My first post

Heather3003

Hello. My name is Heather, I'm 43 and have OA in both knees. I keep getting told I'm young to have the condition, but having pain everyday is making me feel much older! I work in a supermarket, so I'm on my feet for most of the shift and that's hard to manage. I need a new job and a new employer- one who is a bit more understanding!

Anna

Hi @Heather3003 and welcome to the online community,

You’re 43 and you have osteoarthritis in both knees. It’s a common misconception that only old people have arthritis- you’ll find many members on here of all different ages, young and old, so I’m sure you’ll fit in very well!

You mention that you are on your feet all day working in a supermarket and it sounds like your employer is not very understanding. Other members may be able to give you some tips and suggestions about how to deal with the challenges of working with arthritis, but meanwhile you might be interested to read the article below from the Versus Arthritis website about how to deal with the challenges of arthritis in the workplace:

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/living-with-arthritis/work/

Best wishes,

Anna ( Mod)

Arthuritis

@Heather3003 Welcome to the community. I am so sorry about your situation, and I think your employer is required to make accommodations for disability by law, do please call the Versus helpline on that. There must be roles that are less physically demanding. I know what you mean as I had to give up my job in of all things, biotech engineering and I suppose covid made the transition to teleworking easier.

You might consider taking side jobs that you can do from home, as having a portfolio career not dependant on a single employer seems the way of the future.

Try and think of all the skills you have that someone somewhere will appreciate enough to either pay for (you record a course on your hobby) or watch your free videos with adverts that bring you a passive income from youtube.

https://www.domestika.org/en/courses/1768-paper-cutting-techniques-for-storytelling?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIz96O462q9QIVG-rtCh1jpwANEAAYASAAEgKthfD_BwE

or skillshare.

I have used many of these to buy or watch courses given by retirees or home workers from learning a language to cooking to how to unblock a toilet when there’s no plumber to be found!

You might teach English or offer paid practice to foreign students, or talk about how to get the best shop with coupons in supermarkets, or the mushrooms growing around your area!

Or sign up to photo sites like Shutterstock and sell really mundane pictures that newspapers and mags need to illustrate their story eg a queue of people, empty super market shelves just about anything in the news. These are well paid pics that you’d never keep, ie nothing pretty, but journalists will buy, and you get repeat sales. No need for a special camera, your smartphone can do all of the above with some practice.

You’d be amazed at what people buy!

Above all Heather, you are not alone.