I just returned to work after several months on disability leave for cancer treatment. The article makes several good points. But, I'd also add that dropping the C-bomb (the word "cancer") on folks should be strongly avoided. It freaks many folks out and shouldn't be used unless absolutely necessary.
As for the folks that mentioned that family should be first, this article didn't address that point directly, but it should be obviously true to anyone. However, I have many friendships with my coworkers. They deserve honesty and respect when dealing with obvious personal issues such as health. Who are you kidding anyway; work is a large percentage of your life. So don't downplay the impact of your coworkers in your life.
I chose to make my illness public (anyone who had observed me for any length of time would have concluded something seriously was wrong with my health anyway). The result was an amazing amount of support from my coworkers including many coworkers helping my family by bring by dinner and occasionally taking me to doctor appointments. These were small things to them, but made a big impact on me and my family.
So far everything has gone well. I'm coming up on my 1st year anniversary of being diagnosed and am healthy again. I've been back to work for a few months. I was treated with kid gloves for awhile, but folks are getting used to me being back again. So now it's back to the grindstone...
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I just returned to work after several months on disability leave for cancer treatment. The article makes several good points. But, I'd also add that dropping the C-bomb (the word "cancer") on folks should be strongly avoided. It freaks many folks out and shouldn't be used unless absolutely necessary.
As for the folks that mentioned that family should be first, this article didn't address that point directly, but it should be obviously true to anyone. However, I have many friendships with my coworkers. They deserve honesty and respect when dealing with obvious personal issues such as health. Who are you kidding anyway; work is a large percentage of your life. So don't downplay the impact of your coworkers in your life.
I chose to make my illness public (anyone who had observed me for any length of time would have concluded something seriously was wrong with my health anyway). The result was an amazing amount of support from my coworkers including many coworkers helping my family by bring by dinner and occasionally taking me to doctor appointments. These were small things to them, but made a big impact on me and my family.
So far everything has gone well. I'm coming up on my 1st year anniversary of being diagnosed and am healthy again. I've been back to work for a few months. I was treated with kid gloves for awhile, but folks are getting used to me being back again. So now it's back to the grindstone...