Do you tell a prospective employer

Faith,
You also have to consider the long term complications of not being upfront with your new employer. He is bound to find out sometime in the future if you must take off work or treatments start to impact your performance. If he feels that he was mislead then there are always ways to eliminate your position. What would be your alternatives if that happened regarding insurance ect. It may not be a problem in larger companies as the HR department usually calls the shots, but in a smaller company it could be a significant issue.
JT

I had a totally different experience than what is described by many here with exception to Devasted1.

I was for the first time in 25 years not working at the time of my surgery. I was approached by the NASDAQ traded company I am with today before I had surgery but I declined the opportunity telling them of my health issues. I had my surgery and had the bad pathology results when they came back to me again and asked me to join their force. I told them that I was considering starting hormonal therapy and then followed by daily radiation treatments. They still persisted and I agreed to join the in April 2007. I just went by my 6th anniversary with them.

Even though I warned them that I had no idea what to expect with radiation they still persisted and set me up to work out of my home office which I still do today. What I did afterwards was request that I could get an early time for the radiation. I was in at 7:15am and out by 8:00 back at my house where I grabbed some water and walked three miles everyday. After a shower I was at my desk at 9:15am and worked full time without missing more than a day. The only day missed was due to a cold.

I know I was lucky and with some very understanding people. I was touched by being hired when I thought I possibly could be on a short term of life. From my experience I have a few things to think about before you omit being treated for cancer:

1. Most applications have a section that asks if there is any condition that would prevent you from performing your job. If you omit anything and you do miss work or cannot do what you were hired to do, it is grounds for termination.

2. Pre-existing conditions are not something a company wants to get into the grey area with. If they do not hire you, as an otherwise qualified applicant" they can be held with liability unless they can establish that you pre-existing condition could prevent you from doing your job or that it may pose a problem for your co-workers or potential customers. Something most PCa patients won't do for the most part.

3. HIPAA Law does not protect you here. Specifics on your condition, treatments and specifics on whom is treating you are protected by HIPAA Law, but omission that you have such a condition that impairs your ability to work effectively in the job you are seeking is a major application omission and they can terminate you immediately without benefit.

So I'd be careful. I am like Devasted1. Be upfront and be honest. If they hire you still then you are rock solid. Most PCa guys do very well in the work environment. We have some exceptions of course. And if you have a high PSA but no biopsy, you don't have to reveal anything. But if you have been diagnosed, get hired omitting this, then take off for Loma Linda California for two months for Proton therapy on your new insurance ~ good luck with that one.

Tony

Some of you guys sound so Italian :)

ask yourself this:  what would Silvio Berlusconi do ?

seriously the minority here seems a bit out of touch with today's workaday world.  some guys actually need a job to support their families, and I would always recommend putting your family first. 

ed

 

"I think being upfront is career suicide". I can tell you absolutely as being an employer for over 30 years that not being upfront is absolutely career suicide.
Several years ago I helped hire a manager for a client who failed to disclose a major preexisting condition. That individual was terminated and filed a lawsuit which was dismissed.

F8 said...
Some of you guys sound so Italian :)

ask yourself this:  what would Silvio Berlusconi do ?

seriously the minority here seems a bit out of touch with today's workaday world.  some guys actually need a job to support their families, and I would always recommend putting your family first. 

ed

you tell me you have cancer and you can get the job done I think of your family...

Silvio would do "bunga bunga" and then call the leader of Germany a fat ugly bi.... (he did)

For those of you who enjoy reading such things, here is a link to what the American Cancer Society (AACS) has to say about what the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) means to people with cancer:

www.cancer.org/treatment/findingandpayingfortreatment/understandingfinancialandlegalmatters/americans-with-disabilities-act

I am fairly sure that all of the people who have voiced opinions on this thread can find support for their positions there although the more jaded among you may tend to find such support between the lines.

I am fairly sure that all of the people who have voiced opinions on this thread can find support for their positions there although the more jaded among you may tend to find such support between the lines.

there's a difference between being disabled and "may possibly someday" be disabled.  I absolutely would not borrow trouble by laying out a worst case scenario to a prospective employer unless I really didn't care if I got the job.  then, it would be easy to "do the right thing".

if I took the job and my health became an issue i'd deal with it then in a forthcoming manner.  I can't tell you how many people I know who found out they no longer had a job by getting a pink slip one morning when they showed up for work.

btw, I've been self-employed for 20 years.  I don't get unemployment and I've never gotten disability.

ed

 

wow - i guess this thread hit a nerve. Thanks to everyone for the feedback . I was off line yesterday meeting with the oncologist as to next steps. I also learned a few things along the way. Lesson 1 - Don't jump the gun. When I got the lab report on tuesday, I was immediately in the mode of 'this is the end". After meeting with my oncologist, I see that I was too hasty. I may very well be here of a while yet. Its tough not to react the way I did when you get the news, so Im cutting myself a break.

Here is the synoposis of my visit with Petrylak: I was surprised that he said I was Not refractory. The new tumors are simply differentiated. My PSA is still zero. No HT break, stay on continuous (degaralex and casodex)and repeat the nuclear bone scan in 6 months. If tumors progress, then provenge is likely, although Xtandi or Xytiga is still a possibility before provenge. however, since it appears that I have tumor growth with a PSA of zero, provenge is the more likely option.

As to survivability - Petrylak is very much in the mode that recurrent PC is a race against time. 5 years ago, there was no provenge, no Xtandi, no Xtiga. 5 years from now, who knows. So, his advise to me was, live your life. take the new job if you want it, no point in sitting on the beach waiting to die. Sit on the beach if you want to sit on the beach, but not because you think you have only 4.8 years left (as the recurrent PC vets know, the 5.8 years survivability for HT patients was the outcome of the recent intermittent vs. continuous PC study) .

As to the hot flashes, I asked for the estrogen patch, but he was reluctant. he said there is a small risk that the PC will react to the estrogen, so instead he would rather I try to increase my consumption of Soy, reduce sugar and fats first. He noted that a very famous former NY city mayor patient of his also related the story of sweating in front of clients, so Im not alone. All my clients know about my situation, and they are great about not making it an issue. Its really new potential clients I worry about, and of course, worrying about it brings on the hot flash, catch 22

I have decided not offer up my current condition to my prospective employer. I simply do not think its relevant to my ability to do my job. I will not hide my PC, and if and when I'm hired I'm sure the subject will come up. Of course, I need to do my homework before taking the job. Its not so much the health plan I'm worrying about (the affordable care act did away with restrictions on pre-existing conditions), its the company sponsored life insurance. I currently have a great policy that would provide for my family if indeed I am in the 4.8 years bucket. I need to see if i can keep that policy after i leave my job by paying the premium myself.

Thanks again for the feedback