Cancer

[JDUB0509]

Hey guys.

I am trying to find answers on whether or not controllers can work while being treated for cancer. I saw on AMAS the policy for pilots, but I have been having trouble finding anything for controllers.

I know said person would have their medical removed while being on some medications/treatment plan.

Would/could it result in medical retirement? Any thoughts ?

 

[Raise when?]

Work live traffic? highly fuckin doubt it. Can't even work a day after takin nyquil..my dad had the chemo, the side effects are no joke

 

[Phillyman2633]

Depends on what kind of cancer...I know quite a few who got their medical back after. I'm sure it's a long road getting your medical back but it can be done. Focus on your recovery and worry about the rest later. Good luck.

 

[penaltyvectors]

Varies highly based on the type of cancer, treatments, timeline, and I’m sure the whims of your regional flight surgeon. We’ve had double-digit number of people go out for various cancers and they all had their medical pulled during treatment, but all of them were able to get their medical back eventually. One guy was only out for a few weeks while we had someone else who took over a year to get her medical back. If you want to share more about your specific type of cancer someone might be able to give more insight, but it’s ultimately depend on your specific case and flight surgeon. Best of luck with treatment.

 

[Bandit117]

Varies highly based on the type of cancer, treatments, timeline, and I’m sure the whims of your regional flight surgeon. We’ve had double-digit number of people go out for various cancers and they all had their medical pulled during treatment, but all of them were able to get their medical back eventually. One guy was only out for a few weeks while we had someone else who took over a year to get her medical back. If you want to share more about your specific type of cancer someone might be able to give more insight, but it’s ultimately depend on your specific case and flight surgeon. Best of luck with treatment.

This is the perfect answer. Call amas. Maybe look into aviation lawyers who specialize in getting Medicals back from overzealous flight surgeons. The free consult and the phone number might be useful to have in your back pocket, should you need to press it

 

[Blockairspaceisfake]

Always have a lawyer as a backup.

 

[rhombus]

From Therapeutic Drug Guidelines for Air Traffic Control Specialists:



It really depends how invasive the cancer is and the treatment for it. There’s a big difference between a beginning stage skin cancer and brain cancer. That being said I’ve known a couple people who went down for chemotherapy, beat the cancer, and got their medical back in a timely matter. It’s by no means an automatic medical retirement

 

[Bandit117]

Always have a lawyer as a backup.

And for the record, the FAA has really bad lawyers. The worst actually. You think the top law school grads are going to work for the DOT? Heck no. The faa lawyers are the ones who who went to the part time night law schools featured in infomercials. So getting a good lawyer automatically helps your situation, should it come to it

 

[PointSixty5stalker]

Work live traffic? highly fuckin doubt it. Can't even work a day after takin nyquil..my dad had the chemo, the side effects are no joke

But it’s ok to work live traffic while engaging in hormone replacement therapy 😳.

Sorry for the diagnosis. The sad truth is there is a high correlation between shift work and cancer diagnosis. Add the terrible building conditions a lot of us have to endure such as mold, asbestos, and drinking fountains that they refuse to change filters on. All of us need to put our stupid political opinions aside and ask our union to represent us accordingly and pressure management into better working conditions and fatigue mitigation. Can’t tell you how many people retire and are dead 7 months later. I hate to think it was from a disease that they were unwilling to take care of for fear of losing their medical and affecting their retirement. As much as I gripe I love all of you and want the best for all of us. Do your part and ask NATCA and mgmt what they are doing to address these issues. It can’t just be a select few of us that they can chalk up as boomer crackpots

 

[CoffeeIV]

But it’s ok to work live traffic while engaging in hormone replacement therapy 😳.

Sorry for the diagnosis. The sad truth is there is a high correlation between shift work and cancer diagnosis. Add the terrible building conditions a lot of us have to endure such as mold, asbestos, and drinking fountains that they refuse to change filters on. All of us need to put our stupid political opinions aside and ask our union to represent us accordingly and pressure management into better working conditions and fatigue mitigation. Can’t tell you how many people retire and are dead 7 months later. I hate to think it was from a disease that they were unwilling to take care of for fear of losing their medical and affecting their retirement. As much as I gripe I love all of you and want the best for all of us. Do your part and ask NATCA and mgmt what they are doing to address these issues. It can’t just be a select few of us that they can chalk up as boomer crackpots

"Put our stupid political opinions aside" while you make a political opinion. I'm guessing you support banning any woman from controlling too because birth control releases hormones.

As for shift work causing cancer. There has been like one study that links mid shift working between 12am and 5am and needed to be frequent and long term. Working swings and going to days doesn't mess up your circadian rhythm. I've worked the rattler and I've worked week of each shift at a time so I don't really see why so many of you whine so much. The study also didn't take into account that people on overnight shifts are more likely to be eating unhealthy foods/drinking energy drinks but we'll just ignore that. All the retirees I know are living decently. People love to claim controllers die early. Is any of the smoking that was prevalent back in the day taken into account? Any of the heavy drinking? Naw, let's just blame shift work.

Also, if you hate mids so much, give them away. Every facility Ive been at has plenty of people more than willing to work them. Most of those that whine about rattlers probably moved over an hour away from their facility. They chose to fuck themselves over.

 

[doodii]

But it’s ok to work live traffic while engaging in hormone replacement therapy 😳.

Sorry for the diagnosis. The sad truth is there is a high correlation between shift work and cancer diagnosis. Add the terrible building conditions a lot of us have to endure such as mold, asbestos, and drinking fountains that they refuse to change filters on. All of us need to put our stupid political opinions aside and ask our union to represent us accordingly and pressure management into better working conditions and fatigue mitigation. Can’t tell you how many people retire and are dead 7 months later. I hate to think it was from a disease that they were unwilling to take care of for fear of losing their medical and affecting their retirement. As much as I gripe I love all of you and want the best for all of us. Do your part and ask NATCA and mgmt what they are doing to address these issues. It can’t just be a select few of us that they can chalk up as boomer crackpots

I’m on HRT and I’m a male, is there a problem here?

And for the record, the FAA has really bad lawyers. The worst actually. You think the top law school grads are going to work for the DOT? Heck no. The faa lawyers are the ones who who went to the part time night law schools featured in infomercials. So getting a good lawyer automatically helps your situation, should it come to it

You always got “insider” info … you a natca double agent? 🤣

 

[Raise when?]

But it’s ok to work live traffic while engaging in hormone replacement therapy 😳.

I wasn’t trying to be all doom/gloom.

I hope TS recovers fully and comes back to the boards. Just expressing my skepticism that you can work while being actively treated via drugs or whatever for cancer

 

[Bandit117]

You always got “insider” info … you a natca double agent? 🤣

People keep talking when I’m around, like I’m not even there. Not my fault if I hear stuff. If they didn’t want me to know they would shut up.

 

[rhombus]

But it’s ok to work live traffic while engaging in hormone replacement therapy 😳.

Sorry for the diagnosis. The sad truth is there is a high correlation between shift work and cancer diagnosis. Add the terrible building conditions a lot of us have to endure such as mold, asbestos, and drinking fountains that they refuse to change filters on. All of us need to put our stupid political opinions aside and ask our union to represent us accordingly and pressure management into better working conditions and fatigue mitigation. Can’t tell you how many people retire and are dead 7 months later. I hate to think it was from a disease that they were unwilling to take care of for fear of losing their medical and affecting their retirement. As much as I gripe I love all of you and want the best for all of us. Do your part and ask NATCA and mgmt what they are doing to address these issues. It can’t just be a select few of us that they can chalk up as boomer crackpots

https://www.osha.gov/workers/file-complaint

Yea it sucks if both NATCA and MGMT are dragging their feet but if you’re working around exposed asbestos and mold without doing anything about it then that’s on you. File a complaint with OSHA. Those are the easiest cases for them to address and it puts immediate pressure on management to respond.