Small Business Boomers

Dr. Jean Murray, former blogger here at Small Business Boomers, and now owner of Dr. Jean Means Business , writes a guest post for us today about keeping her business going during knee replacement surgery and recovery.

Like many other Baby Boomers, I have terrible knees. The word “bone on bone” was first told me by my internist a year or so ago, and it didn’t take long for me to decide I needed to get new knees.

At 62, I’m on the younger age of the knee replacement demographic (nice to be told, “You’re a little young for this,”).  But I figured,  “Why live like this any longer?” So I set up surgery on my left knee for mid-September, with the other knee scheduled for mid-November.

One of my big concerns was how to keep my freelance writing and e-book business going during surgery and recovery. At this point, about 5 weeks post-surgery, I wanted to tell you about my experience and give you some suggestions for getting through with your health and your business intact.

1. Plan and work ahead. This sounds obvious, but it takes some doing. For my freelance writing, I write content that includes a blog and articles every week. I worked hard before surgery to get ahead at least 5 days, so I didn’t have to worry about writing from my hospital bed. With other writing jobs, I anticipated what had to be done and did as much as I could beforehand. Sure, it made double work in some cases, but it helped a lot not to have to worry about things not getting done.

2. Communicate with everyone. I sent out emails to clients, editors, vendors, everyone I could think of. People are incredibly understanding if you let them know what is going on. It’s much better to inform people you won’t be able to communicate than to leave them wondering what happened to you.

3. Get help. I turned over all my bookkeeping to my brother-in-law, who works cheap and who is a QuickBooks wizard. And I loaded my VA up with tasks. Of course, you may not have a VA or a brother-in-law, but you’d be surprised how friends and family will pitch in if you ask.

4. Focus on the essentials.  Don’t spend time on items that aren’t necessary right now.

5. Don’t overestimate. The biggest shock I had was how bad I felt for so long, partly because of the drugs I was taking for pain, but just in general too. I had difficulty concentrating on work for very long, and I spent a lot of time sleeping and watching TV (and I NEVER watch TV!).

It has only been in the last week that I have been able to sit for any time in a chair. I do as much as I can every day, and that’s all. I have been able to keep up with my work, but just barely. If I had tried to do more, the stress would have not been helpful.

6. Think long-term. I learned I could make it through surgery and keep my business going. No, it’s not expanding, but that’s OK.

My full-time job has been my rehabilitation. I’m not kidding about that. Getting my knee back in shape has been my first priority, in part because I’m going to be going through this again in a few weeks. I’m not taking on new assignments and I have ended a couple I felt were not profitable enough. It has been a good clarifying experience for me. In the long-run, I figure the surgery didn’t harm my business. Keeping the longer term in perspective helps keep you sane during the psychological ups and downs of the post-surgical period.

When I started back to work at home, it was for only an hour or so a day. I gave up Twittering, reading emails, and spending time wandering around the web. It was amazing to me how much time I had been wasting on that stuff. Letting it go has now been a permanent habit for me. I scan through emails quickly and select only those that must be answered, ignoring the rest. I don’t do social media until the end of the week, and only if I have time. Maybe I’m losing a little business, but keeping my clients and editors happy, and myself healthy, is much better than a few connections on Twitter or Facebook.

(If you have any similar experiences, comment on this post. Mary Emma and I would love to hear from you.)

Surgery.com says: knee replacement operations performed each year in the United States. Although about 70% of these operations are performed in people over the age of 65, a growing number of knee replacements are being done in younger patients. A Canadian survey released in January 2003 stated that the number of knee replacements performed in patients younger than 55 rose 90% between 1994 and 2001. (Comment – I wonder if that 270,000 is the number of knees or the number of patients?)

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