They Beat Cancer in Childhood ... and Then? - WSJ.com
Andrew Flaton survived a brain tumor as a child, but he still suffers from the effects of his cancer treatments. One of his most challenging tasks: holding down a job.
He was left almost entirely deaf after undergoing chemotherapy. He can't work more than four hours a day without feeling exhausted, and he often suffers from panic attacks, which he struggles to keep under control. The 25-year-old Oakville, Mo., resident earns less than $700 a month and lives with his grandparents, and the longest period he has spent in one job -- doing part-time filing work for an anesthesiologist -- is two years.
Before landing his current job as a retail clerk, Mr. Flaton was unemployed for a year. He filled out close to two dozen job applications without receiving any calls for an interview. "It was very difficult to find an employer who was accepting of what I could and could not do," he says.
As Mr. Flaton's struggle illustrates, the transition into the workplace can be rocky for many childhood-cancer survivors -- especially those who have been treated with high doses of radiation and chemotherapy. The resulting cognitive and physical impairments can make it hard to keep a job. And while workers who contract cancer or a chronic illness as adults carry similar impairments, childhood survivors face the added obstacle of trying to get and keep that all-important first job -- for many people the first chance to get employer-provided health insurance -- and establish a career.
