Balancing Acts

A breast cancer diagnosis is always accompanied by a series of balancing acts.  Women, for example, most commonly discover that they must strike a balance between researching, scheduling, and preparing for cancer treatment with career, family, and home.  Men, as caregivers, also discover that they must balance these priorities.  But in both instances the high wire seems tighter and the walk more precarious.

Here are some quick tips for striking a healthy balance:

Women
* Don't spend so much time going it alone with research and reading early on.  Ask others to help glean this information for you.
* Bring a family member along to the doctor appointments so that this person can take notes.  It will save you and your husband time, energy and anxiety.
* Use your calendar to pencil in valuable time with your children.
* Do the most time-consuming matters first in the day, freeing up time for more relaxed and personal pursuits later.
* Inform your employer about your situation and allow others at work to help with your scheduling and priorities.

Men
* Inform your employer about your situation, and clarify your vacation policy and personal time away from work for when you are needed most.
* When possible, work from home so you can be of assistance to your wife, especially in the days following surgery.
* Calendar time with your children.
* Schedule time for in-laws and friends to help you and relieve you of some stresses, possibly around cooking and transportation.
* Allow enough personal time to keep yourself strong, fit and able.  If you are tired or perpetually wasted from work, you will not be of any help to your wife.

Keep these tips in mind if you are beginning the balancing act.  And allow yourself as much flexibility as possible.

~Todd Outcalt