I met with a friend today and showed him a copy of our book. He’s my network chiropractor, and does a lot of speaking about issues pertaining to heath and healing. I asked him where he thought I might talk to groups of people about what to do about working when you live with an autoimmune disease or chronic illness, and about what, specifically. We agreed that talking about self-employment, using the assessment factors I discussed in chapter 7, “You’re fired – By Your Body or Your Boss,” would probably be the best topic because of the questions it raises.

He then told me that his Mom had fibromyalgia – news to me – and had to go out on disability leave as her health deteriorated. While she was out she got so much better that the day she reported back to work, she turned in her resignation. He didn’t give me any more of the back story, only said that the difference in her health away from work compared to on the job was so drastic she felt she’d be able to maintain her health if she didn’t return to that job. She has.

He also told me that at one point his mom did consider starting a business but by then her husband was getting ready to retire so launching something at that time of their life didn’t make sense to her.

Our conversation turned to health insurance, always the biggest negative factor when deciding about self-employment. Now that both his parents are “retired” they’re paying for their own health insurance. It costs them about $1000/month for just her portion of their coverage. That sounds about right to me.

Clearly, his Mom chose well-being over working for health coverage, and even without knowing their specific circumstances I think it’s safe to say that she had the option to make this choice, as aggravating at that insurance cost may be.

My friend’s story reminded me about the issues Rosalind discussed in her chapter, “Diagnosis, Disease Course and Career Development.” Your decisions about your options regarding work are influenced by so many factors, and there is no one answer. The variables that impact your decision about working include family and marital status, where you are in your career development as well as your career aspirations – or not – and your actual health at any particular time. My friend’s Mom, unlike many women who develop autoimmune illnesses, became ill fairly late in life so her choices and options were different than if she’d been in her 20’s.

Joan

P.S. If you live in California and belong to a group or organization where a discussion of self-employment as an option would benefit the members, please write me through my web site, www.lifeworkpartners.com/contact .

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