What happens to a dream deferred? Does it disintegrate, never to be replaced?
Sometimes it’s transformed into something new.
About a week ago, it was my one year anniversary of having to stop working and leaving my dream job, a full time professor gig I had worked for many many years to achieve.
It feels like it’s been a few months and a lifetime
at the same time. And so much has changed in that time. My condition has
declined considerably and my independence has been steadily chipped away. I’ve
also learned to make peace with my illness and the world around me in ways I
was never able to before. The bad is always tempered with the good.
This is the longest I’ve ever gone without working
since I was 15 and the first time I’m not beginning the academic year as a
student or a teacher since I was 4. This is brand new territory. If someone had
told me five years ago that this is where I would be right now, I would have
thought it was pure fiction—the makings of a great book, but not reality.
I’ve been dreading this anniversary. I knew when I
saw my friends and former colleagues talking about the beginning of the
semester on social media that it would be painful. But the anniversary passed
when I was bedridden for weeks so I was distracted by surviving to really be
overwhelmed by it. There was an upside to that at least.
I never imagined not being able to work. I never
imagined being in this position, but I knew it was a very strong possibility
for some time. The health issues started in 2011 and it’s been a decline ever
since, and when things really started to change and go downhill in 2013, I knew I was inching closer and closer to this point. I was on an
impossible path: working a few months at a time and then having to go on
medical leave, over and over. It wasn’t sustainable and I regret taking my
health for granted. I always expected to snap back each time I hit the wall and
get to where I was before. But each time I hit the wall, I never fully
recovered to where I was. Until I hit the wall too many times...
I treat my health as sacred now. My body gives me no other option. I know some of you out there are living this too. I used to avoid reading stories about people who had to stop working. I would see the stories in the health communities I'm in and just skip over them, saying “Nope. There’s no way. There’s no way. That’s not me.”
I treat my health as sacred now. My body gives me no other option. I know some of you out there are living this too. I used to avoid reading stories about people who had to stop working. I would see the stories in the health communities I'm in and just skip over them, saying “Nope. There’s no way. There’s no way. That’s not me.”
Perhaps you don’t want to read this because you feel
the same. But I want to tell you that you don’t have to be afraid. There is so
much that is beyond our control and all we can do is keep up the good fight
each day. Do the best you can and whatever the future holds, you
can face it like a champ. You’ve survived this long so you can continue to
survive. The future isn’t pre-determined.
Statistically, about 25% of people with POTS are unable to work. I'm not sure what the percentage is for Myasthenia Gravis or other conditions. Many
of us who are too disabled to work are young (if mid-thirties still considered "young"). We’re at the age when typically you start building a career, planning for retirement, building a family. Too young to have to spend most of our time in
doctor’s appointments, rolling the dice with new medications, getting lawyers to appeal for disability benefits, trying to live life from a bed/couch.
When your worst nightmare happens, you accept it and
you find a path forward. You have to remember it’s not the end of the world.
The path forward is what I’m focusing on now. My
life has changed considerably. Instead of focusing my energies on a career,
planning syllabi, working through piles of student papers, reading new
research, I spend most of my time managing symptoms now. I plan doctor’s
appointments. I coordinate my care. I portion out my medication. I plan for med changes (there are
always changes). I use my inhalers at the right time every day so I can breathe.
I stick to a strict exercise routine. I read. I write. I play music. I play
video games and watch sci fi tv with husband. I see friends and family
sometimes. I see how fast I can go down aisles in my wheelchair (who wants to
race me?). I sit quietly outside in my yard and ponder the universe. I sing to
my cats. I’m trying to make a good life around my limitations. I’m making it work.
I live honestly and truthfully now. I’m no longerliving a lie. My normal has changed and that’s ok. I have a comfy couch at least.
There is some emotional baggage that comes with losing your career. I won’t deny that. I imagine San Francisco International Airport has less baggage than I do. So much of our identities are tied up in work, career, independence. It’s difficult to unravel that to find out who you are without it and what your purpose is. I’m still trying to figure out what my purpose is.
There is some emotional baggage that comes with losing your career. I won’t deny that. I imagine San Francisco International Airport has less baggage than I do. So much of our identities are tied up in work, career, independence. It’s difficult to unravel that to find out who you are without it and what your purpose is. I’m still trying to figure out what my purpose is.
But I have used some resources and tools to work through
the baggage, work through the grief, and find a path forward. Here are a few:
1. I see a therapist. Talking to friends and
family is helpful but I can see many of those around me with care-fatigue, the on and on of illness is wearing them down too. Sometimes you can't go to your support network anymore and you need professional support. Dealing with illness is exhausting
on all levels and working with a therapist can help you attain vital coping
skills. I have worked with one off and on most of my life and I had a really great one for the last two years, until sadly he moved. Now I’m starting over with a new one, which is daunting. Until science can create
teleportation technology so I could I see him still, those are the breaks.
2. There are a lot of books out there about how to
cope with illness, mental health issues, and difficult transitions in life. I’m
working on reviewing each book I read related to illness as suggestions for
others going through the same thing. You can find reviews in the “Spoonie Reads” section.
3. You’re allowed to be sad, to wallow a bit, and
even to give up sometimes. That’s completely allowed. Working through the chaos
illness brings to your life is a process that takes time and patience. You don’t
have to make it look easy. You just have to find a way to keep fighting,
whatever it takes.
My policy is to never give up when anyone is looking
and to always get myself together in time to face the next day. Every day has new
possibilities. I’m grateful to have the chance to meet them. Whatever you have
to tell yourself to keep going. If you focus on the unfairness of illness and
count your disappointments each day, it’s difficult to move forward. There has
to be a way forward.
4. Find new
hobbies and interests within your limitations. As an academic, I never had time
for hobbies. It is an all-consuming gig. I played music but even that became a
job as I would play in restaurants and weddings, etc. I even worked as an
artist doing children’s artwork for many years. A lot of my hobbies became jobs
at some point, so now I’m trying to find some joy in them again for myself. I
have other things I’m interested in now that I had no idea I had a passion for
while I was working. Now I have time.
5. Use online communities to help you feel less alone.
It is easy to feel like you are suffering on an island of pure absurdity when you have rarely diagnosed conditions. Often times, you never meet someone in person who
also has your disease. The online communities help you feel less alone, yet I
try to use them sparingly now. It can get easy to get sucked into these
communities and end up even more
frustrated. Take some time away to live life. It’s easy to let illness become
your identity, but it doesn’t have to be.
6. Remember what you still have and what you can
still do. Besides finally finding acceptance and living authentically, learning
how to feel gratitude has been the greatest lesson I’ve learned since I stopped
working. My whole life my brain is always saying “what’s next? Where am I
headed next?” but now I’m trying to learn how to feel satisfied for once. I try
to live in the moment more. I have an overwhelming sense of gratitude that I
draw from for strength on most days.
Although my life is very limited, I still have so
much. I have an amazing husband, my family is rebuilding our bonds and moving
forward despite my mother’s continued decline, I still have my creativity and
passion. I am able to finally live within my limitations. There’s still so much
to be thankful for.
7. When your dreams are dashed, you also have to make
new dreams. Pining for the old dreams that are outside of my physical
limitations is a fool’s errand. That will only lead to frustration. So I’m
really working on creating new dreams and new goals. Everything takes some
adjustment and I’m a professional at adapting at this point. I should put that
on my business cards.
When I left my job and finally started to work
toward acceptance, I realized that my ultimate goal in life was to be able to
live a good life within the limitations of my conditions—instead of constantly
having to push myself past my limitations. Whatever that looks like, that’s my
goal. Everything else must fit within the parameters of this goal.
Wow. There's so much in this post.
ReplyDeleteFirst, as a teacher who totally lives for her work, I can only imagine how difficult it must be not going back to school this fall. The possibility that this may be my reality one day terrifies me. But your post helps give me some perspective.
I really admire your ability to come to peace with your illness and limitations. This is something I really continue to struggle with. You have a lot of wisdom to offer here.
I have this quote on a sticky note on my bathroom mirror: " If you focus on the unfairness of illness and count your disappointments each day, it’s difficult to move forward." It's the unfairness I often continue to have such a struggle with.
Thank you. I will be coming back to this post during times of struggle.
Well said... just an FYI. When I moved I saw my therapist on Skype for years...
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