I returned to work. I love work, I have always been a bit of a workaholic. I have just always wanted to better myself, learn from people above me, and do the best job I can for the people who work with me. As a manager, I have always seen my job as being a service to others. My job as a manager is to make my sales team’s life better. Whether that be pushing them that little bit extra so they CAN get that mortgage they wanted. Maybe it is just sometimes being a shoulder to cry on when life is tough. And at this moment, that is all I wanted to do. I wanted to get back to being that person who can make people successful. I didn’t see the need to delay going back to work as my chemotherapy hadn’t started yet and I was generally feeling fine. My boss had made the office aware of my situation (with my permission) as people had been asking where I was. (This is normal as I haven’t had a sick day in 11 years). He had explained to them that they do not need to pussy foot around me, I am not going to burst into tears at any moment, and that they can come and ask me any questions they had and just treat me as normal. Bearing in mind I work in sales, normal was just laughs, singing, dancing and having a good time in the office! My direct team was great – they asked questions, they wanted to make sure I was okay, and then just got on as normal! A great first day back.
My work as a whole was brilliant, and I had a meeting with my boss that day. They were so supportive of me and had immediately agreed that as soon as I start my chemotherapy, they will look after me financially for at least 6 months, and then we will go from there. This was a huge weight off my mind, as Laura and I had only recently just got moved into our new home, and the mortgage and bills still need to be paid! Laura also works in sales, but as I am sure you all know, you live to your means, so we needed 2 salaries! Work told me that during my treatment if I can work great if I can’t work, great! Just take the time I need, and we will work around it all once I had a better idea of what would be happening, timescales, etc. But for now, business as usual! By the way, the business as usual was my choice, they told me to go home, but I didn’t want to. I wanted to continue with my life the way it was for as long as I could. And I was happy with this.
Thought out the day, I had several texts from different senior managers expressing the sadness of my diagnosis, but also reiterating the fact that they are going to look after me, and money should not be on my mind, just spend all my energy on focusing and getting better.