Column - Meaford Express - Simcoe.com Oct. 2016 - Work after a cancer diagnosis

This subject has been forefront on my mind during recovery from cancer surgeries and treatments, though I have not discussed it publicly.  Until now.  

It is a difficult topic for many folks dealing with a life-interrupting illness: what to do about work?  How to maintain or regain a sense of purpose? How to deal with the stigma of being away?  How to get back in.... and how to be true to yourself, your family, and your "new normal."

Please click here to read my column:

17-Oct-2016 ~ Added note: 

I received a helpful email from my Aunt, suggesting I add a bit more information to this article.  Although I can't add it to the published version on simcoe.com, I can add it here.  

What she says is true, and more can be found elsewhere online or with one's personal employer in such a situation, and I was indeed offered these alternatives at my place of employ (thank you Bill's valu-mart).  If you find yourself in a health crisis such as mine, please consider the following: 

You might want to include something on the legal right to accommodation:  the employer's duty to accommodate – short of undue hardship. While individual choices are important – and the accommodation requirement must be individualized – I think that many people do not know that they also have legal rights, for example, that a gradual return to work, or shorter hours, or other accommodations aren't just at the preference or 'good intentions' of their employer or union.  (Of course, the employee must also be willing to 'accommodate' and seek solutions.)

Click image:

Or visit http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en for more information re: Ontario 

Thank you Auntie C!