Work Wise...
I started the process of applying for partial invalidity through my superannuation fund today. Before breast cancer, I worked full time in a high profile government agency as a senior HR manager. It took a lot of energy and time to complete my university degree so that I could make the leap into higher level management.
At the time of trying to finish my studies, I was a single mother of 3 small children and working part time as well as working through a full time study load. Looking back on that time now I think I must have been insane to take something like that on, but when I graduated there was such a sense of relief and achievement.
It didn't take me long to find a new job and before long, I was earning enough money to stop receiving a single parent pension (I was determined to get to a place where I didn't need to rely on child support to pay the bills - long story) and to move out of our very tiny government flat into something bigger and more suitable to my little family.
Five years later and working in a dream job (for me anyway) I now have to consider giving some of that away. It's been really really hard to do. Still, I also know that I'm not the same person I was 12 months ago and what was important to me then, isn't so important now - family is, not work. I'm grieving over what I've lost because of this bloody cancer - not just the breast and my sense of security in my own body, but a dramatic change to my work responsibilities as well as a drop in income (and a reliance on husband now to carry the financial load).
When I spoke to my boss today about the process, he encouraged me and said that no matter what happens, he wanted to say thank you to me for my commitment and accomplishments and let me know that I'm a valuable member of the team. That's the key statement here - a 'valuable member of the team.' I get a sense of worth and joy in being a part of something beyond myself.
My work keeps my mind active, my skills relevant and keeps me in contact with other like-minded people, not to mention the social aspect of work. I'm fighting for partial invalidity because I want to keep working, even if it's only 8 hours a week. I can't control the breast cancer or what it's done to my body, but I darn well can control when and how much work I can do!