The title basically nails it on the head. Over the last few weeks, my doctor and I have discovered that I have a non-life-threatening medical issue that will likely need to be operated on. While we've been working on figuring out what has been going on, I've had to go to numerous medical appointments and now I have a CT scan scheduled for next week. Most of these appointments have been during my lunch hour so they have had virtually no impact on the amount or quality of work I have completed.
My boss, who has her own medical issues (I believe cancer, but I've never asked because she hasn't offered up the information and I don't believe it is my business), has been very understanding of the situation and given advice or her opinion whenever she feels she has something to offer. I absolutely understand her intentions are good, but she frequently asks me questions I feel are sort of medically invasive, and information I am not comfortable with sharing. I am a very private person as a general rule. I try to offer up details I am comfortable with sharing so as to settle perfectly normal curiosity but she always asks for information beyond what I have willingly given.
For example, when I found out I would be needing a CT scan, I let her know my appointment date and time (especially since it would result in me being late to work by about 1 hr). The subsequent conversation went like this:
Boss: "What do you need a CT scan for?"
Me: "It's related to the same issue I have been having from before."
Boss: [gives me a weird look] "Yeah, but how?"
So I ended up detailing the precise reason my doctor felt it medically necessary for me to have the scan, which I was very uncomfortable with sharing.
I realize this sounds like a case where I could easily just say "I'm not really comfortable sharing any more info" but this is complicated by my work environment. I work for a very small company -- 15 people overall, and only 4 in my department. Most other people seem to be what I would consider "over-sharers" in that they frequently share details of their lives that I really don't feel I have any business knowing. I'm the youngest one here, and the 2nd most recent hire (though I've been here for just over 2 years).
I'm in a very intense professional designation program right now (for my work), and when I'm really stressed out I kind of withdraw and get less social. I've been "spoken to" about how I wasn't being social with my colleagues (even though I explained it is mostly due to the level of stress I am under right now), so I genuinely feel like my career here would suffer if I were to say that I wasn't comfortable sharing.
Changing places of work is completely impossible at least until I finish my professional designation.
How do I keep my private medical information to myself?
TL;DR: Well-meaning boss keeps prodding for details of my medical issues that I am not comfortable sharing. Concerned my career will suffer by not sharing these details. How do I ask her to back off?
Submitted November 30, 2018 at 05:33AM by tealighttrees https://ift.tt/2TZEJI3
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