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What's really making you tired?

Fitness vs. fatigue management - it has really been a struggle for me to find the balance. When you sign on the dotted line to take breast cancer treatments they tell you every little possible horrible thing that could happen to you, and you sign those forms knowing all the risk factors. One of the after-effects I still have is extreme fatigue, where at the end of the day I am so tired I do the head bobs at the dinner table trying not to fall asleep in my mashed potatoes. I chuckle when this happens as it reminds me of little children in Disneyland at the end of their day, sitting in a restaurant and falling asleep while they are eating because the are all used up. Totally spent!

Our bodies have this “energy account” and how we spend our energy determines our fatigue level. I would never have known this without going through treatments. Before breast cancer I slept maybe 7 hours a day and that was all I needed – I couldn’t sleep longer even if I tried. Now I need at least 9 hours or more, and wake up still tired. I know this is the result of the chemo and the rads – but I'd had no idea how much this would disrupt my life.

I tried going back to work full-time and kept crashing. I am now taking Wednesdays off to recharge mid-week. I have found “fitness” hasn’t improved my fatigue level (which I secretly hoped it would), but it hasn’t made it worse either. What has been most interesting to me is that a one-hour meeting at work takes more out of me then a one-hour workout. I think the mental energy we burn throughout the day, with the concentration, and multi-tasking, is a larger load on our bodies than what I was ever before aware of. I spend my Wednesdays off visiting doctors and in silence. The quieter I am, and the less interaction I have with others, the more my energy levels go up. I think I’ll become a monk!

Yes, I am the hottest date around town, if we go out for dinner on a Friday night, by 7:30 I am yawning away at the restaurant… such a classy girl!

Life is good,
Jordan

Jordan is a Best Health reader and guest blogger. Find links to all of her posts on the Breast Cancer Blog home page.

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Posted by Jordan onWednesday, August 20th, 2008 - 2:26pm

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2 Comments

Jane... you asked if I had any advice for people looking to find a balance in their lives and addressing this issue with their jobs? Hmm... I am still struggling with the balance issue myself. I have slowly loaded myself back up and when I think things are just about right "life" happens.. and I topple easily. It takes very little for me to topple ( a late night out, too many meetings, too many new things to learn, too many changes all at once). So, when this happens I try to gather my support system, take their advice on what I should do... and if three people or more say do X... I then trust their advice and follow it.... it's a reality check for me. They are kind of like my board of directors. We each own our life, and are responsible for living it well, and that means if we need a coach/mentor/friend/doctor to give us insight, we should use those resources in a wise manner.

As for reducing the hours you work/changing your work schedule... I'd suggest that you first figure out what the benefits to your employer are, and the benefits to yourself. You need to create a win, win situation and present it as such. Perhaps the win for your employer is they retain a well trained employee, that it reduces their costs, that you still think you can deliver the products required for the job and would like to suggest a 3 month trial period so you mutually can decide if this is a good fit. Working this schedule is only a 20% reduction in time - you'd be surprise how effective you will become at time management.

Take care of yourself first, because nobody else will.
Jordan

Submitted by Jordan on Tue, 2008-08-26 5:11pm.

Kudos to you for recognizing that you need the extra recharge period. And for being able to organize what you needed in terms of an extra day off every week to rest and recharge. A lot of companies aren't nearly that understanding, but I suspect that a lot more people would get what they needed if only they knew how to ask for it. Do you have any advice for people looking to find a balance in their lives and addressing this issue with their jobs?

Submitted by Jane R. on Tue, 2008-08-26 10:40am.