Young people going back to work with cancer

You may have to tell your immediate superior at work, or your human resource manager, or both. If your treatment involves you taking time off, then there is a chance that this can be accommodated.

Prepare yourself

Prepare yourself for telling others about your cancer journey. There are different ways this can be done.

  • Attend a support group, and ask others in the group how they handled the same dilemma.
  • Write down the way you would like to tell someone about it. Read it back to yourself, then read it out loud, and then to a friend or family member whose opinion you trust. This acts as training for you to actually speak the words you want to say.
  • Visualise yourself telling a friend or colleague your story. In your mind put it in a work or a uni setting. Visualise yourself answering the questions that the friend responds with.

Remember

Remember you cannot prepare fully for the questions that people may ask you, but there are different areas that you can feel comfortable with, so make an attempt to focus on them.

You may have to tell either colleagues or uni/TAFE friends about your cancer journey, as your work or study may be compromised by cognitive changes that can develop during treatment.

Remember the youth cancer service team can help you negotiate to defer from your course or put you in touch with student disability services on any college or uni campus to help you get through.