Deanna, a 44-year-old divorced woman, was taking oral chemotherapy for recurrent stage four breast cancer. Compared with other chemotherapy she had received, this had fewer side effects, and Deanna much preferred not having to go to the hospital for IV infusions. For the time being, the chemotherapy was holding her cancer in check, but her doctor told her that he didn’t know how long this particular drug would work and if it stopped working, he would likely recommend IV chemotherapy again.
Deanna had worked as a teller at bank for the past 2 years. She felt her boss was annoyed with her, and she was reluctant to share information with him about her medical situation. Her energy was pretty low, although most of the time, she made it through the day. She thought of asking if it would be ok for her to sit on a stool at her window but she didn’t want to “rock the boat.” She called a patient advocate to help her figure out how to handle her work situation and how she should plan ahead with an uncertain medical condition.
The patient advocate walked through all of Deanna’s employer sponsored benefits with her including health insurance, short and long term disability and life insurance, and helped her understand COBRA, in case she were unable to work and needed this in the future.
They also looked into the Family and Medical Leave Act together and determined that Deanna’s employer would be required to offer this. If Deanna’s medical condition required her to take extended time off and she were to elect FMLA, she would continue to receive all of her benefits. The advocate also coached Deanna with role-playing around telling her boss about her cancer treatment and requesting a stool.
