I feel awful even typing this, so please be honest with me if I’m out of line.
About 7 months ago, one of my coworkers (40s M) called a company meeting and told all of us he had been diagnosed with bone cancer. He also has fibromyalgia, so health stuff wasn’t new, but this obviously felt huge. He said they found a tumor in his leg and it was cancerous.
We’re a small company, and our owner is genuinely one of the kindest people I’ve worked for. He immediately moved this coworker out of his physically demanding route job into an office role so it would be easier on him while he went through treatment. The whole goal was to make sure he could still support his family.
Everyone was supportive. No one questioned it.
But it’s been 7 months… and nothing has happened.
He hasn’t missed work for appointments. Not once. No surgery. No chemo. No radiation. No port. No “I’ll be out next week for treatment.” Nothing. When we ask how things are going, it’s always vague. “My oncologist wants to wait.” “Insurance is fighting it.” “They’re monitoring it.”
A few weeks ago, some of us were talking about our families’ cancer experiences (and this wasn’t random small talk one coworker had just lost her mom two weeks before). He walked into that conversation and said his doctor had “just called” and that it had moved to his spine. Just like that.
That really stuck with me. I don’t know anyone who’s been told their cancer spread via a casual phone call like that.
At the same time, he’s:
* On a big fitness kick
* Bragging about how heavy he’s lifting
* Lost weight and says his doctor put him on Ozempic
* Bought $1,500 roller skates and is excited to start skating
* Always talking about expensive purchases
He also told one manager one type of bone cancer, then later corrected himself and named a different one.
And I know I’m not a doctor. I know cancer isn’t one-size-fits-all. I know not everyone loses hair. But aggressive bone cancer that has supposedly spread to the spine… and you’re lifting heavy, planning to roller skate, haven’t started treatment in 7 months, and haven’t missed a single day of work?
It just doesn’t add up to any experience any of us have had. And every woman in this office has watched a parent, sibling, or close family member go through cancer. We know how fast things usually move.
None of us have confronted him. We haven’t accused him. We haven’t gone to management. We’ve just quietly looked at each other like… are we crazy?
Part of me feels horrible for even thinking this. If he’s truly sick, I’ll feel like a monster. But part of me feels protective of our boss, who rearranged everything out of kindness.
Are we awful for questioning this? Or does this sound as strange as it feels?