Flexibility helps

Almost three quarters of all patients who are diagnosed with multiple sclerosis are between the ages of 20 and 40, a period in life when most people are busy pursuing an education or a career. It’s understandable that MS patients are often anxious about whether they’ll be able to keep up at work — especially since chronic fatigue, a common symptom of the disease, can be a burden in today’s increasingly fast-paced and concentrated working environment. Coworkers can help to allay those fears by being as open and considerate as possible.

“You’ll need to focus on time management!” Hanne Schulz still vividly recalls those words, spoken by her neurologist when he told her the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. It was probably meant to be helpful advice, but back then, three years ago, time management was the last thing on Hanne’s mind.

The petite 44-year-old dental assistant vividly explains how she felt after the diagnosis: like a spectator watching herself on a stage. “What role should I play now? How am I supposed to deal with this disease? And what will happen to my career?” she asked herself.

On the other hand, she was also relieved to have finally discovered what was wrong with her. For over half a year she had been worrying about unfamiliar symptoms such as recurring dental and viral infections, as well as chronic fatigue. “I felt completely drained of all energy,” she says. This tiredness came as a total surprise to Hanne, who had kept busy not only working with patients but also lecturing and teaching advanced education classes. “I went to several doctors and an alternative practitioner, and they all told me that I had burnout syndrome. But I didn’t believe them. I knew something else was the matter.”

Almost everyone affected by MS suffers from fatigue. The reasons are still unclear, but medical experts think different mechanisms in the immune system are to blame. In daily working life, chronic tiredness can be disastrous. In contrast to a broken leg or a nasty cold, tiredness isn’t visible to managers and coworkers — and it can easily be misconstrued as a sign of laziness or slackness.

That’s why Hanne Schultz decided to tackle her symptoms head-on following her diagnosis, especially since she knew that she would need the support of her superiors and colleagues. And her approach paid off, as she explains: “I informed my bosses straight away because I really wanted them to know about my condition. They were extremely supportive right from the start. I’m getting all the support I need from them, and my colleagues also help me whenever they can.”

Were things really that simple? Three years later, it almost sounds easy coming from someone as active and athletic as Hanne. But at the time, she and her coworkers were embarking into unknown territory and first had to get their bearings. “I remembered what my doctor had said about time management. So after the initial shock I gradually began to restructure my working environment with the help of my bosses and colleagues,” says Hanne.

Today she manages her time much more carefully than before her diagnosis. At first she gave up teaching those strenuous seminars and workshops, then she dropped her stressful shifts at the reception desk, and finally she stopped working directly with patients in order to avoid infections. Even after those considerable changes, she was still working 35 hours a week.