the disease, although looking back I actually had a colleague who had a bad case of it.

It gradually impeded more and more on my life and it became obvious that life at sea and skin problems didn't go together. I didn't work in the sun, but emergency duties, including rowing around the harbour in a lifeboat were really difficult. I always ended up worse.
One day while relaxing in my cabin, I heard a call for help outside in the corridor. It came from one of the storage holds and at first I thought someone might have fallen in.
When I stopped to check my makeup in the mirror on the way out of the door, I knew it was time to disembark for good. My 'needs' had become ridiculous.
Before I got to make the decision to get off the ship, my father was diagnosed as terminally ill, so I broke my contract and flew home urgently and for good.
I lost my boyfriend of seven years ( we had to separate as he couldn't immigate) and my father all in one month.

Additionally, at times, advertisments were filmed on the ship. The crew would be chosen as extras. One day a director said to me, "why do you always look so awful? You are badly groomed", ( my face wasn't the greatest obviously), which made me feel like crap.
I retorted, " well at least I am well mannered" and walked off.

[Melissa W]

retorted, " well at least I am well mannered" and walked off.

laugh: excellent reply

console: Jenny, people sometimes behave terribly. You are a very strong person. You go girl sidehug:

[valby]

Jenny that is awful. I just don't understand people like that. It is like a lady at work about 3 months ago who yelled out across the hall way "hey you look like you have been running a marathon". Right in front of important visitors and students. I had to suck it up and try not to let my flare get worse.

The amusing part is I reckon this woman has rosacea herself. But I would never, ever bring it up!

John I was in I.T. I was actually thinking of doing law myself and enrolled in a distance education degree run by a uni over here. But I know I need a break from studying. Since leaving school 12 years ago I have never not studied LOL. I kind of don't know what to do with myself though.

[kypro]

What horrible comments the two of you experienced at the hands of those people!

I always liked the Abraham Lincoln quote "let he criticise who has the heart to help."

I cannot see what any person could possibly gain by criticising someone else's appearance... except perhaps to detract from their own internal pain and suffering by using an innocent bystander as a target.

I have actually noticed that same tendency in myself at times. Whenever my rosacea or skin is bad or something has gone wrong, I find myself looking for fault in others and becoming hyper critical - some sort of coping technique perhaps. These days, though, I notice that feeling and nip it in the bud. For criticising someone else isn't going to help me or my rosacea.

I think one of the beautiful things that comes out of this whole rosacea debacle is that greater awareness of the suffering of others and a sense of genuine compassion. These days when I hear my friends talking about other's physical "failings" I become very impatient.

If they say "so and so is too fat, so and so has a triple chin, so and so is ugly, so and so is bald" I think so much less of them as people because I have learnt true beauty comes from within. It is amazing how people just write-off perfectly good people by judging on their exterior, something over which we have very little control.

This comes back to Melissa's old adage that having rosacea will at least help us weed out those shallow, superficial people with whom we would not see eye to eye in the long run anyway.

John

[BingoBangoBongo]

I might actually consider dermatology. Not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but my own experience, the will to help others with the same issues I have/had, and knowing exactly where they're coming from when they visit me, I think that's just as important as having a degree in derma. It should almost be a requirement


Plus there is three doctors here for a city of nearly 150,000 people. .... mad1:

[chenoarae]

Dermatology is something I would also love to do. It is not an easy field to get into though... I have a friend who just got admitted to med school and were were discussing it (dermatology) and he told me that basically only the best of the best med students have a shot at it. Makes sense though, if you think about it: dermatology is the ultimate "lifestyle" practice. You make a ton of money, work great hours (I think my derm works 9-4 mon-thurs, and takes quite a few vacations and personal days) and you're never on-call. No one calls their derm at 3 am for an emergency accutane refill, or urgent laser treatment, you know?

On the other hand, becoming a physician assistant is an alternative, easier way to break into the field.

[mossfern]

I work with people on welfare...an 'employment specialist' helping people on welfare to get further education and career training. Actually something of a hybrid of guidance counselor and truant officer. As I said earlier somewhere here, I work with people all day and I absolutely love it! One small success amongst hundreds of 'clients' is great cause for celebration....but celebration none-the-less when someone is accepted on full grant to a university or someone actually lands a good job with benefits as a result of my guidance.

It's not the greatest paying job, but the other rewards are far better.

I applaud anyone who goes into the medical field at any level.

[sleepyjean]

My "job"; is going to school. I used to not mind school but since my face has become permanently red, i can hardly bear it. Whenever I get home my face burns and it's so painful.
Also It feels like the worst is yet to come because I have no idea what I'm going to do after school. If I didn't have rosacea there would be so many things that i would give a try but it's just to hard. I'm so sick of being asked by teachers, "what are you going to do after school?". If i didn't have rosacea I think i would want to do something to do with music, or i could be a police officer or a fire fighter or a journalist or something where i can travel and see the world. But now it seems like nothing is an option, it feels like it just isn't possible for me to have any kind of life.

[phlika29]

hi sleepyjeanhi:

Perhaps you would like to introduce yourself in the newbie section. If you tell us a little bit more about your rosacea and what you have tried members might be able to offer you some good advicesidehug: