I’ve read with interest some of the concerns voiced in the posts and reviews about Women, Work and Autoimmune Disease, and our point of view. I’m glad that our particular point of view has uncovered more sides to the discussion of the issues that face women who are required to figure out how to survive in the face of the unpredictability and pain associated with autoimmune illnesses. I believe that this dialogue ultimately serves all of us.

I admit I had not given much thought to the fact that some women who have to work may not see their work through the lens of having a career, though looking back through my 21 jobs I know I often wondered what my career path was.

Some women, no matter how ill, don’t have the choice to work or not to work - I never felt I did. For about half of the time I was ill I was also a single mom. Even when married, not working has never been an option.

I filed for divorce from my second husband within a year of the onset of my Crohn’s diagnosis. I did this just a few months after I was demoted from my training manager position with the company I’d worked for longer than any other, and from a job I loved. (I was 37 and on my 3rd “career” by then.) I was demoted because my illness and hospital stays made it very difficult to keep up with the responsibilities of managing my store, and it was showing.

Before my divorce was final, I got another job, one I hoped would put me back onto the path I’d started before I was demoted. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I hated the company I worked for. I stuck with it for just over a year, and then sought out and was offered a position as an executive assistant to the owner of a local company. During that entire time - for about 2-and-a-half years - my symptoms were in remission. However, a year into my new office position I was “let go,” just a day after returning from 10 days of disability leave.

It took 5 more years and 3 more jobs before I decided to start my coaching business. Because of the impact my illness had I my career, and my decision to go out on my own, I wrote chapter 7, “You’re Fired - By Your Body or Your Boss,” in which I discussed self-employment as an option.

My post today is not meant to argue against the concerns that have been raised about the focus of our book, and our point of view. I just don’t think we’re all that unique. Rather, I think my story - and Rosalind’s - is typical of the ups and downs, and stops and starts women living with autoimmune diseases experience.

The question still remains, what can we do with this hand we’ve been dealt? There’s no question that there are as many answers as there are women.

Joan

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