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A New Free Report - What Is Lupus?
This fascinating new report from UK-based publishing house Health Research Today answers some of the most-asked questions about this baffling disease :
- What is the medical definition of lupus?
- What are the symptoms of lupus?
- What tests are there for lupus? How do you get a diagnosis?
Fill in this form and we will send you the report immediately, which you are welcome to send on to friends or family!
Living With Lupus
This article is an extract from the ebook Freedom From Lupus!
Lupus and Your Work
One area that causes a great deal of stress in lupus patients is handling work. Although, even prior to diagnosis work may have been a struggle. People with lupus often tire easily, which affects work performance. This fatigue, along with frequent visits to the doctor, may cause lupus patients job-related stress as they work longer hours to try and make up work. However, it is those long hours that may be more harmful to the patient.
While most people think that the average workweek in the U.S. is 40 hours, in fact the average American worker spends over 45 hours per week at the office just to get the job done. For a person with lupus this overwork can be a burden that increases the severity of the illness. Therefore, when a person is diagnosed with lupus, it may be time to reconsider a few things about what you do for a living.
First, you have to consider the job at hand. What do you do for a living? Is that job taking its toll on your health? Some jobs put extra strain on the joints and muscles or can even expose a person to germs and other illnesses. For instance, a nurse diagnosed with lupus may want to reconsider her job working in the emergency room at the hospital. Besides the hours, the job is stressful, requires lifting, and exposes her to various ailments.
With lupus, you may need to look at a potential reassignment or overall job change. Any type of change can be stressful, so you may want to do what you can during this time to use stress-relieving techniques to prevent a lupus flare. Still, any time you change jobs, you should also have a plan in place. By planning ahead you can prevent a lot of stress.
For some lupus patients job flexibility is imperative. There will be mornings that patients find it difficult to move, let alone head into work. Some patients move away from having a full-time job to a part-time position to allow for that flexibility. Still, not all patients are able to live off of the reduced income and need to continue working full-time to make ends meet.
Working from home is a strong option for many lupus patients. More companies are considering telecommuting as a viable option for certain positions. It saves them money on office space and promotes worker satisfaction. Patients can either look for telecommuting positions at different companies or see if their company will allow them to work from home.
If you are planning to ask your boss if you can work from home, then you should go in with a plan. The one mistake workers make when they ask about turning their position into a work-from-home job is that they do not tell the boss why it would be a benefit to the company. Let the employer know statistics, your prior job performance, and any accolades to support your request. You may even offer to try working from home a few days per week to see how it goes, and then move into working from home full-time. You need to let your boss know that you are capable of handling the responsibility, how you would handle working from home, and how you could be held accountable. The more prepared you are going into the meeting, the more likely your boss will allow you to work from home.
If you cannot find a company that allows you to work from home, you may want to consider starting your own home-based business. Many people with chronic diseases have found that their own businesses allow them control over their hours and flexibility to get appropriate rest and care. Start a business that plays to your strengths, and do your research before getting started. Find out what you like to do. Are you a good writer? Do you like crafting? Can you help people start businesses? What are your strengths?
Once you know what you like to do, then start researching businesses where people do similar tasks. See how they run their businesses. Find out what it takes to start that kind of business. Will you need capital? Can you run the business online? Research what kind of things make certain businesses more successful than others.
If you are going to start your own business from home, though, be warned that there are plenty of scams out there. Many people fall prey to those scams, because they are desperate to work from home. Lupus patients may feel that way, as their symptoms may prevent them from going to an office or job outside the house. It makes them open to advertisements that sound legitimate, but are anything but legitimate. Do your research into any opportunities and avoid popular scams like envelope stuffing and pyramid schemes.
Read the rest of this article in Freedom From Lupus!
© Health Research Today
