I’m struggling
Hi everyone,
I’ve not been active here in a while because we’ve been fortunate enough to have seven quality years with my father since his stage four sarcoma diagnosis. After exhausting all available treatment options for him over the years, we are now nearing the end of his cancer journey and have transitioned him to outpatient hospice as of last week. He has since declined more rapidly than I think any of us expected (not that you’re ever really ready), and I’m having a really difficult time balancing my job and helping my mom with his care, while also trying to soak up as much time with him as I can during this period.
I have been hoarding my sick time and vacation days for this exact moment, but am sensing frustration at my job when I take a day given how understaffed we already are as it is. I don’t qualify for FMLA unfortunately due to the size of my office, so that is not an option. I am truly struggling to function, and as the primary earner while my husband is finishing up school, am feeling really trapped right now.
I guess I’d like to know how others have navigated the absurdity of an unforgiving workplace during these moments. I have a high-visibility, client-facing role in PR, and having already struggled with the daily meetings as an introvert, am finding the levels of apathy and exhaustion I feel insurmountable as time goes on and I watch the man I’ve always looked up to slip away hour by hour.