Quick background:BCRed about 2.5 years after adjuvant RT to prostatic bed after RARP. Started Firmagon in May 2022 after nothing seen on PSMA PET/CT with PSA at 0.4. Switched to Orgovyx in November since injection site reaction was compromising QoL. Just before BCR was detected, I started taking adderall for ADHD-inattentive.
My issue:
I'm a 62 year old Electrical Engineer. I design motor control circuits for our products and test equipment for use by manufacturing. Duties involve circuit design, schematic capture, PCB layout, prototype construction, and writing firmware. ADT brain fog is really starting to affect my rate of work output and a temporary noisy work environment due to office renovations isn't helping focus. Does anyone have any experience with asking your employer for accommodations? Our youngest just graduated high school and we will have three in college next year, so I'm not ready to retire for a few more years (ideally). Is asking for accommodations going to open a path to firing due to poor performance? In January, I had to discontinue adderall due to high blood pressure when taken on top of the Orgovyx. I'm in good physical shape, but hate that my brain doesn't run like it used to.
Written by
farmanerd
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Hi Farmanerd, I don't know your age but that should have no bearing. I'm also an EE, working for a major company, and this is what I did. healthunlocked.com/advanced...
The requested accommodations have to be reasonable. The biggest one on my list was WFH at my discretion. There was a sentence about stress management too -- a way of saying that I did not want my workload to be subject to big spikes. Re brain fog, I've had my share and here is what I've ended up doing 1, exercise my arse off. (every day, including "ergonomic" walks away from my laptop -- stipulated in my letter.) 2, supplements and vitamins: L-Theanine, Ginseng, HMB (beta-hydroxy beta-methylbutyrate), and Creatine. HMB seems to have made the biggest difference, but the others have their roles to play vis a vis not just brain fog, but also fatigue and muscle loss.
One can still be fired but my bet is a formal accommodation request raises the bar a lot. My company has an "Accommodations manager" in HR, which I did not know about until I asked how to file an Accommodations letter (from my oncologist.)
I actually gave my oncologist a draft of my accommodation requests and they were passed through on her signature and letterhead.
Hey Derf..... I think you need another blast of "HMB" cause to quote Farmanerd's post, he began his second paragraph with: I'm a 62 year old Electrical Engineer. (Yes I know,.... why they don't send donkeys to college?).
Thank you for your reply. It's given me some ideas about different ways to approach my employer about my disability and also about actions that could possibly help minimize the ADT side effects that are creating my disability.
I already "exercise my arse off", but don't really bike or run as many times per week as I used to, so I could increase that some and try to throw in some more kayaking. My wife knows when I haven't exercised enough, because I get just a bit irritable . . . well, maybe a bit more than a bit. I'll look into some supplements, but I will run any plans past my MO first.
Regarding a formal request for an accommodation, my employer has less than 50 employees, so they may not be as well versed in ADA rules as a larger company. I have a major project that started just before my original diagnosis and was delayed by surgery and radiation, then delayed further by covid, delayed again by my BCR, then delayed even more by a regulatory matter for existing products that needed addressed, so now the hoped for newest schedule is beyond what I think that I can manage on my own. I plan on asking for help - a junior engineer - but absolutely fear/feel that I am essentially going to do succession planning/staffing for the company. I really want to get the next generation design completed, but without accommodations and extra staffing, it's not going to happen. "Hey boss, I've got the plan but I am unable to do the work, so why don't we hire someone to help me." Seems like a perfect setup for being shown the door.
Nearly falling asleep at the keyboard means it's time for bed. Once again, thank you.
When I got my APCa diagnosis, I immediately realized my life just took a big turn and change of focus. It sounds like you have a good job but small companies typically have the worst ability to accommodate permanent conditions and word can spread about things you want to keep private so you _must_ do something. (I was at a not-so-small company some years ago that decided it could send my work to 1ndia and was trying to make me quit -- leading up to a rigged "performance plan" -- and the HR lady I was dealing with was sleeping with my engineering director. I used her to unwittingly relay stuff to him.) As for exercise, prominently missing in your list is resistance exercises.
And then there is Faith in God. He has gotten me through many dangerous scrapes in the past and He sent me the tick that lead to my APCa diagnosis hopefully just in time but not before needing RT and ADT/Abiraterone and keeping my fingers crossed 24x7.
Accommodations should be made for you under the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act). You may need to involve your physician to file paperwork with your employer on your behalf. That will depend on how receptive your employer is to your request.
I have no advice to offer regarding your query, but you have the right background to understand my "Bicalutamide Maneuvers" thread and my paralleling of PCa to the power grid. Switching to a first or second tier lutamide monotherapy your brain fog will go away.
Coordinate with your oncologist, they should be familiar with the rules. Consider asking for Provigil, a medication that has helped me with focus and motivation against the side effects.
Common sense says that as long as you're willing to work and your employer knows what's going on you won't be fired. You might get negative performance reviews (I haven't yet) but I doubt you can be fired. But I don't know!
So here's the toothpaste damage of having your MO send an accommodation letter. First, it is HIPPA confidential. Only the Company's Accommodation Manager will see it in full. Your chain of command will know you filed a letter and the work-related accommodation info it contains, but not the medical condition behind it. I don't know if you'd call it toothpaste, but putting your cancer status confidentially on file puts you firmly in the list of ADA conditions that should be accommodated. I filed also so any performance questions arising from me dealing with PCa and its side effects would not be misconstrued to my detriment, ie "you're fired". Me "I have cancer." Them "you did not inform us in a timely manner. Tough noogies."
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