How sick is too sick?

[DilemmaDelilah]

First of all - I am very much against anyone taking time off sick if they are not actually ill.
I have been having treatment for cancer. I have had chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy and am now just on oral meds. I take Anastrazole, which is an aromatase inhibitor and I will be on that for the next 4 years. I also take Neratinib, which is a Tyrosine kinase inhibitor and which I will be taking until August next year. I can cope with the Anastrazole - but the Neratinib has some awful side effects, the worst of which is extreme fatigue. I am 63, I don't get my state pension until July 2027, I have already reduced my working hours and I have decided to retire in July next year as I just don't feel I can work any longer.

I work from home and, at the moment, I'm not that busy, so sometimes if I am really tired I end up going for a nap in the afternoon. If I don't do that I always need to nap before I go downstairs (my office is upstairs). I rarely go anywhere or do anything, I am permanently exhausted. I can't even walk around Lidl slowly without being exhausted. My DH does most things around the house, I do what I can but have to pace myself - I couldn't do a whole morning of housework but I could do half an hour, then another half an hour later, and maybe a bit more after another rest.

I am seriously worried about whether I'm actually going to be able to manage to keep on working until next July but we need the money! Does exhaustion count as being ill? It is likely to continue for as long as I take this medication, so another 9 or 10 months. Would a GP sign me off for that long? It's not the kind of exhaustion that will go away after a nice holiday - it is entirely medication related.

What do I do!

You sound like you've been through so much. It's worth asking your GP, or if you can afford to just leave. Looking after yourself is the most important thing.

Would you get sick pay for that length of time? If the answer is yes, then go for it. You can be signed off with extreme fatigue. Look after yourself.

I am so sad to read this, go and see your GP you have sickness and nausea I am on a team with a mother who is off sick every 6 months with diabetes, she is milking it for all it's worth. She is the talk of work and just comes and goes as she pleases we are utterly sick of her laziness, treating sick pay as an extension of her annual leave. Please take care of yourself

You can be signed off with this and may be entitled to claim PIP or ESA, depending on the circumstances.

I am sorry you are going through this. I have had cancer. I was signed off from the time I was diagnosed. I was fortunate that my employers paid me sick pay for six months, but even after my sick pay had run out, they had an insurance policy that they were able to claim on, so that I still got some money each month. It might be worth you speaking to your HR department to find out if they have anything similar.

But absolutely, yes, see your GP and get signed off.

Thank you all for your responses. I will try and get an appointment with my GP - but it will probably take at least a month to get one if not more. I could get an appointment with one of the other doctors in 2-3 weeks but I think my own GP is more likely to understand.

Depending upon your employer - as you're talking about being signed off sick for that long, I'm wondering if you're NHS/Education/Public Sector - it is possible that you could be assessed by Occupational Health.

They could then decide whether you are unlikely to recover before reaching pensionable age. If that is the case, it is possible for you to be dismissed on the grounds of capability but with the ability to immediately access your pension.

Personally, I'd think that a reasonable act would be for your GP to sign you off for three months, review you again and possibly issue one for a further three months. It's likely that your employer will wish to involve Occy Health and they would then likely schedule appointments 3-6 months apart as part of evidencing whether your condition will improve in the period.

You might feel able to attempt a phased return, which resets the clock by the fact you've gone back, during or at the end of that period.

Obviously, consult with your union about this, don't take anything I say as gospel - but it would be a shame to potentially give up work if you could feel far better by the end of treatment and if your terms & conditions provide this level of support for your needs.

Thank you @NeverDropYourMooncup . I am definitely going to retire next July. My life expectancy is reduced and I want to be able to spend some quality time with my DH while I can. I will be able to get my workplace pension as I am over 60. I don't know whether I will need to be off sick all the time - if I don't then I won't. I already feel guilty that I was off sick for 6 months while going through all my major treatment... I didn't have a great time of it unfortunately. I developed chemo toxicity which has had an ongoing effect on my bowels (and therefore on what I can eat) and radiotherapy gave me horrendous sores which were excruciatingly painful. Surgery was relatively a walk in the park! I went back to work as soon as I felt I could, but reduced my hours. I am now struggling to cope with even those reduced hours.

I will see what my GP says. If I am lucky the side-effects will reduce with time.