[FeralNature]

I am thrilled to find this forum as I really need guidance.

I have been diagnose with Bipolar Disorder and Temporal Lobe Epilepsy since 1996. I Had been working as an RN for 6 years, doing really well, was actually a DON. But I did not know what was wrong and i crashed and burned.

I have been under a doctors care since then, go to my appts. and take my meds as ordered: Topamax, Lamictal, Trileptal and Seroquel. I have been on these meds for a long time with no changes and feel very stable. I'm a very good patient. I live in poverty now, live off the land raising goats and other animals to sustain us. I raise our food. I recieve a tiny tiny SSDI check and I want so much to earn my own money and to help people and feel like a person again.

I want and need to work. I have kids and grandkids and responsibilty. Also, I LOVED nursing and the comraderie. I was doing what I was supposed to be doing. When I stopped working, and it was my choice, I was not fired and I did not lose my license, I was in good standing. Actually, I was DON at one facility and working part time ER at another. I loved nursing and people were shocked when I quit. I guess I hid my anquish well.

I have let my license go delinquent for over 10 yrs now and have to jump through hoops to get it back. In Texas if you are BiPolar you have to do the whole TPAPN thing and I HATE the idea of that.

So I would have to contact TPAPN and go through at least 2 yrs with them...meaning i could not even drink a cold beer on a hot day in Texas...what the heck??? They lump you in with drug and alcohol abusers and I did not abuse substances, I am Bipolar. So why random drug screens and why would i get kicked out of TPAPN if alcohol showed up in my UA? And I rarely drink, just want the freedom to. The whole thing seems scary and invasive. I am a private person, that's why I live in the remote woods.

Also, I would need a refresher course...a whole semester to a year. Also 20 hrs CE and CPR of course.

I no longer have a drivers license, it was surrendered by me, not taken away. I was diagnose with epilepsy and was trying to be "good" as I was an ER nurse and saw so many victims of motor vehical accidents. But I no longer have seizures. I need to get my drivers license renewed and the case worker at MHMR is very willing to help me. I have no car and live very rural and remote.

I have no scrubs or nurse things anymore.

It is an uphill climb and I want it so much.

I know I can do it but would love to hear from others who have faced the same....particularly Bipolar Texans who may have gone through TPAPN. Thanks.

[woody62]

Originally Posted by FeralNature

I am thrilled to find this forum as I really need guidance.

I have been diagnose with Bipolar Disorder and Temporal Lobe Epilepsy since 1996. I Had been working as an RN for 6 years, doing really well, was actually a DON. But I did not know what was wrong and i crashed and burned.

I have been under a doctors care since then, go to my appts. and take my meds as ordered: Topamax, Lamictal, Trileptal and Seroquel. I have been on these meds for a long time with no changes and feel very stable. I'm a very good patient. I live in poverty now, live off the land raising goats and other animals to sustain us. I raise our food. I recieve a tiny tiny SSDI check and I want so much to earn my own money and to help people and feel like a person again.

I want and need to work. I have kids and grandkids and responsibilty. Also, I LOVED nursing and the comraderie. I was doing what I was supposed to be doing. When I stopped working, and it was my choice, I was not fired and I did not lose my license, I was in good standing. Actually, I was DON at one facility and working part time ER at another. I loved nursing and people were shocked when I quit. I guess I hid my anquish well.

I have let my license go delinquent for over 10 yrs now and have to jump through hoops to get it back. In Texas if you are BiPolar you have to do the whole TPAPN thing and I HATE the idea of that.

So I would have to contact TPAPN and go through at least 2 yrs with them...meaning i could not even drink a cold beer on a hot day in Texas...what the heck??? They lump you in with drug and alcohol abusers and I did not abuse substances, I am Bipolar. So why random drug screens and why would i get kicked out of TPAPN if alcohol showed up in my UA? And I rarely drink, just want the freedom to. The whole thing seems scary and invasive. I am a private person, that's why I live in the remote woods.

Also, I would need a refresher course...a whole semester to a year. Also 20 hrs CE and CPR of course.

I no longer have a drivers license, it was surrendered by me, not taken away. I was diagnose with epilepsy and was trying to be "good" as I was an ER nurse and saw so many victims of motor vehical accidents. But I no longer have seizures. I need to get my drivers license renewed and the case worker at MHMR is very willing to help me. I have no car and live very rural and remote.

I have no scrubs or nurse things anymore.

It is an uphill climb and I want it so much.

I know I can do it but would love to hear from others who have faced the same....particularly Bipolar Texans who may have gone through TPAPN. Thanks.

The Social Security Administration, which is responsible for SSDI, instituted a program, in 2001 I believe, that helps people to return to gainful employment. It is administered by individual agencies in each state. Go to the SSA.org website for information regarding it. Also, get in touch with the Texas Department of Vocational Rehabilitation. They might be able to help you out with a refresher course and payment for it. Here, in Florida, many of our county schools of voc-tech offer a refresher course lasting a semester. It cost appropriately $600. You could check with your local voc tech to see if Texas vo-techs offer a similar program.

I suffer from a seizure disorder as well as bing bipolar. I have been diagnosed as bipolar since 1967. It was never a bar against me getting any employment. My seizure disorder, as well as my qualifying for SSDI, was the result of being hit by a big rig, on January 30, 1989. In 2000 I went back to graduate school seeking an advance degree in nursing. Unfortunately I suffered health problems, in July of 2003 and had to drop out of my program. I wish you the best of luck. I do not know what the law is, in Texas, but Florida demands you be seizure free for two years. And New York, where I returned to graduate school, required I be examined by a neurologists and be followed by him for two years. Shortly before dropping out of school, I received a letter from NYS telling me I was no longer under that restriction.

Woody

[HM2Viking]

Here is the DVR website address for Texas.

Texas Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services - Division for Rehabilitation Services
4900 N. Lamar Blvd
3rd floor
Austin, TX 78751
Phone: (512) 377-0800
Toll Free: (800) 628-5115
URL: http://www.dars.state.tx.us/drs/index.shtml

• Link to Area Offices
  URL: http://www.dars.state.tx.us/drs/DRSoffices.asp

[zoeboboey]

Originally Posted by FeralNature

It is an uphill climb and I want it so much.

I know I can do it but would love to hear from others who have faced the same....particularly Bipolar Texans who may have gone through TPAPN. Thanks.

I'm rooting for you!