the expression, “If you wish to get one thing completed, ask a working mom?” Stunning as it might appear, the identical holds true for most cancers sufferers.
Standard knowledge holds that most cancers sufferers are too sick and fragile to work, not less than to not their full means. That may actually be true in some instances, typically tragically. And I’m not suggesting that anybody ought to ever really feel pressured to work in the event that they don’t really feel effectively sufficient to take action. However in lots of cases, the stereotype that most cancers sufferers are too compromised to work is a delusion. I do know as a result of I’ve been dwelling—and dealing—with an incurable sort of blood most cancers for greater than twenty-two years.
And I’m not at all the one one doing so. As of 2025, there have been an estimated 18.6 million cancer survivors within the U.S., and a examine within the journal Most cancers discovered some 60 p.c of sufferers aged 25 to 62 proceed to work throughout remedy.
An asset, not an anchor
A fast little bit of backstory: In November 2003, as I used to be leaving my workplace one evening, I slipped on a patch of ice. The subsequent morning, I wakened with a sore hip. A 12 months later, when the ache from the slip hadn’t gotten higher, I noticed my orthopedist, who ordered an MRI. When he referred to as me in to speak in regards to the outcomes, he informed me I had a tumor on my hip. I used to be 38-years-old, working in my dream job, married to a lady I cherished, and the first-time father of a seven-month-old daughter. And from one second to the following, I had most cancers.
Since that point, I’ve undergone a number of types of remedy, going out and in of remission extra instances than I can depend, and skilled a number of hospitalizations (the kind of most cancers I’ve, a number of myeloma, is treatable however not curable).
I’m a journalist, and I’ve additionally labored that entire time, as an editor at New York journal, Vogue, Medium, and at present at Quick Firm, with out lacking any extra days than the typical particular person misses. I’ve needed to take just a few days off right here and there, and I typically have to work remotely—from dwelling, a health care provider’s workplace, a remedy facility, or the hospital—as an alternative of in my workplace. However with uncommon exception, I’ve proven up for work after my prognosis the identical means I did earlier than it. I’ve gotten promotions, received awards, and been laid off, similar to many different folks, too. Earlier than and after work and on weekends, I wrote a book about dwelling with my sickness.
Individuals typically say to me, “How courageous of you to maintain working by all of that.” Consider me, it has nothing to do with bravery, not less than not in my case. In my case, it has to do with terror. Sit dwelling and ponder the dimming of the sunshine or hold busy and hold my thoughts off of my sickness. I additionally like what I do, and I’ve a spouse, two youngsters, and a mortgage to pay. I can’t afford to not work.
For a very long time, I noticed my illness as an anchor on my profession. However now I’ve come to see it as an asset. In truth, I’d argue that most cancers sufferers are uniquely priceless staff. Right here’s why.
We have now grit
I discussed I’ve undergone a number of therapies. Particularly, I’ve had 4 rounds of radiation remedy—to my hip, ribs, backbone, and nasal bone (a number of myeloma sometimes presents as bone lesions). I’ve had immunotherapy therapies for years at a time, every requiring weekly four- to six-hour IV infusions. I’ve had chemotherapy on two events, and I’ve been hospitalized as a part of a cutting-edge type of remedy referred to as CAR-T cell remedy. The unintended effects of these therapies have included nausea, diarrhea, fatigue, mind fog, lack of feeling in my fingers and toes, and continual bone ache.
Not that I’d suggest it should you can keep away from it, however surviving these experiences has made me a harder, extra resilient particular person.
By way of work, meaning there aren’t too many initiatives, irrespective of how formidable or daunting, I imagine can’t be completed. It additionally means I’ll stick to one thing till it’s completed, even when issues go sideways alongside the way in which. And should you ask me to do one thing, even when it’s out of my consolation zone, I’m typically up for it. If something, I’m grateful to nonetheless have the chance.
We’re calm beneath stress
For twenty-two years and counting, I’ve needed to endure a battery of scans and blood exams each three–to-six months to observe my sickness. Beneath the perfect of circumstances, meaning I’ve needed to discover ways to deal with high-stakes uncertainty and the stress it might convey. Within the worst instances, it means I’ve needed to discover ways to cope with troublesome information—being informed I’ve most cancers once more.
The upside to these in any other case unwelcome experiences is that work conditions, even sudden and upsetting ones, don’t simply throw me. I don’t panic simply and I can see my means out of tight spots. These are priceless qualities to have as an worker and as a frontrunner.
We will course of complicated info
Most cancers is an advanced illness. It’s usually troublesome to diagnose, as its signs can overlap with these of different cancers or different diseases. It’s obscure, as it might contain a number of programs, even whereas it originates in a single. It’s troublesome to deal with, as it’s maddeningly adaptive. There are subtypes of subtypes of subtypes of many cancers. The litany of phrases sufferers have to grasp—“M-spike,” “free gentle chains,” “TSH with free T4 reflex” simply to call just a few for myeloma—might fill a medical dictionary.
Most cancers sufferers additionally need to make high-stakes choices with imperfect info. Greater than as soon as once I’ve come out of remission, my docs have offered me with a selection of therapies, leaving me to weigh the professionals and cons and finally select which choice I felt was finest.
Processing all that info and studying methods to analyze it to supply the absolute best consequence are expertise that translate effectively to the office.
We all know methods to lead cross-functional groups
Over time, my care has concerned hematologic oncologists, radiation oncologists, orthopedists, gastroenterologists, dermatologists, physiatrists, PET-scan, CAT-scan, and MRI technicians, bone-marrow biopsy specialists, physicians’ assistants, nurses, docs’ workplace receptionists, scheduling coordinators, medical insurance coverage pre-authorization and claims brokers, and 1000’s of others.
The accountability for coping with these folks, and coordinating one’s care amongst them, falls on the affected person. Most cancers sufferers are grasp challenge managers.
We’re empathetic
I wish to assume I used to be a fairly empathetic particular person earlier than I received sick. However after dwelling with most cancers for greater than twenty years, I’m sure I’m far more attuned to different folks’s issues than I was. My radar for others’ difficulties is extra delicate. My endurance is larger. My compassion is deeper.
We all know from latest research that empathy in the workplace creates a sense of psychological safety that enhances creativity, productivity, and earnings.
Most cancers sufferers have empathy in abundance.
We’re optimistic
Research present optimism has a positive effect on workplace performance. Optimistic staff are extra productive, produce higher gross sales outcomes, and stick with their firms longer. An optimistic outlook can also be related to faster recovery from setbacks.
And since surviving most cancers is nothing if not an act of defying the chances, survivors are usually optimists. After I was first recognized with my sickness, I used to be informed I might need as little as 18 months to stay. As of this writing, that was 22 years, 5 months, and two days in the past.
Consider me once I say that these of us who’re fortunate sufficient to outlive this illness imagine in the potential for constructive outcomes. And imagine me once I say we may also help you obtain them.
Jonathan Gluck is the creator of An Exercise in Uncertainty, a memoir chronicling the 22-plus years he’s been dwelling with a number of myeloma.
