“How are you coping with the heat?” is a question that has been coming my way from family, friends and colleagues over the past few days. Navigating the recent warm weather in Sydney has been a bit of a challenge for me, with a prosthetic leg, and a liner and socks for my leg, resulting in a few weeks filled with perspiration. In fact, there was a day recently after a session with my physiotherapist where I removed my leg, and a significant amount of sweat dropped on the floor. We shared a laugh and a mutual “ew gross” at the situation. I now keep a towel handy for our sessions.
Since mid-January, I’ve been observing Wednesdays as a “rest day” as part of my gradual “return to work plan” following last year’s medical issues. Though the day has primarily been devoted to catching up on medical appointments and some much-needed sleep, the physical and emotional toll of undergoing an amputation, adapting to a prosthetic, and rejoining the workforce cannot be underestimated.
Discussing the possibility of increasing my workdays to four with my doctor, she regarded the idea skeptically. “Okay, that’s fine if you feel up to it, but if not, sticking to three days is perfectly reasonable with everything you’ve gone through,” she advised.
While I don’t urgently need to return to work, having accumulated plenty of “sick leave” during my time at the ABC since 1989, I recognize the importance of my mental health and rehabilitation in choosing to go back to the office rather than staying at home.
My current routine involves spending two or three days in the office, depending on how I feel, and working the rest from home. On some days, I’ve noticed myself starting to get a little tired in the mid-afternoon, an experience I shared with another colleague who wears prosthetic limbs during a recent meeting. We briefly connected over the shared fatigue, a blend of physical and mental exhaustion.
In many ways I feel like I need to “prove myself” again to my colleagues. Aged 58, and with a medical condition, there’s a fear deep down that some of my colleagues I’m biding time until a medically related retirement. “There’s plenty of fire in my belly”, I’ve told colleagues.
Others have told me to relax, and not to stress. There was one day last week when I did get a little stressed. Being away for six months, it took me longer to achieve something I would normally complete quickly. It wasn’t the physical situation that frustrated me, it’s the fact quite a few colleagues have left over the last six months, and I needed to establish new relationships. I was far more relaxed the next day after I was able to process the frustration I felt with my own performance.
In the past week, I attended the Lady Rizo show at the Sydney Festival. The performance, reminiscent of Bette Midler with its candid one-liners, and strong vocal performances, thoroughly impressed me.
I also had a lovely catchup with a couple of former colleagues. Roger Summerill enjoyed a long-time career in both commercial radio and the ABC, and has recently written and released a book about his experiences. As I worked closely with Roger at 702 ABC Sydney (ABC Radio Sydney), I got a few mentions in the book, and I helped “proof read / fact check” a few of the stories. We loved catching up with my friend Andrea Ho, who also gets a few mentions in the book. Over a great lunch, we remembered the good times we enjoyed, and maybe also shared a few stories that couldn’t appear for legal reasons!!
And then yesterday I caught up with a colleague who I’ve known for several years, but didn’t know also had a physical disability associated with his foot. It’s amazing how you can work with someone and not know. There’s another colleague who I’ve worked with for twenty years who also has a prosthetic limb. As I’d never seen her in a dress or shorts, I had no idea she had a prosthetic limb. Since we’ve started to know this about each other, we’ve started to share ideas, tips and so on. “How are you coping with the heat”?, seems to be the most common question that’s been asked.
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