Many of you who have worked with me know that I used to be a workaholic but slow down since Ethan was born. Apart from my maternity leave which was really short and I still regret to not have taken more time, I have never taken any other disability before. This time I took a disability leave as soon as I could not hold any normal working hours but was determinate to work during chemo or at least to do something that will keep my mind occupied.
I had several conversations this month with Dr Chen my Oncologist about the possibility of working some hours here and there, her position was "no working" without much negotiation. When I look with her at the positive and negatives about it, the negatives win by far so it is a no brainier:
- My immune system gets really affected so need to avoid places for at least 8 days after chemo.
- This might be my only chance to combat this Cancer so I need to use any day that I am feeling ok to improve my health.
- My work is not the kind of work that you can do 20 hours a month, you are there or you are not there so hourly work is not going to work
- Stress is not welcome at all in my life in the next 6 months and work always brings stress.
Therefore the doctor changed my mind about the possibility of working any day at all and will be taking a full 6 months leave to make sure I can focus on the right problem. It is time for my health, my family and myself, my professional life and my worries about work have to be left in one side until the other issues are solved.
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