I've been on the opposite side of the fence; I was a founder of a (~20 person at the time) startup when one of the engineers told me they had cancer. We did ev

I've been on the opposite side of the fence; I was a founder of a (~20 person at the time) startup when one of the engineers told me they had cancer. We did everything we could to help him. He didn't want to just sit at home and feel sick, so with a few modifications to his normal schedule/workload he could be productive. It didn't really have any negative impact on the company, and years later even I definitely don't regret that he joined and don't feel that he "burdened" us with his problem. I would think that most startups would feel this way. So 1) don't quit 2) get them to help you and 3) stay positive :-)