self-employed and chronic illness.wwyd?

[hatwoman]

I am s-e and have ms. ms is wildly variable and very unpredicatble. after yearsof good health I am currently ill with it and it could end up meaning i'll miss a deadline. fortunately I know the client isn't wedded to this deadline - and little else rides on it. also the client has missed interim deadlines during the project. however I do wed myself to deadlines and don't miss them. and think it's important.

so - if I do end up missing it do I tell the client the real reason or just keep it vague/say i've had flu? the problem with telling them it's ms is the fear that it will put them off me for life. the fear of saying flu (or just vague "illness") is that they'll think i'm a malingerer. rally can't decide.

I'm self-employed too.

If there is a danger now, that you will miss the deadline, I think you should let the client know. You don't have to specific about what your illness is (that is non of their business), but they need to know if there is a risk of the work being late, so they can delay anything else that may be dependant upon it (meetings to discuss it, or anything else).

I would drop an email, tell them you are currently unwell, and as such you are not working at the moment. You will, of course make every effort to ensure that their work is completed on time, but it is possible there will be a delay of a week or 2 (or whatever you feel is an appropriate figure). You will keep them informed, and hope this does not inconvenience them too much.

Doing that should also mean that some of your stress about the situation is eased, which can only help.

Then if you do get the work done before the original deadline, you'll get extra pats on the back for doing so.

If you haven't missed a dealine foir them before, ut should be fine. But let them know it's a possibility as soon as possible.

I certainly don't think you should tell them, BTW that you have MS.

It isn't any of their business, at worst they will assume you are now rendered totally incapable, and look for someone else. At best they will be very sympathetic, and be VERY solicitous/kind when you see them, to the point of being (unintentionally) patronising.

If you believe you can carry on working, then keep it to yourself.

This is one of the double-edged swords of being self-employed..