Last month, we vowed to never let the economy fall into tatters again, as the one-year anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers was turned into a kind of mock anniversary of the global financial meltdown. October is the month we try and bring even more attention to the importance of detecting breast cancer early.
For most people, the collapse of Lehman and breast cancer awareness month are not linked in any way, shape or form. For this financial journalist, however, this will always be a time of year when I think about how a company took the highest possible road to help one of its employees battle breast cancer.
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If you find yourself trying to work through this challenge, here are some tips that may help:
Talk to your doctor before your employer: You need to know what you can expect physically and psychologically, so that you can be clear about your needs to your employer. That way you can come to your boss with a clear plan of action. Hannah, for example, purposely scheduled her treatments on Wednesdays. That way she would have the weekend to recover when the worst of the side effects hit about 48 hours later. She knew she would need Friday afternoons off. "Work is a very important part of a woman’s life, and if she can continue to work, she’s going to do better," says Dr. Ruth Oratz, renowned oncologist and associate professor of clinical medicine at New York University School of Medicine. "But they need to be flexible, and realize that they may have to make some changes." Oratz adds that work is not going to be an option for all women.
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Be true to yourself when it comes to talking to your boss: "How much you tell your boss depends on your own personal style," according to Kate Sweeney at Cancer and Careers. "If you have an open relationship, be open. If not, just present the situation, and tell them what you will need. Also, if you have an open relationship with your co-workers, you will likely want to share details of your recovery. If you’re more private you may just want to say, ‘I’m doing fine,’ and don’t be afraid to leave it at that."
Find out what your company has done with employees in this situation in the past: This is particularly true when it comes to leave and benefits. You are trying to determine if former policies will work for you. Supposed, for example, you want to work from home, yet you find out this has not been allowed. You want to be able to bring that up to your boss, as something you will need. Maybe your company has never been in this situation before. You need to find out if it is going to be up to you to guide them when it comes to helping you remain as productive as possible.
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