Balancing Cancer And Your Career

Though full- or part-time employment often takes a backseat to treatment, research published in the American Cancer Society’s journal CANCER revealed that almost 45 percent of people with metastatic cancer remained employed after being diagnosed with the disease.

Choosing to work or not work during treatment is a personal decision for those battling a potentially life-threatening disease. However, the researchers learned that the severity of cancer-related symptoms — not the type of cancer or the treatment — was the determining factor as to whether or not cancer patients were able to continue working.

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Reasons impacting employment status

Everyone has different reasons why they may or may not choose to continue working, but some of the most common are:

• Financial: Regular day-to-day bills don’t stop when cancer is diagnosed. Add in the extra costs of cancer treatment, and you can see why some people feel like they can’t stop working during treatment.
• Normalcy: Cancer can make people feel isolated. Going back to work may help people feel like everything is normal.
• Support: Full-time employees may spend more waking hours with colleagues than they do with family members. Surrounding yourself with people who know you well can be comforting.

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Your ability to continue working will depend on your treatment schedule, your symptoms and the type of work that you do. If you want to keep working, speak with your physician to find out if work is a possibility for you. With your physician’s approval, you can begin preparing your return, while keeping the following in mind:

Communicate with your employer. You may need to work different hours or get a desk closer to the bathroom to accommodate any side effects. While most employers will probably understand, there are some federal laws in place to ensure you’re protected.

Build an appropriate schedule. Plan chemotherapy treatments late in the day or just before the weekend to allow for recovery time. Consider asking to work from home to help handle treatment-related fatigue.

Don’t overexert yourself. Fighting cancer is exhausting. While you may have been able to work long hours in the office before, it may not be wise to continue doing so right now.

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Understanding chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is a single medication or a combination of medications that treat cancer by slowing or stopping the growth of cancerous cells. Chemotherapy can’t tell the difference between cancerous cells that grow rapidly and other quickly growing cells, which is why people undergoing chemotherapy often experience side effects such as nausea, mouth sores, hair loss and digestive issues.

Need cancer care? Click here to find a specialist at the Northwell Cancer Institute or call (855) 858-8550.

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