The District Magazine Vol. 2 Issue 5, Winter 2017-18 | Page 14

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12 Looking Back and Lessons
Learned:
considered healthy and low-risk. And as a result, I
was declined FMLA and Short-Term Disability. As I look back on my experience, there are five
major pieces of advice I have for anyone working
through an invisible illness:
I suffered every day from severe abdominal pains and
embarrassing symptoms that I had to admit to my
managers in order to explain why I was late to work.
I was literally one day away from throwing my hands
up and quitting because I was so embarrassed. Any
good judgment I had left was just about gone.
Here is What Saved Me
Then one day, I got very real with myself to try and
understand what would truly make me happy. I loved
helping people and I loved giving career advice. I
should be a recruiter, I thought.
It’s one thing to bottle up your pain and show up to a
job you love. It’s debilitating to try and do the same
for a job that you’re not truly passionate about.
So I mustered up every last ounce of energy I had
and interviewed for a recruiting position at my
company. It took almost two months of follow-ups,
but I ultimately got the job.
The physical symptoms from my condition are still
there, but I no longer have the time to sit and wallow
in pain because I’m now on the phone talking to
people every day.
Fast-paced interaction
and quick wins are
what worked for me.
The nature of my prior Accounting life involved
analyzing financial data for extended periods of time
without hardly any human interaction at all. Because
it was just me and my computer, I’d lose focus easily
and find myself consumed in thoughts of illness and
pain. I was mentally making it worse for myself.
But this sudden shift to a fast-paced, interactive role
changed things, because I no longer had the time or
space for debilitating thoughts in my head.
1.  Hold your doctor accountable. As you saw
above, this was exhausting for me. And in the
end, it didn’t even work out. If your doctor
doesn’t know how to feel your pain, or fully
understand the impacts your condition has
on your life, you won’t get anywhere.
2.  Seek
help quickly at work. Do not try
to “stick it out” as long as you can. If you
know your performance is less than 100%,
other people can see that too. Find a safe
environment and someone you can trust.
Swallow your pride and ask for help.
3.  Do
a serious inventory of what makes
you happy. Make a list of things that really
make you smile and laugh. Start doing these
things more often. If it’s certain people, start
hanging around them more often. When you
spend more time with the people and things
that make you happy, you will be distracted
from your illness, and you will in turn become
a mentally stronger and happier person.
4.  A
job change could mean everything.
Taking on a new position that you’re
passionate about will instantly relieve the
mental part of your illness. If you can’t
change jobs, add variation to your normal
work routine. This sudden shift from your
historical norms will require extra focus from
your brain, distracting your thoughts away
from pain and illness.
5.  Try
to do work that involves quick wins.
Quick wins will inspire you to turn work
around that much faster, which will leave you
feeling successful that much more frequently.
I hope this can be helpful to you. I’ll be going
to greater depths on this topic and my personal
experience on my blog at suitsandsneaks.com.
Please follow along if you’d like, and I wish
everyone Happy Holidays!
-Kristin
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