To succeed…

You need to find something to hold on to, something to motivate you, something to inspire you.

Tony Dorsett

 

The last company I worked for, an international FMCG company, unfortunately had to retrench me due to a major reshuffle within the organisation. I had a wonderful time with this organisation and was given opportunities to travel internationally and set up training modules which not every PA gets to do. I reported to a fantastic female director whom I hold in very high regard. She was and still is my role model and I am lucky enough to get to know her on a more personal level.  Unfortunately she became ill last year and is slowly but surely getting back onto her feet. Many times we have compared notes and find that our lives are travelling very much on a parallel. We have both been through a tough 12 months, both “jobless” and starting something new.  She is a major inspiration to me – never to let anything get her down, just tackles the issues head on and gets on with the job. Thank you Fay.

When I was notified that the retrenchment was imminent, Craig and I sat down to discuss “what next”. I’m not a sit at home and wait for something to happen type of girl and Craig knows this.  We looked at many options and it came down to two. One was buying into a franchise where I would be working 7 days a week from 06:00 to 18:00 or the other becoming a Virtual Assistant working from home and setting my own times. I remembered a couple of years back my boss at the time was telling me all out virtual offices and how work will be done differently in the future. I thought that this would be many years away before it actually happened. Well, was I wrong. It’s been here for the last 10+ years.

Now I am embarking on this new venture. I found my first paying job within 1 day of searching the net. It’s not paying much but it’s a start. I am busy developing my logo, getting the company registered – which is a major pain dealing with a government department (say no more) and my website is also in the process of being built. As soon as it’s up and running I’ll attach the link for you to have a look.

I’m looking forward to all the new people and things I will be exposed to in 2013. I just know it’s going to be my year.

The human spirit is stronger than anything that can happen to it.

 ~C.C. Scott

I have been told that a Blog is your soap box and you can tell your story.  Well, here goes mine.

In everyone’s life certain things, good or bad, happen which should hopefully add to your purpose in life. I do believe that a hardship suffered only adds to understanding and empathy for someone you may meet along life’s path. I have always been a very positive person, with an outgoing sunny personality but my world came crashing down in 2011 with news no-one wants to get.

At the end of July 2011 I was diagnosed with Stage 3 Breast Cancer.  My first thought was ‘this is it, the end of the line, no more doing things I love and enjoy. What about my husband, how will he cope? I saw my mother die of Lymphatic Cancer 20 years ago and knew what to look out for but never thought I would get it. I tend to be like an ostrich sometimes and hide my head in the sand and hope bad things will pass me by, but the cancer did not.

I had my mastectomy in August 2011 and started my chemo at the end of September. Let me tell you, chemo is not for sissies.  After my first “red cocktail” my hair started to fall out in chunks. When this happened, unbeknownst to my husband Craig, I went to see his barber and asked him to shave my head. When Craig came home from work that evening, he was shocked to say the least but he quickly got used to the new bald me.

 

I am not an airy fairy type of person but did use visualisation when it came to my chemo. I considered each chemo a log I had to balance on while it was floating in a crocodile infested swamp.  The ‘crocodiles’ in this case was the depression that can set in. As soon as I managed to gain control of the log I would jump onto the next log (which was my next chemo).  After chemo I was very tired, would shuffle around the house like a little old lady and sleep a lot. During this time Craig was a rock and my place of safety. We would talk for hours, cry together and laugh together. He was always at my side for my chemo sessions. He even gave up a 6 week trip to Australia so he could be with me. And as one does when you are not feeling yourself I often asked him why he stuck around with me when I am so sick and he would always say “In my wedding vows I said I would look after you in sickness and in health, we are just going through the sickness part now. Health will come.”

 My oncologist had 8 sessions planned for me, one every 3 weeks. I only managed to have 6 because I was going into anaphylactic shock so we had to stop. Now the worry was did you get enough to kill the cancer?

One of the decisions I made at the time was that on my good days I would continue to work. I was very fortunate to work for a company that supported me all the way and my boss at the time, Wayne David, was always available with encouragement. Working half day helped me as I did not have time to focus on the negative but to look forward to getting up the next day and going to work, interacting with others and not falling into depression which is very easy to do. In the afternoon I was always tired and took it easy in front of the TV or reading a book.

In March 2012 I started with radiation. Once you have gone through chemo, radiation is a breeze.  The hospital where I went for radiation was only two blocks away from the office and I would quickly dash out daily to get treated. It took longer to undress and dress again than the actual radiation time. Because I am fair, my skin turned red very quickly and Craig had to pamper me daily with aqueous cream and cornflower starch (Mazina) which helped with the itchiness.

Currently I’m in remission and hoping to start a new chapter in my life.