Daily Challenges....

Today I was at work, it was busy and I realized just how challenging each day can be! I felt great first thing in the morning and as the day went on, I just started dragging. I couldn't help but realize that everyone with MS has some kind of daily challenge that they are faced with. I work as a customer service rep and it gets busy from about May to November. Last summer I made it through, but now that I have a more clear understanding of my MS...I wonder if I will make it through another summer and more to come...hmmm?!
Let me explain my job a bit more....I work for a fairly small company and therefore there are only 5 of us in customer service. This means that each person has a great deal of responsibility each day. Now that we are getting busy, it's no surprise that I enter almost 30 orders per day and answer about 50 phone calls (guestimating on that one). It means that each CS rep has to be ready to handle whatever the day throws at them....so what happens when you are already challenged just by waking up in the morning?! This is a question that frightens me because I know the logical response would be....it might be time to find something different that will better suit my needs, but the truth is that I love my job and am not ready to find something different (especially in the current state of the economy). This poses another few questions....what are my daily challenges and how can I ensure that I can handle my job during the busy season with my MS???

My daily challenges:
1. Chronic Dizziness and Vertigo Spells- I have lived with chronic dizziness since 2003 and so I'm no stranger to how it affects me and is easily triggered by stress. The more stress, the more frequent the vertigo spells....ugh. Over the years, I have learned many relaxation techniques and learned how to quickly let things go to reduce stress. However, I am certainly no expert and it's almost impossible to do these things when work can be chaotic.
2. Auditory Processing Disorder - My ENT doctor finally agreed that I have this issue. It would have been easier if I had just hearing loss so I could have a hearing aid and be fine. With APD, there is nothing to fix how my brain processes the things I hear. Therefore, I am constantly asking people to repeat what they say to ensure I have heard it correctly. This poses to be one of the most challenging issues in the busy season at my work.
3. MS Fatigue - I should be getting between 10 to 12 hours of sleep per night, but as a single mother of twins that has to work full time...that is impossible! So I'm left to make due with about 7 to 9 hours of sleep instead. I start the day out feeling decent, but then as the day goes on, I become tired and then exhausted. I have started taking a medication that seems to help this...but what I'm noticing is that it helps so I don't feel like I'm going to buckle from fatigue, but still leaves me feeling tired throughout the day. This is going to be a chronic daily challenge because I will most likely have to continue naps after work since I can't take one at lunch and there is no way to get off earlier in the afternoon to be able to take one sooner than about 6pm :(
4. Heat Sensitivity - This is not a problem in the cooler months, except when I try to exercise. Now that we are heading into summer, this will be a problem...especially without a/c in my car (it's broke and so am I...LOL). I try to stay indoors as much as I can when the sun is out, but that is impossible when you have to drive, go outside to smoke, etc. This will intensify the problems with MS Fatigue and Chronic Dizziness.
5. Memory/Cognitive issues - This one is the least clear as far as the impact to my daily life at the moment. I have noticed that I can be rolling along in a conversation and totally lose my thought process and have to just stop because it is gone. I know we all struggle with this one a little bit, but it has been worsened pretty severely since last summer and is seriously frustrating and embarrassing when in the middle of a conversation with a customer. I'm also noticing that I can't remember things that I should know and had no problem remembering last year.

There are other issues that can challenge me, but they vary by day and not really worth mentioning right at the moment. The 5 listed above are the most frustrating and concerning, especially in relation to my job. Some days (like today)....I just want to give up and say....you know, I'm not cut out for this anymore and DONE! However, the fact that I have to support my twins and know that now is not the time to be quitting a job along with the fact that I should work as long as possible before giving into disability keeps pushing me forward.
But then, what the heck do I do about these issues?!
Honestly....I haven't figured that one out yet and really have not a clue as to where to start. I have thought of many different things and some are way out of the ballpark of possibilities and others are possible (I think). I have already started doing things like a "To Do" list and putting follow up reminders in my Outlook calendar at work.....so far those have helped with some of the memory/cognitive issues. I have thought about using an ear plug for the noise level at work so that I'm able to focus on my phone calls, but that could be a problem because I would have to put one in (only one because my headset is on the other ear) when I get a call and then take it out because there are things/conversations I have to have w/ my co-workers and then put it back in for a call and then take it back out....ugh! I have suggested over and over again, that the company do something about the noise level and after 2 years of asking, suggesting, begging and being so close to a resolution....we can't do anything due to the economic downturn. So, I may just be forced to try the earplug thing and hope that it helps/works. Now, for the problem with losing my thoughts mid-conversation, I'm sure I could get some good tips/suggestions from an occupational therapist, but if I can't make an appointment for a weekend....it will have to wait until slow season because it's just too busy to take time off work for that one. I guess I will just have to continue to stumble and hope that it doesn't have much of an impact. For the heat sensitivity, I am having my a/c in my car looked at tomorrow in hopes that it won't cost must to fix and maybe I can afford to do it soon. Otherwise, it will have to wait until beginning of next year. I've also considered purchasing a fan for my desk at work and plan to do that this weekend. For the MS Fatigue, I'm just going to have to try to get as much sleep at night and take naps after work as needed....plain and simple. For the chronic dizziness & vertigo spells, I will just have to try to keep calm and not allow things at work to stress me out as best I can and then practice relaxation techniques in the evenings and on weekends to try to help.

Any suggestions/comments are always welcome!

Until next time....
~Hope~