Learning to work with Endometriosis
March 10, 2020
Women’s Health @ Williams Wealth – Learning to work with Endometriosis
March is Endometriosis Awareness Month – so what better time than now to share my story of how to work successfully with a Chronic Illness.
Endometriosis affects 1 in 10 women, yet so many of us still suffer in silence, particularly at work. This is a disease where cells, similar to the ones found in the womb, grow amongst other parts of the body such as on the Ovaries, Liver, Bladder, Kidney, Bowel, in fact, the only place Endometriosis hasn’t been found to grow, is on the Spleen.
I was diagnosed with Endometriosis at the age of 23 via a Laparoscopic Surgery and was fairly certain the diagnosis was coming. I’d visited the GP so many times for various pain & period related struggles throughout my teenage years that when I finally got a referral to a Gynaecologist for further tests, I’d began researching the disease myself, mentally ticking a box next to every symptom listed on every webpage I could possibly find.
Following my diagnosis, the next step was learning to comfortably live with a Chronic Illness that currently has no cure, well, I’m maybe not there just yet, but I can definitely tell you ways to work with it!
When I first started my job in 2013, it was just me & my boss (an ex-military male) and one day I’d had to pluck up the courage to suggest it could possibly be a good idea to have a bin…in the toilet, so you can imagine how closed I was about my personal struggles each month. Luckily over the course of my many visits to the GP, the business had started growing as well and we’d got a lovely female Practice Manager join us as well as other female members of staff.
Since my diagnosis and educating myself around the disease, I’ve been taking every opportunity to educate my workplace too, this way it can help us find ways to keep me in work comfortably.
So here are my steps to making life as a spoonie that little more manageable in the workplace:
1) LET’S TALK IT OUT- Being open and honest helps me, but it also helps those working around me understand if I’m being a little slower than usual that particular day. I look at it as I’m being pro-active, rather than waiting to be pulled into a meeting and asked why I’m behind on my work or why I seem ‘away with the fairies’ that day, I’m telling people. ‘Look I’m really struggling today, I may not be working at full capacity.’ It sets the expectations for the day, week, or however long the flare wants to stick around. I can be QUITE the over-sharer, but so what?! I have no issues telling people what’s happening, (or what it feels like is happening on the inside of my body), because if it’s affecting me, it’s going to affect my mood and I guess it helps if others around me can understand that too.
2) THOUGHTFUL PLANNING- When I know I’m getting close to having a flare up, or I’m in a flare up, I mentally prioritise my work for the day. I think ‘what is the most important task I need to do today?’ and I’ll get that done first. Anything after that is a bonus, and if I have to go home early because the pain is so unmanageable, well at least I’ve done that one task.
3) ASK FOR FLEXIBILITY- I’ll often keep in touch with my Practice Manager before & after work too, I’ll check in and let her know when I’m struggling and in the mornings if I need to come in late because I’m waiting for the pain killers to kick in or I’m having a hot bath to relax those muscles, she completely understands, because that extra half hour of self-care in the morning could make all the difference to my productivity during the day.
4) SPOONIE STASH- At work I’ll keep nearby all of the following; herbal teas (turmeric for inflammation & ginger for sickness), a TENS Machine for those real dull achy days, paracetamol & other pain killers, wheat bag, hot water bottle, soothing patches. You can never have enough options and it’s good to keep stocked up!
5) KNOW YOUR LIMIT- As much as I love my job and I hate to feel like I’m letting the team down, I have to put myself & my health first. Sometimes that means going home early or not going to the office at all because deep down I know it would cause more stress on my body than it’s worth, which could prolong the flare up. It’s important to push yourself and keep yourself going, but to also know when to say enough.
So there we go, my list to managing employment and illness. I think the best thing we can do is to be honest and discuss how we’re feeling mentally & physically, speaking up is the only way we can get the support we need, and it helps raise a little awareness along the way too!
Our Inspirations
March 8, 2020
Happy International Women’s Day!
Women in Work is all about empowerment!
What a perfect day to talk about our personal inspirations and the women who continue
to encourage us to be the best we can. There
are so many individuals who deserve recognition today, but these are some of the main ones that inspire us!
Elena Cossar (President); Emma Watson
‘If you want to run
for prime minister, you can. If you don’t, that’s wonderful, too. Shave your
armpits, don’t shave them, wear flats done day, heels the next. These things
are so irrelevant and surface to what it is all really about, and I wish people
wouldn’t get caught up in that. We want to empower women to do exactly what
they want, to be true to themselves, to have the opportunities to develop.
Women should feel free. ‘’- Emma Watson
I find Emma Watson incredibly
inspiring, she was appointed as a UN Women Goodwill ambassador
in 2014, working hard for a campaign initiated by the UN called HeForShe
calling for the advancement of gender equality, encouraging both genders to
partake as agents of change and take action against negative stereotypes and
behaviors. What I love about Emma Watson is that she actively stands up for
her beliefs and is pushing for a change that is so important for feminism and
men and women as a whole! She highlights that it is not about superficial issues
and about empowerment and equality.
Lucie Davies (vice president); Princess Diana is my inspiration purely down to
her charity work- she helped so many- I saw a website that said that she did charity
work for sick children, the banning of landmines and for raising awareness
about those affected by cancer, HIV/AIDS and mental illness, and I really want
a career in the future that will enable me to help people grow and develop and I
think her work breaking barriers by shaking hands with people with aids without
gloves just broke down so many barriers and worried around the idea of
spreading aids at the time and I think that was amazing!
A good quote of hers is ‘’Everyone
needs to be valued. Everyone has the potential to give something back.’’ Which I
really value because I think society would be much better if we all looked out
for each other and did more acts of kindness!
Kerry Wilson (Events Manager); Katherine Johnson
“We needed to be assertive as
women in those days - assertive and aggressive - and the degree to which we had
to be that way depended on where you were. I had to be.” -Katherine Johnson
Katherine
Johnson is an inspirational woman. In 1953, Katherine joined NASA as what was
then called a human computer. She was part of the National Advisory Committee
for Aeronautics.
Katherine’s
career had such in impact in history. In 1961 Kathrine’s calculations mapped
the trajectory of the first American in space. Also in 1970, the Apollo 13 era,
Katherine worked on emergency procedures that were vital when part of the main
spacecraft exploded. The astronauts had to use the lunar module as a lifeboat to
return to Earth. Katherine’s Math skills also came into action on the space
shuttle plans for Mars missions.
Katherine
Johnson accomplished so much in her career in-spite of discrimination her and
her colleges faced. The release of the movie “Hidden Figures” educated many on
the important action she implicated to sexism and racism in science and
engineering at NASA.
Katherine recently passed but will always stay a celebration
in the hearts of millions.
Lily Mckenna (Treasurer); Grace Beverly-
A woman who started her career
through Youtube whilst undertaking a degree at Oxford, to achieving a first-class degree whilst simultaneously being the CEO and founder of Two multimillion-pound businesses; Tala, which is thought to be worth £6.7billion within the
next 5 years; and B_nd. Grace has a passion for making her products ethically
sources, with everything being made vegan, cruelty-free and sustainable. Her
hard work and commitment inspires me to believe if you put your mind to it,
you can achieve anything.
We hope you all feel empowered today and continue working towards your goals and dreams!
The Women in Work Committee. x
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Social Icons