Woman Who Asked To Leave Work Early Gets Revenge On Doubting Managers, Reveals Cancer Diagnosis

Being sick at work sucks. It’s even worse if you don’t have the best relationship with management, the people who ultimately decide if you can knock off early and go home to get some rest.

One woman faced an uphill battle with her manager about going home sick, so she dutifully got a coworker to cover the rest of her shift. A couple of hours later, she was in an ER, coughing up blood. Then things got really bad.

More info: Reddit

Being sick at work is less than ideal, but for this woman, it was only the start of her troubles, and her revenge

Pharmacy manager in a white coat examining a medical device, surrounded by shelves of medication.

Image credits: senivpetro / Frepeik (not the actual photo)

Feeling awful, she asked her manager if she could leave work early, but he told her she needed to get someone to cover the rest of her shift first

Text about an employee's cancer diagnosis and reaction of pharmacy managers.

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Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)

Hours later, she was in an emergency room coughing up blood, only to be diagnosed with strep

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Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)

When she let her manager know she was going to be in the hospital for the next week, he was less than impressed, but just a couple of days later she was diagnosed with cancer

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When she turned up at work a month later to collect her cancer maintenance meds, karma came with her, shaming her jerk managers to the core

When OP, a 21-year-old employee at a corner drugstore, started feeling sick one day, she asked to leave early. Her manager, Ryan, who already disliked her, refused unless she found someone to cover her shift. She did, but instead of recovering at home, she ended up in the ER. Hours later, she was diagnosed with strep and admitted to the hospital.

The next day, OP called her store with bad news—she’d be out for at least a week. Another manager, Brad, reacted with disbelief, irritated she’d miss work over “just” strep. But then things took an even darker turn. Doctors suspected something far worse and performed a bone marrow biopsy. The next day, OP got a life-changing diagnosis – an aggressive form of leukemia requiring immediate treatment.

OP spent 28 grueling days in the hospital, battling for her life. While her store manager was supportive, Ryan and Brad never reached out—not to her, her family, or her coworkers. When she finally left the hospital, she returned to pick up her medication. Bald, bruised, and with a peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) line in her arm, she ran into Ryan. His face said it all.

With a smile, OP told him it was a good thing she left early that Sunday, or they might not have caught the cancer in time. The moment was pure karma. Though she never returned to work, spending the next five months in and out of hospitals, she still remembers the look on Ryan’s face—a moment of vindication she’ll never forget.

OP’s ex-managers seem more than a little toxic. While she did admit to doing the bare minimum at her job, getting off early for feeling ill shouldn’t have been a problem. This kind of toxic productivity is a global threat to worker well-being, so what can be done to avoid it? We went looking for answers.

Employee with cancer diagnosis, wearing headscarf, sips from a mug on a cozy couch by a window.

Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)

The 2024 Mercer Global Talent Trend Report, a robust study of more than 12,000 global participants, suggests that 82% of the workforce is at risk of burnout, citing excessive workload, exhaustion, and financial strain as the main culprits. 

In her article for Harvard Business Review, Jennifer Moss writes that social media amplifies the pressure of toxic productivity by creating a constant sense of competition. Research finds that upward social comparisons are linked to low self-esteem and depression, with women most negatively affected. 

In her article for BetterUp, Allaya Cooks-Campbell suggests several ways to fend off toxic productivity, including setting boundaries, learning to say no, having an accountability partner, speaking with your manager, reframing your idea of success, prioritizing self-care, and picking up a hobby.

In OP’s case, her double diagnosis was the perfect revenge for her managers’ lack of empathy and jerkish behavior. Perhaps they’ll think twice next time one of their employees wants to call off sick. 

What would you have done if you’d found yourself in OP’s shoes? Have you ever had a manager dismiss your health concerns, only for karma to come back around? Let us know in the comments!

In the comments, readers were delighted at the original poster’s delicious tale of revenge, with some sharing their own cancer stories

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