You Work at a Restaurant?

"You work at a restaurant?"

After people learn that I have myasthenia gravis (MG), it's very shocking for them to hear that I am a server.

Doctors, nurses, and non-medical field people who know of MG find it hard to believe that I work at a fast-paced, high-traffic restaurant with little to no symptoms and/or flare-ups. As much as I understand their disbelief, it is just one of those things that I have to constantly repeat - even for myself.

Before and after my diagnosis

I've been working at the same restaurant for four years now. I started off as a hostess then, at the end of 2019, I started serving. Then COVID happened in early 2020 as did the beginning of my MG symptoms.

Since it took a little while to get a correct diagnosis, I could not return to work once the restaurant finally opened back up, as much as I wanted to. I love my job and I am treated very well there so, of course, I was ready to get back to some sort of normalcy.

Once I received my diagnosis, I remember speaking with my manager about having an autoimmune disease that would not allow me to perform my duties physically, let alone with the high-risk factor of COVID. Luckily, he was very comforting and told me as long as I want to work my position will be waiting for me. Even though at that time I wasn't sure if I'd ever be physically able to come back, it was nice to hear that people were rooting for me.

Post-thymectomy

In 2021, right before my thymectomy surgery, I thought there was no way I'd be able to last even an hour as a server. Shortly after my surgery, I felt comfortable enough to return back to serving. About two months post-op I had my first shift. I took things very slow just to get myself acclimated and tried not to overexert myself.

As someone who was now a part of the high-risk category, a huge worry of mine was working in such close quarters with others while COVID and other illnesses were present. At some point, I became a little more comfortable with it, especially because I was still wearing my mask. After a few days, I was back in the swing of things in no time!

Present day

I've been back serving for over a year now. Still going strong! I have had very few flare-ups and when they have happened they have been very mild. I have even been able to go down in dosage for my Mestinon. I am consistently taking it one day at a time and staying positive.