What would you do?

[Chuppachuppa]

Weeks away from completing on buying 1st house and have just been offered a new job. Except now I’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer. Early stage hopefully. My initial reaction is I can’t take the job or go through on the house. DH disagrees.

I'm sorry you are dealing with this. I'd go through with it.

Have you already handed your notice in on your current job? Can it be retracted? Sorry to read what you are going through.

If you haven't handed your notice in already then consider things like sick pay which you may not be entitled to in probation period of your new role.

Sorry you're going through this. I'd stick with the house plans as that's an investment but maybe think twice on taking a new job where you may not have as much flexibility for time off x

Do you want to go through with the house purchase and new job?

If so, do it! Don’t let a diagnosis stop you.

You’re a badass. You will be absolutely fine.

I'd buy the house and hold off on changing jobs. Does your current job come with private medical insurance?

I’ve given 2.5 months of a 3 month notice period. They have already given a job to my replacement. It feels too late to even try and reverse that now.

In that case, it probably is too late. Does your current job come with PMI and if so is there an option to pay to keep the policy going once you leave?

You need to work out what your treatment plan is and then see if you think you will be able to work. If not, what are the implications for your new job, in terms of buying a house, could you afford it if you couldn’t work? I am sorry but the “you’re a badass” comment has got to be one of the most stupid comments I have ever read on MN and clearly not written by someone who has had cancer. The reality for me was not being able to work for a year and it had massive financial implications for us. I was three weeks into a new job and they were lovely, they kept my job open for a year and accepted that when I returned it could only be 2 rather than 3 days a week but I was very lucky. You need to have the conversation. No matter what happens good luck and I hope everything works out ok.

Treatment plan is a Lumpectomy followed by Radiotherapy and possibly Tamoxifen.
new job is a purely wfh role so hopefully that will help.
I have death in service benefits in both jobs. No private healthcare.
I am the main breadwinner so need to be working regardless of whether we buy a house or not.

That sounds manageable (although of course everyone is different so I am not minimising). Surgery will need some recovery time, but not too long for a lumpectomy, radiotherapy can be time consuming as it is usually daily but a lot of working people choose to take the last session of the day so they can work then recover overnight. The worst thing is tiredness which is cumulative. Chemo is the thing that really impacts on your ability to work so it is great if you don’t need that.