Well, I'm a homeschooler and a Scout leader, so my 'work' (and it IS work!) is at least seasonal. I didn't do any of the summer volunteer bits, of course. (My treatments were February and March, but had the feeding tube till June.) Eased into getting my strength back up. I *think* I started tae kwon do back that fall, because I have this vague memory of testing in November, which means I must have worked pretty hard during the fall ... I was high rank by then. I think I was well enough to go to meetings when we started back up for the school year (which around here is beginning of August), but I have two co-leaders for my girls, so they helped me a LOT, and I wasn't full leadership with the guys that year, just observing, so no major responsibilities there. (My job shifted with the boys during my cancer ... my son aged up, and I was trying to hold together my Pack from a distance while my son was learning how the Troop worked ... that was a disaster on many levels, but not pertinent here.) Because I did have support, things went pretty well, but I was able to take off as needed. Things were going well by the following spring, enough that we were going to take our girls on a great camping trip ... and that's the one that, two days before we were to leave, I fell and broke my shoulder. Yup. I live my life by Murphy's Law. But because we do have enough leaders, they carried on without me, and I spent another whole summer recuperating. Sigh. And then kicked butt in tae kwon do at the next winter testing, LOL. I may be a coward about pain, but not a whole lot actually fazes me in class anymore! (This highly amuses my instructors, as they can clearly recall my very first white belt testing, where I ran off the floor in tears because we had to spar and I don't like to hit people. Still don't.)

I'm five years out from my first diagnosis (which was mere surgery and none of the nasty treatments), and this is the first summer I was able to go to day camp as a volunteer again. It was hard, but I LOVED IT. I probably still wasn't fully ready for the energy drain (it is HOT here in Alabama, even in June), but I LOVED IT. I'm glad I waited till I was closer to ready. But the other volunteer events, like a February indoor event I work at, I was doing as soon as I was able, and since it's a sit-down skill I teach there (pocketknives), it was great. (And the other leaders keep a close eye on me to make sure I don't push me too hard.) I also went to a spring (ha!) training camp weekend series for Boy Scout leaders, ill-advisedly, and that was pretty cool too. However, my doctor is pretty peeved with me about that one, because it turned out that first weekend got below freezing and was raining besides ... the entire time! (And yes, we camped outdoors.) Someone tipped me off to the weather report, so I at least had time to scramble for a properly rated sleeping bag and gear before I went, but we also had been misled about the physical requirements, and my doctor and I both agreed that if we had known, he would NOT have signed off on the health form. Oops. But I survived, and I am actually very proud of myself, both for making it through AND for knowing, "This is my limit, and this is the point where I will have to tell myself to walk away and try again another year." (If it hadn't cost so much, I would have done that straight up.) The second weekend was rainy but not freezing, which was better.

Those anecdotes may have nothing to do with what your goals are ... but I use them to emphasize knowing WHAT you are aiming to do, and WHAT your personal limits are. I knew what I was trying to do, and how I could, or couldn't, manage to achieve them. I had some seriously eye-opening moments during that pair of weekends about lack of disability accommodation, even when I'd requested help and they were doing all they could to help me ... because I hadn't realize how much accommodation I still needed, or what to ask for. (My being in the middle of the oral surgery nightmare meant I needed food accommodations, which they did their best for, but I hadn't realized how SLOW I got at eating, and on their schedule, that just didn't work. I know better for me now, and I know better for other folks now too. Things like that. I needed calories to cope with the physical demands, and I couldn't get them.) My health situation may be more complicated than yours ... I also deal with panic disorder, migraines, and other stuff, some of which I had before the cancer and some of which came after (I think my body just freaked out on me after I broke my shoulder ... it had had enough, LOL) ... so I've learned to keep note of where I am in my coping phase, and when to stop and take a nap or six. You may not have to go that far, and certainly not five years out, I would hope ... but self-awareness is always a good strategy.

Oh, and I know, etymologically, what the name 'Kristen' is supposed to mean ... but I'm pretty sure it also means 'stubborn' and 'refuses to give up when saner people would' in some obscure language somewhere ... seems to go with every Kristen I've ever met. So keep on being YOU, but be sure you know what your LIMITS are, so you can be the safest, best you that you can be! Just a tip from one Kristen to another ... Kristens unite!