E-Tips

Compassion At Work

One of our colleagues, Jerry Sello, 71, was recently diagnosed with
Hodgkin's disease. This is a type of cancer that effects the lymph system. Fortunately for Jerry, it has the best cure rate of any cancer. Jerry's treatment will involve 12 weekly chemotherapy sessions, with her hair falling out sometime around session #3.

All of this would be hard for anyone to endure. It is even more challenging for Jerry since her immune system is fragile due to Crohn's disease which she's had for many years. In addition to these daunting physical issues, Jerry lives alone and finds driving a challenge even when she's feeling well.

As a small company of only 16 people, including our independent contractors, we have searched for ways to be of help and comfort to Jerry as she struggles with her situation. My partner, Mary McGlynn, has spearheaded our support plan that not only helps Jerry, but has also given everyone in our company a way to feel helpful. Since all of us at some point will have to deal with the illnesses and suffering of treasured friends at work, we wanted to share how we're handling it in our company.

Working at Home

Thanks to Apple Remote Access and our computer guru, Chris Miller, Jerry can now work from home when she feels up to it.

Transportation

Mary has invited all our team members to sign up for days when they can drive Jerry to the clinic, stay with her during her treatment, drive her home afterward, and stay with her for several hours after the treatment. Some people are even staying overnight with her to make sure she gets through the night of her treatments okay. People have been eager to sign up for a day to help Jerry. In fact, mine was yesterday, January 20th.

Our contractors do this on their own time, of course. Our employees do this on company time. How do we justify this expense? It has to do with taking care of a friend, living our values, building a company, and building a life.

The Treatment Diary

We bought a large photo album with about 30 blank pages. People are invited to fill it with photos, humor, supportive comments, whatever. On the inside cover is a huge photo of our whole team with faces grimaced in anger all giving the finger with both hands. The caption reads, "FGA Gives the Finger to Cancer." Jerry howls every time she sees that photo. She showed it to her oncologist who also roared with laughter.

Also included in the diary are such things as photos of staff members wearing wigs, cartoons, and advice for dealing with hardship. After each session, Jerry puts a happy face sticker on a huge clock face indicating another treatment session is completed.

Email reports

After each session, a short note goes out to our whole team keeping everyone up to date on how Jerry is doing. We also supply Jerry with a written summary of what the doctor and nurse said about treatment issues and progress.

Years ago, John Naisbitt noted in his famous book, Megatrends, that as things get more high tech, there will be an increasing need for people to experience more high touch. Our business certainly lives in the world of high tech. Perhaps what we're doing for Jerry, gives us a way to experience more high touch.