Real life gets in the way

To my surprise, I've been asked to go to a job interview! This is the first time an application has got to this stage since I was ill, so I'm rather nervous, particularly since I have to fill in an occupational health form which asks for how many sick days I have taken in the last 2 years. Not as many as you might think, I realised when I did the calculations. I only stopped teaching the week before surgery and started teaching again about six weeks later. However, because I'd been misdiagnosed with depression, this makes things a bit difficult. I don't think the misdiagnosis has been corrected on my records; indeed, because I was hugely anaemic, I was depressed, but for physical rather than psychological reasons! Well, we'll see what happens when I admit that one. People are much more forgiving if you've taken time off work with cancer than they are if you've been diagnosed as depressed. I've seen the response to both diagnoses from employers, medical personnel and friends. While the last group have been very supportive all the way through, employers and medical personnel eventually began to lose patience with what they thought was someone who was making no effort to recover from depression. The medics have apologised since, but it doesn't really help now, given that it's employers I need to convince!

Whatever happens at that interview, though, I count myself fortunate to be able to go to an interview at all. My treatment may have been unpleasant, but that passes and all that remains is gratitude to have the opportunity to experience an interview again, whatever the outcome.