I know, I know right now your head must be spinning. What is ITP? How did this happen? Is there a Cure? In addition, the last thing on your mind is talking to your boss about what is happening plus technically, you are still trying to figure it all out yourself so what would you even say?
However, you may need some time off, I am not talking a couple of weeks, then you return to work, and everything is sorted. I am talking about days off here and there over weeks, months, years. Depending on where my levels are at I could have one hospital appointment a month or I could have three hospital appointments in a week. I cannot plan when my ITP will flare up nor can I control it however, I can be proactive in regards to how I plan to deal with a flare up therefore having my boss already aware helps.
Rather than being silent and just taking random days off without accurate explanation (trust me your boss will notice if there is an increase in your absent days – they will be onto you) and rather than lying or making up excuses, sometimes your best defense is the truth.
Let’s be real some bosses are easy to talk to, understanding and sympathetic and others well time is money and even though technically you are entitled to sick days they see this as an expense to them. Plus others get jealous (not that being sick is anything to be jealous about) but they do get jealous that you get a day off (mind you a day at the hospital is not a day off) and they have to go to work (oh poor them). Then you get the bosses who are reliant on you, they do not know how to function without you and panic about you not being around on demand.
Therefore, you need to understand your boss and understand how you wish to handle the situation. For me I was very lucky that I had understanding bosses who considered my health. I also was lucky that one of the HR department workers had suffered from ITP when they were younger and totally understood the situation I was in. However, I have had bad bosses in the past and I understand that some bosses are ruthless. Some make you feel bad about being sick (as if you must be faking it) and others make out that if they were in the same situation they would still be at work (yet they have never been in the same situation).
Whether you have a good or bad boss, I still think it is important to have evidence to back your case (eg. Doctor’s statement with your condition, Doctor’s referrals etc.) There are people out there that do take “sickies” and bosses become untrusting – even though you may have an exceptional attendance record they still get uneasy when staff require day’s off. In addition, you have to keep in mind that even when you are sick you are going to look healthy so bosses will look at you and think to themselves – nah she is having me on here. Even the most sympathetic bosses cannot help but wonder if you are telling the truth or not.
Ok so now you have your evidence it is time to state your case. Either you can put something in writing (email) or you can address it with your boss verbally. This just depends on your working relationship and how your business operates. For me it was a bit of both I had to tell my Director verbally however had to email Senior Management with a breakdown of my condition.
Where do you begin? Well here, we go….
As you are aware, I have been to the hospital and I have recently just been diagnosed with a rare blood disorder called ITP (Immune Thrombocytopenia). It is an immune system malfunction where the healthy parts of my body have latched on and are attacking other healthy parts of my body. This then prevents my blood to clot therefore putting me at risk of bleeding with or sometimes without trauma.
To give you a general breakdown a healthy individual has a platelet count of 150,000 – 400,000 for me testing has confirmed that my platelet level is sitting around 17,000 mark. This is of concern to my specialist and therefore I am required to be monitored until we can get my levels to what we would call a “safe zone”.
For now, I am scheduled to go see a specialist at the hospital on (insert dates) and if all goes well these will only be the days that I require off for now.
I want to assure you that I am still capable of working however just need to take it easy around sharp objects and heavy lifting which I am sure you can understand.
Please see attached doctor’s referral for reference and if you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to reach out.
I appreciate your understanding and I look forward to coming back to work (insert date).
Precaution before proceeding: Please note I am from Australia and we have something called Fair Work Ombudsman that somewhat governs Australian workplace laws. These laws are in place to provide a safety net of minimum wage entitlements, enable flexible working arrangements and fairness at work and prevent discrimination against employees.