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Suffered a stroke in 2004 (migrainous infarction). Became half blind. Rested for a good year. Became a photographer for 8 years, then switched back again to so
by weddpros 11mo ago
Suffered a stroke in 2004 (migrainous infarction). Became half blind. Rested for a good year.
Became a photographer for 8 years, then switched back again to software development.
From then on, the limits were: WFH only, limit stress, run away from job if things go bad again. Nap if brain feels exhausted. Sleep, more and better.
20 years later (53yo), I'd say I'm doing great! Also fitness helps remind me to take care of the body...
- iberator 11mo agoWhats your stack? (Software). Very impressive after 8 years to come back
- weddpros 11mo agoToday it's Go-TS-react-node-K8s-mongo-PG-RabbitMQ Well, I said "I'll never do IT again"... and when I say never, it usually happens in the end ;-)
- ownagefool 11mo agoTech has built literal industries of people trying to stress you out, and they mostly don't have actual tech skills or the empathy that comes with them so back it up. For me, I usually try to avoid anything where the working practices are strongly defined. Agile has long been a bad word. I'm glad you're doing well now.
- ricardobayes 11mo agoUnfortunately while the intentions around agile were noble it's pretty much a direct way to burnout or worse. The human mind is not designed to "sprint" run a marathon, metaphorically speaking, forever. I see older devs being active in the trade well into their 60s but even as I much younger person I don't see how agile development is sustainable for a ~50-year career.
- ownagefool 11mo agoThe thing is, the core agile points from the manifesto are pretty much universally fine and can pretty much be boiled down to, "make changes fast, get feedback, gain more understanding faster". Pretty much everything that's been layered on top though has either nothing to do with the manifesto, or actively breaks it. i.e. there's a burning issue, I'll get to that after my sprint commitment, which was sold to let me finish work, but now only exists to stress me out to squeeze more widgets per unit of time, where the widgets pretty much never actually map back to anything actually tangible.
- hexbin010 11mo ago> Pretty much everything that's been layered on top ...and that /is/ topic of discussion every time this discussion happens Every agile criticism conversation goes like this A: agile as practiced is bad B: but the manifesto is solid It's predictable as the sun rising
- moregrist 11mo agoAnd usually: C: Therefore you’re doing it wrong. And once an “agile guru” enters the conversation: D: You need my book / seminar / services.
- accrual 11mo ago> For me, I usually try to avoid anything where the working practices are strongly defined. I'm grateful I've managed to avoid this so far. My favorite place to work has been more akin to "we need X done in Y system before Z date, but how and when it's done is up to you".
- windex 11mo agoReminds me of this Indian boss I had whose only agenda used to be calling me up and telling me that others had complaints about my work. After 2 years of listening to his stories, I had to tell him off one morning. I quit about 4 months later. The guy was a completely talentless aggregator. I don't get how some Indian firms promote people and this wasn't a small firm either. He ended up being promoted upwards.
- 827a 11mo agoThe worst part is how these people almost always work on the most boring, rote crap. They could be selling mens hair loss medication on the internet (cough) and key individuals in the organization are convinced what they do is life-and-death, future of humanity, work nights and weekends, we're the next Google. It's so deeply cringe-worthy. Meanwhile, I know a ton of people in the traditional pharma industry (e.g. not Novo, but Novo-adjacent); those companies broadly treat their employees pretty well, very minor amounts of overwork, they're well-staffed, some still have pensions, people spend their whole working lives there. Tech sucks. It's filled with talentless hacks who think "because we use computers" means you've got a blank check to make every individual do the work of three individuals. And then your company gets gutted by private equity anyway, because it turns out hiring talentless hacks and overworking has consequences. This is a weird take, but I genuinely and deeply believe the world would be a far better place if everyone experienced a life-threatening but recoverable major medical event and/or had children, while young. Perspective-shifting events that are core to the human condition and help ground your reality in work not being everything. By the way: The businesses our society would build would also be stronger.
- boobsbr 11mo agoDid you work with something else during your rest period? I don't think most people wouldn't be able to, financially.
- lm28469 11mo ago> I don't think most people wouldn't be able to, financially. Pretty sure you'd be covered in a lot of western countries, and if not you have relatively cheap insurances that cover these things.
- W0lfEagle 11mo agoThis feels like a very naïve viewpoint. The reality being that you can't rely on insurance at all. You might have insurance but that certainly doesn't guarantee you'll be financially supported through health issues. You'll also be required to engage in legal battles with your insurance company which might be prohibitively complicated after a brain injury.
- lfkdev 11mo agoNo, at least in Germany (pretty sure other western countries too) you are covered after stuff like this. You won't be rich, but enough housing food and your camera.
- bonesss 11mo ago> WFH only, limit stress, run away from job if things go bad again I’m facing a similar set of health-based restrictions, it’s edifying and impressive how you’ve pushed through. I’m curious: how do you broach this with potential employers and shape your job search/career path around it? Applying for pure remote positions puts one in direct competition with younger people who can pull obscene hours with no accommodation needs. Leading with disability/accommodation needs feels like the opposite of the ‘best foot forward’ honeymoon phase salesmanship associated with new jobs, and kinda soul crushing regurgitating the circumstances for chronic illness while hoping for a job. And uncontrollable management changes can eliminate medical protections and acceptable working environments, leading to an enhanced need to be able to hop jobs (exacerbating both the previous situations). I’m fortunate my primary skills are amenable to straightforward accommodations, but you gotta get the job to do the job…
- jnovek 11mo ago> kinda soul crushing regurgitating the circumstances for chronic illness while hoping for a job I have to do this every time now because I have a resume gap. I don’t have to explain in detail, but even revisiting those three years for a brief explanation sucks. I’m sure there’s an implicit realization that I will likely ask for accommodations when I explain the gap which likely reduces my chances of being hired.
- rangestransform 11mo ago> I’m curious: how do you broach this with potential employers and shape your job search/career path around it? Could you get the job without these conditions and then drop the bomb on them as a disability accomodation
- blitzar 11mo ago> WFH only, limit stress, run away from job if things go bad again Sounds like senior management
- weddpros 11mo agoI haven't had management roles, but I'm now an entrepreneur...
- kleiba 11mo ago> Became half blind. ... Became a photographer Impressive.
- kleiba 11mo agoWhy do you guys downvote - is it because the comment sounded snarky? It wasn't meant to be, I think it is (obviously) an impressive feat to work as a photographer when your eye sight is severly limited.
- navigate8310 11mo agoUsually one worded complements are frowned upon.
- weddpros 11mo agoThank you! I'll modestly add that my sight was getting better and wasn't really an obstacle. It started with an activity of carbon ink large format B&W art prints for other photographers... then I became one too. The "irony" didn't appear to me at that time, someone had to tell me it was ironic!
- apprentice7 11mo agoAs a migraine sufferer this sounds scary and only today I have learned about it. What was it like? If I may ask. Is there a way to prevent it? I googled it and it seems to appear rather arbitrarily and suddenly.
- weddpros 11mo agoIt's very rare. I was a migraine sufferer, but this is how that time it was different: - I was under severe stress at work - I woke up with aura, realised it when looking at the mirror, I had only one eye - visual symptoms (aura) didn't go away after 1 hour. That's the limit where you MUST seek medical advice - having "a migraine" that day raised my stress level... because work... - symptoms persisted... and after getting better over a year, what was left became permanent (blind spot where the migraine started in my field of vision) DO NOT take triptans during the aura. DO NOT take any vasoconstrictors during aura, since it's a phase where blood flow is restricted. That could have caused my stroke. When a migraine hits, I take aspirin, stop all stressors, ALL stressors, try to calm down (I've used anxiolytics occasionally), breathe and rest. I'm often off for 2 days. It happens about once a year. Again, migrainous infarcts are VERY rare. You'll be fine, just let the aura pass, and know to seek medical attention if it doesn't.
- apprentice7 11mo agoThank you very much for this information. I hope you're doing well now!
- hn_user82179 11mo agoI'd be interested in how you managed the impact to your vision, any particular technology improvements you made? My dad had a stroked over the summer and lost vision on his right side - he's older but still works at a computer and is pretty particular about workflows so I don't want to muddle with what works for him too much.
- weddpros 11mo agoHi! I hope your dad gets better soon. My vision got better over 3 months, then more slowly over a year. I keep a "small" blind spot in my field of view (where I can hide my hand). I didn't need more management of this condition but rest. I remember the first months, trees felt exhausting to look at because of their complexity, and I couldn't watch an action movie because it felt too intense.
- typpilol 11mo agoMy dad's suffering with aphasia from a large half brain stroke too. You give me some hope things will get better for him.
- weddpros 11mo agoI hope your dad gets better soon. It takes patience, it's a very gradual process, over months if not years.