Keeping your job through long-term blood cancer treatment | CION Cancer Clinics

Most people with chronic myeloid leukaemia who are on daily tablets do keep working. Side effects such as tiredness or muscle cramps are often manageable once the dose is settled by your team. You will need time for regular blood tests. Tell your haematologist if side effects are affecting your job, rather than adjusting the tablets yourself.

It may be, with changes. Myeloma can weaken the bones, so heavy lifting may need to stop. A shop counter also means contact with many people, which matters when counts are low. Ask his haematologist about his bones and his infection risk, and plan help for lifting and for the low days.

Plan hard tasks for the time of day you feel strongest. Take short breaks rather than one long one. Eat and drink regularly. Gentle walking often helps more than full rest. If tiredness is sudden or much worse than usual, tell your team, because it can be a sign of low haemoglobin, which carries oxygen in the blood.

If your job allows it, working from home during the days your white cell count is lowest is a sensible request. It is often not needed all the time. Ask your team when your counts are likely to dip, and plan home days around those, rather than isolating for the whole treatment.

A certificate can be worded to say you need time off or changes for a medical condition under treatment, without naming the diagnosis in detail. Ask your treating team what the certificate will say before it is issued. Some roles and some leave requests do need more detail, so check with HR.

No one gives you leave, so the planning matters even more. Line up someone who can cover the business on the hard days, keep a small cash buffer, and book treatment on quieter days where your team allows. Our page on income loss for self-employed patients goes into this in more detail.

Short trips are often possible on long-term tablets or maintenance. Carry your reports, your medicines and your team's contact number, and avoid your low-count days. Check with your haematologist before any long journey, since some treatment stages need you close to your hospital.

Yes. CION's haematology team can explain your treatment pattern, which days are likely to be hard, and what your certificate should say. Where treatment timing has room to move, the team will discuss it with you. They will not change what is medically needed to suit a work schedule, and will tell you plainly when that is the case.