Fear medical condition will stop my from pursuing Nursimg, HELP!

[AiyanaS]

I am a 20 year old nursing student who will be beginning my first semester of nursing school in January 2015, I applied in December 2013 and was accepted in May 2014.

In February of 2014 I developed an acute RSI (tendinitis) type injury in the fingers, hands and wrists that later began spreading to my forearms of both my hands and arms, worse on one side than the other, due to overuse of my hands with typing for school and my hobby knitting. Over a period of the following several months my condition went in a downward spiral with recurring flare ups as the pain began moving up my arm and the usual recommended rest, ice and NSAIDS did not help, in fact they made my situation worse! And the fact that I was enrolled in microbiology and sign language classes at my university did not make my situation any easier. My RSI is now recurring and chronic. However, between a physical therapy program designed by my O.T., experimentation in finding what makes my hands flare up, use of a wrist brace when working (I work in a factory), dietary supplements and a change in lifestyle habits (ex. I bought the voice recognition Dragon Nuance for my computer in June, had not heard of it until my classes were almost over), I am able to control it and am working on curing myself of this horrific problem and so far my hands seem to be moving in an upward spiral, and I pray they continue to! None of my future nursing instructors or classmates know.

My question is, should I inform my instructors? Right now, I am very hesitant too because I'm afraid I could get kicked out of the program because of my condition and told to reapply when I'm cured.

[THELIVINGWORST, ASN, RN]

Well firstly, they can't kick you out unless you're unable to perform your duties as outlined.

Second, I would advise you to stop doing sign language and find a new hobby besides knitting. I know it sucks but that only irritates your joints more by doing repeated movements. Is it possible to find a different job bc I'm sure factory work isn't helping either?

[AiyanaS]

I actually have stopped sign and have not tried knitting in months and I don't plan to try and start back up again until I can type pain free, which could be years at this point. As for the job, unfortunately not. Jobs are very scarce where I live, plus, it is a safe job and they treat me really well there. My boss allows me to take school semesters off from work too focus on school, so I only work during breaks at school. I just wear wrist guards when working, have adjusted how I perform certain tasks and pace myself.