You know the expression, “If you want to get something done, ask a working mother?” Surprising as it may seem, the same holds true for cancer patients.
Conventional wisdom holds that cancer patients are too sick and fragile to work, at least not to their full ability. That can certainly be true in some cases, sometimes tragically. And I’m not suggesting that anyone should ever feel pressured to work if they don’t feel well enough to do so. But in many instances, the stereotype that cancer patients are too compromised to work is a myth. I know because I’ve been living—and working—with an incurable type of blood cancer for more than twenty-two years.
And I’m by no means the only one doing so. As of 2025, there were an estimated 18.6 million cancer survivors in the U.S., and a study in the journal Cancer found some 60 percent of patients aged 25 to 62 continue to work during treatment.
An asset, not an anchor
A quick bit of backstory: In November 2003, as I was leaving my office one night, I slipped on a patch of ice. The next morning, I woke up with a sore hip. A year later, when the pain from the slip hadn’t gotten better, I saw my orthopedist, who ordered an MRI. When he called me in to talk about the results, he told me I had a tumor on my hip. I was 38-years-old, working in my dream job, married to a woman I loved, and the first-time father of a seven-month-old daughter. And from one second to the next, I had cancer.
Since that time, I have undergone multiple forms of treatment, going in and out of remission more times than I can count, and experienced several hospitalizations (the type of cancer I have, multiple myeloma, is treatable but not curable).
I’m a journalist, and I’ve also worked that whole time, as an editor at New York magazine, Vogue, Medium, and currently at Fast Company, without missing any more days than the average person misses. I’ve had to take a few days off here and there, and I sometimes need to work remotely—from home, a doctor’s office, a treatment facility, or the hospital—instead of in my office. But with rare exception, I’ve shown up for work after my diagnosis the same way I did before it. I’ve gotten promotions, won awards, and been laid off, just like many other people, too. Before and after work and on weekends, I wrote a book about living with my illness.
People sometimes say to me, “How brave of you to keep working through all of that.” Believe me, it has nothing to do with bravery, at least not in my case. In my case, it has to do with terror. Sit home and contemplate the dimming of the light or keep busy and keep my mind off of my illness. I also like what I do, and I have a wife, two children, and a mortgage to pay. I can’t afford not to work.
For a long time, I saw my disease as an anchor on my career. But now I’ve come to see it as an asset. In fact, I’d argue that cancer patients are uniquely valuable employees. Here’s why.
We have grit
I mentioned I’ve undergone multiple treatments. Specifically, I’ve had four rounds of radiation therapy—to my hip, ribs, spine, and nasal bone (multiple myeloma typically presents as bone lesions). I’ve had immunotherapy treatments for years at a time, each requiring weekly four- to six-hour IV infusions. I’ve had chemotherapy on two occasions, and I’ve been hospitalized as part of a cutting-edge form of treatment called CAR-T cell therapy. The side effects of those treatments have included nausea, diarrhea, fatigue, brain fog, loss of feeling in my fingers and toes, and chronic bone pain.
Not that I’d recommend it if you can avoid it, but surviving those experiences has made me a tougher, more resilient person.
In terms of work, that means there aren’t too many projects, no matter how ambitious or daunting, I believe can’t be done. It also means I will stick with something until it’s finished, even if things go sideways along the way. And if you ask me to do something, even if it’s out of my comfort zone, I’m generally up for it. If anything, I’m grateful to still have the opportunity.
We are calm under pressure
For twenty-two years and counting, I’ve had to undergo a battery of scans and blood tests every three–to-six months to monitor my illness. Under the best of circumstances, that means I’ve had to learn how to cope with high-stakes uncertainty and the stress it can bring. In the worst cases, it means I’ve had to learn how to deal with difficult news—being told I have cancer again.
The upside to those otherwise unwelcome experiences is that work situations, even unexpected and upsetting ones, don’t easily throw me. I don’t panic easily and I can see my way out of tight spots. Those are valuable qualities to have as an employee and as a leader.
We can process complex information
Cancer is a complicated disease. It is often difficult to diagnose, as its symptoms can overlap with those of other cancers or other illnesses. It is difficult to understand, as it can involve multiple systems, even while it originates in one. It is difficult to treat, as it is maddeningly adaptive. There are subtypes of subtypes of subtypes of many cancers. The litany of terms patients need to master—“M-spike,” “free light chains,” “TSH with free T4 reflex” just to name a few for myeloma—could fill a medical dictionary.
Cancer patients also have to make high-stakes decisions with imperfect information. More than once when I’ve come out of remission, my doctors have presented me with a choice of treatments, leaving me to weigh the pros and cons and ultimately choose which option I felt was best.
Processing all that information and learning how to analyze it to produce the best possible outcome are skills that translate well to the workplace.
We know how to lead cross-functional teams
Over the years, my care has involved hematologic oncologists, radiation oncologists, orthopedists, gastroenterologists, dermatologists, physiatrists, PET-scan, CAT-scan, and MRI technicians, bone-marrow biopsy specialists, physicians’ assistants, nurses, doctors’ office receptionists, scheduling coordinators, medical insurance pre-authorization and claims agents, and thousands of others.
The responsibility for dealing with those people, and coordinating one’s care among them, falls on the patient. Cancer patients are master project managers.
We are empathetic
I like to think I was a reasonably empathetic person before I got sick. But after living with cancer for more than twenty years, I am certain I am much more attuned to other people’s problems than I used to be. My radar for others’ difficulties is more sensitive. My patience is greater. My compassion is deeper.
We know from recent studies that empathy in the workplace creates a sense of psychological safety that enhances creativity, productivity, and profits.
Cancer patients have empathy in abundance.
We are optimistic
Studies show optimism has a positive effect on workplace performance. Optimistic employees are more productive, produce better sales results, and stay with their companies longer. An optimistic outlook is also associated with faster recovery from setbacks.
And because surviving cancer is nothing if not an act of defying the odds, survivors tend to be optimists. When I was first diagnosed with my illness, I was told I might have as little as 18 months to live. As of this writing, that was 22 years, 5 months, and two days ago.
Believe me when I say that those of us who are lucky enough to survive this disease believe in the possibility of positive outcomes. And believe me when I say we can help you achieve them.
Jonathan Gluck is the author of An Exercise in Uncertainty, a memoir chronicling the 22-plus years he’s been living with multiple myeloma.