Support Line: 0300 373 8500
Living with Waldenström’s macroglobulinaemia (WM) can affect your working life in different ways — and that’s completely okay. Everyone’s experience is unique, depending on your symptoms, treatment, and the kind of work you do.
Even if you’re feeling well and working as usual, it’s still helpful to know about the support and rights available to you, just in case you need them later.
WM might affect your work in a few ways, including:
Fatigue or other symptoms making it hard to work full-time or keep up your usual routine
Taking time off for treatment, recovery, or hospital appointments
Needing flexibility for regular check-ups or unexpected health changes
Yes — many people continue working with WM. What that looks like for you depends on how you’re feeling and what kind of job you do. It’s okay if you need changes to help you manage your work and health side by side.
You have rights at work that protect you and can make working with WM more manageable.
You don’t have to tell your employer about your diagnosis — it’s your choice. But if you do, they can offer support and make reasonable changes (called “reasonable adjustments”) to help you stay in work comfortably.
These adjustments could include flexible hours, time off for appointments, or working from home. Many workplaces also have wellbeing or support schemes — and you might miss out on these if your employer doesn’t know what you’re going through.
Any conversations you have with your employer about your health should stay private unless you say otherwise.
As someone living with cancer, you are classed as having a disability. This means that you can’t be treated less favourably than you might be if you didn’t have WM. If you are treated differently, then this is classed as discrimination and you are protected by the law.
Your work must consider making what are known as ‘reasonable adjustments’ when they learn about your diagnosis. Reasonable adjustments are changes your employer must make to remove or reduce disadvantages you face in carrying out your role because of your WM. For example:
If the change to your work is reasonable then your employee must make it.
You can find out more about reasonable adjustments at ACAS
In the UK, if you’re living with cancer, you’re legally considered to have a disability. This means you’re protected from discrimination at work.
Your employer is required to consider reasonable adjustments to support you — for example:
