The more interaction I have had in my support group with other women. The more I have come to understand how lucky I am. Others are having all kinds of concerns about their condition to work, the feeling toward them by their employers and co-workers and finding meaning in what they were doing before, now that the stakes in their lives have changed.

The diagnosis of cancer changes just about every part of our lives in some way, some areas more profoundly than others.

This is an area where we want to hear from you. What are you running into in the working world? Are you finding the support you need, or are there insurmountable obstacles? Are you making ends meet, or are there too many challenges getting in the way?

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Maybe together we can help arrive at solutions.

I consider it a most fortunate thing that I was already securely out of show business before I got sick. It can be a very hard life for those young and healthy, never mind if you are not up to your peak performance. Not only would the stress have been too formidable for me, but it would also have been very hard to sell myself in Hollywood if people knew I was in a weakened state.

While in my own business ,I have been able to make my appointments and deadlines work around my treatments and how I feel. I have been working almost all the way through the process, from a few weeks after my 1st surgery, through my first set of six chemotherapy sessions. I was fortunate to be able to have my 2nd surgery near the holidays, when the business is usually slow. Now through the rest of this year I must continue to keep working regularly while doing my monthly chemo cycles.

To do this I have had to learn how to work smarter. I have stopped taking on projects that require me to baby-sit with the job. I use my expertise more like a consultant than like a project manager. I feel that my clients are getting the best of this deal as well, since they are paying for less of my hourly time, yet gain the maximum benefit of my taste and experience.

Another shift that I have made is to downsize enough to have full control of my time, for now. When I had people working for me I had to maintain more business to cover the expense of my employees. I also had to work harder to stay ahead of the game. Now, I am working through other people's business. Rather than having my employees and I running around the city finding what we need, I am working through companies that are already resource-rich. In a way, I am hiring experts in their fields to supply my clients with their products. I make less in the volume of the job, but I am making more per work-hour spent on the job, which has become my priority.

Another example of Jana's design work

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You Gotta Work It!

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