Surviving Cancer and Embracing Life: My Personal Journey by Joel R. Evans - HTML preview

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limitations and chose to avoid them. HOWEVER, my limitations do not include the exercise bike, the elliptical machine, leg lifts, light weights, and walking the track at the gym. I do use knee braces when walking a lot. That’s another part of my being smarter than I was in the past.

 

Back to Hofstra. My reduction in on-campus tasks did not mean that I lost my enthusiasm to be of service. It meant that I now did a lot more things that I could handle from my computer, such as operating a school blog, running our department’s LinkedIn group, and working on curriculum proposals for both the business school and my department. I also advised numerous students from my office at Hofstra. These activities allowed me to continue to be and feel a valuable part of my academic community. That was vital to me.

 

I also was motivated to keep on writing. That involved doing research for journal articles and working on my textbooks. This was another way in which my self-esteem was lifted up. No matter how much we have accomplished over our lives, many of us still want to be appreciated by our peers.

 

Here are some additional observations about returning to work after a major illness.

 

According to Skip Richard, these are six tips:

 

  1. Listen to your body.
  2. Listen to your doctors and physical therapists as well.
  3. Pace yourself.
  4. Practice memory [brain stimulation] techniques.
  5. Don’t get frustrated.
  6. Do something to prove to yourself you are close to returning to your old self. 15