My Dream Career

[katey]

Hey everyone, I'm fairly new here (I've visited the site before but have never posted). Tonight I'm laying awake just thinking of all the situations I can possibly be ill. This is honestly starting to take over my life and I don't know what to do.

Since I was in second grade (I am 20 now) I have known I wanted to be a teacher, I'm now in school working to be a kindergarten teacher and I currently have a summer job at a pre-school. I bet you can tell what my problem is =/. I went into work the other day to have the teachers tell me all about how they get sick a lot....and they were very specific about what type of sickness =/. I love this job so much but after hearing that I was frozen with fear the rest of the day, I came home upset, and now I dread going back. I'm really upset that this fear is stopping me from doing what I love by making it less enjoyable.

My parents and boyfriend are really understanding, but they still don't know the half of it. I literally think every single day about this, and I also think so much about how much I'm going to hate winter time, because people will be sick in the dorms. This fear is slowly but surely taking over me.

I see a school counselor during the school year, but it's summer now and I have nobody to talk to about this who can really give an expert opinion and truly calm me down =(.


Thanks for listening everyone. Can anyone else relate to this situation? Does anyone else dread the winter time?

[ren2005]

awww..I am sorry. I DREAD the winter time.... because this past winter was so bad with snow and ice...and it was the first time EVER in all the 6 years my boyfriend and I were together..that he got sick with noro. I HATED every single second of it.
I am also having a baby next week (being induced) and now it scares me even more!!

I would say continue to try to get help for your phobia... I know I am going to have to start going to a therapist again once the baby is here. I cannot live in fear.
I hope you can continue your job as a teacher....because I know you would make a good one!! Follow your dreams...you will not encounter sickness on a daily basis.
But continue to try to beat this!!
I am terrified for when my child hits a couple years old and will start with all that...that is why I will need help to conquer it.
GOOD LUCK!

[katey]

Thank you so much for replying to this! It made me feel a lot better, I just have to keep telling myself working with kids is all worth because I love it so much. I really want to go to a therapist and my parents have mentioned it before but neither of us can afford it right now! You are so strong! I get nervous all the time with my boyfriend and I tell him to be careful about getting sick, thank goodness he's so understanding. Thanks again for the reply.

[ren2005]

Awww you are welcome. I do not feel strong though.
I think that I can drive my poor husband insane. (Hope I am not confusing you..I keep calling him my boyfriend) WE JUST got married last week..so I am confusing myself!!

ANYWAY....I drive him insane (especially after he was so sick this winter) about being careful about washing his hands after he touches something. He is a computer tech. and touches the dirty things all day!! YUK!!!
He started getting really upset with me a couple months later..and I had to stop hounding him. He knows how bad I do not want to get sick , or be around someone who is so sick.
Tonight I drove him up the wall while driving home.."He is like what is the matter with you?" I just told him..I do not want to see him so sick and that I cannot stand someone being sick near me. I mean..he should know that already!! I also told him..we have a brand new car...and I dont want a mess in it already!!! lol
He is like.."you think I dont know that?" OMG... he tries to be understanding with me...but he can only have so much..then he loses his patience.

ANYWAY....keep doing your dream job. Get help with the counselor in the fall again....and then when you can afford it..maybe try to get a therapist. at least you are doing something about it!!
I know..i hate this too...so much. I am terrified of having a child because of v*... But I keep telling myself they are not sick all the time. The good outweighs the bad, right???
YOU WILL BE FINE!!!

[canadianreject]

I know how hard it is to want to do something you know you love, but are being held back by this stupid phobia. I want to be a nurse, and have for awhile, but you know all the vomit you'd come into contact with in that profession.

I guess I don't have any really valuable advice other than, pursue your dreams, as silly and cliche as that sounds. Don't let your phobia take away this part of your life. Everybody's immune system is different, and many people don't wash their hands. It doesn't mean you'll get sick. My mom works in an elementary school and she's never sick (touch wood) with more than a yearly cold. She also has Crohn's disease and was on immunosupppressants for a long time ... good luck

[PinkP]

Don`t know if it helps, but my mother is a kindergarten teacher, and she hasn`t been sick for 20 years, besides the chicken-pocks, and those she got on holiday

I actually like winter the most, because then you wear a thick layer of clothes and normally a scarf. And I find it comforting to know that if I`m around someone sick I can cover my face with the scarf and blame it on the cold weather., when in actuality I am avoiding catching their germs. And the sun tend to give me a head ache which again leads me to feeling sick..

[emmalinda]

i know how you feel but i think that if you push ahead wih doing this for a little while, you will get used to it and realise its rare for a kid to get sick like that. all the while you could save up for therapy? i hate it when people talk about the time they've been sick..it raise my anxiety up so much. dont pay attention to that. everyone is different none of that applies to you. can you get a government kind of scheme where you are to help pay for therapy? i know here i went to my doctor and she got me onto one and its so much easier.

[Erica1649]

I kinda know how you feel...I would make a great nurse, I'm compassionate, medicine really intrigues me, but if I have to deal with somebody vomiting, cleaning up somebody who has vomited, etc....I'd end up admitting myself to the psych ward of the hospital I think!!!

It sucks, I work at a doctor's office, its a Colon and Rectal doctor, so we work with butts all day lol...I've gotten used to that kind of thing, but once somebody says, I feel like I'm going to be sick, I leave the room. I can't do it!! It totally sucks.

The only advice I would have for you is if you are going to make a career out of teaching, just make sure you wash your hands always and keep your desk, classroom disinfected. You should be ok. Good luck.