Back to work...

[donna]

You are bound to be tired going back to work after all that time off, also I feel tired when I dont have enough work to do so maybe its a combination of returning to work and too much time on your hands?
Do the other people you work with know why you were off? And do any of them know about your problems with work? Maybe they dont know what to say.
I have no advice re lenses, as you know I have not got mine yet so cant help there, sorry. is your office air conditioned? Maybe your eyes were tired after the pc usage?
Stick in there and you will be fine, its early days yet! xx

[debbieo]

The main thing I would say is don't beat yourself up about it. Accept whatever happens as normal and try not to get stressed about it.

You need enough mental energy just to find your way back and learn all the new stuff you gotta learn and reform the new working relationships.

Don't waste any of your precious energy on fretting, worrying and self criticism. It's not worth it.

[Susan Mason]

Hi Pat

Give me a call (or I can try to call you), maybe we can compare notes (with regards to the oddly acting colleagues etc).

It took me months to get to feeling anything like normal and to be honest I think I only turned the corner the day I decided it was them with the issues and not me ........ nothing as funny as folk as my granny used to say.

Anyway, dig you heels in take your time and keep you chin up high!

Best wishes

Susan x

[Andrew MacLean]

Pat

I have found that where people find it hard to talk to me it helps if I talk to them, not about eyesight, but about oridnary stuff or even their families.

If you shift the attention to them they find things very much less threatening.

Actually, I do not have any difficulty understanding why people can find it hard to talk to folk who have an experience different from their own. Your task as you re-integrate into the workplace is to remind your colleagues that you are the same person; help them to remember that there are lots of interesting things in your life, and that having KC does not define your being.

All the best on Tuesday.

Andrew

[GarethB]

Pat,

Wehn I first went back it people did not really talk to me because no one knew the full story why I had been off for so long and were unsure how to approach me. That where I made my KC presentation and gave it at a departmental meeting and that broke the ice. People started to understand what I had been through, kept it relatively simple but said basically my eye sight suddenly deteriorated that glasses no longer work and I was legally blind. Then had to find the right type of contact lens that would stay on my eye to allow me to be able to safely return to work.

The first day was a real struggle as I was barely upto 8 hours lens wear and from point of leaving for work and getting home is a 12 hour day for me so I was only wearing one lens at a time and boy was I tierd.

It took two - three months before I got used to working again, so I am glad the occupational health nurse we have devised the gradualy staged return to work plan with my supervisor.

It took a similar amount of time to get upto speed with the projects in the department because I had come part way through and I think my employers were unssure of how much they should give me to do incase I went off again. That was overcome by knuckling under and getting any work coming my way done on time, prefferably sooner to a higher standard than they would normally require. This resulted in a minor carrear break which has since got bigger and 18 months later got promoted.

Since my promotion I have been given another break and I am now the lead analyst on a new project.

Personally Pat I would advise, take it steady so you are back in the work routine, catch up on any training that may be necessary. Make the first move talking to collegues, they might feel awkward because they see you not doing much and they are over run with work. I overcame this by aksing if I could help, the did not like it but eventually realised that I did have something of value to offer.

It is a slow process, collegues need not know all the details, they will only forget, just the basics. I had the KC leaflets for people to look at so I did not have to explain the condition all the time, in fact I still have some in my draw.

You are back at work, get used to it in your own time and show them how strong your are.

[Pat A]

Thanks for all your comments and support..

Donna - no aircon in the office - i fact it is overbearingly warm most of the time! But they all know why I've been off - even if they don't (yet!) understand the extent of the impact on my abiltiy to work effectively.

Susan - will do - thanks! And I'll PM you too with an update on the other stuff...

Debbio - you are right of course! Just not always easy to see that yourself when you are down!

Andrew - I have tried to talk to those concerned, but it's hard when they don't even respond to a friendly "good morning" on arrival! As Susan rightly says, I have to realise that it's their problem not mine.

Gareth - you always talk a lot of sense don't you! I have made arrangements to give the presentation, but it won't be for a couple of weeks as many are out of the office at various meetings a lot. I suppose I hadn't given any previous thought to being so tired - but thinking it through, I was up at 6am out at 7am and didn't get back home until 6.30pm - including almost 2 hours travel each way. As I have been used to slobbing it and sleeping through 'til 9 most mornings with a nice afternoon nap on reflection it's no wonder I was tired! And of course there's the painful foot too which doesn't help
I am sure I might feel better if I actually felt I was contributing to the work - but the set up is such that I have no role any more within the team I physically sit with. So it's unlikely I could help them much if I tried. I've gone from being a very overworked manager of a large team travelling all over the place and working very long hours - but loving it - to nothing!
But a good bit of PR won't go amiss so I'll concentrate on that I guess when I go back next week. PS. I'll e-mail you separately as well over the weekend about other stuff..