Archives for 2012

New Year and a New Job?

December 19, 2012 by Rosalind Joffe 3 Comments

I like to make my ‘holiday’ post relevant to the season. So, in the midst of my own health issues, the resulting work issues and multiple other demands this time of year, I’ve been thinking on what to write about.

I decided that it’s enough with the posts filled with reflection and questions. Enough of my own or my clients’ challenges. Let’s talk concrete and actionable.

Hot off the press (not really since it’s Kindle) is New Year, New Job: 101 Top Tips handbook for your Job Search.

Chock-full (don’t you love those old-fashioned phrases you never hear anymore– showing my age, aren’t I?) with solid ideas from Job Hunt Experts on how to spend YOUR time during what’s traditionally considered the ‘slow days’ of Holiday Season.

And just in case you thought people with chronic health conditions might not relate, there’s one from me in here, too.

Happy reading. And I’m wishing you the best possible health, strength and job satisfaction in the New Year.

Is Fear Changing Your Game?

December 5, 2012 by Rosalind Joffe 2 Comments

He described the terror that wakes him: multiple sclerosis will paralyze him and he’ll lose his job and his family. For the first time since we’d started working together a few months earlier, Paul (not his real name) described his palpable pain. Until then, Paul had been consistently upbeat and pragmatic focusing on the changesRead More

An Asset when returning to work: mHealth Apps

November 19, 2012 by Rosalind Joffe Leave a Comment

The following GUEST POST describes recent innovations in devices that improve the way healthcare providers and patients with chronic illnesses can interact. Mobile health applications are making it easier for doctors to disseminate care, affording efficiency in the office as well as lessening the amount of times that chronically ill individuals need to visit.Read More

3 Questions that can help you get what you want

November 5, 2012 by Rosalind Joffe Leave a Comment

It’s my experience that living with chronic health problems creates a generalized sense of dis-empowerment. When you can’t control your health, it’s a slippery slope to losing your sense of control over what you can and can’t do, quicksand where you feel completely powerless. Do you find yourself stuck doing the same thing overRead More

Singing the chronic illness blues?

October 15, 2012 by Rosalind Joffe 14 Comments

If there were a blues song about living with chronic bad health, I bet most people wouldn’t sing about ‘love gone bad’. No doubt, holding onto relationships is hard with chronically bad health. I’ve worked with people who blame illness for failed relationships and there’s much to be sad about. But from what I’ve seen,Read More

Who is your best advocate?

September 28, 2012 by Rosalind Joffe 9 Comments

The chronically ill need advocates. This past week, , Jennifer Jaff, a valuable figure in the legal rights world for the chronically ill died from ‘complications from crohn’s disease’. She’d learned in childhood about living with difficult, unpredictable illness. Jennifer Jaff was smart and dedicated to her task. A ground breaker in many ways, the services she providedRead More

7 Big Ideas for Regaining Your Workplace Power

September 12, 2012 by Rosalind Joffe Leave a Comment

This week is Invisible Illness Week 12. This yearly event offers online seminars focusing on issues that people with invisible illness face. I’m a big fan of the idea that there is information we can share among all of us living with invisible chronic conditions. Notice the words: invisible (symptoms are not visibly obvious),Read More

5 Ideas for Talking about Illness and Your Performance

August 23, 2012 by Rosalind Joffe 2 Comments

(Name and details have been changed to protect privacy) Patty struggled at work with disclosure and the on-going communication around her health challenges. She lives with chronic migraines and an immune deficiency and had been experiencing increasingly debilitating symptoms for the past six years. Patty struggled with knowing when is the appropriate timeRead More

Just sayin'

August 8, 2012 by Rosalind Joffe 11 Comments

Living with a chronic health problem can be awfully isolating. Likely, even if you’re the most social person, there’s no one with whom you can share your daily challenges. You might think it would be easier if you could find someone who also has these challenges. But there’s this — mutual sharing of healthRead More

Do you know what will keep you healthy?

July 25, 2012 by Rosalind Joffe 3 Comments

Do people tell you that if you were only more positive and could look at the bright side, you’d be healthier? Your bad attitude is hurting you. I remember when I told my obstetrician that people were telling me that I wouldn’t get pregnant (we’d been trying for 2 years) as long as I keptRead More

Are you optimist or pessimist?

July 18, 2012 by Rosalind Joffe 2 Comments

Do you ever wonder why some people get the breaks that make them successful and others don’t? No doubt, living with a chronic illness can lead you down this path. When I read Breaking Murphy’s Law: How Optimists Get What They Want from Life and Pessimists Can Too, by Suzanne Segerstrom, some of my ideasRead More

How springy are you?

June 25, 2012 by Rosalind Joffe 3 Comments

Last week, it was the 1st heat wave of the summer and I was seriously drooping. Just walking to my car in the sun knocked me out. Prior to the first mutiple sclerosis episode 32 years ago, heat wasn’t an issue. Since then, I melt in heat and my function drops dramatically. But here’s theRead More

Talking about illness: Suggestions from the trenches

June 13, 2012 by Rosalind Joffe 2 Comments

I like featuring Guest Posts because it offers more perspectives on this subject that’s dear to all our hearts. This blog post is from Carla and I appreciate that she is sharing this with us all. Example of having a conversation with a coworker while out to lunch: Coworker: Why aren’t you eating yourRead More

What's your glass: half empty or half full?

June 4, 2012 by Rosalind Joffe 2 Comments

Do you find yourself pondering on your essential approach to life? Probably it’s not a daily recurrence (or I hope not). But this thought could be helpful if you’re engaged in trying to change some deeply rooted patterns. In her column, A Richer Life By Seeing the Glass Half Full , Jane Brody, The NewRead More

Are you using your resources carefully?

May 29, 2012 by Rosalind Joffe 8 Comments

It’s been over 30 days since I posted my last blog! Lest you think that I’m either not a serious blogger or a slacker, this was no accident. Are you living with chronic health conditions that shake you in your core and often make it harder to get anything done? If you’ve been readingRead More

Are you stuck in checkmate conversation?

April 25, 2012 by Rosalind Joffe 6 Comments

Does a debilitating chronic health condition overwhelm you to the point that dealing with other people feels like a burden that you just can’t carry? People tell me that they’re stuck and can’t get what they need from others so they can keep working. It’s like they’re stuck in ‘checkmate’ with no moves left toRead More

Can you find a new job with bad health?

April 2, 2012 by Rosalind Joffe 28 Comments

“Can you tell me how I should look for a new job when I’ve been told that I have to leave my job because of my bad health?” I’d say that’s a tough one, wouldn’t you? Esther is angry, feels totally alone and is really scared. Seems understandable to me. As it turns out,Read More

Work Matters But Not Easy to Make Happen

March 19, 2012 by Rosalind Joffe 6 Comments

I’ve been writing about working while living with chronic illness for more than 10 years. People ask me how I come up with topics? Really? Think about it. When was the last time you found a character in a book, play, movie or t.v. show who was dealing with chronic health challenges? ThisRead More

Is Obamacare Good For You?

March 1, 2012 by Rosalind Joffe 2 Comments

This post was written by Tiffany Wallace exclusively for WorkingWithChronicIllness. All content for informational and educational purposes only. I am not an expert in this area so I’m grateful for her effort and hope that the information is useful to you! Affordable medical insurance is a major consideration for many people, particularly those who liveRead More

What Is It? How Did I Get It?

February 17, 2012 by Rosalind Joffe Leave a Comment

I ‘interviewed’ Gail Rae, author of What Is It And How Did I Get It? Early Stage Chronic Kidney Disease. I find her thoughts useful and thought provoking. How can you apply this to your own life and the choices you make? Rosalind: I found your book so compelling. It brought meRead More

Are You Like Mr. Bates or Mrs. Patmore?

February 1, 2012 by Rosalind Joffe 5 Comments

Struggling to stay at your new job while living with chronic health conditions? Struggling to keep your job while living with a chronic health condition? Then you might want to tune into Downton Abbey, Season 1, to see what to do and what to avoid . Maybe they should make a series called, “Working andRead More

Are you acting from confidence or fear?

January 17, 2012 by Rosalind Joffe 2 Comments

A former client sent me a Holiday e-card with a note that she’d lost her job and with it, her family’s health insurance. In follow up emails she told me that she was part of a lay off last month, she’s been feeling sicker since she’s left work and feels lost. She wants to work withRead More

Can You Meet the Expectations You Set?

January 5, 2012 by Rosalind Joffe 7 Comments

When I woke in the middle of the night for the 3rd time to go to the bathroom (incontinence again!), I found myself muttering. Of course, the middle of the night is the worst time to think about anything, and I was panicking about what wouldn’t get done today. One thing I’m good at isRead More