Not a blog but a CV caused some interesting reactions to Alex's illness.

We struggled with his CV when he was trying return to work (previous job long gone) and we had a two year gap to justify.

At first we thought that we would just leave his health issues out leaving the 2 year gap until a recruitment agency asked about it and when told gave a sigh of relief and said that he was worried Alex had been in jail or something.

From that point forward we gave sketchy details about his illness and explained further when he finally got the first interview. Unfortunately, just the illness put him behind the eight ball and it was months before he got an interview.

So fast forward 6 months and he gets the job ...

He has been quite open about his oropharyngeal cancer and also in an attempt to create awareness, has also discussed his HPV status. I think the apprentice only heard the H and the V. A couple of weeks into the job, Alex scraped his hand and left a tiny speck of blood behind. Apprentice downs tools and Alex is sent home. A couple of weeks later, Alex came down with shingles which was quite visible on his face. After being treated with ***cyclovir, and getting the shingles under control, he went to work, and the apprentice again downed tools and refused to work with him. His employer demanded that he leave work and not return until he had a doctors certificate to say he was not catching. I am SURE this would not have happened had Alex not shared his health issues. I was appalled that a bunch of non medics took this action when all they had to do was ring their on staff doctor to find out that shingles is not catching when it is scabbed and clearing. AND the apprentice would have to get close enough to give Alex a big kiss to catch it.

things have settled now, but those first few weeks ...