A work rant. Cancer is just so inconvenient for my boss!

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  • LibrarianB
    LibrarianB Member Posts: 41
    edited August 2014

    oh yes.  I think that is what is so frustrating!  I have given him my treatment plan on paper from the doc - it had timelines, and again in my own words via email.  He says things like, "What?  Radiation is everyday?"  And "we'll just have to modify things for a month or two."  I have 5 months of chemo and 6.5 weeks of radiation with targeted therapy after that (should be easy in comparison).  

    I asked for a couple specific (easy to fix) things and they were totally ignored.  

    I've always gone above and beyond, opening the library before school, after school, doing late nights before big projects, organizing clubs, groups, volunteering, etc.  

    I think I might take a leave once flu season starts.  I'm sure Ill be feeling even more worn down by then.  I am very lucky.  I've been there over 10 years and we can carry sick time over.  I very rarely missed before DX, so I have a lot of days.  

    Bippy, I'm with you.  Last week I worked, but I came home and had nothing left for myself or my family.  I hate that some people must work through it all.  I think I'd be more tempted to try for another day or half day if I felt that I could sit down if I needed to.  Or felt that it was appreciated.  Like many women, I put myself last many times and this seems to be the time to rest, but walk, sleep when I need to, stay close to a bathroom that I feel comfortable in.....  

    Thanks for listening!  

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  • raro
    raro Member Posts: 1,092
    edited September 2014

    I don't usually  post in this forum, but I happened to see it. I had a horrific boss (I was a teacher and the principal was vicious). Within 2 years of his becoming principal, every single person over 55 and every disabled person was deemed "incompetent" and forced out of the system, even if they had had great evaluations in the past 20 years. He was so devious, and the school board sided with him because he saved them  a lot of money on salaries and insurance claims. And of course, the creep replaced all the teachers/staff with pretty young women fresh out of college. 

    I don't know what is available to you, but I sure learned some interesting things...

    -The HR department is supposed to help, but if they know what's going on, their first priority is usually to the company

    -If you do not inform the HR department of why you want to know the information, you can just ask generic questions and see if certain programs/benefits are available to you.

    -For example, I'd been part of the teachers' union for a year and had no idea that I got a free lawyer. She was amazing and explained in detail my rights.

    - I explained that I would likely have to work until I was fired or dropped dead (as a single mother with limited income there was no way I could just quit) and I mentioned that the school board had no long-term disability. Her response astounded me..."Not the school board, but the STATE retirement system does, and as a teacher you are part of that and can apply. I sure wish more teachers knew about this!" I was floored. 

    -They make you apply for both SS disability and long-term ability and give you a combination of the two.

    -SS disability takes 6 months AFTER you are approved.. It's mandatory waiting time and you do not get compensated for it. 

    - This probablly does not apply to most people, but as a stage 4 person, when I went to retire on disability with the HR person, I found that I could qualify for accelerated benefits on a life insurance policy I never knew I had! The doctor filled out a form stating that there was a good chance I could die with a year, and they immediately approved it. Basically they gave me the policy early instead of waiting until I died. It was just under a hundred thousand. Talk about a blessing!!! And even though I've been stage 4 for over five years, they don't ask for it back, LOL.

    Good luck to you. It's incredibly stressful. Retirement has been wonderful. I'll never be rich, but I'm comfortable, I'm home with my family, and I don't have the stress of deadlines and puking in cruddy work restrooms and sitting in meetings where all I wanted to do was curl up on the floor and sleep....

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  • Bippy625
    Bippy625 Member Posts: 890
    edited September 2014

    hi irr, time has passed, and given me perspective. I realize really, it was a weird compliment to me, in that he never worried about any problems adminstratively when I was there. I came to see his point-in retrospect, what else could he do really?  He needs someone there all the time, and could not do the unexpected thing. It was just the pile on effect at the time.  He is a wonderful person, we talk all the time, but i do not miss that job. Since you are a lawyer, you understand the big picture...clients and cases do not wait for cancer and life rolls on. My replacement is wonderful, I wish her the best.

    And, it is a blessing for me. The stress was ridiculous, and healing would be impossible even if I tried to go part time, only in retrospect is it so obvious.  

    I am looking forward to working again after surgery/tx is complete!

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  • Bippy625
    Bippy625 Member Posts: 890
    edited September 2014

    also, just applied for SSDI, so we will see. I know they usually deny everyone first, but i hired an att to handle appeals. I will post any helpful info.  

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  • HomeMom
    HomeMom Member Posts: 1,198
    edited September 2014

    Bippy glad things have settled down for you and you have options to choose from. I could not use FMLA because of my companies policy with commission only sales. I sell new homes so the buyers I have in backlog would have to be maintained by someone else. The longer I'm on FMLA the less commission I would get, going down to as little as 10% of what I would have received. I was blessed that my immediate boss just told me that his goal for me was for me to work when I could and earn a living. As it turned out, I would take about 3 extra days every other week besides my normal days off. So I have not missed a ton of time. I didn't know about the "reasonable accommodation" that Brookside posted. I still met my quota for last quarter even though I had two surgeries and chemo.  It's helpful to know for this quarter if I should fall short.

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  • BrooksideVT
    BrooksideVT Member Posts: 2,211
    edited September 2014

    HomeMom, my reasonable accomodation translates into permission to produce 50% of the minimim goal, keep my job, and not be badgered or bothered about my low production.  Yes, my income is less, and so is the payout on my earned commissions (ugh!), but I have a sort of place holding process in place.  Next year, I'll have to either step up a lot, or "make a new decision" about work.  I'm not financially ready for retirement, but then again, I'm not ready to expend a lot of energy on either this job, or a new one.  Could you give yourself a break by working some of your cases on a split basis with another rep?  That way, you could work when you felt up to it, and still have some income when you do not? 

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