Question for K-8 public school teachers

Honey,
I am not a teacher (although my mother was through all my growing up years), but one thing seems clear to me. Your health and healing come FIRST. If you feel that your job will in any way compromise your return to the best you can possibly be, then forget it. Especially if you have financial support and options for getting by without working.
You might check with your school and see if you can do some tutoring at home or some other support service for your school if being totally disconnected from your career makes you unhappy.
God bless.

teachers
I had a single mastectomy that was very uneventful before school was out last spring. I took a two and a half week leave of absence to deal with it and then went back. I didn't have anywhere close to what you are dealing with and I struggled with needing people to pick things up and move things around and all the regular things you have to do at the end of the school year. It was very trying and I had a tough time with the fatigue. I started chemo in June and won't be finished until Sept. 24. I have only been back in school for 5 days this year and again, the fatigue is starting to sneak up here and there. I had my second to last chemo yesterday so again - 2 days off from school, but it seemed pretty crazy to me that I was looking forward to chemo so I could take a good long nap all afternoon. The fatigue is the worst and you can overdo it pretty fast and get yourself in trouble.

Is there anyway you can take a leave of absence? My school actually had me set a return day way in the future, much longer than I knew I would need, and then when the doctor thought I was good to go back, or for you, when you feel better, reset the end date for the leave. I sounds to me like you need more time to recover and if you over do it, you'll just end up needing more time off. It would be good if you were well recovered before you start radiation too. The others are right - your health has to come first! It's like the airplane safety instructions about the oxygen masks, take care of yourself first and then help your children because you won't be able to help them if you can't breath.

lanie940 said:

I'm so sorry for what you
I'm so sorry for what you have had to go through. I agree with the others, YOU and your health come first. Take your short term disability. I think in my area of PA teachers on leave get 3 semesters off.

So Sorry
You are having such a hard time... I didn't realize until reading your posts how much Teachers have to do!!! I am wondering though about your State Laws and the school saying you can't come back if you have any restrictions.... Not sure but I think you should be covered under FMLA and be able to return for light duty and they have to accomidate you??? Just a thought??? But as the others have said your healing comes first...

504 covers you
Did you know that the same law that covers your handicapped students in a regular classroom under 504 also covers you? If you need a cane or a wheelchair or some other accomodation to do your job, but still have the energy and ability to do it, you have a case. Shucks, you don't kick kids out of the classroom for having a cane with a broken leg or even two broken arms. You write up what accomodations they need and make do. If you can't do what teachers do (lack of energy, illness, and so forth), you have grounds to request disablity. Getting the long-term disability takes about 2 years and requires a lot of paperwork and a good social worker to plead your case. Many teachers have decent short-term disability plans that will help give you something while you wait for the longer term program to kick in. Sometimes a good benefits person can help. I'm not too sure about yours since that one doesn't want you in the classroom if you have a cane. Maybe you need to talk to your doctor about what you really need. Your health comes first for sure. Shortly after radiation ends, you will know if you will be able to return to work or not.

Another thing that plays into the picture is how close you are to retirement. I had a gym teacher once that was able to take two years on sick leave followed by short term disability, get to 25 years, and then retire on partial pension after a knee injury. I'm sure she wanted to keep working and getting full pay, but her knee was a pain (literally!) and keeping the medical benefits and resting enough were more important than getting to 30 years. Her teaching would have been too painful.

If you have a union rep to help you go over the possibilities, it would give you some added clout with the benefits personnel, should you need it. If not, you might talk with your local agency that handles disabilities. The Adults with Disabilities Act does protect folks with cancer from being fired if they can do their jobs. They may also help with getting disability if you need it. They also may know other options that you should consider. They may have access to a good lawyer.

Another option would be to take a different teaching position in the school or outside of it. Our Internal Suspension Supervisor doesn't get paid as much as a regular teacher (at our little school she is part-time), but she mostly sits and supervises a handful of students that study at carrels and don't talk. That's a lot easier than a classroom teacher for sure. Tutors work one-on-one after school if you need part time work scheduled around doctor visits. Sometimes teachers are hired by testing companies to grade tests online. I know our tests are sent to Texas for scoring, but I'm not sure that the scorers live there since the tests are scanned, put online and scored by 3 scorers that live elsewhere. Maybe you have to live in Texas, maybe not. It's worth a phone call if you need a job change. Even folks on disability are allowed to make some cash if they aren't working full-time or at the same job.

Good luck!