Like I described in a previous post, I work a physically demanding job and I do a lot of traveling on most work days. I remember a time where I had no pain relief, no sleep, no energy, no diagnosis and no doctor to believe my pain. Along with all that, I had no doctor compassionate enough to give me a letter for my employer to give me light duty. Everything changed once I was diagnosed with FAI in 2012, well almost...
Working on the road is very hard on the body, especially when you have FAI. If you are sitting down for a good amount of time (like when I was traveling) or if you have to stand too long, your hips will hurt more. It's a crazy balancing act to alternate between the two and find a comfort zone. I really hated whenever I had a flight with turbulence that lasted more than 3 hours and I couldn't get out of my seat! At the end of most work days, I was exhausted and in too much pain to do anything around the house or go out. On top of that, I had a boss and some colleagues that didn't understand or believe that I was in pain all the time, so no help there.
The first thing I got when I was diagnosed was a letter allowing me to switch to a lighter job and it wasn't as easy as I thought. At first my boss gave me hell, mostly because he didn't believe a word I said about my condition and I overheard him saying to some colleagues that my doctor's letter was just to avoid the hard jobs and mandatory over-time our company got over the spring/summer season. I got my light work job...along with a shit-bomb of extra work to fill in my less occupied moments of the day...all thanks to my disbelieving ***insert insult*** boss. Plus all the enjoyable and non-stressful jobs went to the pregnant women in the office, just wonderful!
Eventually, my Boss began to understand that I was really in pain when I developed a limp while walking, after I had to take a few sick days because of the pain and when I lost patience and blew off a client. After a couple months, he got off my ass and gave me a break.
Here are a few things I figured out and my tips for keeping your sanity at work:
1- There are always haters and office gossips everywhere who will criticize you no matter what. Most of the ones at my office aren't close to being in my "friendly people" list anyways, so why should I care about their sick and twisted ways? If they talk shit, why should you give a shit about what they say?
2- Alternate between sitting, walking and standing as much as you can and try to get your workspace ergonomic as much as possible. Sometimes just having the right chair adjustment can make a big difference for the pain.
3- You shouldn't feel like you have to explain yourself to everybody. It's ok to just say "I have light work because of a health condition and I don't feel like discussing about it with you at the moment".
4- Work can be a distraction from the pain and it's a way to keep a sense of purpose and pride, especially if like me you love your career.
5- Don't feel ashamed if you can't do all the work you did in your Pre-FAI life. If you need a light duty job, go get it. If you need to cut back on the amount of hours you work, cut them. It's ok to do a little less than before and to make adjustments. It's better than not working at all. Besides, we're human beings not machines.
6- If you switch to a desk job (like me), keep healthy snacks nearby to eat during the day. It steers you away from the junk in the vending machines and it's better to feed your body clean/vitamin rich food than tons of sugar and empty carbs. Some favorites on my desk are: bananas, apples, sliced orange peppers, unsalted almonds and tofu spread on pitas.
7- I used to drink too much coffee (up to 5 cups a day) and it affected my sleep and mood. Nowadays I drink 2 cups of coffee MAX in the morning and I keep a stash of green tea, earl grey and herbal teas in my locker to drink during the day. I also keep a small water bottle at my desk, I stay hydrated all day and the small sized bottle makes me get up and walk to the water cooler more often (see tip #2).
~Klau
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