People often think of cancer as one singular type of disease, but the truth is that there are many different types of cancer, and they can impact you in a lot of different ways. Being diagnosed with early-stage skin cancer, for instance, may just require a quick surgery to remove it. Being diagnosed with lung cancer could be fatal even with the best treatment in the world.
If you get that diagnosis, you might start wondering about your rights to benefits and whether or not it counts as a disability. Unfortunately, the answer isn’t so simple. In some cases, cancer certainly can count as a disability, but it won’t always do so.
Treatment may have an impact as well
The thing to consider is whether or not you’re able to work while you have the disease. You also have to consider the future of that disease, if it’s going to continue progressing and taking a toll on your health or if it’s in remission and it seems to be getting better with time.
On top of that, the treatment needed for cancer can often be very severe. Chemotherapy takes a huge physical toll on your body even when it’s working. Surgery can have long recovery times and may leave you with other health issues that you’ll have to deal with for life.
At the end of the day, every single case is unique, and it has to be considered as such. It is possible for your cancer to be a disability, but don’t assume that the diagnosis alone guarantees that it will be. If you believe that you should qualify for disability benefits, it helps you to look into all of the options that you have and the steps you’ll need to take to apply.