| Working throughout as helpful |
(7) [What was your biggest support?] “I took refuge in work, I just worked.” |
| (17) [Did you leave your job?] “Well, I have a business, a stationery shop . . . I didn’t leave it, on the contrary, I think that’s what helps me to not think about unpleasant things. I think it was a good distraction. I was trying to have a normal life.” |
| (4) [Did you quit your job?] “No. I’m still working. During and after…I dedicate myself to making costumes. I had to make a lot of chicken costumes, for kindergarten, I had three days to deliver these costumes and I still had to sew in all the little faces. I brought them and I sewed in eyes and noses during chemotherapy and a nurse told me, ‘Oh nice, to distract yourself.’ I said, ‘If you only knew it was an emergency,’ haha. That helped me. It helped me be active and not be ‘sick.’” |
| Young children |
(14) [Are you worried about being fired?] “Sometimes, yes. I worry because my daughters are still in school. I wouldn’t say they are little girls, but they do still need me.” |
| (20) [Did you have to quit your job?] “…It has taken me a long time to get myself back to work. I now dedicate a lot more to my child because.. the truth is, with this, no one knows when, right? So I spend more time with my little girl and work somewhere where I don’t get absorbed for a long time. A job where you don’t have to be around all day.” |
| Medical appointments |
(10) [Was it difficult to find a job?] “I like to be honest when I apply for a job. I say, ‘I have cancer and I have to go to therapies and consults.’ They tell me, ‘We will not grant you permission.’ ‘Okay. Perfect. Thank you very much and see you later.’” |
| (8) [Was it difficult to find a job?] “Yes it was difficult because, in reality, since I have to go to my appointments, not everyone says, ‘Oh yes, go ahead and take a day off.’” |
| Physical limitations |
(8) “My life changed completely. Because my arm doesn’t work 100% as it did before because of the nodes removed. My doctor said it couldn’t carry half a kilo anymore because I run the risk of it getting inflamed if I force it. So since I don’t have an education, I have to do factory work or things like that, and then, yes, it’s more complicated, but, well, there I go.” |
| (9) [Things to make life easier?] “Employment. Work is not easy to come by. And with my hand, well . . . If there were programs that could help us financially and teach us to do things to get ahead . . . that will help us find employment.” |
| Perceived hiring discrimination |
(10) [Have you returned to work?] “No. No one wants to hire a cancer patient. We are no good to them. Yes, discrimination. We are no use; we no longer have the strength to do the job. Yes, they see it like that. So, they no longer hire us.” |
| (9) [Has it been difficult to find a job?] “With my problem, nobody will give me a job. [Why?] Because I have a history of cancer. They don’t say it out loud, but it’s true. It is very difficult for a cancer patient to get a job. It is as if one is no longer of any use, or if one becomes ill, they assume one will just abandon the job. But no, they no longer give us work. So here I am with my mom, washing dishes.” |
| (16) [Has it been hard to find a job?] “..If you have this disease, they no longer want to hire you because they think you only came for the insurance and benefits.” |
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(23) “‘We will call you,’ (potential employers) say, then the medical record arrives and they never speak to me again. It fills me with impotence and desperation… I am a woman who likes to work.” |
| Fear of disclosure |
(20) [Do you feel there is hiring discrimination?] “…I don’t think I would tell anyone that I had.. I had experienced this. [Due to fear?] Exactly. Maybe I won’t say it.” |
| (20) [How have co-workers reacted?] “Oh, I honestly haven’t talked to them about my illness. I feel it’s something private.” |
