What do you do when you see “it” coming: Continue to push too hard and you could bring on an “attack” or a “flare” — but your team or client is relying on you to keep going? Ring any bells?
My client, P, lives with some devastating diseases, including hypothyroidism, Addison’s disease, and neurally mediated hypotension. He’s committed to continuing to work. In fact, P “fired” one doctor who suggested P stop working and become a “cripple” (P’s words). Over the past two years, when his illness became devastatingly bad and P was frequently out of work and in the hospital, too often he couldn’t meet his responsbilities at work.
Yesterday, after a 3 hour client presentation, P started to experience adrenal symptoms (sweating, lightheaded). Rather than take a break (to go the bathroom and sit still for a few minutes – which he’s found can help) – he didn’t leave the room. Instead, he stayed with his colleagues for a few more hours to continue planning the project. When I asked him why, he said that he didn’t want people to think they couldn’t trust him to ge the work done. By the end of the day, he collapsed at work.
Although he’s no longer on the fast track to the top, P can’t let go of his idea of himself – as the guy who works so hard, he leaves others in the dust. Even in the face of an attack that could send him back to the hospital.
What’s wrong with this picture? Well for one thing, he’s bound to get sick again (remember that chronic means it ain’t going away.) For another, if people know you have illness AND they’ve seen you become too sick to get the work done, you’ve get to take charge of your body and your schedule. Otherwise, you might as well say goodbye to the idea that others are going to count on you.
It’s not simple, changing the way you view yourself or changing your behavior. But it is the one thing that you can influence. The cicoach.com Guidebook Make it Happen! The Who, How and What: When Chronic Illness Stops You From Getting Your Job Done, can help you with this.
What do you do when you know that you can’t work the way others do – – because if you do, you might not get the job done?
Rosalind aka cicoach.com The resource for professionals with chronic illness
PS – Do you know about Dragon Voice Recognition Software? If you’re wondering how you can make working easier, check out the recent post in my other blog, Keep Working Girlfriend, from Joan Friedlander, my book’s co-author.
Chris says
I’ve found myself in this situation quite often, particularly during long, intense sales calls. We, as people with chronic illnesses, believe that every spotlight will be focused on us if we have to excuse ourselves from a meeting. But, we forget that the other people in the meeting are most likely just as tired and in need of a break as we are. I always make it a point to say at the beginning of any meeting or sales call that we’ll go full bore for a while and then stop to clear our brains for a few minutes. I have never had anyone want to continue plugging along (unless we have so much accomplished that we’d finish shortly anyway). Everyone, whether or not they have a chronic illness, needs to have a few minutes to reset their minds periodically. I, on the other hand, need to run to the ladies’ room to take care of an inevitable flare of my Crohn’s disease. It’s all about managing expectations before a meeting even starts.
On a lighter note, a neat trick that I use when I’m having a terrible flare is to bring coffee for everyone in the meeting. Jet fuel from Starbuck’s can be counted to go through everyone quickly and guarantees a break. The added bonus is that you get brownie points for bringing treats.
Rosalind says
Now that’s a good one I never thought of. Here’s another trick for those with crohn’s or UC- and find that public bathrooms can be a shameful experience due to odors. I always carried (I no longer have UC due to ileostomy) a “deodorizer” with me – and sprayed it in the stall. Amazing what lengths we’ll go to to be able to go out in public! It takes a bit of thinking in advance but is worth it.