职场新世界：与癌症共舞

    不久之前，“癌症”这个词在朋友中间、家里，当然还有办公室还是一种禁忌。不管是出于迷信、恐惧、困惑，还是尊重，关于癌症的讨论大部分是在窃窃私语中完成的。

    如今，随着癌症治愈率不断攀升，人们在确诊结果出来后，他们所做的决定——既有私人方面也有职业方面——都发生了显著的变化。突然之间，对很多（但并非所有）人来说，问题不再是“我怎么永久地停止工作？”相反，问题变成了，“我要离开多久？”或者是，“我究竟要不要停止工作？”

    根据非营利机构癌症与职业组织（Cancer and Careers）一项最新的调查，员工在癌症确诊后继续工作已经变得相当普遍。接受调查的癌症幸存者中：有四分之一的人表示，他们继续工作是为了保住自己的健康保险；一半的人表示，他们继续工作是为了让事情“尽可能维持现状”；而三分之二的受访者声称，他们感觉自己的状态足够胜任继续工作。这项由哈里斯互动公司（Harris Interactive）进行的调查询问了400名罹患癌症的成年人，他们都在确诊后选择继续工作。

    “工作给了他们一个在癌症之外的喘息之地，”凯特•斯维尼。她是癌症与职业组织的执行理事，这家非营利机构向员工提供资源支持。

    根据癌症与职业组织的调查：大约45%的员工表示，他们在确诊后不会离职，不会中断工作；而31%的人声称会歇工几周到5个月的时间。

    随着越来越多的员工选择继续工作，越来越多的雇主现在必须应对一个相对较新的局面。人力资源顾问玛格丽特•斯彭斯表示，她见过公司在员工确诊为癌症后做出的各种各样的反应。她说，员工和公司非常容易感到陷入困境。斯彭斯说，“雇主感到进退两难，”尤其是因为他们并不总是全面了解员工的健康状况。

    一年前，斯彭斯的丈夫被确诊罹患一种罕见的癌症，她近距离地体会到了癌症与职业的难题。这对夫妇曾考虑暂时移居到纽约或德克萨斯州以更方便地接受高质量的治疗，但他们排除了这个选项，原因是相关费用的问题。

    “他需要继续工作，”斯彭斯说。“这是唯一的一件能够让他（在接受一轮轮放疗间隙跟这个世界）保持联系的事情。”

    根据美国癌症协会（American Cancer Society）提供的数据，2012年美国有1,370万人罹患癌症，这个数字到2022年预计将增长至1,780万人。在癌症幸存者中，三分之一的女性和四分之一的男性年龄在60岁以下，而25%的人年龄在60至69岁之间。

    癌症并不会给人们的职业生涯造成严重伤害。根据宾夕法尼亚州立大学（Penn State）的研究，只有4%至5%的癌症幸存者不大可能继续工作，或者比没有癌症病史的同龄成年人少工作一半时间。另外，或许并不让人感到意外的是，癌症复发患者的工作时间更短，而休假时间更长。

    斯维尼表示，比之十年前，如今的员工更愿意跟同事和老板分享自己详细的病情。她说，十年之前，很多人在工作时对自己罹患癌症讳莫如深。

    Not long ago, the word "cancer" was off-limits, among friends, at home, and certainly at the office. Whether it was out of superstition, fear, confusion, or respect, most talk about the disease was done in hushed tones.

    Today, as the survival rate climbs, the decisions people make after diagnosis -- both personal and professional -- have evolved significantly. Suddenly, for many (but not all), the question is not, "How do I leave work for good?" Instead, it's "How long do I take off?" or "Do I have to take off at all?"

    Working after a cancer diagnosis has become fairly common, according to a new survey conducted by the nonprofit group Cancer and Careers. One in four people with cancer who were surveyed said they continued working to keep their health insurance. Twice as many said they worked to keep things "as normal as possible." And two-thirds who were surveyed claimed they felt well enough to stay on the job. The Harris Interactive survey queried 400 adults diagnosed with cancer who were working.

    "Work provides them a respite from cancer-land," said Kate Sweeney, executive director of Cancer and Careers, a nonprofit that offers resources to workers.

    Some 45% of workers said they took no time off after their diagnosis and kept working, while 31% said they took anywhere between a few weeks to five months off, according to Cancer and Careers' survey.

    As more employees choose to continue working, more employers must grapple with relatively new territory. HR consultant Margaret Spence says she has seen all manner of responses from companies with workers diagnosed with cancer. Spence says it's easy for workers and firms to feel trapped. "Employers are caught between a rock and a hard place," especially since they don't always have a complete picture of the worker's health, she said.

    A year ago, Spence's husband was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer -- and she got to experience the cancer-career conundrum up close. The couple considered relocating temporarily to New York or Texas to be closer to high-quality treatment but ruled that out because of the associated costs.

    "He needed to keep working," Spence said. "It was the one thing that kept him connected" to the world amid rounds of radiation.

    An estimated 13.7 million people have had cancer and were living in the U.S. in 2012, and that's expected to grow to 17.8 million by 2022, according to the American Cancer Society. About one-third of female cancer survivors and one-quarter of male survivors are under 60 years old, while another 25% are 60 to 69.

    Cancer does take a toll on people's careers. Survivors are 4-5% less likely to hold jobs and work up to four hours less than similarly aged adults without a history of cancer, according to research from Penn State. And, perhaps without surprise, those who suffer from recurrences of cancer work less and take longer breaks from work.

    Workers today are more willing to share the details of their disease with coworkers and bosses than they were 10 years ago, Sweeney said. A decade ago, many people kept their cancer a secret at work, she claims.