A few weeks ago I picked up an issue of People Magazine and read about Robin Roberts battle with breast cancer. I don't watch Good Morning America so I am not really familiar with her. I was struck by her story but I was also struck with how beautiful she looked with her bald head.

It got me thinking about being female, having cancer, and what it would be like to go to work bald. I had hoped to find a treasure trove of blog posts about these women. I didn't. But I found lots of other stuff about having cancer and the workplace.

Some of it inspired me and some infuriated me. All in a days work.

These days, TV anchor Robin Roberts goes to work wearing a wig. However, she says that if she were in a different line of work she would leave the wig behind. Roberts is sharing her experience as a cancer patient   with viewers of Good Morning America (video should start a few seconds after you land on the page)

Turns out Roberts  decision to stay on the job is not unique. About 60% to 80% of men and women continue working during cancer patient. In 2006, Heather Lalley wrote about these workers in the Spokesman Review

Those with cancers of the breast, uterus, prostate and thyroid were most likely to keep working, the study found. People with cancers of the blood, nervous system, head or neck were least likely to be able to stay on the job.

Of course, many people keep working for purely economic reasons: They simply don't have the financial luxury of forgoing a paycheck or medical benefits. But many others rely on the support and feeling of normalcy that the workplace provides.After having surgery to remove the tumor and some lymph nodes, Smith underwent radiation five days a week for seven weeks. She decided against chemotherapy since her cancer was caught at an early stage. But the radiation left her "absolutely exhausted" and with burns and blisters.

She scheduled her appointments for late in the day so she wouldn't have to miss work and then she'd go home and crash at the end of the day.

Boston.com did a similar piece inspired by Elizabeth Edwards to continue spending time on the campaign trail after she learned her cancer had returned.

Twenty years ago, being treated for cancer was a full-time job," says Diane Blum, executive director of New York-based CancerCare, the nation's largest nonprofit support services organization for people battling cancer.

"Now symptoms are managed better, treatment is outpatient. People often are able to live their lives with some semblance of normality," she said.

Minneapolis radio personality Kevyn Burger is also battling breast cancer. Like Roberts , Burger is continuing to work.Unlike Roberts, Burger has opted to not wear a wig to work.

She blogs about her experience at Kevynbaby.

Everyone knows that hair loss is a side effect of chemotherapy. Being bald provides quick shorthand to let everyone in the world in on confidential diagnostic information that ordinarily covered by the physician-patient privilege.
I have not worn a wig, but I understand why so many of my fellow survivors do. Being bald is a way of being naked before strangers: it reveals a private part. While I have become fairly comfortable walking around with my nude scalp, I recognize that this expanse of usually-covered skin makes others feel awkward.
This adds a layer of complexity to a million simple exchanges. The teller at the bank, my child's dentist, that pastor at the church on Thanksgiving--people don't know quite what to say when confronted with the be-hatted woman before them, who is clearly in that chapeau because chemotherapy has robbed her of her crowning glory. What are they to do? Ask how she's doing? Ignore the obvious? Tell a quick anecdote about their great aunt's triumph over breast cancer?
It reminds me of being in the final trimester of pregnancy, when everyone you encounter must first inquire about The Baby before the conversation can get down to business. I remember being weary of it by the time I lumbered into the ninth month. Sometimes, I just wanted to be me again. A woman with a womb, not a womb with a woman.
Being the obvious manifestation of my disease makes ME uncomfortable, too, if that's any consolation. I can't tell you what to say to me, because I don't know. Sometimes I like it when people acknowledge my cranial nudity--and the reason for it--and sometimes I don't. It has to do with how I'm feeling at that instant and with how much finesse the person I encounter uses.
I've been this way for months, and I am not yet used to these awkward social exchanges. I'm still all muddled up about it.

While Kevyn Burger and Robin Roberts obviously have the support of their employers, that is often not the case. JudiPhilly whose day job is a health law attorney typically doesn't write about work related issues on her blogTruth, Justice & Peace. But in October she made an exception when she shared an article from the Washington Post about people losing their jobs while on leave for cancer treatment.

[She worked for] the City of Manassas in May 2006, when a doctor told her she had breast cancer. She had worked as an emergency communications specialist, directing calls for the fire and police departments for 12 years. But July 26 this year, after going on long-term disability while she underwent seven surgeries and chemotherapy, Tremul received a letter in the mail terminating her employment. With her job went her health and life insurance benefits, she said.

"You don't cut someone off at the knees when they're sick. And that's what they did," Tremul said. "I was fired for having cancer."

I've had a few cases recently where the problem was a health related issue, which resulted in a termination of employment. In one, the employee suffered from serious depression and was hospitalized because of her illness. She had been a long term employee, who had always received excellent evaluations. After her return to work, she was put on probation for being behind in her work (duh, she was in the hospital because she had a severe mental health issue, when was she supposed to do her work?). This caused a relapse and another hospitalization. She was then terminated.

I managed to negotiate a decent financial severance package for her, including having the bad review rescinded, which was her biggest concern. Even better, her employer ended up putting her on a leave of absence, which permitted her to apply for long term disability. Her mental state was so fragile that she didn't even want to apply, but I convinced her to try. She was approved for long term benefits, which was great news because it meant that her health insurance was now covered by her employer so long as she was out on disability. And of course, continued coverage was a major issue, since she'll never be able to get coverage because of her pre-existing condition.

That this situation exists -- both the loss of employment and health benefits due to illness -- is yet one more example of our lack of compassion as a society.

Tangolina who writes the Breast Cancer Survivor Tips has an unorthodox recommendation for people going through chemo. Her suggestion: Get a New Job.

When I first mentioned the idea to my oncologist, Dr. Leimert, he was not very pleased and had some difficulty understanding why I would want to do something that could possibly cause me more stress than I was currently going through. He said that most people quit their jobs or take a leave of absence when they start chemotherapy because it’s so stressful and uncomfortable. I told him that not having an income would be more stressful.

When I was first diagnosed with breast cancer I spent every waking moment on my computer doing Google searches on everything from breast cancer treatments to breast reconstruction to areola tattooing. There was no way I could concentrate on running two businesses, but I knew that I had to do something to take my mind off the breast cancer and my obsessive Googling, so I thought, why not work for someone else?

Later in the post, Tangolina shares that she was laid off on the last day of her chemotherapy. Her boss said, " It wasn't a good fit."

Elana blogs about business culture at FunnyBusiness